Destin!

On our way home from Disney World, we stopped in Destin! We spent the afternoon at Henderson Beach State Park, which was absolutely beautiful and not crowded at all. This was our first time in Destin and we couldn't get over how incredibly white the sand was! I did a little bit of research and the sand is actually shimmering quartz crystal that was sheared off ancient Appalachian Mountains by glaciers during the last great Ice Age. They washed into the gulf and were ground down by waves into a white powder that's so fine it squeaks when you rub your feet on the surface of the beach. The sand also gives the water a beautiful emerald cast. We would love to spend a whole week in Destin. Beach vacations are my favorite!

After the sun went down, we went to Fudpuckers for a late dinner. It was right across the street from Henderson Beach State Park. This restaurant was so fun! They have a big pond in the middle of the restaurant with live alligators that the kids can feed. The food was really good too!

Disney World!

Disney World was truly magical! This was such an incredibly fun and memorable family vacation. I am so so happy we finally did it! We stayed 5 nights at this amazing Disney rental that was only minutes from Disney World. The house alone was worth the trip! The kids loved all the Disney toys, games, and dress-up clothing. The pool was also a ton of fun for everyone. We spent two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Epcot. Next time we are in Florida, we would love to explore Universal Studios and Animal Kingdom.

Here's a group photo of everyone at Magic Kingdom. Our huge group included four of my brothers, one sister, and my parents. It was so much fun to have so much family there! We missed the ones who couldn't make it!

We got there super early and were able to take a bunch of photos in front of the castle before it opened. The weather was really hazy and overcast, which made for yucky photos of the castle. But the overcast skies kept the temperature comfortable. When the sun came out the second day, we were HOT!

Seeing Cinderella's castle was a dream come true for Lorelei!

Best buddies! These two rode every single ride together and Colby helped Evan be brave on some of the bigger rides, like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain.

Lorelei loved all the rides, but one of her favorites was the Little Mermaid ride. Her very favorite was the Seven Dwarfs roller coaster! So happy she was tall enough to ride every single ride!

and a few from Epcot...

We loved Epcot! We could have spent all day just touring the World Showcase. There are 11 countries. I wish we had time to sample food in each country, but we did have dinner in Morocco. It was tasty!

Norway was lots of fun because of the new Frozen Ever After ride. This ride was one of our favorites! Dan bought some Norwegian candy and a souvenir ball cap. He is of course partial to Norway since he served a mission there.

Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the fireworks. Both Magic Kingdom and Epcot put on incredible firework displays at night!

The last day at the Disney house, we spent the day swimming, relaxing, watching movies, and playing games late into the night. We also had a large family dinner at the Golden Corral. So grateful for this time we all had to be together! These precious memories will last forever.