Jan 2 - Back to Orlando

We woke up to a grey and rainy day in Washington D.C. A perfect time to leave! We had trusty McDonald’s for breakfast, checked out and then left for Ronald Reagan Airport. Even though check in and security were quick and easy, most of our day was still taken up with travel. JetBlue turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The legroom was quite generous and we were given free drinks and snacks. A reasonably empty flight also helped with the experience!

Waiting for our flight at Reagan National Airport

Arriving in Orlando brought a sense of déjà vu...of a comforting variety. Somehow, perhaps foolishly, we always get the feeling that all will be well in the land of Disney. It was nice to indulge once again in a padded bubble from the “real” outside world. As per our earlier visit, we let Disney pick up our luggage for us, and hopped onto our Magical Express bus. Ethel was eager to see the other half of the family and I was eager to start shopping! Unfortunately, we stopped at 3 other resorts before getting to the Boardwalk Inn. Fortunately, there was no wait for check-in and we were chosen as the Family of the Day! We received a free photo with a frame with some balloons. Ok so I was secretly hoping for more but was happy nonetheless! The children shrieked with delight once again when they discovered that we were in interconnecting rooms. Obviously the novelty hadn’t worn off yet!

The Boardwalk Inn was just lovely but I had no time to take it all in as we were in a hurry to get to the outlet malls! We managed to get ourselves a taxi van to take us to the Premium outlets at Vineland Ave. Feeding the children dinner took priority...sigh, so we were at the food court until 7pm. We shopped until 9pm when the stores closed. We had to purchase another suitcase...

A hidden Mickey challenge...

in the beautiful Christmas "baked" decoration

Kept the children amused while we checked in

So glad to be back in the beautifully themed Disney World

A welcoming sight

We ended up taking these balloons to the Mall because Jonah would not let go! Shopping time was precious...no time to discipline

We returned to our hotel room with exhausted children. The corridor of the Boardwalk Inn felt so LONG when you were tired. Mal wandered into the nearby ESPN Club with Jason where they had buffalo wings.I was oblivious to his return...

The bed...calling me

Lara nearly didn't make it to the bed