When in Florida.

(Photo overload, I know, but we have a lot ground to cover.)

My dad (Bacca) recently escaped what sounds like one of the worst winters Wisconsin has had in recent memory and came to visit me, Khan, and Lily.

Most kids go to Disney with their parents when they're about 5 or 6 years old. I'm a little older than that, and it was about damn time I got that experience. (But I'm not bitter.)

The thing is my dad isn't really the whole crowd/theme park/Disney thing. He's more of a nature-loving, beautiful quiet places kinda guy. And that's fine. We did that when I had to haul backpacks full of crap to the middle of nowhere Michigan/Wisconsin.

But we're in Florida now, and when in Florida, you wait 45 long minutes to save $14 in parking fees to go to the happiest place on earth.
Unfortunately, we arrived on Main Street at the worst possible time on one of the busiest days of the year. Just after 3, in other words, right at the start of the afternoon parade.
I was worried that Bacca would hate it right from the start, but he didn't mind. He took pictures.
And he got some good shots from that vantage point.
We pushed our way through the crowd to get to the Crystal Palace for late lunch. The waiter brought a special "first visit" pin for Bacca to wear against his will proudly sport all day.
Piglet came by to say hello.
Lily gave him a kiss.
And Tony the Tiger. Or Tigger, but what's the difference, really?
After lunch, we went off in search of the Mouse.

No, not this guy.
The wait was almost an hour, but Lily did great. She found ways to amuse herself. (Seriously, though, how is it that she can wait so long in a line, but she gets spastic if she has to wait 14 seconds before Mickey Mouse Clubhouse starts? I really don't get it.)
And then she got to meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.
And we got our group shot.
While standing in that line, I was eyeing the People Mover. It's just some simple ride that does exactly what it sounds like. Step into moving cart/train, and ride it around Tomorrowland. And there was no wait. A break for our feet, and Lily loves anything train-like. Win all around, right?

Wrong. It turned out that a few parts of the route were in total darkness. Lily was not a fan.
So we headed for my favorite, the Teacups.
After our two rides, we made one last visit to see the princesses (and you know what happened there), and then we said good night to the Magic Kingdom.
Another day, we went to the beach. Miss Lily was seriously determined to go swimming in her gold fish.

I was so certain that it wouldn't be warm enough to do anything but walk on the beach that we were painfully unprepared for the warm, sunny day at the beach.
Luckily, as a last-second thought, I grabbed Lily's swimsuit, just in case. She wasn't too excited about the sunscreen, though.
Eventually, she and her fish headed toward the water.



And she played in the sand every now and again.
And then back to the water. Repeat scene for about 2 hours.

Just when we had everything packed and ready to leave, Lily did a random sand dance.
Another day, Khan's family came to visit and grill out. Overall, we had a really nice time.
But Lily struggled with having to share her toys.
I laugh so hard every time I look at this shot.
Even with all our Florida sight-seeing, we had quite a bit of time to just enjoy at home.
Catching up on phone calls.
Eating dinner.
And Lily served us lunch! Repeatedly. Bacca was a good sport, though, and he ate up all his lunch as instructed.
Mommy complained and didn't get what she wanted.
Not Bacca, though. He had a nice lunch, and a nice visit, I hope.