Can I go back?

pix the HUS took of me on our morning sunrise date! BLISS>

Sorry for my absence on the blog. Between being on vaca, getting back to the grind and facing the fact that our vacation is over……… I have been procrastinating writing and even looking at the pix. We had a lovely time on our florida trip, but this lady didn't want it to end. ;) 

Needed it.

We stayed with good friends of ours -- Cordie and Katherine -- who happen to be our old youth kids back in the day! They moved to Jax last summer and I was so excited to go and visit them. They love our kids and were so gracious to host us at their place for 7 days! It was perfect!!!!! 

Here are some of our favs off my canon. I will post more this week from our friend's cam and my phone……….

The weather didn't care that the Cass fam was visiting for first 4 days :( But we made the most of it! The first day we took the girls to see the ocean for the first time! Bundled up and made it quick! Coffee at Lillies to follow ;) 

When I travel, I like coffee + doughnuts! A lot of C + D! Dunkin. Krispy Kreme. BLISS. My ladies approved! 

With the rain and colder temps, we got creative. We shopped…… hit up a science museum……Andy/Cordie took Zion to The Lego movie…… we relaxed….. went for coffee…… and go carting……. It was fun! 

On our first nice day, we went to a local park for sunshine in the morning! AMEN! 

After the park we hit up the beach for the rest of the day!!!!! 

Zi collecting sea shells. 

Zakiyah getting used to the sand. 

Us 4,  before we went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom- our fav from the trip. Amaze pizza!!!! 

We went to Celebration Church on Sunday! It was amazing!!!!!! After church, we went to St. Augustine for the afternoon. I love that city! It is the first city in the U.S. Lots of tourists…..shopping, food and all…..

After we bummed around the city, we hit the beach for a few hours……

We spent 3 days at the beach. PERFECT!!!!! 

my fav laugh by my HUS. He cray cray.

post emerging from the sand! Jesus, is that you? HILAR.

pretty sure my ladies love the sand. the ocean. the sun…….. sigh.

Hus and my date for sunrise//americanos//apple + blueberry muffins. Perfect way to start your day. 

Thanks Cordie and Katherine for hosting us and making our trip amaze. Loved getting away and spending time in the sun. 

Oh Disney--You treated the Cass Fam Well!

Where do I begin? What a trip for our family. 

Vacations are amaze.

I love spending time with my fam.

Perfect weather.

Sunny skies. 

toddler giggles.

baby bonnets.

Pineapple ice cream.

Mickey Mouse.

Sunscreen.

Hammocks.

B L I S S

Before we left, Noelle, our nanny, painted the girls nails. Zion had The Little Mermaid painted on her toes and Mickey faces on her finger nails. So cute. I painted Kiyah's with a bright pink to match my toes.

This was the girls first flight! Oh my word. CHAOS. I don't know if I will be up for it again anytime soon. It is crazy town. Kiyah is not a baby that sleeps anywhere. Any noise she hears she is up. For good. Zion thought she owned her row in the plane. It was an experience to say the least.

Looks perfect here. It wasn't. :)

When we got to our resort, we bummed around while waiting for our luggage to be dropped off so we could swim. Zion was a princess instantly when the staff gave her a tiara and wand. Disney treated us great. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort in Aruba! Each "island" had a beach and pool. We loved swimming almost daily! Both girls love the water like their mom and dad.

Zakiyah is wearing my baby bonnet. Everywhere we went people commented on her bonnet. Seriously, they are the best. I am in shock that all baby girls don't wear them. Perfect to block out the sun and adorable.

Zion loves the slides and swimming. She is so brave.

Disney loves the details. Everywhere I looked I saw beauty. It is so clean! I loved the art, landscaping and architecture. It was all gorgeous. It really is magical. First full day we hit Magic Kingdom. I wish we would have not gone here the first day. It took us a while to figure out the system but it was still wonderful. I loved this park the most. Zion was in heaven!

My hus forgot to pack his shorts. Let me re-phrase this. I forgot his shorts......Out of control. He always leaves a "pile" of his clothes to pack and I do the rest. I am always a spaz before heading out and I "stressed" him out so he didn't pack his shorts. My fault. Well, right. HA. So all he had were bball shorts. Classy Cass. We Amazon-ed some for next day shipping. Thanks again Amazon.

Zion was so shy when meeting the characters. So cute. Aerial was great. Kiyah loved her.

We ate at the Beauty and the Beast restaurant for lunch and The Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. It was really good. We stayed for the fireworks. They were gorg. We did go home for naps this day for sanity.

sister time on the beach at the resort.

meeting Tinkerbell and her friend.

showing Tink her matching bun. Daughter of a hairstylist. (everytime I tell people that I am a hair stylist, Zion says, "I am one too mom.")

Magic Kingdom highlights for our fam:

Dumbo ride for both girls.

fireworks.

meeting Tink

Barnstormer ride

Eating at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Little Mermaid ride

Seeing the castle at night

 (Zion giving tude in the pix)

The second day we hit Animal Kingdom. It was amazing. I loved the details and Africa!

I am wearing Tala colors. Go yellow and navy. Gotta represent.

We loved the safari ride. It was by far our favorite from the day. We sat in the front of the bus!

Zion loved telling Andy when to take pix of the animals.

DinoLand was fun as well.

Had to meet Mickey.

The girls got lots of attention everywhere we went. These two ladies were really sweet. We sat here for the afternoon parade. The floats/music and characters did great.

I mean...look at this door. WOW

parade love.

Animal Kingdom Highlights:

The Lion King Show

Finding Nemo Show

Zion getting her water bottle/fan and Tinkerbell sunnies.

Eating at a light lunch outside.

watching the parade in the shade

African Safari!

After two busy days, we stayed put at our resort for our third day. park time. pool time. rest.

After naps, we went to Downtown Disney for the second night for some din din and exploring. It was a favorite of Andy and I. We ate at Raglan Road Irish Pub. It was great. The girls had a blast. We let them each get a stuffed animal too. Bruce the shark, from Nemo and Tîmone from Lion King.

water time- always for ZION.

Zi was all about getting pictures this night.

 cuddling with daddy at Raglan Road pub.

What a good few days. It was so refreshing to spend QT as a family. Just being outside was a huge blessing. I loved watching the excitement in Zion's eyes and seeing Zakiyah being so enamored by everything. I will post more later this week from the remainder of the trip.

Have you been to Disney? Do you have a favorite place to go? A favorite ride? Restaurant that you love? I would love to hear your favs!

Happy Tuesday Y'all.