Visiting Blizzard Beach at Walt Disney World

Throughout all the years and many trips we've taken to Walt Disney World, a water park was never in our plans. It's not that we didn't want to go - we just never had a true reason. As Brayden got older and discovered his love for water slides and all things swimming pools, we decided a visit to Blizzard Beach on our recent August trip was the ticket!

Getting there without a car wasn't super difficult, but it wasn't a straight shot either. If your stay includes Coronado Springs resort or All Star Movies, a direct bus is available to Blizzard Beach. From all other resorts, you must first take a bus to Animal Kingdom park, then transfer to a Blizzard Beach bus from there.

We made it just as the park was opening! Perfect timing!

We were excited for our first visit to a Disney water park! To be honest, it felt strange being on Disney property and having no clue where we were going!

Goofy was out to say hello!

Our day began in the gift shop and we also rented a locker to hold our bags and things we wanted to keep dry.

I loved all of the theming around the park!

We started off in the little tykes area (which was too small for Brayden), so we moved on to the intermediate kids area. It was perfect for him! 

We also rode the ski lift to take the raft ride down. I wish we had a chance to ride the raft ride one more! It was a lot of fun! (Next time!)

Mid day, we stopped for lunch and both Jason and I ordered a chicken sandwich which was very good. Brayden had his usual chicken nuggets! :)

After stopping to enjoy the wave pool (and finally figuring our way around the park), bad weather came rolling in...of course. This caused everyone to have to evacuate all pools and slides.

We spent a lot of time hiding under a cover for rain that never came. In total, we missed out on about 2 hours of water park time. We were disappointed but totally understood due to the safety concern from the thunder/lightning/and dark ominous clouds. It really looked like it was going to downpour!

While hiding out, Brayden played in the sand and had a total blast doing so! 

That bucket came from his kids meal. Good timing, right? :)

We decided to call it a day, around 5 p.m. (park closing time was 6 p.m.)  Our dinner reservation was for Ohana that evening and we didn't want to be late, so we took an Uber back to our resort to shower. Also, the bathrooms at Blizzard Beach include showers, so I was able to give Brayden one while there (mostly to get all of the sand off of him). 

Would I return to Blizzard Beach again in the future? Most definitely!! I felt like we were just getting the hang of the park when the bad weather rolled through. 

Our current debate at home? Return to Blizzard Beach on our summer 2022 trip or try Typhoon Lagoon for the first time? Help us out - What would you do?

Weekend Getaway - The Woodlands and Astros

This past weekend, we took a little getaway to Houston, Texas for some time with family and to catch an Astros game! In my search for water-related fun in the area, I stumbled across The Woodlands Resort and I'm so grateful I did! 

I'm getting a little ahead of myself, though. Let's start at the beginning of the trip, shall we?

It all began with a stop at Buc-ee's, as always!

Brayden looks forward to our Buc-ee's stops almost as much as the trip itself! When I ask if he loves Disney World or Buc-ee's more, his answer is always "both of them"!! 

Within a few hours, we arrived at The Woodlands Resort. Check-in isn't technically until 4 p.m., but guests are invited to begin swimming at noon on check-in day. To my surprise, our rooms were ready and they were placed right next to each other as I'd requested! Perfect!

Our previous water park attempts this summer were mostly rained out (we were 2 for 3 on rainouts), and I knew I wanted to find a place to stay that had more than just a swimming pool. 

This place was perfect and totally fit the bill! It wasn't a full blown "water park", but we still had a lot of options and had we had a blast, too!

They even had a few fire pits around for evening smores! So fun! 

Our rooms were nice and spacious and the balcony view of the woods was incredibly relaxing.

After dropping off our bags and checking out our rooms, we headed for the pool!

Brayden seriously wasted zero time and jumped right in!

I am so glad he has overcome his fear of enclosed "twisty slides". He loves them now!

There was even a lazy river at this resort, which we took full advantage of.

Midway through our float, we spotted another "twisty slide", so we paused to let Bray have a little fun.

That evening, we enjoyed a few smores by the fire pit. They were delicious!

I'm a huge fan of burnt marshmallows. Anyone else? :)

Notice my marshmallow stick - it was stuck! Hah!

The following morning, I enjoyed the sunrise from our balcony, then we checked out of our resort and drove to Ihop on the way to Minute Maid Park. 

Brayden thought it was hilarious that he had five pancakes for five years old! He ate them all, too! 

Strawberry banana pancakes is where it's at.

Meanwhile over at Minute Maid Park, we arrived just as the doors were opening! Perfect timing.

We also spotted our friend Mickey along the way!

Apart from last year, I have a photo like this with Brayden from every single Astros game we've been to since he was born. Such a sweet memory!

We also met up with my brother and sister in law.

Before long, it was nap time. I'm shocked at this kid's ability to sleep anywhere, and he got a good hour long nap in!

Ice cream in a helmet is always a must at the ball park. :)

They won!!

We had a blast and I so enjoyed this precious time with my sweet family!

On our way home, we stopped at - you guessed it - Buc-ee's again!! :)

Where will our next adventure take us? Hopefully to Great Wolf Lodge! We planned a trip there last fall, but due to Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta, we had to cancel our plans. Second time is a charm, right? :) (Let's cross our fingers for no more hurricanes!)

Have a great week!

5 Year Update & One Magical Summer

Ever since Brayden turned 5 back in April, I've been in a bit of a denial about Kindergarten. How did it sneak up on us so fast? Knowing I truly wanted to make the most of the time we had this summer, I decided to turn the summer before he started Kindergarten into his most magical summer yet! 

Throughout the summer weekends, we swam, ate snow cones, went on road trips, visited the park, loved on family, swam some more, and by the time it was all said and done, I knew that our mission had been accomplished. 

This will likely be my last official "Brayden update" as he is now 5 years old and although he is still growing and changing, it's not as rapid as it was in previous updates. But, here we go...

Clothing: 5T tops - Shorts are mostly 4T or 5T. 

Pants have to be at least 5T because he's such a tall kid! 

He's in a size 11 shoe.

Weight: 42 pounds (estimated)
Height: 44 inches (estimated)

Watching Brayden grow into his own little personality has been so much fun. He's still silly and loves to make people laugh. He's definitely not the shy kid I was!

He still takes naps everyday and I'm fine with that because they do in kindergarten at his school, too! As far as eating goes - well, his variety hasn't changed much although some choices leave me scratching my head. Apart from his usual chicken nuggets, fries, sweet potato fries, spaghetti, pizza, tacos, yogurt, etc, he now will eat lettuce. Yes, like salad lettuce from a bag. He also loves a green smoothie concoction my mom makes. Kids are so funny!

Earlier in the spring, we took him to our local beach. It was such a nice afternoon and the weather was perfect! We had a great time until Jason hurt his foot (he's fine) but Brayden will tell you all about our day at the beach and how his dad injured his foot if you ask! 

He also played tee-ball this year which was SO interesting and a lot of fun to watch! For a first year kid, he learned a lot and I'm excited to see how next year looks for him! 

In June, we took a road trip to Missouri to visit family at the Lake of the Ozarks. We spent 80% of our time out on the water and Brayden LOVED it!

The whole week was very relaxing and something we all needed. It truly was a great getaway!

While in Missouri, we took him to his very first water park. He loved riding all the rides and sliding down all the slides, but he discovered the green slide pictured here and must have gotten on it about 100 times! He still talks about that water park today!

As the summer drew to a close, we packed our bags and headed to Disney World! I wanted to end Brayden's magical summer with a truly magical experience - at the most magical place on earth!

While there, we visited Blizzard Beach water park which was a first for all of us! It was fun but we were rained out of a good bit of our day (more on that later).

We also rode the Skyliner which y'all know is his absolute favorite!

We also said hello to several characters throughout the week, rode plenty of rides, ate a ton of yummy food, and just enjoyed being together!

I hated to see the summer end, but we returned home from vacation literally the day before Brayden started school. Nothing like making each and every single day count, right? :) 

...and now we have a big kindergartner! 

On his first morning as I was trying to get him dressed, he told me that putting on his uniform was so scary. I reminded him that he already has braveness inside of him because his name Brayden literally means brave! I am proud of how much of a rockstar he has been since that moment! 

At drop off, a sweet first grader was helping kids find their classroom. He asked where Brayden needed to be, we told him, so he took Brayden's hand and walked him to his classroom. Brayden never looked back. It was absolutely precious! 

He rocked his first day and has done amazing since! I am excited to see what this year has to hold! 

Here's to an incredible year 5! Brayden says it's been a pretty awesome one thus far! 

For those of you who have followed these updates for a while now, thank you!! I'll still be back with snippets of fun things in our lives and our crazy adventures so stay tuned! Thanks again for following along! It's been so much fun to share this journey with you!