On our final day in Florida, Melissa brought me some leftover muffins from our Character Breakfast that I snacked on while packing up my things at our hotel. The Wilson fam came to pick us up around 9:30, and we all went to see the Cars section of our hotel, then went back to Donetta‘s to hang out as the Wilsons finished packing up. Side note, but I was very impressed with Karli's packing skills and how much they fit into a small space, including protein powder and creatine and their Disney store purchases, etc. Another side note, but I learned that Chet sends Donetta flowers every November to acknowledge the anniversary of her first date with Richard, as well as Richard’s death in 2020 - I love his thoughtfulness in things like that, going out of his way to help and care for the people he loves!
Okay, so from Donetta‘s house, we went to the Town Tavern restaurant in Celebration, Florida. Did I mention that Donetta lives in a town called Celebration on a street named Celebration Avenue? So fun! I would let go of the tree-themed street name dream to have an address that joyful. It's a very cute town, or "creepily perfect" as Chet phrased it. lol
Our lunch with Donetta, Debbie, Ava, Teresa, and our Disney crew was a lot of fun! Teresa and I split the sliders appetizer, and Chet and Karli were excited about the lobster chowder.
I insisted on getting a few photos of the Wilson fam with Donetta, so we walked across the street to get some pictures by Jeffrey Edward’s favorite lake in celebration! I’ve heard Chet talk about Donetta a lot as his favorite aunt, but haven’t seen many photos of them together, so I wanted to add a few on this trip. After lunch, I rode with Donetta and Teresa to the airport, and we picked up Erin, Ava's older sister, on our way. It was good to meet Erin and get to know Donetta more through the course of this trip!
Photo break... Cars pics of the kids with GiGi and Gramps!
Lunch pics at Town Tavern
And lake pics!
Teresa, Donetta, and Debbie (Chet's mom, aunt, and cousin)
Lake selfie
Airport pics...
The airport was a bit of a hot mess nightmare, reminiscent of round one. I told Chet perhaps this is why I tend to love airports and he doesn’t. I was quickly aware that my usual experience of people watching happy greetings (Love Actually style) while rolling a small suitcase and listening to my music or sitting down for a quick snack is a very different experience than the Wilsons working to get two large suitcases + folding up the double stroller and divvying up all the bags it was holding + a large car seat bag + Teresa's luggage and a wheelchair for her + helping two little kids navigate their way through security... it's a lot, and I applaud their patience!
I sat between Chet and Teresa on the flight home. Chet watched Pirates of the Caribbean and talked with us a bit while I edited/narrowed the final two days of my photos (yaaaay - that always takes forever, so having a 2.5 hour stretch to work on it was helpful) and Teresa worried about the grandkids and offered comforting snacks. lol
We had a smooth nonstop Allegiant flight home, and after a lengthy wait on our luggage at baggage claim, we went back to our cars where I was parked across from the Wilson van. I knew I would see all of them again on the very next day when I came back to Tulsa for Mrs. Doubtfire. What a gift their friendship is to me!! In the same way that the NYC tour with Tom Orzo forever changed my perspective on New York City, this trip gradually changed my view of Disney World, and I'm thankful for that! It's still a lot of work and way too much walking and hotter than it should be in November, and NYC still feels aggressive and semi-claustrophobic to me... but I'm able to appreciate more of the beauty and notice details I was missing before, and there's a lot to be said for that!
Karli and I both have childhood memories of family vacations featuring long drives to Disney with a combo TV/VCR plugged into the cigarette lighter. lol Chet Lee's first Disney trip was as a married adult with the Weatherford fam, and he's been a Disney fan ever since! He particularly appreciates the fireworks and the "song about dreams coming true," inspired by Walt Disney's pursuit of big dreams that brought people together! I am thankful to understand more of the heart behind his love of Disney and the desire to create great memories for his kids, and I'm thankful for the perspective shift on my end and that I didn't give away my Park-Hopper passes! lol
2017 pic at Chet's office with his famous Disney fireworks painting!
Okay, I'm legitimately tired, and I still have homework I must focus on later today, but I wanted to write these posts while this is all fresh on my heart...
Fair thee well, Disney World. ❤
Hope to see you again soon!
In closing, here's an 8-minute slideshow of our trip to an instrumental Disney medley! It's decidedly one of the cheesiest things I've ever made with the Disney gif at the beginning and them waving goodbye at the end, which means it's also one of my favorite things ever!! lol
No comments:
Post a Comment