a week with family

finally! a chance to sit down, breathe, and write a post since before my family got here. everything was incredible. the day they came, i spent the morning cleaning the apartment, getting it "show-ready" (disney slang) and packing my suitcase (full to the brim with clothes because i couldn't possibly decide what i was wearing every day, and of course i packed way too much..again.) i was ready and waiting for them to come pick me up... chomping at the bit, i kept texting and calling them to see where they were because they were taking forever. after a while, i decided to be productive so i started doing things around the house, and as soon as i did, i heard a knock on my door. i was never so excited. seeing them made me ecstatic, in fact, so happy i was crying, obviously. we then went to our hotel, checked in, went to publix to get a few supplies and then went to downtown disney. downtown disney wasn't as pituresque as it normally is for me because it was so packed with people that you could barely move. but i didn't care. i was with my family, and so happy.

the next day, we woke up (before seven in the morning i may add,) and got ready for hollywood studios. the four of us eating breakfast together was so nice and something that i definitely missed. the first thing we did at hollywood studios was get our fast passes for rock n roller coaster, because clearly i was taking the family on that without a doubt. we went to see beauty and the beast (which ben and dad really must have found less than interesting because sleep took over,) and did more of the attractions there (including rock n roller coaster, which mum did cry before we went on, and during the ride, i just had to say) until the rain came down, as i promised my family it would. it poured and poured and leaving was not an option without getting ponchos since we had no other rain gear. the four of us wearing ponchos really was quite a sight to see, but because of the rain, we decided we weren't waiting for an hour to see fantasmic.

the next day was animal kingdom. we did a couple things, like go on everest, watch the festival of the lion king (which is always brilliant) and watch bugs life 3d. that was the most hilarious thing i have ever witnessed. not so much the show, but ben's reactions. oh my god he was so funny, screaming in his monotone. i'm pretty sure he thought everything was real. in fact, ben was our entertainment for the week, and every ride or 3d show we went on or saw, we all called to sit next to ben just so we could be closer to him for his priceless reactions. we left animal kingdom early, so we could meet some of our family for dinner that night, which was also lovely. we had lots of laughs until it was time to go home.

the following day, we went to epcot. i insisted that we didn't need to go super early because we wouldn't want to spend like twelve hours there because we'd have time. we didn't have time. we first ate lunch in england, which was jolly god. then we did so many rides in the future world that we didn't even have time to spend time in all the countries. it was a rush while i was trying to get us to a great spot to watch the fireworks. we ate dinner in morocco while the show was going on, and i was so upset because we couldn't fully see the show, but we watched it. niza had joined us by the time we got to the countries so that was nice that i could introduce my family to her. we dropped her home and headed back to the hotel since we had an early start the next day, which was fathers day.

we woke up and gave dad his cards and little gifts and got ready for our breakfast at the crystal palace with winnie the pooh and friends in magic kingdom. even though we had to wait a little while to be seated, it was so nice because when we came when we were little, we ate there for ben's 4th birthday. we even got pooh to take a picture with us in the same exact spot we took it in when we were there those tweleve years ago. after magic kingdom we hit the park. i first took my family back to main street show i could show them where i used to work, and i had the privelege to introduce them to some of the amazing people i used to work with, and miss very much. afterwards we did all the rides we could, we ate lunch in pecos where i got to introduce my family to my newer co-cast members, watched the parades, and 'the magic the memories and you' and the fireworks. it was such a magical day, because magic kingdom has always been so sentimental to me, because it's everything i remember about disney. in fact, the whole trip was so magical and perfect. 

the next day, we had no idea what our plan was because we had suggested about a hundred different things, but mum (surprisingly) made the decision to go back to epcot to do the things we hadn't had a chance to do, which was a great idea. there were so many things i had never even done in the whole five months of me being here (some things i didn't even know existed,) so it was really nice.

the last two days we just did a couple random things, like going to some stores, and the outlet and whatnot. on the last day we went to florida mall, so i could get a pedicure and dad could buy me another (much-needed) suitcase. they then took me to publix to buy me some groceries and they took me home. we said our goodbyes, but it wasn't too emotional because i'll be seeing them in three weeks (now two weeks and four days to be exact:( .)

i was just so happy to see them and have them for a week, and i was so happy that i got to introduce them to some of the friends i have made up here. friends that for the last five and a half months i have talked about to them, dying for them to meet them. i know my parents loved all my friends (because they still tell me about it,) and i'm so proud to have the best family possible to show off to my friends, to have made such wonderful friends that i could show off to my family.

the night they left, we were just liming at a friends house, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the bottle of extra old that dad bought up for them to try. the next day it was back to reality, after an exhausting week of being a guest. i was happy to go back to work, because i, in fact, missed it for the week i was gone. the past couple of days have been storm-like weather. in fact, yesterday it did not stop raining literally all day long. it rained and rained from the time i woke up in the morning until all hours of the night. in the early hours of the morning it stopped, but when i woke up again today, it was down again. apparently we've been under tornado watch, but i don't think that's really happening. actually, i got to work yesterday, and alike many other cast members at magic kingdom (i'm not so sure about the other parks,) i got to work to get told that i had the day off. so back home i went and just waited for a little while until i went back to magic to meet some friends to go to epcot. i thought that plan might have been voided since we were basically in a storm, but no, "we only live once," so we went to epcot. we got soaked. absolutlely soaked. using the umbrella was pointless because it just got turned inside out and was stronger than me, and i couldn't wear my slippers because my feet kept slipping out of them. the three of us were an absolute mess but it was an evening i'll never forget. we even watched the fireworks from the usually reserved area (but due to the weather it wasn't reserved, since there were barely any guests in epcot,) trying to huddle under the baby-sized umbrella i have while the rain poured down on us, and the wind made nearly blew us away. it was such a funny situation. i think we were the only people in the entire park that weren't wearing ponchos. everyone was a mess. but it was wonderful.