Disney World--Day 2

On day two we went to Hollywood Studios. I keep calling it MGM Studios because last time I was there it was called MGM. This park reminds me a lot of California Adventure. It was a lot of fun and had a few of my favs like Tower of Terror, Toy Story and Space Tours. Sadly, I only took one picture at the park. Shame on me, I know!

After Hollywood Studios in the morning we headed over to Epcot for lunch. We ate at the Mexican restaurant and the atmosphere was amazing. There was a river going through the restaurant and a huge Mayan temple with a volcano going off in the distance. It was delicious!

At the aquarium in Epcot

Some scuba divers giving us thumbs up

Oh no! Claire got eaten by Bruce!

Sun in our eyes, but had to get a picture with the Epcot ball

They had an awesome flower and garden festival going on with tons of characters made of shrubbery and flowers.

Overall a very fun and exhausting day!

Disney World--Day 1

Nathan's brother Stefan came home from his mission almost two weeks ago and we all met at Disney World to celebrate. It was so much fun! I love being with family, especially at Disney World. I can't even begin to explain the magical feeling I feel there. Be ready for a picture overload!

The Van De Graaff clan can't handle spinning (weak sauce!) so Kevin and I did the tea cups alone.

Leah was dying to go on the carousel.

The NEW fantasyland was awesome! This is Belles castle.

Gaston's Tavern, a new restaurant 

Ariel's new castle

The whole gang in our awesome Van De Graaff Reunion shirts.

Nathan got a hair cut, I told her to make him look like Ryan Gossling and she did a pretty darn good job!

The girls got there hair done, sparkles and all.

 We got to eat dinner in the castle!

And we saw all the princesses during our dinner!

Leah making a wish.

Repunzels tower and the castle as sunset

And we saw one of my favorite parades, the Electrical Parade. I hadn't seen that parade in over 10 years!

My personal favorite, Peter Pan

Now don't worry, this is only day 1! More posts to come.

Gettysburg

Like I said in my previous post, our days are winding down here and we are trying to do as many things as we possibly can! This weekend Nathan and I went to Gettysburg with our good friends the Jensens.  It was only an hour and a half drive and the drive was gorgeous! I loved seeing the rolling hills with little barns.

Our cute friends, the Jensens

We went to the National Gettysburg Museum and I learned so many new things. I though this sketch down below was awesome. It's crazy to me that they have this from over 150 years ago.

There was this amazing painting there that was 360 degrees that wrapped around the entire wall and was 50 feet high. It looked so realistic.

 We also saw our good friend there honest Abe.

We visited the memorials. Interesting fact: if the horse had one leg up that meant the man riding the horse was wounded in war, if both front legs are up the man was killed in war and if all four legs are on the ground the man escaped the battle without injury.

BFF

We ate at a fun little diner where I made sure to where a bib because I cannot eat a meal without spilling on myself.

The cemetery 

Loved the architecture there.

Tough guys posing by the canon.

And we met a confederate! 

It was a fun packed weekend and we are going to miss our friends the Jensens!

Our days are winding down

Our days here are winding down. We are so sad to be leaving this amazing city. There is so much to do here and the majority of it is free! It can't be beat. With the few weekends that we have left we have been trying to hit up all the "tourist-y" sites. Last week we went to the American History museum where we saw:

The Sun Stone from the original Nauvoo Temple

Dorthy's red slippers

The counter and chairs from the Greensbourough sit in

Jarrett celebrated a birthday

And this weekend Nathan and I went to Manassas to see where the Battle of Bull Run took place

Stone Wall Jackson statue

We are sad to be leaving this great city but excited for the adventures ahead!

The Big Move

The rumors are true, Nathan and I are moving to Sacramento! It is bittersweet. We are excited because it is with a job that Nathan will really enjoy and its on the West coast but we are so sad because we will be leaving great friends and family here. We will start a journey across the country April 1, so all our friends in Chicago and Provo better be ready for us!