Last year, I won a free entry to Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon from the awesome folks at Pace Per Mile, so of course we made a vacation out of it!  Having lived in Central Florida for 12 years, it was also like going back home and we were looking forward to seeing good friends too. We packed a ton of fun in our 8 day trip to Central Florida last month! The Half Marathon was scheduled for Sat. November 7th, so we arrived to Orlando, FL that Thursday evening and headed straight to our favorite neighborhood latin food cafe for the kids first ever Cuban sandwich and other yummy food we don’t really get in Vegas!
My cousin, who lives in North Carolina, was also visiting Florida that week!  What are the odds? So, after packet pickup and the expo for the half marathon on Friday, we met up with her and her family for a great time at the pool at Animal Kingdom Lodge where they were staying!  Next stop, dinner with good friends at their place with a few drinks and lots of s’mores for the kiddos!

Saturday morning the kids had their RunDisney 1-mile race!  It was hot and muggy but they ran like champs!  It’s so awesome seeing them have an interest in something I love doing and staying active.  The rest of the day was pretty hectic and rushed!  We had dinner with friends at the new Disney Springs, T-Rex Cafe. It’s a pretty cool restaurant with a prehistoric theme.  I wish I hadn’t been rushing so much so I could have enjoyed it more, but Jason and I had to eat quick and literally run out of there to make it on time to catch the bus to the race.  Our friends stayed with the kiddos and theyhad a fun time finishing dinner and then walking around the shops and getting dessert at Goofy’s Candy Shop!  I made it to my race on time, just to find out the race was being delayed due to the weather.  It was a total bummer, but better to be safe than struck by lightning! (YIKES) After about an hour of waiting, we were told the race would happen, but it would be shortened by 6 miles.  So, we flew all the way to Florida from Nevada so I could run a 10K! No biggie though, because there was a super fun after party for runners and their guests at Epcot’s Wine & Dine Festival and we got to enjoy some yummy food and drinks, plus we got to ride some of the rides afterwards! It was crowded but Jason and I still had a great time!

Sunday, we got to relax and hang out with friends during the day at a park with the kids.  It was so hard to say goodbye when it was time to go.  I really miss these guys and it’d been 7 years since we’d seen them!  Later that evening, we had dinner with other  family friends we hadn’t seen in a few years.  It was so much fun to catch up with them and laugh and talk like we’d never left.  Now, if only I could convince them all to move to Las Vegas with us!

Between Monday – Wednesday we crammed 4 Disney theme parks { Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot}  in 3 days!  It was a blast!  We were all so exhausted by the end of each day, but it was worth it. Our kids had the time of their lives.  They are just the right ages to really enjoy the rides and all that Disney has to offer.  I’m so happy we made the trip to Florida.  We got to visit and hang out with good friends, eat yummy food we missed here in Vegas, and the kids got to enjoy the Disney World parks!

We flew back Thursday afternoon completely tired, but happy and with full hearts!  Have you recently taken a trip with your family? Where did you go? Was it amazing? I’m already ready to start planning our next family vacation 😉

*all photos taken with Fuji X100t digital camera