In the midst of the “stay in” during the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many moments of anxiety and fear. To helps assuage those fears, I have opted to focus on the positives during the last few weeks. For example, I am enjoying this relaxing time at home, nurturing bonds with my children, reading voraciously, creating art and catching up on some blogging. When I choose this perspective, the situation actually seems more like a vacation than a quarantine.

Speaking of vacations, we traveled to Florida in early February for our annual trip to the Florida Keys. This year, we spent a few nights in Orlando and visited Walt Disney World.  Although we visited Disney in 2017 and 2018, this trip was extra special because our youngest is currently princess obsessed and both girls are now old enough to really appreciate the trip.

Now, I will preface my summary of the trip by saying that time spent at The Magic Kingdom with children is absolutely exhausting and, at times, rather frustrating; however, the work is ultimately worth weathering the story of tantrums because the memories that you are giving your children will last them lifetime. Yes…that is right, I just used that cliché, but it is true. There is no place on earth that presents a magical experience like Disney. At each corner of the park, a tourist is given the gift of optimism and fantasy. Each and every event that the park presents is designed to show children that there is a world of possibilities out there waiting for them if they just believe. I am aware that to some of you, these sentiments seem nauseating, but in this day and age it is refreshing to be surrounded by such positivity. In fact, I wept like a baby during the Happily Ever After fireworks show, which is quite an accomplishment because I am not one who is known to cry easily, just ask my husband. My kids were so elated that it made me so happy, hence the tears.

The highlight of this Disney trip was the visit to the Bippidi Bobbidi Boutique at which our girls experienced a princess makeover. The fairy godmothers in the boutique are so wonderful and they treated the girls like royals. We also loved our dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is located in the castle. During this dinner, the girls were able to dine with all of their favorite princesses and Tim and I were able to relax a bit and have a glass of wine. While we were at dinner, Tim received the call that he was finally going to be promoted to captain in the FDNY, making the dinner a celebratory one; it was the perfect way to end our trip to Orlando.

Although the girls were sad to leave Disney, they were ready for the next adventure. We drove south where we would spend the remainder of our vacation in the Florida Keys. This year, we chose to stay one night in Key Largo and the remainder of the time in Key West. There is no place I enjoy more than Key West and this trip was particularly special because my sister, who also travels there annually, was visiting at the same time. We were able to have some fun family time and the girls were thrilled to spend time with their older cousins. Our family spent a lot of time at the Havana Cabana hotel and we will definitely be staying there during our next vacation. The staff was wonderful, the pool is amazing, and they have great food and drinks.

We don’t do much while we are in Key West. Our goal is to unwind and relax, so we spend a lot of time doing things we love: swimming in the pool, biking around town, long walks and fine dining. During this particular trip, we decided to take an excursion with the entire family and opted to do a sunset cruise. In the pastime the girls were too young to do something like this, so awe were really excited to get out on the water with them and enjoy an exquisite Key West sunset. I can’t think of a better way to end our family trip.

As it is always our goal to unwind and unplug, I didn’t take my camera out much during this segment of the vacation, but I did capture a few images with my DSLR and some with my iPhone. Here are a few of my favorite moments.