Orlando

Last week, I went to Orlando for work. My mom met me to keep me company and we had a great time. The weather was great (in the 90's) and the hotel was only 3 days old so we had amazing service and got to be the first ones to sleep in the beds, use the showers, towels, etc. That was definitely a first for us! When I arrived at the hotel, I found out that I had been upgraded to a suite and when I got to the room there were 3 martinis waiting for me. I tried each one so that they didn't go completely to waste but I was there for work...

Brand New Hilton Bonnet CreekThe suite - it had two full bathrooms which worked out great for me to get ready in the morning while my mom slept!The pretty martinis waiting for me!Outside of the conference room - the hotel was gorgeous!

On Sunday, after setting up the room for the meeting the next day, my mom and I headed to Downtown Disney to grab a bite to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. We were both surprised by how busy it was but it was still fun to walk around in the warm weather.

The whole week went well as far as work goes. I would work from around 6:30/7am until 3/4pm and then had most of the nights open to do things with my mom. My mom slept in, hung out by the pool and then got ready for the night. There were so many staff and not very many guests since the hotel just opened so my mom got waited on hand and foot by the pool. She got all of her glasses cleaned multiple times, had towels laid down for her by the hot tub, was given cold wash towels, etc. She really enjoyed it! She is also so friendly that I think the staff also enjoyed talking with someone.

My mom in the hot tubThe beautiful pool setting - there was an awesome lazy river

On Monday night, we got after 4pm tickets to the Magic Kingdom and had a great time. The park was all decorated for Halloween which made it fun. The lines were longer than we thought it would be so we decided to do all of the kid rides that we like during the parade. We started out slow by going on "It's a Small World"...I hadn't been on that ride in a long time so it was kind of fun. My mom really liked the Buzz Light Year ride and once we rode it once, she wanted to ride it again. Since it was during the parade, there was no line so we did ride it twice...she was so funny! We both don't like roller coasters but I thought we should do something more courageous than Pirates so at the last second, I talked my mom into going on the Thunder Mountain Railroad. Brandon had talked me into riding in a couple years back and I didn't remember it being so bad so that is what I told her...well, it is a little different in the dark! She screamed and grabbed on to me the whole time but was a trooper. We did get to see the fireworks while we were on the ride which distracted her for a second. Thanks Mom for being so brave!

I had to take a picture of my mom with the menu of the restaurant where we ate at because it never fails that she gets her way with things that most people wouldn't. When we arrived at the restaurant we were told that they were all full and were only taking people with reservations that were made awhile ago, so I didn't think we would get in because I have also heard that you have to make reservations at any Disney park restaurant months in advance. My mom asked if there were any cancellations and they indicated that there wasn't, but being my mom, she didn't take no for an answer and told them we would just wait and see. Well, it turns out that not even 10 minutes later, they came over and told us that "we had a reservation and could be seated right away"! Incredible! Everyone else that inquired walked away but leave it to my mom...she is amazing!

Halloween Decorations!A Small World - I wasn't sure if flash photography was allowed or not because my mom and I were probably talking during the instructions...oh well!Our nice dinner at the restaurant that we got to eat at - the PlazaMy mom's favorite ride - Buzz Light Year (for those that haven't been on it, you get to shoot things with a laser for points and it keeps tracks of your points)We were both pretty focused!I loved all of the decorations!My favorite character growing up was Goofy!The beautiful castle at night

On Tuesday night, we went shopping at the outlets and had a wonderful time. We even forgot to eat dinner since we were so busy with shopping so we had to eat on our way home at 10pm. At one store we came out of the dressing room with the same dress on! It was so much fun spending time with my mom.

Sweater dresses - don't ask me why they sell these in Orlando?!?

On Wednesday, we had a reception to go to for work so my mom came with me. We ate so much at the reception that we didn't have to eat dinner that night. Afterwards, we walked around the Waldorf Astoria which was connected to the Hilton and just opened as well. We also went out to the pool to get in the hot tub. We had been up so late the past couple of nights that we went to bed earlier, since my mom had to leave at 4am the next day...

I stayed until the conference ended on Friday around 11am and then took a flight back to Minneapolis and then caught another flight to Portland. My aunt and uncle picked me up and drove me over to Black Butte, Oregon to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday that weekend with all of our family. I will post pictures of my time in Oregon this week once I get home. It has been nice spending time with family but I am also anxious to see Brandon. He is on an easier rotation so I know that he has some more time off...at least he will still be on this rotation when I return so that I can spend some time with him.