The Chens flew to Orlando for the Chen/Rawji family vacation of a lifetime. For Ashley and Anna, it was the first time flying ever. The first night, we enjoyed some Indian style cooking at home and spent time together. It was like home, like we’ve all known each other all along!

The first day we went to the world famous Daytona Beach. For the Chen’s, this was the first time at a Florida beach! The water was so warm, the sky was clear, and the waves kept coming in! It was a perfect beach day and we all had a blast.

After the beach, we enjoyed eating at one of Dad Rawji’s favorite Daytona restaurants, Salsa’s.

After eating and going to the Daytona Flea Market, we went to Buc-ees, the United States’ second largest gas station. Tyler loaded up on fudge and Aubrey fell in love with the Buc-ees mascot, for which her parents had to buy a little Buc-ee to take home. One of the cutest things was Aubrey saying “I love you Buc-ee” to the gas station mascot. Last stop before home was the Daytona Flea Market where Kaden, the birthday boy, got his early birthday gift of an orbi toy gun.

That evening, the “kids” went out while the adults rested up at home. First stop was Downtown DeLand. Unexpectedly, DeLandapalooza was going on. There were 22 concerts simultaneously going on throughout all downtown. While this was fun to sneak into and check out, after a little bit we were ready to move on to the next adventure. We headed for Gator’s Dockside where Anna tried gator tail for the first time.

Now it was time to rest up for Disney! The next day we headed out early to get as much of the day at Disney as we could. Magic Kingdom here we come!

The whole day was magical. Somehow, all 13 of us stayed together the whole day! So many rides, so many shows, so many parades (including a pleasantly unexpected rainy day parade), so many things to see and do. Aliya and Kaden helped me and Leanne buff up our Disney pin collections. We saw it all, we rode it all, we ate it all!

The night ended with a spectacular fireworks show over Cinderella’s castle. Though it was raining and eventually pouring, that didn’t stop us from enjoying the amazing show.

Time to get home and rest up! The very next day we headed for Universal Studios.

Diagon Alley, The Mummy ride, and all the other sites and attractions were incredible to see. Nothing like pumpkin juice and butterbeer!

That evening, Mom Rawji made “Marry Me Chicken” with pasta, as well as a Carrabba’s inspired dipping sauce for Publix white mountain bread. The dinner was a massive hit! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dad Chen eat so much in one sitting, but I could understand why because the food was incredible.

While Ashley was trying to put Aubrey to bed, she looked at Leanne and said “I want out!” Of course, Leanne said she should go to sleep. Aubrey then played her next trick, “I’m hungry” while holding her tummy. Hook, line, and sinker, Leanne was like putty in her hands. Leanne took her to the kitchen and got her a strawberry to eat. Aubrey ate the tiniest part of the strawberry then proceeded to play every game she could think of with everyone. Peek-a-boo, hide and seek, floor is lava, telephone, etc. etc. etc. We ended up all staying up a few hours later than we all expected just talking, hanging out, and playing with Aubrey.

This was such a fun and rejuvenating week in Florida. Spending time with my family on both sides was so fun, and only made better by how it felt like we had all known each other all along. Everyone felt at home and had a great time. I wouldn’t trade this week for anything.