Day 4 - Magic Kingdom - Part 1

When we decided to go to Disney World waaaaaay back in January, we made one very important reservation.  A reservation that would make or break the trip.  A reservation that is so hard-to-get that parents must call or go online 180 days before the trip. 

Please imagine this......Back in January, Mom and I started screaming with excitement when we were able to make reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table.  It seemed like every girl's (and Mommy's and Grammie's) dreams were coming true - breakfast with the princesses!!!

Flash forward five months - here we are!!  The morning has arrived for the breakfast with the princesses!!!  We woke up bright and early again and caught the shuttle bus to Magic Kingdom at 7:15 am.  (Summer/Bill and the boys sat this one out as princesses were not Roy and Gavin's thang - they slept in and rode Space Mountain when they got to the park)

Seriously, everything about Day 4 was so awesome for me!  Imagine Rapunzel in Tangled swinging by her hair and screaming her head off "BEST DAY EVER!!!!"  That was totally me all day (except the swinging by my hair part).

Here are the kids dressed in their princess finest (well, Buzz Lightyear is making a guest appearance) posing by the fountain by our hotel room.

Jillian in her Cinderella best.  I did her hair and tiara and Jillian did the make-up.

His "To infinity and beyond" pose

With our reservations in hand, we had no problem getting into the Magic Kingdom.

This picture never gets old for me!!!  It makes me happy!!  I love our family in front of the castle. 

The kids posing with Walt and Mickey!!!

Let me add that I totally bought Hadleigh a size 12-18 month costume but obviously I did not factor in my 100+ percentile in height daughter and the costume was totally too small.  Oh well!!!

Jillian and the castle!!!  Jillian INSISTED she wear her Cinderella glass slippers but literally wore them for two seconds and then said "Mommy, I think Cinderella should have worn crocs."  Ha!!  So she switched!!

Mom bought us (and Summer) adorable Minnie ears!!

We arrived!!!! 

Rocco posing with a knight!

We stood in line and turned a corner and it was as if the Fairy Godmother herself had waived her Magic Wand and said 'Bibidi Bobidi Boo' because there was Cinderella.  We were dancing with joy in line as we waited to take pictures with her Royal Highness!!!

Then it was our turn!!!!  In full character, Cinderella greeted Jillian and said in her sweetest princess voice, "I am so glad to see that you and your sister dressed as my twin and you brought Buzz Lightyear."  Jillian giggled and giggled. 

Hadleigh was not sure if she liked Cinderella????

But then decided she liked her!!!!

After the pictures, we were escorted up a tiny spiral staircase and brought to the dining room.  I now understood why you have to make reservations 180 days in advance.  The dining room was very small and intimate. 

They sat us down and we were served by royal butlers.  Then trumpets sounded and Snow White was introduced and swept into the dining room.

So happy!!!

Snow White was quite captivated with Hadleigh and gave her a big kiss!!!

A very big kiss!!!  Hadleigh did not really appreciate it!!

Jillian's favorite was next - Princess Aurora!!  She signed Jillian's autograph book. 



Jillian was giddy with excitement!!!

Hadleigh and Rocco were very excited too!!

Ariel was so cute and told Rocco that her best friend, Flounder, loves Buzz Lightyear.  She said Flounder likes to say, "To the ocean and beyond."  Rocco said that was not true!!

Belle was next and gave special attention to Hads. 

Jillian loves Belle but was disappointed she was not wearing her beautiful yellow dress that she dances in with the Beast. 

Jillian got a magic wand. 

Rocco got a sword. 

On the way out, Rocco wanted to pose with the knight again with his sword. 

The actual food at the breakfast was excellent.  There were pastries and Dad and Bryan had steak and Mom and I had
French toast.  The service was great.  Everything was really perfect although it does seem to go by as quick as lightning. 

Maybe because we didn't have things like this when we were younger but Mom and I were so emotional.  She started crying at different times during the breakfast.  I teared up several times at how wonderful this morning turned out to be.  Traveling with three children this little was super hard but this morning made EVERYTHING worth it.  Jillian was in the clouds!  She still talks about it everyday.  Rocco does too. 

After the breakfast, we stopped in the restroom and changed the kids out of their costumes and into regular clothes.  When we left the castle, it was only 9:15 or 9:30.  Our day had just begun and can you imagine???  It was about to get even better. 

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Announcements

Muwhaha (that is my evil laugh) because I know my title will get your attention. And it should because I have a lot of announcements to tell you.......so let's get to it!!!!

Let's talk about this boy first!!!  He is in the middle of the terrrible 3s and somedays they can be VERY terrible, but other days, he will give you a toothache.  Very Jeykl and Hyde!!  But the one thing he has got down pat is.......

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!!  NOT EVEN AT NIGHT!!!  WHOOOO-HOOO!!!!

Mommy did not know if this day would ever get here!!!  But very much like Jillian, he came to me and clearly told me that he did not want to wear a diaper at night.  Sooooooo, we took a leap of faith and he did it and has done it every night since - not one accident.  Isn't that amazing???  Couldn't have happened sooner because those size 6s were gettin' mighty tight!!!

 This girl is just amazing!  She doesn't have an announcement this go-around but I wanted to include her and this stinking cute pic of her.  She is participating in her new school's summer reading program and can I tell you that she is slightly obsessed??  She reads a book and then takes a quiz online.  If she gets all of the questions correct, then she gets points for a carnival during the school year.  She has 1650 points so far (that is 16 quizzes so far).  I have to remind her that Mommy is on vacation!!!

This was the kids on Sunday before church.  Gosh, how I love Kelly's Kids.  I would buy every.single.thing in their catalog if I could!!!!  LOVE THEIR CLOTHES!!!!

Alright, Hadleigh's turn for her announcement......

This morning, she checked in for surgery for tubes in both ears. 

She was not allowed to eat or drink anything before her surgery which was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. 

This did NOT make bubba-girll happy!!!

Seriously, it did NOT make her happy!!  This is her in post-op and she was so disoriented.  Finally they gave her some sugar water in a bottle and that settled her right down.  Dr. said she did awesome!!!  Left ear looked great and the right ear had a lot of fluid and "thick mucus" in it.  Dr. said we need to be dilligent with the drops in that right ear and she wants to see us in a month!!  The surgery center, Dr.s and nurses were sooooooooo great that I only teared up a small amount when they took her away for the surgery!!  My Mom was also there with me and she was a great comfort to me (and Hadleigh) so thanks Mom!!

In the meantime, Pops had the older kids.  When I picked Mom up at 8:00, the kids were already in the Corvette waiting to tour the neighborhood.  Then he took them to the park where they saw over 30 deer being fed and watered and then when we got home they were in the pool having a diving contest (they saw the Olympic trials on TV yesterday).  They had so.much.fun!  Thanks Dad!!  Jillian (who very rarely takes a nap anymore) is currently on the couch...... 

Finally, it is my turn for an announcement!!!  Evidently, April and May are very dangerous times in our house.  Don't know what it is???  Are we celebrating the fact that our baby is turning 15 or maybe 16 months old??  But in the past, it seems like whenever my "baby" turns 15 or 16 months, I find myself expecting a new baby. 

However, I am happy (and I bet my Mom is reading this wondering whether she is going to be happy) to announce that Hadleigh is 16 months old and I am............................................................................

NOT PREGNANT!!!

Ha ha!!!!  That was a little cruel, wasn't it????  But a milestone, nonetheless!!!!

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

Well, now we are getting into it!!!  Everybody was super excited to go to Animal Kingdom.  We had early morning plans for a character breakfast at the Animal Kingdom.  The plan was to meet up with our whole family at the bus stop at 7:00 a.m.  BUT poor Roy - he was attacked by a stomach bug and just as the AK bus pulled up to our stop, Roy ran back to the room and got sick.  So the Summer/Bill Pearce fam stayed back and helped Roy and my family and Mom and Dad went on to the AK to save our reservations.  Our entire family wore these Mickey/Minnie safari shirts.  I found them on Etsy.  Seriously (and I am not exaggerating one teensy bit) but we were probably stopped throughout the day no less than 50 times from strangers telling us how cute our shirts were.  At one point, my Dad said, "If one more person tells me how cute I am, I am going to throw up."  Ha!!  You know the men LOVED the attention!!!

Here we are bring and early waiting for the bus to take us to the Animal Kingdom!!

Hadleigh and Rocco riding their double-wide with their fans because folks today was the hottest day yet!!!

We made it!!!!

 What we didn't quite realize was the AK had an early morning opening that day so there were LOTS of people taking advantage of the early hours.  People were pushing and sneaking around.  I thought my Mom was going to hit some people who cut in front of us but I was able to calm her down.  We found the Tusker House and waited patiently in line to check-in.  While we were waiting, Summer, Bill and the boys arrived just in time!!!!

Good Morning KK!!  So glad you could make it!!  What are you going to order??

 Our waitress said, "Why don't you hurry and get your food before the characters arrive!"  I left and got Jillian and Rocco's breakfast and when I came back, I had missed Mickey.  I was so mad.  Hello?  He is the star.  Thank goodness my Mom got a picture!

The Mickster with JP, GP and RP

Daisy Duck and GP, JP and RP

Hadleigh was having a fabulous time pigging out on all of the fruit and laughing everytime one of the characters came by!!!

Goofy with RP, JP and GP

Daisy held a parade and GP, JP and RP shook rattles and banged sticks in the parade. 

I was so happy because Mickey came back to our table and I was able to get more pics and tell him Hello!!!!

 After breakfast, we headed off to the Kilaminjaro safari.  Everybody told us not to miss the safari.  I am not going to lie.  The safari was not my favorite thing.  Maybe because we have such a great zoo in SA???  But all of the animals we saw, we have at our zoo.  Maybe because it was super hot??  Maybe because Hadleigh and Bryan were not happy in the jeep?  I did enjoy seeing the giraffes so close up because the giraffe at our zoo died.  Getting to see the animals so close is very neat!!

One of the beautiful giraffes on the safari. 

Next, Bill stayed behind with the babies and the rest of us rode the water ride (can't think of name).  Again, I thought my kids would be nervous/scared but nope!!  Both of them had the BEST time!!!

Loading up the family!!

Jillian and I sat together!!

Who should get soaked on the ride??  Jillian was in just the right spot to get the brunt of the splash down the mountain.  Again, because it was so hot, she was thrilled to be "soaking wet."

Next up was Mt. Everest, the biggest roller coaster at AK.  That was the only thing that Rocco was not tall enough to ride.  I cannot tell you how he boo-hooed when the other kids and family left to go ride.  BROKE MY HEART.  He screamed for a good 10 minutes while we were trying to feed the babies and find some shade.  Bryan said that Jillian was pretty scared on the ride but by the time she got to me, she told me she loved it and had her hands up during the ride. 

Finally, we went to the Dino Institute.  Family friends had said this ride was not to be missed.  Hadleigh had FINALLY decided to take a nap so Bryan stayed with her and I went with Rocco and Jillian and the rest of the family on this ride. 

I asked them to make a scary dinosaur face and this is what I got!!!

 Well, I am not exactly sure what I was expecting but first as we neared the ride.  It was asked to both children with whom did they want to ride?  They both answered me.  Sweet!  As we climbed into the vehicle, Rocco starts screaming that he wants Grammie and Poppy.  Well, their row is full and he has to be in a seat belt so I grab him and try to force him in a seat belt.  We all know Rocco's size so this was not going well.  The employees have to stop the ride and yell at Rocco to sit down.  All the while he is screaming and crying.  Finally get him in seatbelt and we are off.  Then he starts yelling "BAD MOMMY" and he starts hitting me.  By this time, the ride has started and they turn off all the lights and scary dinosaurs start coming out of the darkness.  Jillian FREAKS out!!!  She's crying on my left, Rocco is screaming and punching on my right, and I just want Calgon to take me away.  Good thing, the rides at all of these parks only last 2 seconds because we were out of there and it was agreed among my children that we would not go back to that ride again!!!

By this time, mabe 3:00ish, we were roasting and we decided to head back to the hotel.

Look at these sweet hot babies!!!

We decided that evening to head to Downtown Disney and check it out!!!

Waiting for the bus to go Downtown!!

 Back in February, I had tried to make reservations for the cool T-Rex restaurant and they were full.  The boys were bummed but somehow when we walked up and Bill sweet-talked the head hostess and in a flash, WE WERE IN!!!

It really was the coolest place.  Dinosaurs were everywhere!!!  They moved and roared and every 15 minutes the whole place shook with a meteor shower!!

Not in focus but you get the idea!!! 

Finally, because we were staying at Port Orleans, we could take a water taxi back to our hotel. 

It was so relaxing on the water with the wind blowing.  Everybody was very quiet and enjoying the ride.

Another day over but not without a visit from the Disney Fairy!! 

Next up, Magic Kingdom!!!!