our princesses meet...

the princesses!!!!!

after waiting far too long for our bus to epcot and racing our way through the gates to get to "norway"...we finally made it to the princess storybook breakfast on saturday morning! this was AWESOME. there just really isn't another word to describe it!

it was at the akershus and just has to be every little girls' dream come true! each "royal" family is called by name to come have their portrait made with belle. about two months before we left for disney world, ella made "belle" some cards that were sealed in an envelope. this child remembered to pack these little treasures in her suitcase and THEN remembered to bring them with us to breakfast so that she could give them to the princess!!!! i just thought that was the sweetest thing! belle was very gracious...and ella was radiant!!!!

the breakfast was actually very tasty...for disney food!!!!!! HA! each table was served a large platter of scrambled eggs, the most delicious potato casserole, bacon, and sausage and then there was an enormous buffet of fresh yogurts, fruits, cheeses, and pastries...all very, very yummy! my girls were SO glad to see some fresh berries!!!!!

all throughout breakfast, the princesses came to the table to have their picture made with the girls! we were able to video their faces but i wish we could have captured their words a little bit better. they were just so precious! maddie wanted to sing for ariel...but when she started...instead of singing "part of your world" - she began to sing "somewhere over the rainbow"!!!!! it was hysterical...and ariel was very sweet!!!!

once again, ella was treated like a princess for her birthday and received a cupcake at breakfast! at the end of the meal, each little girl was given an 8x10 picture of the photograph that was taken with belle!!!!! this breakfast was definitely a highlight of our trip!

once we finished up, we decided to hit some of the main attractions in epcot. we headed to the nemo ride and then stayed for the "talk with crush"! really, really cute!

did i mention that ava was absolutely amazing during this vacation? well, let me mention that ava was absolutely amazing during this vacation! when she is 21, i want her to know that her mommy bragged on her demeanor during our first vacation as a family of 5 (plus honey and grandpa!). she was such a little doll...willing to hang out in her car seat the MAJORITY of the time...with minimal to NO fussing! aaahhh...she is such a sweetheart!!!

anyway, after a quick pick me up (aka giant mickey mouse ice cream sandwich!!)...we moved on!

we made our way to the ferry so that we could boat over the hollywood studios! ok guys...it was h.o.t. on this day and i was getting a little bit worried about ava because i can't imagine how hot she must have been so we found our first "baby care" station once we reached the new park. they are really nice!!! they had these little dark rooms with rocking chairs so that you could nurse in quiet, privacy, and most importantly AIR CONDITIONING!!!! the girls watched a little mickey mouse show and cooled down a bit themselves...then we changed the little newbie...and headed out!

we did the great movie ride, watched the last moments of a live "high school musical" performance, debated about whether or not ella and jeffrey were going to do the "tower of terror", and then decided that our last feature would be the live "beauty and the beast" show! it was a cute little show with lots of singing and bright colors...but ava did not really think so. i really believe that she was SO very hot...so her loving grandpa took her out of the amphitheater for me so that i could enjoy the show with the big girls (what a guy!)!

we closed down hollywood studios and headed back to our resort so that...you guessed it...the girls could S.W.I.M!!! that was on the brain all day! mom stayed in the room with ava so that jeffrey and i could take ella & maddie to the pool...and granpda even swam too! it was lots of fun going down the water slides together and watching ella's "swim dance" performance. have i mentioned that she is six...and that i can't believe that? we'll definitely get to that later!!!

anyhoo, we swam, swam, swam until it was time to hit the hay. we needed to rest up for our last full day of vacation! i know i went to bed smiling on this night too...

such a fun, fun time together!!!

a little bit of magic kingdom...

day 2 of disney started out slowly...because we had not gone to bed until after 1 a.m.! i had a character breakfast scheduled but quickly realized that zzzzz's were going to be way more important than pancakes with mary poppins!! we all slept in (just a little bit) and got ready to head to the magic kingdom for the day! however, we had a little issue that delayed us just a bit.

i must explain.

the night before, as we were getting ourselves ready for bed...remember it's after 1 a.m....i was nursing ava and all of a sudden there was this huge explosion in our room. it startled all of our sleepy selves, i called the front desk to alert them that there might have been some kind of electrical problem, and we assured the girls that they were going to be just fine. i mean it was loud y'all!!! we didn't think too much more about it and went ahead and rested with our weary little people!

the next morning, we wake up and get dressed, and we're loading up the stroller (our big, double, nice, plush...girls are going to be very comfortable stroller) and we realize that the huge explosion we heard was OUR STROLLER TIRES! that's right people...completely F.L.A.T. tires! what a huge bummer...now what! well, i wasn't going to go down without a fight! we went to our resort's bicycle rental shop to see if they might have some tubes or something to repair it. my hubby and grandpa knew this wasn't going to be possible...but i think they also knew that i was determined...so they just let me have my way! in the end, we scrapped the double stroller for the WHOLE vacation and bought two unbelievably overpriced umbrella strollers from the magic kingdom because that cost less than renting one!!!! (the nice stroller registry where you can rent comfy strollers was completely out).

anyway, it took me several hours to get over this little fact (i don't like change!!!) but i eventually came to terms with our new arrangements and we got down to business...having F.U.N!!!!

right when we entered the magic kingdom there was a parade going on so we had a great time watching that head down main street! our first stop was going to be getting fast passes for space mountain...which we promptly did! we were to report back at 1:09 p.m. so we grabbed a quick bite to eat and decided to take maddie and ava on their first "ride"! the mass transit authority. it was hilarious...because if anyone knows about this attraction (i use that term loosely) then you will know that it is basically these little box cars that travel at turtle speed...but maddie LOVED it! she would squeal and clap...it is a moment that i won't trade any time soon!

while we were waiting for space mountain, we went to the monsters inc. show. really cute! the funniest part was they chose "our boo" to be the "boo" from the movie...the precious little girl! she thought it was funny that her face was up on the big screen! just a few moments of fame for the disney novice!!!!

after a quick nurse, it was time for daddy and mommy to take ella on her first BIG roller coaster ride! she was SO very nervous while we were zooming through the line with our fast pass but she was determined to "face her fears" (her phrase she came up with on her own!!).

she wanted daddy to sit in front and me to sit behind her...and she LOVED it! once again, her first word afterwards was AGAIN! thank goodness for the rider swap...because that's exactly what she got to do! honey and grandpa took her AGAIN while jeffrey took maddie to "drive" a race car, and i took baby ava to attempt to get a fast pass for splash mountain. they were all given out for the day, so i grabbed a few for thunder mountain!

the crew met up and we were able to ride "it's a small world" together! i wish i could share with everyone what ava's face was like during this ride. if only we could have known what was going on in that little brain of hers! her eyes are big and blue...but her eyes were BIGGER the whole time! that ride is just precious anyway...i can't imagine seeing all those colors through the eyes of a baby!!!!

we took a break for a snack and then hit the haunted mansion. maddie was definitely not too sure about this one...but made it through just fine! ella thought it was hilarious that it was SO pretend! when this was finished, we thought we would give madeline and thunder mountain a chance...

remember those minnie mouse high heels...

well...

they worked!!!!!

she was tall enough to ride the ride and her smile was HUGE! this little person was hilarious! her first EVER roller coaster ride...and she held her hands up the whole time!!!!! i had such a blast riding with two of my favorite girls! we laughed so hard together...we rode two times in a row!!!!!! jeffrey was able to catch us coming around the big turn and snapped our picture...even though the "minnie heels" worked...maddie was so tiny you could barely see her head!!!!!

we did a few more things like aladdin, swiss family robinson tree house, and the carousel...before we decided to bid the magic kingdom "adieu"! on the way out though we stopped off to enjoy one of the most delicious snacks ever...a pineapple "whip" thingy!!! mmm mmm good! our middle child thoroughly enjoyed that...no surprise there!

once we left the park, all ella could think about was making her way to the pool. i seriously think that we could have rented a hotel room in bossier city, let ella swim, and she would say it was the best vacation she has ever had. this child L.o.V.e.S. to swim! the pool at saratoga springs had a couple of water slides and she had such a ball!!!!!

it was such a fun, fun day. i love that all of us were relaxed and flexible...this trip was for the girls and we went about our day for them! so many moments are etched in my mind and on my heart...i'm pretty sure i smiled in my sleep!

which speaking of...we had to rest up...because the next morning...

we were going to be eating with royalty!!!!!

here is just a taste of things to come...

we've been like "cousin eddy" at my sister's home for a week now...because we've had a broken a/c. good thing she's welcoming and we're flexible...because this was not the week that we needed to be "homeless". needless to say, lots of things have been going on in our little lives...and i WILL get to it all...just don't quite know when!

our 2nd day at disney

3rd day at disney

3rd day at disney...and yes, that IS my little girl you see...

last day at disney...boohoo

one little person's first real trip to the dentist...

pictures of our new deck...that my amazingly talented husband built with his own two hands...

celebrations of life...my sweet baby turned S.I.X

end of year "bash" at the girls' school

we made it...

to disney, that is!

i mostly want to recount every moment of our trip...because i NEVER want to forget it! it was magical to say the least...we are home, trying to get settled and rested - because life resumes WAY too quickly...but not a day has gone by since we left orlando that i haven't thought about our trip and smiled...it was just that wonderful!

we left on thursday morning, bright and early, and headed to monroe to catch our flight! all three girls were dressed in these precious little dresses...like little royalty waiting to meet mickey himself!!!!

our flights went off without a hitch. the girls ate the WHOLE time...but hey, that's what vacations are for right?!?! we took the "mickey express" from the orlando airport right to the front door of our resort - saratoga springs! this is what maddie & ava looked like when we arrived:

bless their precious hearts...they just couldn't stand all the excitement!!!! all of our girls were issued their first visit buttons and ella was given her "it's my birthday" button (which would prove to be the equivalent of disney celebrity status) and we were off to take a quick peek at our room before we headed to the magic kingdom! with only a few days at disney, we had no time to waste!!!!

entering the park for the first time was SO exciting for me! i don't think the girls quite knew what to expect, but for an adult visiting again for the first time in over 20 years...all those memories came flooding back! everything looks the same! we walked down main street, taking in all the sights and sounds, and somehow made our way to frontierland...home of thunder mountain railroad!!!! remember that birthday button...well, a disney employee just happened to notice that it was ella's birthday (did i happen to mention that i'm in complete denial that i have a six year old...well, yes - i am...) and gave us three fast passes to ride immediately!!!!! it was a BLAST!

seeing ella's face during her first BIG roller coaster ride is just one of the many moments i will never forget!!!! the very first word we heard out of her mouth when it was over was "AGAIN"! we had to get to our dinner but we promised her we would ride it AGAIN when we got back!

dinner was scheduled for chef mickey at the contemporary! during the course of our meal, the girls were able to meet mickey, minnie, donald, goofy, and pluto! ella's face was priceless...she loved every minute...while madeline was a bit more skeptical! it wasn't until minnie mouse came on the scene that she would have anything to do with those "things"!

once again, the birthday girl was treated like a true princess and thus began the obligatory cupcake at every meal!!!! even breakfast! it was really sweet...all the characters came out and everyone sang happy birthday to all the little people! ella's smile was so sweet! she was very gracious...even though she doesn't eat cake!

there's another tiny person in our family that most certainly does...and she was happy to partake!!!!

once our super fun supper was complete, we headed back to the magic kingdom so that we could see the fireworks and watch the spectromagic parade! it was spectacular! when we walked into the park, one of the employees directed us to liberty square where we could get "front row" spots! this is where the girls got their first glimpses of the princesses...snow white even walked right up to them and blew them kisses...i truly don't think they knew what to do with themselves!!!!!

did i mention the parade didn't start until 11 pm?! we figured that we only live once, rain was expected during the only other time the parade was going to occur while we were there (it did end up being rained out on sunday), and WE WERE AT DISNEY WORLD...normal rules don't apply!!!!!!! the girls had a blast playing and waiting for the parade...it was so very worth the experience!

when the parade was over, we decided to ride thunder mountain one last time! mom, dayne, ella, and i sprinted through the line and rode it together! oh the laughs...but poor little maddie was heart broken. if only we had teased her hair, she would have been tall enough to ride! well, her daddy was not going to let that vertical challenge defeat him...while we were zooming through the mountain, jeffrey took maddie and ava to one of the gift shops and found some minnie mouse high heels that he felt like would give her the boost she needed to be tall enough! he bought them...and you'll just have to wait to find out if his plan worked!!!!!!

we said "goodbye" to the magic kingdom for the night...assuring we would be back in the morning...well, in a few hours...because by now it was after midnight! all three girls fell asleep in various laps on the bus...and got snuggled into bed to catch some zzzzz's in order to prepare for another full day of disney!

what an awesome way to begin our amazing vacation...day one...definitely a success!!!!

to be continued...