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!!!!!