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!!!