Friday, May 4th MAGIC KINDGOM

On Friday we let Madeline be the birthday girl. She got to wear the birthday pin, and we celebrated with an INCREDIBLE lunch at Cinderella's castle. Seriously, if you ever go to Disneyworld, you HAVE to have lunch at Cinderella's castle. First was a meet and greet with Cinderella herself. Complete with pictures! (I'll scan mine later...) Then up a winding staircase for lunch in a room adorned with stained glass windows. Visiting during our lunch was Fairy Godmother, Belle, Snow White, and Aurora. Madeline was THRILLED.










Magic Kingdom was fun all the way around though. My personal highlight was riding Thunder Mountaion Railroad with my kids. They BOTH loved it. It was so much fun. We rode Splash Mountain too. Maddy was really proud of herself, but didn't want to do it a 2nd time. Garrett went for ride #2, but was NOT happy, as we got COMPLETELY soaked that round.







It was a LONG day, as we were at the park for opening, and stayed through fireworks. But a great end to a fun trip.

May 3rd- Happy Birthday Garrett!

Thursday was Garrett's birthday and we spent the day at DIsney MGM Studios. We went to a birthday breakfast for him with some of his favorite cartoon characters from Playhouse Disney. He was pretty funny- not wanting attention directly at him, but he was big on the singing and dancing with the other kids. He loved the cake I'd ordered for him as well. His favorite ride of the day was Star Tours- he LOVES Star Wars even though he's never seen any of the movies. So that ride was pretty fun and the guy at the entrance made a huge deal about it being G's birthday- let G lead the line, ect. It was pretty cute.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Garrett!

Daddy trying to wake Garrett up on his 4th birthday. Garrett said, "BACK UP!"

Yes, even I am dancing with the Little Einsteins. 'When in Disney...'


Garrett loved his cake!


Carter thought people at 'Beauty and the Beast' were clapping for him. He was thrilled.


Seeing a "REAL" Storm Trooper made Garrett's day complete. Although, he has no clue who Storm Trooper are.

May 2nd "Rest Day" (not)

These pictures are from the opening of Magic Kingdom. I love how at first the kids are just glazed, and then the excitment builds! THIS is what it is all about!

So Wednesday was supposed to be a hang out and lay low day...but it didn't turn out that way! We decide to hit Magic Kingdom for a while in the morning to do Fantasyland and Toon Town. The kids were DELIGHTED. The highlight of the morning though was the teacups.



We rode once, and as we got off Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter got on the teacups and rode with a lucky family. Papa Bill saw that and saw the wistful look in sweet Maddy's eyes. So he asked if they could ride with Maddy and Garrett, and they did! Maddy was SO happy and excited, and Garrett was in a daze (he has no clue about Alice in Wonderland!). It was truly magical.








After a long morning at Magic Kingdom and an awful lunch at Downtown Disney (boo and hiss to Fulton Crab House), we spent a long afternoon in the lazy river at our resort. Niiiiice.

Animal Kingdom (May 1)

On Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. It is one of Disney's newer parks down there, and still on the small side, but it is one of my favorites! Madeline LOVED the "Kali River Rapid" ride there- she rode it 3 times! She was very proud of herself for being so brave. Garrett wasn't such a fan of that one though, as one of his quirks is that he HATES to get wet. And we got SOAKED on that one. He held it together though.

We started the day out on "Triceratops Spin" which is suspiciously like Dumbo...a big hit with my mini thrill seekers.



Gotta love the river ride!



Sweet brothers digging for dino bones.


Reading the map as a team.

Epcot! (April 30th)

We spent our first whole day in Florida at Disneyworld. So much fun! Our first ride was 'Test Track,' and you are pretending to test out new cars- speed, breaks, turns, ect. It is a pretty fast ride at the end, and Garrett LOVED it. It turned out to be one of his favorite rides overall. Madeline...not so much. I guess Garrett is definitely our dare devil, and I bet none of you are surprised!

Auntie Bec and Sissy walking towards Epcot.


My sweet family- ready for a day of it!


Margaritas at the happiest place on Earth! Cheers!


Look how they grow HUGE pumpkins at Epcot. So cool!


We ate dinner at 'Italy' that night- so yummy.

On Our Way (May 29th)

After a LONG (yet short!) night at a hotel near PDX, we were ready to begin the adventure! We had WAY too much luggage for 2 adults to be in charge of. But we were happy! The Bigs had new travelin' clothes courtesy of Nana Pam.

Carter KNEW somethin was up. He was wild and hyper on the plane- he loved it! I was exhausted by the time we arrived in Orlando from trying to prevent him from screaming on the ride. All the kids did pretty well. (Snaps for Dramamine.)

Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig

Ah. We are HOME! We had such a fun trip to Disney World in Florida. Great memories. But we are exhausted and happy to be back home as well. I am will post a recap of our week soon!