Days 1-3, DIsney

I an effort to not miss out on all that we are doing in Disney I think I'm going to write it down. It's hard to believe that we got here on Wednesday I feel like we packed so much in that if we went home today, I wouldn't think that we missed out on much.

We haven't even tried to push ourselves and "get it done". We are heading out with tips from awesome friends in had, a few reservations and a great set up from a friend with connections for a parade. Otherwise we go in with a general idea and come out thinking, "Wow that worked out really well!".

We had the privilege to experience the best flight that we ever have taken. This was great as there was a high probability for relocation if the flight was not enjoyable for the bugs. They have never flown before. Really it was all about the gum. Now it's all about the gum and the ability to watch shows on Daddy's IPod.

We arrived early and had no trouble getting to our resort via Magical Express. Little Miss Elaina decided to not nap, since she was so excited. Who cares that she was up since 4am. We got to our room, checked things out, got settled and off to the Magic Kingdom we went. We entered the park in the middle of a parade, which was a great way to set the tone. Then off to dinner at Cinderella's Table. We were told that there would be mice and the Fairy Godmother, but no Cinderella. Imagine the surprise when we were escorted into a photo shoot with the Princess I can vividly remember trying to meet when I was little. Too bad we really look like we just got off a plane and had been up since 4am! dinner was delicious as was the entertainment. We, of course got her autograph too.

After dinner we had to ride her Carousel since she mentioned it when we talked with her. There was no wait anywhere in the park that night. So we not only did that, but we also rode Dumbo, "it's a small world" and met Ariel! (She was confused by the bigger bugs at first and they realized there were 2 of them. That always amuses us.) Then it was back on the boat and off to bed at the resort.

Yesterday morning we were off to EPCOT first thing. We had to have breakfast with the Princesses in Norway at Akershus. It was delicious! There was a bit a a glitch getting in to the park, as Allan left his wallet in the hotel with ID, and Ticket inside. The cast member at Guest Relations was nice enough to reprint tickets for Alexa and Allan without our ID. She told him that he needed to have ID on him. He said that if he had his ID then he would have the tickets.

So we sprinted to the World Showcase. We got there in time to wait for our names to be called, shin splints and all. We had a photo with Belle, and visited with Cinderella, Ariel (who both remembered that they met the girls the night before I was pretty impressed by that), Aurora, and Snow White. I really loved how Belle looked at the bugs and said, "Oh I see we have matching tea cups!"

Then we decided to make the girls ride the boat ride in Norway. They really liked the ride, but hated the theme. I am still in trouble for it. It was a little darker and scarier than I remembered. Not a good move. Whenever there is downtime or something scary, it tips off the fragile emotions that we have and someone cries about Ava. So we decided to press on and find some princesses. We really did not plan on being in EPCOT all day, but the times that the characters were appearing, dictated that we were. So we did. We found Snow White, again, Belle, the Beast, Gideon, Marie, Jasmine, Mulan, Winnie-The-Pooh, Alice, Mary Poppins. Most we happened to be in the right place at the right time. We did have to stalk Jasmine and Alice though. There were no lines though, which was great. I was so amazed at Emily when she marched up the the cast member handling Mary Poppins and asked her if she was doing autographs. So out of her character and so cute! Emmy has taken responsibility for meeting what ever character she can find and getting every one's books signed if someone is too scared to come along.

After the World Showcase we took the girls on Spaceship Earth. Emily and Alexa both hated it as it was too dark. Emmy eventually came around and Alexa will never trust my ride judgement again. It stirred up a lot of emotion in her. So we trudged to see Figment and never made it. We ran into Chip and Dale for autographs and photo ops. Elaina did not want to participate, but then cracked up when she saw Chip tickling Emmy. "I thinks Chip and Dale are crazy. Thems make me laugh." she then laughed for five more minutes. It was great. By that time we were all done. Off to the Resort we went. Hung out in the room for a bit and then dinner at Whispering Canyons in our Resort. Back to the room for bath and then off to the Magic Kingdom for "Wishes".

Ok so the kids are overtired. Emily and Alexa drank TONS of drinks at dinner. Nobody likes loud sounds. We get a great place by the castle- we needed to make sure that we saw Tinker Bell fly out of the castle (mostly for me, but the bugs really wanted to see that too). Things were ok, until we couldn't wait for the potty anymore and sleepy Elaina got glow stick goo in her eye. House of cards, house of cards.

We get overtired Elaina calmed down. The need for potty is growing. Fireworks are getting louder. I grab one bug in each arm and carry them through crowds of people, trying to get to the potty and back again before the show is over so I don't look Allan and Elaina in the mob. Tink flies out of the castle and we all agree it's cool. Then we're off. We made it back in time to reunite with the rest of the family. No child is happy. No one at all. Fireworks over (what I saw was awesome) and Elaina was asleep in the stroller before we got on the boat.

This morning was laid back. We hung out until the girls got restless and off we went to the Magic Kingdom. Today was Emily's day to feel sad. But we were greeted my Daisy and Pluto when we got into the park. We only had time for a photo with Daisy. While we were waiting there was a mini parade. So cool. Elaina loved that. She wasn't too into meeting many of the characters (which should be oh so much fun at our 7:25 breakfast with Mickey et al). Emmy gets Lain's book signed though, Lain really wants that to happen.

Then we took the train to Mickey's toon town. Only a 45 minute wait to meet Tinker Bell, Fawn and Terrence. Praise God for Skittles! I made those last the whole wait. This was the only wait we really had. Then we went through Mickey's house, played on a playground. Then lunch. We ate near Dumbo. There were no tables. An opportunistic Seagull can swooping in an stole Elaina's hot dog in one bite. A cast member working Dumbo gave us a voucher for another one. By the time we got that it was time to make our way to our special seating for the 3:00 parade. (Thanks to a friend of mine!)

Our seats were awesome. The girls got to play with Hula Hoops while they waited as well. We caught the tail end of a show in front of the Castle as well. The parade came right next to us and Emily got to high five EVERY character that came by (except Captain Hook and Jafar). Can you blame her?

Everyone was getting grumpy before the parade, but not anymore. That totally turned them around. We decided to check on Pooh's ride. Fast pass obtained. Off to a visit at Minnie's house (Elaina was talking about it all day). Then Goofy's Barnstormer. OK our Kids LOVE roller coasters. They were WIRED and ready for more. They all want to go on it again. (It was pretty cool especially for a kiddie coaster). Maybe when we come back they will be tall enough to go on Space Mountain with me! We ran through Donald's Boat and then off to Pooh's ride. Everyone loved that too. After this ride Alexa told me that she really misses Ava, but she's not crying, just missing her. Why stop there? Mad Hatter's Tea Cup ride. The bigger bugs decided to try and really spin the tea cup and say boo to me so that I would be scared. (This steams from Uncle David liking to get me dizzy and scaring me when were little.) Then off to Alladin's Magic Carpet and time to head back to the Resort. That's when we stumbled into the Dance Party parade. Conga in the streets! The girls loved it.

Now all are tucked in for the night. We have been talking about how it's ok to have a great time and not be sad all the time. It is. We are learning to have fun in spite of our grief. The grief is real and just under the surface, but the fun is real too.