Magical Spring Break

I don't even know where to begin. I think I could fill up pages of blog space with all of the details from our magical Spring Break. So, I will try my best to condense it to the most magical of the memories made. And, for more details, just visit with Trip and Mady and they can fill you in on the rest, since they have not stopped talking about it! We waited until the day before we left to tell the kids we were going to Disney World. We sent them on a mini-scavenger hunt which led them to two t-shirts: one with Mickey Mouse and one with Minnie Mouse. Then we explained that we were going to where Mickey and Minnie live...Disney!!! It took a few minutes for it to all sink in, but once it did, they were pumped!!! We left Thursday afternoon and drove all the way to Orlando. We checked into out cabin at Ft. Wilderness around 11 pm. Trip slept a little in the car, but Mady stayed awake the whole time. We got to watch the fireworks display as we drove in that night! Trip and Mady got to share a room, so it took a few minutes for them to settle down and go to sleep. And, then just a few short hours later, I woke them up to head to the Magic Kingdom! From our cabins, we could take a boat to the Magic Kingdom, which of course, the kids thought was great! We got there when it opened and got to see Mickey and friends open the park! The look on Trip's and Mady's faces as they watched were priceless! That first morning, we headed straight to Fantasyland and we were able to ride everything there in less than an hour....I was amazed! We waited around to meet Donald Duck and Ariel and Prince Eric. Then, as we were leaving for the day, Trip wanted to wait in line to see Mickey and Minnie. Even though we warned him, it could be a long wait, he wanted to do it anyway. So, we headed over to their meeting location, and in less than 10 minutes we were alone with Mickey and Minnie! I was shocked! It was so easy and the kids were in heaven. Then, we stopped to grab a popsicle on our way out and got stuck at the front of the afternoon parade. I would've thought this would be a big inconvenience, but somehow, we managed to snag a spot right up front and Woody and Jessie from Toy Story came right over to give Trip and Mady high fives! And, then Mady got to see Ariel again! I thought she was going to fall over from excitement when Ariel spotted her and waved to her from the float! After a full day at the Magic Kingdom,we took the bus over to Downtown Disney for another surprise...the T-Rex cafe! Trip had asked me if there were dinosaurs at Disney World and we found them! The first thing Trip asked our hostess was whether the dinosaurs were real...Trip chose to believe they were and spent the rest of our time there talking to all of them! Every 15 minutes, there would be a meteor shower, which at first scared the kids, but after the first few times, they loved it! After dinner, they got to dig for fossils in a big sandbox outside the restaurant. Despite the expensive, tasteless food, the experience was amazing! The kids both passed out after their baths that night...until about 3:45 a.m., when we heard sweet Mady start crying. We'd let her sleep in the bottom of the bunk bed, her first time in a big girl bed. And she managed to find the one tiny part unprotected by pillows and fell out! It was so sad, but she was super brave and wanted to get back in and go back to sleep. Trip, on the other hand, could not stop thinking about Maleficent, the witch from Sleeping Beauty. We'd seen her in a show they do in front of the castle and Trip was scared and couldn't stop thinking of her. So, after calling us into their room 4 times, TJ decided to just go sleep in there, so we could all get a little more sleep before our next big day at the Magic Kingdom. The next morning, we got up bright and early again and headed back for more magical fun. We only stayed until lunchtime and then headed back to have a picnic at our cabin and take some naps. We went back that evening to see the Electrical Light parade and we even got to ride a few more rides too. The kids loved the parade! And, afterwards, we fought our way through the crowd back out to our boat dock, where we got to watch the fireworks! It was a perfect ending to two perfect days at the Magic Kingdom! All in all, we rode the Cinderella Carousel 4-5 times, Peter Pan 4 times, the Indy Race Cars 3 times, saw Mickey's Philarmagic (this awesome 4-D movie) 2-3 times, Thunder Mountain with Trip 2 times and everything else under the sun! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect time! Our third and final day, we headed to Epcot. Getting there turned out to be quite an adventure on it's own. Unbeknownst to us, they don't open up the monorail to Epcot until later in the morning, but we managed to get on the first one, and we were the only ones on it. It managed to stop 3-4 times in the middle of nowhere before finally making it to Epcot. The kids didn't seem to mind though and they had fun at Epcot too. I think our favorite part was the Turtle Talk show with Crush the big turtle from the Nemo movie. Oh, and Trip and Mady loved the seagulls outside the Nemo ride..."Mine! Mine! Mine!" Trip finally got to see Figment, the purple dinosaur/dragon on the Imagination ride! And, Mady got to have lunch with the princesses! Between the Figment ride and the Princess lunch, Trip suffered a major meltdown from fear of the dinosaurs in the Energy ride. So, we skipped the ride, which did not go over well! But, he managed to move on, until he was kissed by Princess Belle at the lunch! After that, he didn't want to hug any princesses or have his picture taken for fear of another princess kiss! While we all had fun at Epcot, we were all tired and ready for the next part of our Spring Break...time with Pitty and Aunt Betsy! I think 3 days is the maximum we can do with these two at Disney World, without a day off for rest in between.

We all rested and relaxed with Pitty and Aunty Betsy the next few days. We went to the beach, swam in the pool, went to putt-putt golf and just had a fun time! Trip and Patty even got to go to a little garden with alligators and other fun animals. I managed to throw out my back and then get in a little fender-bender with a woman who not only didn't have a licence, but also no insurance, and no green card! Seriously! We made it back home, bad back and all, in less than 10 hours on Thursday, which is a record for our family. We are all still talking about Disney, already planning our next trip there! It really was Magical!!!