Disney - Day 5

We overslept this morning! Whoops! We hurried and got ready and headed to our day at Epcot! I didn't think there would be a lot to do there, but we loved it! We met the other Phillips family there and we all rode the Nemo ride together, which was SO neat!! Probably one of my favorites from the week. Its one of the newer rides, so it was really cool! We left there and did the "Crush Talk" w/ the turtle from Nemo. It was super cute too! We went and rode the Figment of the Imagination ride after that, which was pretty good. Then, it was time for me, Deb and Sadie to go our Princess lunch in Norway. Sadie was STRUGGLING, b/c it was H-O-T for the first time all week, she hadn't eaten anything yet all day, and she was tired. So, I actually let her eat a sandwich while we were waiting to go eat w/ the Princesses. It totally helped to perk her up and give her some energy. As soon as we walked in, Belle was standing there for pictures with each child. Sadie was in heaven! She was so sweet. She had her picture made with Belle (in her matching Belle dress, of course) and then we were seated for lunch. I had a roasted shiitake mushroom ravioli w/ a parmesan cream sauce and it was delicious!!!! Once we were finished eating, here came the princesses!!! First was Aurora. Sadie loved her! Then, Snow White...then, Cinderella again! Next was Ariel! Sadie couldn't believe it! All of her favorites were there! After the princesses all came by, they let each child go on a "princess walk" around the little castle. They all lined up and they played a precious song, and yes, at that point, I cried. I couldn't help it. Sadie just looked so happy and I knew I'd never forget that sweet moment of seeing her walking behind Cinderella with all of those other sweet kids. Mc and Alba came in too and we got to see them before they went to do their lunch. We met up with Dennis, Sawyer, and LJ after that. They had gone to eat lunch in Mexico and then rode a Voyager ride while we were doing our Princess lunch. We walked around all of the countries. It was GORGEOUS! Epcot is so well-kept and the surroundings are just breathtaking. It was neat to see each country, although we didn't really stop and go in, b/c it was H-O-T, and we were all DRIPPING w/ sweat! We did get to see storybook Belle and the Beast, and Alice on our way to go ride "Soarin". We did Fast Passes for Soarin, so we wouldn't have to wait. It was an AWESOME ride. Probably the coolest ride so far. It literally felt like we were flying over all parts of America. The coolest part was that the ride ended by us flying over the Magic Kingdom into the fireworks. The kids loved it! We went and rode a little boat ride also and then headed home for rest time. The kids were even more exhausted today b/c the heat was out of control! They napped until 6:00 when we HAD to go and wake them up. They were both dead asleep! I think we have officially worn them out, but we CAN'T STOP NOW!!!!!!!!!!! We ordered pizza (our resort has an onsite Pizza Hut, KFC, and A&W restaurants), ate quickly and headed to Hollywood Studios. We went straight to the Pixar section, saw that the Toy Story Ride was on an hour and a half wait and were bummed... But, Dennis turned around and saw Buzz and Woody, so we jumped in line and let Sawyer have "his moment". Sadie has had LOTS of "moments" all week, and it was now Sawdawg's turn! He was REAL excited to meet his 2 favorite peeps! It was awesome! The worker made sure to sneak over and tell Buzz and Woody that Sawyer has been waiting ALL week to meet them. So, they spent a little extra time with him. Sawyer RAN up to Buzz and yelled "To Infinity and Beyond" and then he ran to Woody and said "There's a snake in my boot"! It was hilarious. Afterwards, we went and got to see Mater and Lightning McQueen. Another 2 of Sawyer's faves! We went to see the Muppets 3-D show. It was precious. Then, we went and rode Star Wars. It was actually pretty cool, but it totally made me nauesous. Too much moving and shaking for me! We made our way back over to Toy Story and only had to wait for about 10 minutes! Woo Hoo! The ride was really neat!!! The kids loved it! Afterwards, we went and saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was another show and it was really cool! Once that was over, the park was closing, so we had to leave. It was a GREAT, GREAT day. The weather was AWESOME tonight!!!!!! We have definitely been BEYOND blessed this week!!!!!!! I realized something tonight...even when I have been so tired, beyond exhausted, body hurting, sunburnt, carrying 250 things, sweating profusely, tired of waiting in lines, sick of people, etc...NONE of that matters when I get to see my 2 kiddos living it up and having the time of their life. I learned this week to throw selfishness out the window and I have soaked up every single minute with my family. I'm not sure when we will be able to do this again, so I have definitely cherished EVERY single moment. I haven't let a day (or an hour) go by when I haven't just stopped and thanked God for allowing us to be here at such a time as this!

Disney - Day 4

We got to sleep in a little bit today, which was nice. We went to Typhoon Lagoon as soon as we got up. It was amazing. I've never been to a water park quite like this. The kids LOVED it! Sawyer went down all of the water slides about a thousand times. Sadie loved the lazy river the most. We played and played in all of the water stuff until we were ALL pooped!!!! We came back to the condo and rested for just a little while before getting ready to go to the Cinderella dinner. Sadie got all dressed up in her beautiful white Cinderella gown. I pulled her hair back in a tight bun, put on a little bit of make-up, and put her crown on. She looked so beautiful!!! I almost cried. She was so confident in the sweetest way. You could just tell she was proud of herself. We arrived at the Grand Floridian for our Royal Cinderella dinner. It is such a beautiful resort. We all met and ate dinner w/ Rach, Daren, Mc and Alba, and Rach's parents. They do it so neat there! They sound a trumpet and announce each "character" before they enter the ballroom. Prince Charming was first, followed by Cinderella, then the stepsisters and the stepmother. Sadie was starstruck. It was adorable. Sawyer even enjoyed it all! All of the female characters left him BIG lipstick kisses on his cheek and he was precious. Then, Prince Charming and Cinderella do the Waltz together. It was magical. The cast all stays in "character", so it was hilarious to see the stepsisters fighting. The stepmother came over and was "mad" and made them hug and make up. It was just awesome! After dinner, the big adults came back to the condo while we all decided to go and do Magic Kingdom for a little while. We headed over and rode Dumbo, Goofy's Barnstormer (several times), Peter Pan, It's a Small World, and the Mad Hatter Tea Cups. There was hardly a wait for any of them, except for Peter Pan, but it wasn't bad. Sadie and McHaney were so excited to get to finally ride some rides together. They were so cute. We headed out of the park around 10:30 and got stuck in the LONGEST line for the Monorail. The kids were beyond exhausted, but we made it home close to midnight. We were so glad that we went, b/c we had a great time!!!!!

Disney - Day 3

We FINALLY got to sleep in this morning. Praise the Lord! I slept til after 8:30 and so did the kids. I felt like I could've slept all day! We had planned on going to Typhoon Lagoon today, but the radar didn't look good. So, we decided to use today as our "swim at the condo" day. We swam in the pouring down rain and still had a ball. It only rained for a bit and then it was just cloudy. Luckily, our pool is heated, so we were warm and toasty for the most part. The kids had an absolute ball. I think they could've stayed out there all day. We did stay for several hours. We ate lunch out by the pool and swam some more. We came in and let the kids take naps and then we ordered some pizza and got ready for the night. LJ took the night off tonight, so Grammy came with us and we went to Downtown Disney. We went straight to the World of Disney store. My personal favorite! I love that store and I am pretty sure I could spend hours in there!!!! It's the biggest Disney store in the whole world. We walked around all of Downtown Disney. We wanted to ride the big hot air balloon, but they saw some lightning, so they shut it down for the night. We got the kids some ice cream and went over to the ampitheater and watched some of the show. I went to another one of my favorite stores, Ghiradelli, and got me a DELICIOUS brownie!!!! Y-U-M!!!! We had a great time. I definitely do NOT want this week to EVER end!!!!!!!

Disney - Day 2

We started out our day, a little earlier than I would've liked, at Chef Mickey's. We went to bed SO late last night, that I could've slept MUCH later than 7:00 a.m. this morning! However, Chef Mickey's was a HUGE success! It was so much fun! Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all came around and we got to have pics made with all of them. The kids were fired up the whole time. We left there and headed to Animal Kingdom for the day...or, so we thought...we went in and immediately went to "A Bugs Life" 3-D show. Some of us (adults) thought it was great! The kids, well, not so much. It was a big much for them, b/c spiders came down out of the ceiling and a scary grasshopper popped out of the wall, among other not-so-pleasant things. Sadie was pretty good. But, Sawyer was literally acting as though someone was stabbing him over and over again. He was S-C-R-E-A-M-I-N-G through almost the whole show. He climbed in my lap and was shaking and screaming and crying. I was hysterically laughing b/c I knew nothing was going to happen to him, and honestly, I couldn't help it! We left there and went to see The Lion King. It was a GREAT show! Lots of songs and dancing. Almost like a mini-Broadway show. The kids loved it. After that, we headed to DinoLand and we rode the Triceratops while Grammy and Captain went to get our Fast Passes for the Safari. Only, when we got off of the Triceratops, the bottom FELL OUT of the sky and it POURED! Like, full out, thunder, hard rain, for a long, long time. We called Grammy and Captain and we met them at the car. We headed back to the condo to rest, and dry out! After naps, we headed back to Animal Kingdom and we rode the Safari. It. Was. Awesome. We saw elephants, hippos, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, cheetahs, and lions. We got to see them all up close. I was speechless. I've never seen anything like it before in my life! It was amazing! Afterwards, we went and walked through the Trail that had tons of animals to look at. We saw a hippo swimming under water in the fish tank. It was right on the other side of the glass. So cool! Then, we took the kids on "Dinosaur". It wasn't approved by Tour Guide Mike, b/c it was supposed to be scary, but we hadn't been able to ride hardly anything, so we went ahead and took the chance. It was a GREAT ride. Scary? Yes! Dark? Yes! Fun? YES! I was so proud of the kids for doing it and not completely freaking out. It was such a good indoor roller coaster! We took the kids and rode the Triceratops ride one more time. There were no lines for anything at this point, so that was nice. It is definitely a benefit to go to the parks and stay late! Nobody is there! We went and had dinner at Fuddruckers and then came back home. Another great day in the books! Can't wait til tomorrow!!!!!

Disney - Day 1

I am documenting our Disney trip day by day. So, if you could care less what we do every day, skip these! I just want to be able to remember them! Also, I will be adding pictures to each day once we get home, but I don't have the capabilities to do that here, so be sure you come back next week and re-read them all and look at the pics that go along with it!!!! Okay, now onto our first day at Disney! We woke up pretty early this morning, so that we could be there when Magic Kingdom opened. We got there just in time! I cried when we walked up! It was just "a moment". The cast was singing "Zippity Doo Da" and the kids were SO excited and it just touched me. I've been waiting for this day for so long and I just felt so blessed to be here with my family! It was "magical"! We followed "Tour Guide Mike" and went straight to Dumbo first. Then, we headed to Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and It's a Small World. All were SO MUCH FUN! The kids loved them. We also went and road Goofy's Barnstormer, which is a kiddie roller coaster. This was definitely the kids favorite!!! We then headed over the Mickey's Philharmagic Show. It was AWESOME! It's a 3-D show where you can actually feel the wind, smell the smells, and even get wet during the show. So cool!!! After that, we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. This was just a tad scary for the kids, but they still seemed to enjoy it. We stopped and ate a QUICK lunch, and then went to the new Tinkerbell's Nook. Sadie got to meet Rosetta, the fairy, and TINKERBELL! She was so nervous to talk to her and hug her. It was so sweet! I'll never forget it. We then went and did the Jungle Cruise and Swiss Family Treehouse. We decided to head back to the condos and take a rest period. It was a GREAT idea. We got back to the condo, the kids took a nap and we showered and got ready for our dinner at Ohana. It was DELICIOUS! A Hawaiian feast for sure! Such a cool atmosphere too! Afterwards, we headed BACK to Magic Kingdom. We were going to do the early Electric parade at 9:00, but then was informed by an employee that we should go and ride some rides during that time while the lines were short and then return for the 11:00 parade. So, that's what we did!!!! We rode the Carousel, Tommorrowland Indy Speedway, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the Monsters Inc. show. By this time, it was finally time for the Electric Parade. We first got to see a light show ON Cinderella's castle. Probably one of the coolest things I have EVER seen. I had no idea that this even happened, so it was definitely a nice surprise. It was gorgeous!!! Then, it was time for the parade. It was so cool! We were right on the curb, so most of the cast came over and waved at the kids and they LOVED that!!! It was such a special time and I'm SOOOOOOOOOO glad we stayed and waited to do the late parade. Although, we didn't get back to the condo until well after midnight, so tomorrow should be interesting...we have to be up and at 'em early b/c we have breakfast w/ Mickey and Minnie! Here's to another AWESOME day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sawyer is movin' on up!