Disney Part 2

Ready for day 2 in the Magic Kingdom! Since we spent the first day in Fantasyland, we decided to spend our time in Frontierland. Of course Pluto was at the front of the park again, and Caroline wanted to see him. Since the line was pretty short we waited, but Matthew wanted to ride the Barnstormer again so he and Brian did that. I think they rode it three times in a row!

We met up with the boys and had to squeeze in a few more Dumbo rides before heading to Frontierland. Matthew and I had fast passes for Thunder Mountain. He was excited because it was a train roller coaster, but that quickly faded when the first section of the ride was dark wand had bats. He spent a lot of it with his head buried. I hoped he had a little fun, but when we got off he said that he never wanted to do that again. Oh well, you win some you lose some. Brian took the girls on Aladdin's magic carpets and that went much better. To get out of the heat we visited the tiki hut next. Caroline definitely thought the birds were real and kept asking why they were singing and talking. The next part of our day was spent on Tom Sawyer's island. The kids loved it! There were all sorts of forts and trails around the island and they ran all over. Matthew loved the rifles that you could pretend to shoot out of the fort. They weren't happy when it was time to take the riverboat back, but we had a fast pass deadline to meet!

Our second fast pass of the day was for the Jungle Cruise. Definitely a good call using a fast pass, the standby line was super long! Caroline's favorite part was the scene where the gorillas knocked over a car and were ransacking a campsite. She talked about it the rest of the day! Both kids really enjoyed it, and Brian and I enjoyed the humor of our boat captain. We had a few snacks on the boat, but the hungry monsters needed some lunch. We thought Mexican would be a good choice for a quick lunch that the kids would like. Well, they liked it, but for some reason the man working behind the counter had a lot of trouble figuring out everyone's order. I saw our food sitting back there, and tried to tell him that was ours but it did not compute. Finally someone else came to help and I rescued our food.

The kids had also been talking about riding the train since we saw it when we arrived yesterday morning, so we took it to the front of the park for our final fast pass appointment. They all loved the train, of course! When we came to Disney a few years ago we saw Mickey and Minnie at the theater. We assumed that would be the same this time around, but it wasn't! This time it was only Mickey, and he talked to us! Caroline was completely in awe of him. He asked her some questions and she nodded her answer. He asked her to take a picture with him, and it was the first time she actually posed with a character. It was so cute to watch her face! When we walked into the theater to see Mickey, Caroline had noticed a cat (Marie from the Aristocats) standing near Pluto and wanted to hug her. We decided to wait in one last line and let her hug the kitty. She walked right up to her, gave her the autograph book, and gave her a huge hug and smile. She loves animals!

We were about ready to head home, but the parade was going to start in 10 minutes so we thought we'd stay for that. Such a good decision! Every single princess and character was in the parade. Caroline would point and say "there's ______" and wave furiously with every float that passed by. Lily really got in on the waving too! When the parade ended we scooted out of there quickly  before the crowds and headed home.

Disney Part 1

This time of year is always busiest for our family. It might be because we have 6 birthdays, Easter and Mother's Day between April and June. It's all I can do to keep up with one event at a time! So needless to say I'm a little behind on the blogging. I'm going to try to start playing catch-up over the next few days.

So, starting with our Disney trip! We wanted to take advantage of Caroline being free before she turned 3, so we headed up to Mickey land at the end of March, right at the beginning of Spring Break.

We got up there, put on our awesome magic bands, and checked into our hotel. We discovered that the All Star Music resort offers family suites. It was great! We had a bedroom, living room with two pull-out beds, a kitchenette, and two bathrooms. It was so nice to have some space and to be able to spread the kids out for bed time. After we checked in we let the kids pick out a souvenir from the hotel gift shop and explored the grounds before it was time for bed. I, unfortunately, had strep throat and was only on my first day of antibiotics so I was pretty worn out and went to sleep with Lily. Thankfully my fever broke that night and I felt much better for our first day in the Magic Kingdom.

Our goal was to get to the park when it opened to beat the crowds. Thankfully our kids never sleep in. Once all the munchkins woke up we ate a quick breakfast in the room, and then I started hostage negotiations with Caroline to get her to put on her Minnie Mouse outfit. We gathered up the necessary supplies (autograph book, mouse ears, Pluto, magic bands, enough snacks to feed my small army, and sunscreen) and headed to the bus. Lots of other people had the same idea we did, and we ended up all standing in the aisle for the drive over to the Magic Kingdom. Poor Brian had to hold Lily and I'm pretty sure he thought his arm was going to fall off. She is a chunk! We lugged our kids and stroller off the bus and headed to the entrance. While we were walking in we saw some friends from home - crazy timing! The kids' first priority was to see Pluto, but since he wasn't at the entrance yet we went straight back to Fantasyland. We were able to go on several rides quickly with no lines. Unfortunately our kids aren't fans of the dark, so I spent most rides convincing whichever kid was next to me that the ride was fun, exciting, and not at all scary! We also quickly learned that Matthew is still afraid of characters (except Pluto apparently) and Caroline is shy around the princesses. She didn't want to get close to Belle for a picture, and Matthew literally crouched in the fetal position and hid his face the entire time we were in Enchanted Tales with Belle. The favorite ride of the morning was definitely Dumbo.

Since the kids had already eaten multiple snacks by 10am, we decided to get an early lunch at Belle's castle. There was a deceptively short line outside which moved at an incredibly slow wait. We finally made it inside.... and waited again. By the time we were able to order our food all three kids were hungry and tired and hot and it was not pretty. Then we found a table and waited for them to somehow magically bring us our food. They must be utilizing the GPS in the magic bands to find people, because the servers brought food directly to the correct table with a sideways glance at all the hungry people staring at them. We quickly ate and felt much better. Then it was time to split up and use our fast passes! I took Caroline and Lily to meet Rapunzel, and Brian and Matthew went on the Barnstormer. Matthew LOVED it! Caroline did not. She talked to Rapunzel and gave her the autograph book, but wouldn't budge from the line or take a picture with her. So Lily and I did! We also went on to meet Snow White because Caroline wanted nothing to do with that either. Our next fast pass was to meet Cinderella, so I quickly nixed that idea and changed it to the race cars with Brian and Matthew's.

We met up with the boys and stopped to see Minnie and Daisy. Surprisingly Caroline was a little braver around them. I have no idea why characters that look like people freak her out, but giant mice and ducks don't. After getting some more autographs and pictures we previewed the teen years with the Tomorrowland race cars. Matthew apparently drove pretty well with Brian. I rode with Caroline and let her steer. I'm pretty sure we didn't go straight the entire time. It's amazing I didn't hurl. At this point it was getting pretty hot and everyone was tired so we decided to make our way back to the front of the park. This time Pluto was there! Of course we had to wait in line to see him. Both kids were beside themselves with excitement! We got some Mickey ice cream while waiting in line. Poor Caroline dropped hers after only a few bites, but that sweet girl said "It's ok Mommy, I don't need it." You can tell by her mouth that she definitely enjoyed what she had! When it was our turn to see Pluto they both ran up and hugged him! You can't see Caroline in the first few pictures we took because she was behind Pluto hugging his leg. Their ear-to-ear grins were just precious. Definitely the highlight of their day!

We left the Magic Kingdom and went back to our hotel for a bit to rest. All three kids took a nap, and I did too! Then we went back into the park for dinner. We decided to take the monorail this time, because that's pretty much all Matthew talked about doing all day. Not such a smart idea. We drove to the Polynesian to park, but they were under construction and didn't allow us in. So we headed over to the Contemporary. We parked there and then got on the monorail. The Contemporary is only one stop from the Magic Kingdom if you get on it going the right way. We didn't. So we had to make two other stops. Normally not a big deal. But this time, we got to the first stop and they were having technical difficulties with the train GPS. Not sure why you need GPS on a vehicle that moves on a single one-way track. So we had to wait 15 minutes for them to change a part. Then we got to the next stop and they had more problems. This time they had to shut the power off to reboot the computer. Joy. We finally made it to the park, and we were all so hungry that we went straight to find dinner. Once everyone's bellies were full we went back to Fantasyland for some more rides. Since the lines were shorter Matthew and I rode the Barnstormer together and Brian took the girls on Dumbo. We also rode the carousel again, the tea cups, and another round of Dumbo. By then we were spent and went back to the hotel for the night.

Letter to Lily

Dear Lily,

Today you will be having surgery to close your lip and gum line. Many people would say to repair or to fix your lip, but I don't think your lip was ever broken. I think you are perfect just the way you are. Yes, I know that closing your cleft will allow you to have correct speech and language development, enable you to eat better, get rid of your constant congestion, and allow you to live a "normal" life where people don't stare at you and ask questions. And for all of these reasons we are closing your cleft. I just want you to always know that you are perfect just the way you are right now. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God doesn't make mistakes, and there was a reason He created you with a cleft. I view your cleft lip and palate as gift, because without it I don't know if we would have you.

Later today your face will look different. You will still be beautiful, of course, but you will look different. I will never again see your adorable wide smile, watch you stick your tongue in your cleft when you are laughing or concentrating, or watch yogurt stream down your chin because it won't stay in your mouth. Ok, so maybe I won't miss cleaning up that one as much, but it's still pretty funny and cute. I am thankful for all the pictures I have of you in the three months that you've been in our arms. In fact, I made sure to have family pictures taken before your first surgery so we could capture you just as you are now. I tell you this because I want you to be proud of your story. I want you to know that you are beautiful not because of what you look like on the outside but because of who you are on the inside. I want you to know that you are loved. Not because of how you look or what you do, but because you are our daughter. I love you sweet Lily!

Love,
Mommy