A Vacation to Remember

At the beginning of January we had the joy of taking vacation with my parents and one grandma in Orlando. I haven't posted pics or memories because I've been busy with work and taxes (yuck!) but I wanted to write down a few things before I forget. Here are some highlights of our trip:

Megan:

At the science museum, she loved squatting on the ground and growling at the dinosaurs. She also really enjoyed the water table and actually sat to listen to a story for several pages. If you have ever met my Megan, you know this is practically a miracle. Megan enjoyed seeing the characters at the character breakfast, until they actually came to the table. She then clung to her daddy for her life! We learned that Megan is not as brave as she thinks she is - when someone in a costume is around, she is not a happy camper.
Megan LOVES balls. When she discovered the mini-put practice range in the garage, and the bag of balls that were with it, she would beg to go out to the garage. Luckily she didn't discover those until the tail end of our trip.

She did enjoy the rides, and I just love this picture of her:

Natalie:

Natalie was so excited about going to the beach. After deciding we didn't want to drive two hours to go to one, not knowing if she would be scared of the sound of the waves, we were in a quandary. We promised her a beach, so what to do? Luckily, we found one at the Disney resort. When we were all done, she said, "Mommy, Daddy, Thank you for taking me to the beach. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She thought the beach was the best thing EVER!

When Natalie first saw Goofy, she practically climbed in grandma's lap. However, after Minnie came around, she decided the characters were pretty cool!The highlight of the trip for Natalie was definitely the Magic Kingdom. When we met the princesses, I thought her face was going to freeze in a huge grin! After the session with the princesses, we left and a cast member (worker) pulled Natalie aside at the end of the exit ramp. She asked Natalie who her favorite princess was, and Natalie said, "Cinderella." Then the cast worker pulled out a bag of cotton candy and said, "Good, because Cinderella wanted me to give you this!" How cool!


That sparked a lot of questions for my little one. Here are some that I remember:

"Mommy, how did Cinderella give that to her? But how could she go out there. But I didn't see her."

Quickly realizing that Natalie was fully aware that the princess could not have sneaked out without our knowledge, I said, "Well, maybe she had her royal messengers take it to the lady." "Mommy, aren't messengers scary?" "No, they just send messages." "But I didn't see them? Where did they go? Where did they live?"

Obviously the princesses made quite an impression. When we were driving back to the condo for rest time, she had another bazillion questions.

"Mommy, where do the princesses live? Are they going back to the castle now? How will they get there? But only Cinderella has a Royal Carriage. How will she give them a ride? Where does Ariel live? But I didn't see any water. How will she get to the water? Are the princesses sleeping now?"

One of the last rides we rode was the Astro Orbiter. We thought the line was short, only to realize after 30 minutes it was deceptive. The ride was faster than I thought, since I've never ridden it. Afterwards, Natalie said, "Grandma, I didn't know what was going on!"

After receiving her Bambi toy (her souvenir from us) she said, "Thank you mommy! I have something to give you too - LOVE!"

It really was a magical trip. Just the right amount of activity versus rest, and we all had a blast. Megan is a bit traumatized though - when she saw some dressed up Disney characters on the TV, she freaked out and climbed on my lap to hid her head. Normally, she ignores the TV. I am sure she will be fine with some time to heal though!