Disney World Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

I had to attend conference meetings all day on Thursday. I tried to talk Trey into hanging around the hotel all day, but he was determined to go to one of the parks. I didn't know if he could handle all 3 girls. My biggest concern was Brooke. I just knew she'd run off to look at something and Trey wouldn't be able to find her. She did great at Hollywood Studios on Wednesday night, though, so I felt a little better about Trey taking the girls on his own.

Now I'll let Trey give a recap of their day.

We got going as early as we could, and rode the ferry from the transportation terminal to the Magic Kingdom.  As soon as we got in, we saw that there were characters set up for meet and greets on Main Street.  We had our choice of Marie from the Aristocats, and Pluto.  To my surprise, Audrey and Brooke decided to go see the cat.   Brooke was ready to go see Cinderella's castle, but before we went, I decided to go over and get us fastpasses to see the Princesses at Town Square Theatre.  

We walked over, and as we went to get the passes, I noticed Mary Poppins was standing there, so we snapped a couple of photos with her.  Then it was off to the castle...sort of.

As we got closer, it was roped off for a show, so we had to go around thru Liberty Square to get to Fantasyland.   Rounding the corner, we passed by the Haunted Mansion, and Audrey asked if we could ride, so we did.   We rode, and the Haunted Mansion became Anna Grace's first ride ever at the Magic Kingdom.

We followed up with a carousel ride. Audrey was excited because she got to ride Cinderella's horse (look it up if you don't know how you can tell). Then it was off to ride the riverboat. We rode the riverboat because everything I have read on line said you can ALWAYS see characters on it. Don't believe everything you read on the internet. We saw none.

 

 

After that, it was back to fantasyland to ride the new Little Mermaid ride and eat lunch. We had packed PB&Js, and had a fun lunch in the shadow of the Beast's castle. It was fun. Then it was time to see princesses.  I will post a special blog at the end of our Disney recap with all the Disney princess pictures.

The Town Square Theatre featured 3 princesses: Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Aurora. Even with the fastpasses, we still had to wait 10-15 minutes, but it was well worth it. All of the princesses were great and talked to the girls as long as they wanted, and signed autographs. As we got to the last one, I asked the photographer if the princesses would be different later that night, or on Saturday. He said they were usually all the same, but that we could catch Snow White across the square by city hall.

So off we went to see Miss White. The girls got pictured with her, and we decided to call it a morning, return to the hotel, and take naps.

All in all, a successful trip to MK. I arrived at the park with 3 girls, and left with 3 girls.

Now back to Cheri's recap. My last session of the day was cancelled, so I was able to leave after the 3:30 break. We decided to get dinner before returning to MK. We had dinner at Steak-N-Shake.

We got to the park and rode the Peoplemover. After that, Trey and the big girls drove the cars in Tomorrowland Speedway. Trey let Brooke drive the car and she looked so cute.

We also rode the Pooh ride, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, and the new Ariel ride. We also saw Ariel and took pictures with her.

 



We then watched the Electric Parade. Anna Grace fell asleep in the stroller. We were going to try to stay for fireworks, but the girls were tired so we headed back to the car. Brooke fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the monorail. We actually got to see a few of the fireworks from the monorail.

Since both little girls were sleeping, we decided to walk to the car instead of riding the tram. It really wasn't a bad walk and we beat the tram.

Another late night. Everyone went straight to bed and slept well.

Disney World day 1 - Hollywood Studios

Perfect timing when we arrived at Hollywood Studios. The Beauty and the Beast show was just starting. It was not full either, so we got good seats near the bottom. The big girls loved it as expected, but I was really surprised with how much Anna Grace enjoyed it as well.

After the show, we headed to The Little Mermaid show. It was close to starting, but we had a few minutes to look through the gift shop. I noticed across from the gift shop were a couple of characters with very short lines. Brooke wanted her picture taken with them even though she does not watch their shows. They were Handy Mandy and Jake the Pirate.

 

We all enjoyed the Little Mermaid and the went for dinner. Trey picked up fast pass tickets for him and Audrey to ride Tower of Terror. After they ate, they went to rise the ride and I stayed with the little girls. Trey loved Tower of Terror. Audrey not so much.

 

We still had time to kill before Famtasmic, so we went to the Muppets show. We then headed to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, but it has already closed. We were a little disappointed. The girls got ice cream and then it was time to head to Fantasmic.

It was definitely worth the wait. Lots of special effects and fireworks. I figured Anna would go to sleep in Trey's lap, but she stayed awake the whole time and loves every minute of it.

It was after 10 by the time we got back to the hotel. The girls were exhausted, so they went right to sleep.

Orlando travel and hotel

We spent Tuesday night in Americus to break up the trip a little. We were headed to Orlando around 8 am on Wednesday morning.

We stopped at the Florida welcome center for a few pictures and OJ. Not long after that, we stopped at a rest area and had a picnic.

 

We made it to our hotel around 2:30. We stayed at Gaylord Palms which was the site of my conference. The hotel was beautiful. We had a balcony with a view of the atrium. It was also in a perfect location. It was so close to the Disney parks.

 

 

We took a few minutes to unpack and then headed to Hollywood Studios for the evening.

The Long Road Home

We are on our way home after spending a few days in Orlando. The girls are all exhausted as we packed a LOT into 6 days. I will be posting a day by day recap over the next few days.

Miss Independent

Anna Grace is growing up so fast. In just the last couple of weeks, she has developed so much. She is so much like her sister and wants to try to do everything by herself including spoon feeding as you will see below.

She is starting to say more words and tries to repeat words she hears. She can sign the word more. Her favorite thing is to drop something and say "uh oh."

She is also very sweet and loving. She loves giving us hugs and kisses.

Teacher conference

We had our first parent/teacher conference with Brooke's teacher this week. I was pleasantly surprised. The teacher said Brooke is at the same academic level as the kids that will be going to Pre-K in August. She can recognize all upper case letters and some lower case. She is also doing very good writing letters. She loves art. The teacher also showed us a self portrait that Brooke drew this week. She said it was the best she had ever seen for a child Brooke's age. I was amazed because she never draws like that at home.

While Brooke has some behavior issues, the teacher reassured us that her behavior is typical for a three year old. She has also seen some improvements since she first started attending in January.

I am so proud of my little girl.

Brooke's imagination

Brooke was playing before bed last night and decided the little people princesses should meet the little pet shop pets. So she got her animal hospital and little pets from her room and put it right next to the castle. It is so fun to watch her play and see the kinds of things she comes up with.

Car wash

We had another great day on Sunday and spent a lot of time outside. Anna Grace had fun riding the Barbie big wheel while her sisters washed the cars.

Saturday family fun

The weather was great on Saturday, so we decided we would head to the park after Anna Grace's morning nap. We picked up lunch and ate at a picnic table. Then we walked around a little, let the girls play on the playground and finished at the zoo.

All the girls took naps when we got home. Trey started cleaning out the carport and utility room. We all went out to help after our naps. It is nice to be able to park in the carport again.

New rain boots

Brooke loves the new rain boots I found this morning at a yard sale. I think they were definitely worth the dollar I paid for them.

Chilly Saturday morning

It was a little chilly this morning, but Anna Grace wanted to go out and play. So the girls played in the carport and driveway. Anna Grace loves the little car. Not only did she live riding in it, but she also liked pushing Brooke. I couldn't believe she could actually push her.

Easter egg hunt

This should be my last post on Easter. We did a family Easter egg hunt for the girls with the eggs they dyed. Anna found two eggs and was thrilled. She played with those two eggs and had so much fun. Brooke and Audrey had fun as well.

Appreciation

Brooke was having a rough day not too long ago. I wanted to build her up so I said "Brooke, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. We are proud of you and you are a good girl." She sat there for a minute or two and then said, "I appreciate you telling me that you and daddy love me." First, I was shocked that she could use the word appreciate. This little experience with her means so much to me, though. She may cry too much and whine more than I'd like, but she is only three years old. It is moments like this that make me think we must be doing something right.

Anna Grace and her blanket

Anna Grace loves the blanket that Cynthia made for her. She sleeps with it every night. She was having so much fun with her blanket on the trip home. I'd throw the blanket to her and she would throw it back on the floor and want me to throw it again.

Easter baskets

The girls were excited to see what they received in their Easter baskets on Easter morning. All the girls received one bigger gifts and then 3 or 4 smaller items. Audrey received a $25 Disney gift card. Brooke received a set of 7 Disney princesses. Anna Grace received a set of 7 little people Disney princesses.