Magical Memories

Dear Jacob, Luke and Sarah,

Wow, what a wonderful trip we had to Disney World! We had the best time and made the best memories together. The weather was just perfect, lows in the 60's and highs in the mid 80's. We had one little rain shower the first day but other than that, we had beautiful blue skies. We spent two full days at Magic Kingdom, one day at Epcot and 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios.




I want to capture the memories from our trip from each of your perspectives. Hopefully you can look back on this one day and it will help you recall the highlights of our trip that you so loved.

Jacob
When we first told you about our trip, your response was "When are we going?" You routinely and enthusiastically crossed off each day on our count down chart each morning before breakfast.


You and Luke broke out and did a little "Disney dance" after crossing off the last day on our chart the morning we were leaving.


You were so excited that we got to fly on two Southwest airplanes there and back. And you thought it was pretty cool that the pilots invited you and Luke up to take a peek in the cockpit while we were boarding.


While we were at the airport you asked me, "Does Disney World have a really big play set?" Our response "More than you can imagine." Although we showed you lots of pictures online, it was still hard for you to imagine just what to expect. After we got checked into our hotel, we took the monorail from our hotel to Epcot. We were standing in line for our first ride and you said, "Mom, Disney World is SO fun." You were so enthusiastic from the beginning. You loved all the rides. Well, except for the Lilo and Stitch alien show and the Haunted Mansion ride. You cried in both of these because, well honestly they were a bit scary for a 5 year old. But we were sure not to go on any other rides or shows that might be a little scary for you. Your favorite ride was the rocket ride. You loved it and thought the higher you could go, the better.


When we were riding the monorail back to our hotel the first night, we sat next to a high school student on her senior trip. She was so sweet and just talked and talked to you. She was kind enough to give you her button that said "1st visit". You proudly wore that button on your shirt every day we were there.


Us on the "It's a Small World" boat ride. We rode this one by ourselves the first time since Luke and Sarah were asleep.


Then when we all rode it, you and Luke were SO excited that you got to sit in a row all by yourselves.


You rode your very first roller coaster. It was called Thunder Mountain and you loved it. You not only rode it once with me, but you rode it again with Daddy. I was a little nervous to take you on it but you were never scared and laughed and smiled the entire time. So brave!


You loved meeting all the characters. And yes, we took you to see the princesses. You and Luke might have been the only boys in line but we just had to do it. We knew this trip would be our only opportunity since the next time we go you will probably have NO interest in seeing these girls. Your favorite princess was Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.


By the size of this hug, I'm thinking Cinderella was a close second.


And your other favorite character was Minnie Mouse. Just look at that hug.


One of your other favorite things we did was the Disney Jr. show we saw at Hollywood Studios. Since you were little, you have always watched a lot of the shows on the Disney channel. Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Oso, Imagination Movers, Phineas and Ferb for example. This show was so cute and so real to you. You kept looking back at me with the biggest smile and I could tell you felt like you were actually in Mickey's clubhouse. :)Here we are waiting for the show to start.




After the show, in front of Mickey's Clubhouse.


You loved meeting Handy Manny but you kept asking where his tools where. Good question!


Every night when we left the parks and took the monorail back to the hotel, you loved to stretch out and rest. You were pooped by the end of the day.


You proudly wore your Mickey ears while watching the show in front of the castle.


One more thing to note about you...on our last full day there you woke up crying and said you had a bad dream. You said you had a dream that we were back at home and you still wanted to be at Disney World. You have asked many times when we can go back and said how you miss being at Disney World. We call these the "after vacation blues". :-)


Luke
Oh sweet Luke. You are at such a cute and fun age. I just love it. Age three is one of my favorites and seeing Disney through your eyes was so much fun. When we told you about our trip your response was, "I get to meet Pluto." Being the animal lover that you are, meeting Pluto was by far your favorite part of the trip. Just look at those open arms.


You said many times that Pluto was your best dog.


Your favorite ride was the teacup ride. You loved spinning around and around. You asked to ride this one over and over. You loved it!


I rode it with you one time but that was enough for me. You know Mommy is getting old when a spinning ride left me feeling a bit off afterwards! :) You did pretty good with most of the rides. There were a few rides that you didn't care for and you would just hold onto my arm tightly if you didn't like it. But you did great and were such a big boy.


One of your other favorites was to see a real life Tow Mater from your favorite movie Cars. When we asked where Lightening McQueen was they said he was in LA getting ready for the new Cars 2 movie coming out June 24. You better believe we have this date on the calendar!


Luigi's Casa Della Tires




One of your favorite snacks was the chocolate Mickey ear ice cream. Even though this was quite the mess to eat, you loved it and ate almost all of it. (Mommy enjoyed one of these herself. Gotta splurge while on vacation, right!)


Something you told us many times while we were there was, "I have five Mickey friends. Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald and Goofy." You would count them on your fingers as you would say them. You really enjoyed meeting all the characters. And we were SO thankful you weren't scared of any of them.






Cinderella was giving out some good hugs that day.


The first full day we were there you were in need of a little nap. You feel asleep in the stroller like this and slept for an hour and a half. Although you look extremely uncomfortable, you were perfectly content.


The morning we were leaving, you and I were the first ones up. You were sitting on the bathroom counter while I was getting ready and you said, "I'm ready to go home." And I said, "Why is that?" And you exclaimed, "Because they don't have a table here to eat breakfast." I think you started missing the little things from home. We had a few meal credits left over so I took you and Jacob down that morning to get some breakfast. You both chose Mickey Mouse waffles, bacon and orange juice.




Sarah
Oh sweet Sarah. Where do I start? Words can't express what an incredibly GREAT baby you were on this trip. You were so content with what ever it was we were doing. It helped too that you weren't mobile yet so you didn't have the urge to get down and crawl or walk. You flew on an airplane for the first time and had no problems. (again, very thankful you weren't trying to get down and crawl or walk). Flying didn't seem to bother your ears and thankfully the flights weren't too crowded so you were able to sit in your own seat and play.




Mickey's ears greeted us when we got to our hotel room.


I tried to get you to wear your hat to shield the sun but you wanted no part of it. It came off shortly after this picture.


I was worried about you being in your stroller too much. I didn't want you to be sitting there all day. But that wasn't the case at all. Because you rode most of the rides with us, you had a lot of time out of the stroller with one of us holding you. Which you loved! :)Here you are on the Buzz Lightyear ride with Daddy.


And with me on the It's a Small World boat ride. Being at the age you were, 8 months, you just couldn't get enough. You were so observant to everything around you...the sights, the music, the lights, the characters. You just took it all in.


You were watching something very intently!


While we were waiting for the Disney Jr show to start, you were happy to have some floor time to play and stretch out a bit.


And when you were in the stroller, you were just along for the ride.




Now when it came to the characters, you weren't so sure. You would just look at them with much curiousity but never smiled or got excited to see them.


EXCEPT for the princesses that we met. You loved them. And quite honestly they loved you. We heard "Princess Sarah" many, many times while we were there. You are the little princess of the family, you know! :-)




And when it was nap time, we leaned you back in the stroller, pushed you around for awhile and you were out. We are thankful that you are used to napping on the go because it was very convenient for you to nap in the stroller.


I can honestly say I can only remember one time that you were fussy. It was at dinner one night and you were not happy in your highchair or being held. But once we made it through dinner and you got back in the stroller you were fine.


Thank you sweet Sarah for being such a precious angel on this trip.




We have such fond memories from this trip. We love traveling and taking vacations all together and we are so thankful that you three like to as well. You all are great travelers and we look forward to many more trips together. Especially another trip to Disney World! Because we will be back! :-)