Disney Part 2

I forgot to mention in my last post about the RAIN.  We were really lucky with the cooler temperatures, but it did rain off and on each day we were there.  We got soaked each day and it was just so funny to see everyone running around Disney World in their ponchos, pushing their strollers, trying to find cover.  We spent a few times hiding out, looking at this:

That picture was from our second day there, where it actually stormed pretty badly, but more on that later . . .

Here are a few more pictures from Day 1.  We rode "It's A Small World" and it was just like I remembered it.  

Then we walked through the beautiful lanterns in the Town Square from Tangled.  Audrey and I love this movie and they were playing all of the songs from it in the square.  I honestly could have sat there all night!

We started off Day 2 dressed in our Princess best, ready for lunch at Cinderella's Castle with all of the princesses.  

We had some time before lunch, so we rode Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride.  Again, Audrey had to ride with Uncle Eric. :)  This was a fun ride that gave you a good view of Adventureland.

Then it was time for our Princess lunch!  First we met our host.

Then we went into the dining area.  I was really impressed with how nice it was!  It was a fancy room with windows overlooking the park.  We sat down (after, I'll be honest a short meltdown from Auds who I think was overwhelmed from it all) and ordered our lunch.  They had really good food for the adults and kiddos, although I don't think Audrey ate 2 bites.  And who could blame her with all of her idols walking around?

They gave each kid the cutest little cupcake making set.  Audrey loved it!

The wishing star.  I cannot even put into words how precious this was.  They gave each kid a little blue wishing star to keep.  Then they had a ceremony where we had to close our eyes, say a little chant, and "bless" their wishing stars.  They flickered the lights and proclaimed that each wishing star was now magical!  Oh my goodness was Audrey mesmerized by this.  She literally held on to that wishing star for the rest of our trip.  It went on all of the rides with her.  It is now in a special place at home for whenever she wants to "Wish Upon A Star."  Magical.

After we left the lunch, we had big plans.  Eric and I were going to ride Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain, and Grammy and Audrey were going to ride some rides together.  That's when the sky opened up and the thunder started and they shut down all of the rides.  This was after Eric and I had already waiting 45 minutes on the Thunder Mountain ride.  We decided to wait a little longer.  And longer.  But after checking the radar on our phones, we saw that the storms were going to keep coming.  So we walked in some shops on Main Street and and had some snacks.  We had planned on staying to see the fireworks that night, but decided to just head back to the room.  The weather was pretty bad and we were a little worn out.


We decided to order a pizza and just be silly!

Even though the day didn't go as planned, we still had so much fun.  And Audrey did sleep with her wishing star.  :)

Disney World Part 1

We are back from Disney World! I knew it would be a fun trip, but I didn't expect it to be this perfect.  It sounds cheesy I know, but Disney World is magical.  I am just so thankful for my mom for taking us on this trip.  Here are just a few photos from our first day:

Arriving at the Art of Animation Resort.  It was the PERFECT hotel for us.  It was The Little Mermaid and Cars themed, and Audrey just loved it.  Checking in . . .

Our room.  Audrey and I had our own room which connected to my mom and Eric's room.

I knew Audrey was excited about meeting the Princesses, but I didn't expect for her to be so excited about the rides.  She absolutely loved them and kept asking to go on them again.

Riding Dumbo with Eric . .

Waiting in line to meet Ariel . .

Meeting Ariel!  Audrey was over the moon to meet her and have her sign her Autograph book.  :)

This was one of my favorite rides, Ariel's Under The Sea Adventure.  It was a ride that took us through a shortened version of The Little Mermaid.  Audrey insisted on sitting next to Eric, so while I didn't get to experience the ride with her, I did get some great pictures!

And this was only day one!  More pictures to come . . .

These Princesses . . .

are off to meet the real ones tomorrow!  I cannot believe that our trip to Disney World is here.  Audrey can barely contain herself, and to be honest, neither can I!  By this time tomorrow Audrey will be meeting her beloved Disney Princesses.

Hopefully it will go better than when my Dad's Country Club had a fun Princess lunch.  Audrey was so excited, but when she got there she was too shy to even pose with Cinderella and Snow White!  But she did whisper to me, "Mommy, those aren't the real princesses."  ;)  I guess she knew.  But here's Grandpa posing with the princesses.

We'll be back in a week!  :))

More 4th of July Fun

So we've reached a milestone in our house.  Audrey has *finally* learned the art of sleeping in.  It's taken her 4 years, but I think she's finally gotten it!  We got home after 11 last night and I was curious as to how Audrey would sleep in this morning.  I am happy to report that it is 9:45 and she is STILL SLEEPING!!  Can I just say again, this has never happened?!  

We had such a blast celebrating the 4th with Hilary and Cade last night.  I got so many great pictures that I just have to share a few.  And this is just some of the pictures I got!

Happy 4th of July!

Who's excited to see the fireworks?

Sweet, sweet friends.  They seriously melt my heart.

Let me just add that when Hilary is around, I do not exist.  Audrey thinks that Hilary hung the moon.  At first I was a little bitter ;), but then I realized how lucky I am to have such a sweet friend who loves Audrey so much and who Audrey adores.  But it did sting just a smidge when Hilary asked Audrey to pose for a picture with me and she would not do it!  But the minute I said say cheese with Hilary, this is what I got:

 Seriously?

But back to the cuties:

We parked in our church parking lot for the fireworks, and snuck inside to use the bathroom.  They were having some sort of concert going on and Audrey and Cade just started dancing.  It was hysterical.

We have our glow sticks and are ready for the fireworks!

This was the first time Audrey has seen fireworks, and she was just amazed by them.  She kept sitting there, staring at the sky, and saying to me "This is the first time I've ever seen this!"

This was a day to remember.  :)