Florida: Day 2

Day 2 began with a late start and rain showers.   Which, as you can imagine, was not on my agenda.  We decided to tackle the Magic Kingdom this day since we figured it wouldn't be as crowded as other days and we were hoping the threat of rain would keep some people away.

As we pulled into the parking lot, however, the "threat" of rain became a reality and we were grossly unprepared.  No umbrellas, no ponchos, no waterproof jackets.  But, what we did have was a super excited little girl, who's face lit up at the site of the characters stepping off the train during the welcome show.  I must admit that I got a bit teary eyed when I saw her get so excited.  I fully expected my mom to be feeling the same.  When I looked over to catch her eye, she (with her hood up and glasses smudged with raindrops) glanced back and said, "I ain't feeling it yet".  

 But, thankfully, that was the low point of the day.  Minutes later we were through the gates and meeting Drizella, Anastasia, and the wicked Stepmother.  And because Amelia was dressed as Cinderella, they were especially funny.  The child in front of us (a boy) decided last minute he DID NOT want his picture taken with the ladies and started to throw a fit.  Anastasia took one look at him and said, "Well, you're never going to get a princess acting like that!".

Then it was on to meet the fairy Godmother on the other side of the castle.  By now, the rain had stopped.  Whew.

We met a few more folks, rode a few rides, and then stumbled upon this Jamboree.  Amelia was all about dancing and doing the Hokey Pokey.  She even insisted I take a picture of her.

As you can see, our day was filled with rides and characters.  Henry was pretty go-with-the-flow about everything.  Day 2 was a long day for us at Magic Kingdom.  The poor guy took 2 naps in his stroller which allowed us to spend lots of time there. 

Belle was certainly one of Henry's favorite characters of the day.  He just kept staring at her with a goofy half smile.  Belle must have some draw over my kids--she was Amelia's favorite last visit.

While Peter Pan was one of Amelia's favorites of the day, Henry did not care for him.  Henry was already fussy while we were waiting in line to meet him and was screeching a little in his stroller.  When it was our turn to talk to Peter, he asked Henry if he was trying to crow like a rooster.  And then he asked if we wanted to hear him crow.  We encouraged him, of course, but we were certainly not expecting the noise that came from this man.  It was so incredibly loud and after that Henry was done with Peter Pan.  So, of course, I grabbed Henry and stood right next to him for a picture

Henry is so obsessed with cars (which he calls "vroom vrooms") that he was in heaven watching the speedway.  Incidentally, this was Amelia's favorite ride as well--but for other reasons.  She enjoyed being the driver!

It was really a fun day and as you can see, the weather ended up being beautiful--60 and sunny! Amelia surprised us by riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad AND the Haunted Mansion.  She thought it was especially neat when she got to be in charge of the time card on Big Thunder.  She had to wear the necklace from when she joined the line until we got on the ride so that the employees could report the accurate wait time.  A very important job, you know.

Florida: Day 1

 We woke up bright and early (like in the 4:00 hour) to get to the airport to catch our plane to Orlando.  Amelia went sporting the adorable overall outfit my friend, Susie, made up especially for this trip.  (She even made matching bow and socks!).  Despite the very early hour, she was in great spirits!

 Henry went sporting his monster pajamas (which incidentally also came from Susie) and was in fairly good spirits as well.  He was just very.  very.  very.  busy.  Luckily, being that the plane was heading to the kid capital of the world, it was filled with other children--busy and otherwise.

We were fortunate enough to book a direct flight and secure early check in at the home we rented.  That gave us plenty of down time on the first day to swim, grocery shop, and nap!

We were lucky enough to get a 5 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms, full kitchen, laundry, game room, and it's own pool.  It ended up being a little farther from Disney that I originally thought, but it was a pretty good fit for our family, I think. 

That first night a huge storm rolled into Orlando and tornadoes swept through counties that bordered ours.  Luckily we all stayed safe and the kids slept right through the tornado sirens!

Florida Prep

We had been talking for awhile about returning to Orlando sometime in the winter of 2011.  We diligently watched airfare and scoured vrbo.com for deals on rental homes.  Everything kind of fell together very quickly and we were suddenly heading to FL in late January!

Poor Amelia, though, the trip certainly didn't seem to come quickly to her.  We have been talking about saving for our trip and making countless trips to the bank for over a year now.  We finally decided that making a Disney World countdown would probably be a good idea.

Amelia picked which characters she would like on her countdown chart and then we google imaged each one.  She picked the picture she wanted, cut it out, and glued it in the appropriate spot.  It was nice to be able to direct her to the chart when she would ask about the trip.

As she checked off boxes day after day, I noticed a slowly growing pile in her room of underwear, socks, books, and toys.  "For the trip" she reassured me.  Then, one night while checking on her before going to bed myself, I noticed that she had started laying out entire outfits to take--complete with coordinating shoes and jackets.

Perhaps the most important preparation was made by Jason, though.  Since we had rented a house with a full kitchen, we were hoping to save some money by eating breakfasts and some lunches at the house.  For Henry's birthday party, we picked up some delicious loafs of  sweet breads at Costco, so Jason set out to get some for the trip as well.  We had plenty of packing space and we thought the bread would make for some quick, easy, and cheap breakfasts. Turns out the breads at Costco are seasonal, but Jason did find something for the trip that he picked up.

 Score!

Lastly, I had picked out this adorable pillowcase dress I was planning to replicate for the trip.  I showed it to Amelia (assuming she would be as excited as me about it) and she immediately nixed it.  I think her exact comment was "what are my other choices?".  We did a google image for "Minnie Mouse outfit" and she picked out a random picture she liked.  My mom was able to make the exact outfit from just the picture.  And it turned out so cute.  Admittedly, it was probably better than what I had originally planned.

So, there you have it.   Disney countdown chart-check! Random princess clothes-check! Extremely large bag of M&M's-check!  Adorable Minnie Mouse outfit-check! 

Next stop:  the house with the Mouse.

Budding Artist

 Henry got his first taste of creating art.  And, luckily, there was actually no tasting involved!  Henry seemed to enjoy himself and he stayed surprisingly clean.

 Kind of reminds me of another little budding artist...

(Notice the same high chair in the same spot in the kitchen with the same paint even! Looks like I've only upgraded the paint shirt and the blinds.)

Junie B. Jones

We've really enjoyed our season tickets to the St. Louis Theatre Series this year.  I feel like the play list was made specifically for my little girl:  Pocahontas, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Fancy Nancy, Peter Pan, and (most recently) Junie B. Jones!

I happened upon a set of Junie B. Jones books a last consignment sale last fall and I've slowly been adding more when I see them at Goodwill (for 30 cents each!).  Amelia and I are big fans of Ms. Jones and have poured over them many a nights together.  To see her in action on the stage was a big hit--with Amelia and me!  And meeting her afterward and getting her autograph was almost as exciting!

RIP little Miss Truman

 "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened".

 Truman and Chase

 Our last night with little Truman

 Truman sporting one of her winter sweaters.

 Truman and I snuggling while she was still our only baby.

 One of many baby kisses.  This ended up being our 2006 Christmas card picture.

Her favorite spot was under the covers next to us.

 Opening one of her presents--Christmas 2010.

 She loved to lay in sunny spots around the house.  There weren't many since we have blinds on all of our windows except 3. Amelia loved to imitate her.

She adjusted to Henry's arrival way better than she did to Amelia's arrival.  Henry and Truman seemed to have mutual adoration for each other.

 At our new house around July 2007.

Christmas 2005 with Chase.

 

 After the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006

She is already missed very much around our house.  Sometimes I still think I hear her breathing or see her out of the corner of my eye.  Often I expect her to run down the steps.  When we came back from vacation it was very strange not to be greeted enthusiastically by her.  I miss her warmth, her strange groaning noises, her smell, her unconditional love, and, among other things, her ability to keep my kitchen floor clean (especially under the high chair).  In my heart I know she is in a better place.