there's no place like home: Disney World

I apparently needed a week of reality before I could post pictures from our first official partial-family vacation. I've finally come to terms with the fact that we're home from Disney World. We won't be going back any time in the too near future, though we do have a plan, so that's exciting!

Anyway, DAY ONE began as we all gained a second wind. After driving for nearly 24 hours straight (on little sleep and with the help of some 5-hour energy drinks), we arrived at our condo, unloaded and got BACK in the van to storm the Magic Kingdom. At this point the girls were asking repeatedly, "Can we go to Mickey's House?" And of course, they had NO CONCEPT of what they were about to see.

Now it's official.
I was unabashedly giddy.

How would you know where we were ...
if I didn't take a picture of the sign?

Let me preface the rest of the pictures by saying I had prepared myself for good, bad and ugly reactions from Mallory ... not sure what to expect regarding characters and rides. I re-assured myself that "what will be, will be", if she was terrified, at least in 10 years we would be able to laugh at pictures of her standing next to Mickey Mouse screaming her head off, just like we did after her first experience with Santa Claus. And I was was hoping she would enjoy rides even just slightly more than she enjoyed the carousel at our local zoo. I wasn't actually worried until the parking lot TRAM pulled up and Mallory started backing away, saying, "No, no, ahhhhhh..." Oh boy. Thankfully, once she got on ... she was fine.

She showed much more interest in the Magic Kingdom ferry. (Though, funny story, while holding her, if I even got CLOSE to a window she would say, "Momma, I don't want to fall in the water." Ever the cautious 2-year-old...

One of my top 5 moments on the trip...

Me: Mallory, look! What's that?
Mallory: Oh my gooooodness! Cinderella's Castle! (addressing the castle...) Here we come - we're almost there, Cinderella's Castle! Momma, it's beautiful!

Aubrey & Brian on the ferry

As soon as we walked into Magic Kingdom, Casey and Brian ran to grab a fast pass for Peter Pan and so began the first of many "strokes of luck" we experienced during the week. We just happened to arrive in the middle of the afternoon parade ... so within 10 minutes of entering the park, the girls got to see Mickey Mouse! I literally could not stop smiling. I said, "Mallory, look, it's Mickey!" She lunged forward in my arms and said, "Momma, we go SEE him?!?" (At which point, I was pretty certain she would be anxious to actually see characters ... at least this week.)

Aubrey & Summer

(Seriously, I could not stop smiling!!)

After riding Buzz Lightyear, we headed to the Dumbo ride. We got booted from the 20-minute line when it began to lightning, so we hopped in line for the carousel. Mallory asked to ride, (but she was excited at the zoo too, until I put her on the horse) so I was ready for a repeat of that train wreck.

Well, I'm telling you, Disney World truly has magical powers ... she LOVED it!
"Look Momma, I'na hoe-din' on the handles!"
She didn't stop talking about it all week.

And, as luck would have it, Dumbo opened right back up as we exited the carousel. No wait!

That's a happy little girl with a happy daddy.

"One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong."
This family of three suddenly became a family of four!

(And this family of four was a family of three for the week. Abby was teething and learning to crawl with her meme and grandad in Illinois. We've already promised to take her to Disney World when she's Mallory's age so she can meet Mickey too!)

"It's a Small World"

Mallory danced and clapped her way through this ride. I'm fairly certain she would have ridden it 100 more times and I would have gone with her just to see it through her eyes.

Let's see ... we stepped out of the ride into the rain and immediately onto Peter Pan with our fast pass. It's safe to say it made an impression on Mallory since she just told a cashier at Walgreen's about our experience yesterday: "And ah, in a boat, and we saw a Tick Tock and a Captain Hook and he's a-FIGHTING Peter Pan and a TINKERBELL!!" If only you could see her hand gestures... oh man. Such enthusiasm, this one.

On our way out of the park, Casey was feeling nostalgic and craving some pineapple Dole Whip (we ate there four times ... how do I not have a picture of that!?!) so we detoured for a treat, and who should we happen to see? Ta-dah! Ariel and Eric! Mallory was a little shy talking to Eric (duh, he's a boy), but other than that she seemed genuinely excited to meet them. Here she was telling them that we watched "The Little Mermaid" in the van on our drive to Florida and Eric was remarking how much he loves their "story". So funny.

Oh, and it's a good sign you've stayed a liiiiiiiittle too long at the park when your child falls asleep while waiting in line to see a princess. Oops! Eh well, we were going home for a nap anyway, she just got a head start.