Mother's Day Love

I had the honor and privilege of spending my Mother's Day with my three beautiful children and my very own Mother.  I certainly felt the love.

All I ever hoped for in my life was to be a wife and mother.  And look at me now.  I couldn't ask for more.

To my sugar and spice {I'll let you figure out which is which}, thank you for the joys of being a girl Mommy.  You have both taught me that you can never have too much pink, glitter, and princesses.  I love you girls!

To my handsome intellect, you made me a Mommy for the first time.  Every day you do something to make me proud.  Keep up the great work.  I love you!

And to my very own Mom.  Thank you for being you.  We couldn't imagine our lives without you.  What a blessing to have Grandma in town.

Our day was spent celebrating with brunch on the river.  We showered Grandma with gifts and love and then strolled around the grounds.  The weather was glorious and the day was truly wonderful.

Maggie and Lucy even gave the face paint artist a try.  Now wasn't that a brilliant idea on the restaurant's part?

We also grabbed a couple balloon animals that popped within minutes.  I can't say that I didn't expect that.

And just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, my little ones showered me with homemade gifts.  And if you want to know why Jack loves me, it's because "I had Maggie and Lucy so he wouldn't get bored".  Now tell me that wouldn't bring an everlasting smile to your face.

{and sweet Mags hasn't been back to school since our Disney trip so my Mother's Day gift is coming home today- honestly, no need, she's a gift in herself}

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies out there!  The best job in the world!

Disney Day #4

Day four was our departure day.  We most definitely took our time getting out of there.  We packed up, sauntered around the hotel a bit, and then headed over to the Contemporary for a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

We tossed around the idea of making a quick trip to Magic Kingdom one last time, but quickly dismissed that crazy thought.

Although you would think the kids might be charactered out by this point, that was hardly the case.  It was a great way to say farewell to our fabulous vacation.

We dined on the buffet style breakfast while a slew of Disney pals came by to see us.  We finally got to see Donald and get his autograph.

This go round Lucy gave Goofy another chance.  Once he squatted by the table she was willing to enjoy his company.  She even mentioned he was "so funny".

Per usual the girls were most enamored with Mickey and Minnie.  They both just loved the fact that the characters had actually cooked up our breakfast.

And once again Pluto stole the show with his book signing on his nose.

We waved goodbye to the characters, Disney World, and even got a glimpse of Cinderella's Castle and Space Mountain as we drove away.

We left with many magical memories, lots of souvenirs, and nearly 300 pictures.

As they say...See ya real soon! {or in our case a couple of years}

Disney Day #3

Aloha!  We started day three with a character breakfast at Ohana's in our hotel.  I was so pleasantly surprised by this one.  I wasn't expecting too much considering Lilo and & Stitch aren't exactly on our list of favorite Disney characters.  I was thrilled to see that a few other Disney pals were there as well.

Our waiter was incredible and the food was great.  It was a wonderful way to start our last full day of vacation.  Even if I did have to wake the kids up for an 8:45 breakfast reservation.

Okay, so I think I may have lied in the last post.  Goofy was not the only character Lucy would have nothing to do with.  Stitch was definitely a sight for her and she wanted nothing to do with him.  I can't say I blame her, look at those teeth.  Lucy said, "he naughty".  

However, Lilo perked her right up.

And Jack even gave "a girl" an ever so slight grin.

We loved seeing Mickey dressed in his Pacific flair.

And Pluto just about did the girls in when he autographed their books on his nose.  Serious giggles.

We headed straight back to Magic Kingdom when we were finished eating.  I decided to give Magic Kingdom two days this trip and forgo the other parks.  It made for a very relaxing trip {if that's possible at Disney}.

We hit a few favorite rides and even some new ones.

But the best of all was snagging a Fast Pass last minute to see Elsa and Anna.  If you know Disney, these are not easy to come by.  We literally bypassed a 2 hour line and went straight in.  Maggie and Lucy were in complete awe.

Elsa and Anna spent, what I considered, a lengthy amount of time with us.  They were just as magical in person.

Of course the exit shoots you right out into a Frozen gift shop.  This sweet little doll made it home with us.  Flip her over and she is Anna.

At this point we had lost Jack and Daddy.  There was no way Jack was using up one of his Fast Passes on princesses.  They hit Space Mountain again, the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Meanwhile Lucy spotted Chip and Dale.  You better believe she jumped right in that line.  She was not about to let a character get past her.  After seeing Anna and Elsa, Maggie had absolutely no interest.  Her character cup was full and perfectly content.

We made our way back to the resort for dinner poolside.  I had to share this of Lucy on the monorail. We had the entire car to ourselves and Lucy took full advantage of it.

Our last night at the pool was incredible.  Lucy made her way to the stage with the DJ for dance lessons.  It was absolutely hilarious and way too adorable for words.  I could kick myself for not having my camera down there.

The girls were tuckered out by 7:00pm.  I tucked them in and Daddy took Jack to downtown Disney for a visit to the Lego store...again!  And then they caught the late night movie on the beach.

All the while the girls and I snoozed away dreaming of our last morning in Disney...

Disney Day #2

If any day of our vacation was a challenge, day two would probably be it.  I'm not exactly sure what happened.  Lucy was a bit off.  Even after an incredible night of sleep {like 13 hours}.  And I even made sure she got a nap.  Other than that we had an issue or two with the monorail and later on missed Daddy and Jack at our meeting time.

But over all, those little bumps hardly did anything to waiver my opinion of this being the best Disney Vacation ever!

We started the morning on a working monorail and headed to Epcot.  I had all intentions of making this a pool morning for the girls.  But seeing as how we had just spent two evenings at the pool, I thought it best to get them out and about.  In hindsight my original plan was probably for the better.  Oh well.

For some unapparent reason, Epcot was bustling.  The girls and I had Fast Passes for our selected rides, but from what I can gather the boys waited in some long lines after we left.

After a very short morning, the girls and I headed back to the hotel for naps.  Post naps we were back to Epcot for characters and a princess dinner in Norway.  Somehow meeting Daddy and Jack for the Mickey and Pals fell through.  I was so bummed not to have Jack in our photos.  On the other hand, Jack could have hardly cared.  He was having way too much fun riding thriller after thriller.

Lucy was nearly beside herself at the sight of Mickey Mouse.  She raced right up to him with pen and autograph book in hand.

Goofy was a totally different story.  This was the only character on the entire trip that Lucy would have nothing to do with.  She said, "him too big".

Above all, Maggie and Lucy loved Minnie the best.  She twirled around with the girls and got the best giggles from them.

On our way to the Princess Dinner at Akershurs the girls conned us into Snow Princess face painting. By this time our party of five had reunited...and it felt so good.

Of course, if Maggie is doing it, Lucy follows suit.

We made a quick stop to visit with Duffy Bear.  Lucy seriously could not get enough of the characters.

We finally made it to dinner for our reservations with the princesses.  I was elated to see that Belle would be the one greeting us upon our entry.

We enjoyed a dinner of Norwegian cuisine while we were graced with visits from the Princesses.  Jack grinned and beard his way through this one, yet again.

Maggie's favorite was Ariel this go around.  She even got to join the princess parade around the restaurant with her.

Lucy's favorite was hands down Aurora.  She could not quit talking about her.  I'm pretty sure the gown twirl and skirt holding had something to do with it.  Lucy's been practicing her best princess curtsy since then.

Jack couldn't have been happier to get out of there.  Fair enough, I suppose.  We made our way around the countries before heading back to the "ho-town" as Lucy likes to call it.

Jack wanted me to grab a photo of him in each country.  I had a great time doing that with him.  Here are just a few.

Monday turned out to be a very late night.  The monorail was having issues {ugh} and we didn't get out of Epcot until way past bedtime.  Needless to say, the kids passed out as soon as we made it back to the Polynesian.

This was the only evening we didn't spend poolside.  I learned very quickly to return to our evening pool agenda.  It made for much happier {and well rested} children.

And with that, comes day three...