Perpetual Exhaustion
So we left for my parents house in Maryland on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We hit the road around 830 am, which meant if all went well we'd arrive at my parents place about 830 that night. All was going well, we were making good time, the kids were in great moods, we were just about to stop for lunch. We were a mile away from the rest stop, when Peter accelerated to pass a tractor trailer, as soon as he did that something broke in the car. We stopped for lunch and then when we got back in the car preceeded to spend the next hour searching for somewhere to get the car checked and fixed. The first exit we got off at was just a small town where all the garages couldn't even look at us because they were either at lunch or it was too close to thanksgiving for them to even bother with us. So we got back on the highway and got off at the second exit and lucked into a Chevy Dealership. This is where we spent the next three hours of our lives as they repaired the car. Thankgod this place had a few toys, free drinks and all the popcorn you could eat. The kids were angels i tell ya, seriously they have never been better behaved in their lives. Got back on the road and finally arrived at my parents house around 1 am Thanksgiving Day.
We spent Thanksgiving and Friday with my parents,and then Saturday we loaded everyone back into the car for the surprise portion of our trip. Thats right we had not told the kids about heading to Disney up until this point. The kids were stoked. They all wanted to see Mickey and Minnie. We left around 8 am that morning and drove till about 9 or 930 that night. We got as far as Georgia, and decided to stop for the night. We finished up the drive (5 more hours) the next morning arriving at the Old Folks Trailer park around 230 that afternoon.
We had tickets to go to Mickey's Xmas Party that night, so after a little relaxing and a stop for dinner we headed out to the Magic Kingdom for our first Disney experience. Lucas who is obsessed with trains was head over heels in love once we set foot on the monorail. We entered the Magic Kingdom at the perfect time that night, right after we got there we got to witness the fireworks over Cinderella's castle. Seeing the looks of awe on my children's faces, and feeling the excitement in my own heart, literally made tears spring to my eyes. All my life i have wanted to go to Disney, and finally here i was...and i was getting to share my first time with my children, nothing could have made me happier at that point. After the fireworks we headed out thru the park. We rode the teacups and Cinderella's caresoul, the kids met Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts (who made Juleigha cry). Then it was time to head back to the castle to take in the xmas show and then the xmas parade. We were seated right up front for the parade, and the girls played in the parade route with the disney helpers until the parade started. Just before the start of the parade Lucas crashed on my lap, and he stayed that way until the next morning. The poor boy was carried sleeping out of the park, and even stayed asleep as i changed him into his jammies that night.
The next day we tackled Magic Kingdom again. This time the kids got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy. They rode the flying dumbo's and the carousel again. Again Lucas' favorite part was taking the steam train out to Mickey's toontown. The girls really enjoyed taking in Mickey and Minnie's houses...and Daynah rode her first rollercoaster.
The second day we spent at Animal Kingdom. We literally walked every inch of this park,and this was my least favorite day. The kids got to meet Raifiki, Baloo, King Louie and Pocahontas. Meeting Pocahontas IS my disney memory from the whole trip though. When we got to where she was, there was no line. So the girls got her autograph and we got a picture with her. Afterwards since there still wasn't a line, Pocahontas played peek-a-boo with Melyssa. Seeing the look of pure, unadulterated glee on her face...seriously it was the best thing about the whole entire day and is what i think back on the most when i think of our trip to Disney. Of course we had to ride yet another train to get out to Raifiki's area, which Lucas again loved lol. We also took in the safari ride, which was amazing, seeing the animals that close up, but again i could go to the zoo to see animals and the kids weren't all together interested.
Our last day i convinced Peter to go to MGM studios, which was seriously the best decision we made the entire trip. Peter thought they wouldn't have fun here, and honestly they enjoyed it the most. Daynah loved the high school musical show. They all loved running around the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area. Lucas had a blast at Playhouse Disney, Daynah even got called up to be on stage. The kids got to see Lightening McQueen and Mater. They met Woody and Buzz. We got front curb seats for the parade, which seriously was THE best parade in my book. All the walking characters came up and shook the kids hands, gave them hi-fives, really interacted with them. At one point right before Ariel drove up, one of the Santa girls walking in front came up to Juleigha (who was wearing an Ariel shirt) and told her how much she liked her shirt and that Ariel was coming up next. And when Ariel drove by, she too waved and pointed out Juleigha's shirt. Just the best day...loved every minute of this park.
The next day we started our drive home, stopping for the night in West Virginia and then arriving back at our house Friday night. We had a great vacation, but i was never happier to be in my own bed (we had slept on a very uncomfortable sofa bed the whole time we were gone, while the kids had very cozy beds). And for those who didn't know, we spent the trip with my inlaws, and we survived. And while they were totally annoying at times, i wanted to strangle them at others, there was no way we would have been able to do the trip without them. They were a huge help with carrying the kids, riding the rides and being another set of eyes. So there you have it...our disney vacation. We had a blast, but i don't want to go back anytime soon lol. We took almost 600 pictures, and its only been recently that i've made it thru looking at them all. The ones i posted are a few of my favorites, not because they are all great photography, but because they spark a memory.
