Disney World

Well, I did it.  I got on a plane!  Everyone knows how much I hate to fly, but I didn't want Sydney to miss out on Disney World, she has been talking about it for the past year, and I couldn't let my fears get in the way.  Fortunately, it was a short flight, and I took some Xanax, so I was manageable for Jason (ha!).  I'm not about to take off to Italy or anything, but I survived the two hour flight!  Sydney didn't even seem to realize she was on a plane, she just sat there like an angel and watched her movies.  Lizzy, on the other hand, was a litte restless.  She was bouncing back and forth between Jason and I, and wanted to walk in the isles.  I also think her ears were bothering her because she kept holding them.  So, what do you do when Lizzy is bad?  That's right...give her food!  She ate pretzels, brownies, cookies, and chips and they kept her quite content!

We stayed at The Sheraton Vistana, where my Dad has a time share and it was really nice!  They had a ton of pools and the rooms were really nice!  The kitchen was fully stocked with dishes, and even had granite countertops, a dishwasher, toaster, etc.  It was nice that there was a living room, so once the kids went to bed, we weren't confined to one room!  However, bed time came later and later each night, so I followed pretty closely behind after they went to sleep.  No one told me how drained I would be from going to Disney World...we had fun, but man was I tired each day!

The first day we went to The Magic Kingdom, Sydney couldn't even hide her smile.  When we first got there, I kind of didn't get all of the hype!  Every ride seemed dumb to me!  I thought there would be characters walking around everywhere and there weren't.  But after seeing Sydney's face, I slowly began to understand the swarms of people and the reason why Disney World isn't hurting for business...it's ALL about the kids.  Seeing Sydney's face after she met Mikckey and Minnie and all of the princesses (especially Belle, her favorite) was priceless.  I have never seen her happier and it made it worth it to wait in hour long lines just for her.  Lizzy was at a difficult age (1 1/2).  There wasn't a ton for her to do and she spent a lot of time in the stroller.  However, you obviously couldn't bring the stroller into the lines, so we also did a lot of holding her and I don't think my arms have recovered yet.  It makes for a very long day when you have to hold someone who doesn't want to be held and who also goes without a nap.  Towards the end of the day, we bought some really large lollipops (because Sydney saw a kid with one and HAD to have one) and Lizzy was completely happy and satified.  We wondered why we hadn't purchased them 7 hours earlier!!

The next day we spent the day swimming and buying tennis shoes for me.  I forgot to pack them and wearing heels at Disney is not ideal...people must have thought I was an idiot!  I couldn't remember what I packed since my Dad drove all of our luggage down so we didn't have to check them on the plane...it made it a lot easier on us! 

The day after that, Jason and I took Sydney to The Magic Kingdom alone while Lizzy went shopping with Grammie and Grandpa.  It was much easier with one child!  She was just so happy and we pretty much bought her everything she wanted, which isn't usually the case.  She was just so in love with everything, we couldn't say no!  The one thing she REALLY wanted was a Belle dress, especially since Belle gave her a kiss.  She kept talking about how she had lips on her cheek from Belle...so happy!  However, the Belle dress was pretty popular and they only had a size 8 and 14...way too big for a 3 year old.  She was devasted, but wanted a dress, so moved on over to the Cinderella dresses.  They didn't have her size either, but had a 6, which kind of fit her and would give her a little room to grow.  But we wanted to get her Belle since she loved her the most and we told her we would find it somewhere online and have it shipped to our house.  She would have nothing to do with that.  She obviously likes instant gratification (like her mommy) and was dead set on getting the Cinderella dress "right now".  So, we got it...we're suckers!  All day we had a song stuck in our head from Pirates of the Carribean..."Yo ho yo, a pirates life for me."  While Jason was paying for the dress, I sang to Sydney..."Yo ho yo ho, a Cinderella dress", and Sydney sang back, "Ya ya ya ya, because they didn't have Belle."  I was like, darn!! I knew she wanted that Belle dress more.  But she ended up loving the Cinderella dress and if you ask me, she looks more like Cinderella anyway!  It all worked out in the end.

The next day (I keep saying next day because I totally lost track of the days on vacation, I never knew which day it was!), we spent it swimming again.  So, we pretty much went to theme park every other day which was perfect for my tired arms and legs.  Sydney and Lizzy loved the kiddie pools and wouldn't even venture into the adult pools (I think that's a sign that my kids need lessons), but they had fun and that's all that counts!  That night we went to Downtown Disney which is basically restaurants and stores!  Grandpa bought Sydney and Lizzy really cute pajamas!  Sydney got Belle pj's...yaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy...she was thrilled and couldn't stop dancing!  Lizzy got Sleeping Beauty and it was like she knew how to walk like a princess.  She was holding out the sides as she walked...the kids kept me smiling the whole time!

The last day we all went to Hollywood Studios which was a lot more fun for Lizzy. Sadly, the camera stopped working that day...but we had the video camera with us! There was a Play House Disney show that both kids loved and they were able to dance and move around (which is why Lizzy loved it).  Lizzy is all about singing and dancing these days.  She lays in bed forever sometimes just singing...it's really cute.  Right now her favorites are the itsy bitsy spider and baa baa black sheep (she likes to say "yes sir, yes sir").  There was also a Beauty and the Beast Show, Little Mermaid,etc., all of Sydney's favorites.  Sydney was dressed in her Cinderella dress that day, which I told her not to wear because she would get hot and want to take it off.  But she promised she would keep it on and wouldn't complain.  But I secretly packed capri pants for her because I just knew!  And like a good mother, I was right (I love to say that I'm right).  There was a Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area which was not condusive to a Cinderella dress!  She kept saying, I want normal clothes, and luckily I had them and all was well!  She was scared of the large climbing net maze at first (but she's always scared of everything), so Jason literally threw her inside sreaming and crying and she came out laughing and smiling saying "I want to do that again"...and so she did....again and again and again! There were many other fun activities, but I could go on and on forever.  Basically, the everyone had a ton of fun...Sydney got ANOTHER toy (Buzz Light Year from Toy Story) and it was the PERFECT way to end the year!

We flew home on New Year's day!  I'm looking forward to a great year ahead.  While we were on our trip, Jason got a call that he was the 1 of 20 out of 700 people that got to keep his job.  That must be a sign that this will be a great year!