Blessed

Day 16 – Closing Out Disney!

After a day of celebrating our kids were completely exhausted.  When I rolled over and started whispering to J.L. so as not to wake any of our children, he asked me if I knew it was almost 10 o’clock!  I didn’t think it was possible to have all 3 kids sleep in that late! 

On the way in we stopped at a grocery store across from the entrance to Disney.  I sent J.L. in to grab a Gatorade or two, but after spending $3.50 on one bottle, I vow never to make that mistake again.   I made everyone sip and enjoy the rest of the day. 

Animal Kingdom was up first and we saw “Nemo: The Musical” for the first time.  It was incredible!  One more time for the Lion King musical and we felt like we could check that park off our list.  Sadie was asked to go onto the stage to dance and we thought she was going to love it!  But half way through she turned to the section of the audience where we were sitting and started sobbing!  She was terrified of the ginormous men on stilts dancing with her! Next we headed to our favorite restaurant from our days of living in the south, Logan’s Roadhouse Grill and had our fill of delicious southern fare!  And the bonus was the 2/$13.99 special making this thrifty girl’s heart happy!

Magic Kingdom was our last stop and we did it real well!  Our goal was to hit up everything we loved, which was pretty much everything!  I got to ride Splash Mountain, both exciting and terrifying, with a non-English speaking girl.  We giggled and nodded, pretending to know what each other was saying as we dropped 50 feet into icy cold water together.  It was a real bonding experience.  Since Silas loved “Haunted Mansion” when he was two we headed into that ride next.  Judging by his posture (curled in the fetal position under Corinna’s special blanket) I am going to venture out and say he no longer feels as positively as he once did.

There were a couple highlights from our last day in Disney World that we just have to record!  My two favorite moments in the park were with my two favorite girls!  Sadie was determined to meet the “real” Ariel one last time and I came prepared.  After putting on her Ariel hair from Uncle Dog and Aunt Jodi we headed to the grotto.  Ariel LOVED it and just couldn’t stop talking about how similar they looked.  As you can see from the pictures below, Sadie has the pose down!  But my favorite moment came when a family, who had been in line for quite a while, decided they would rather have their picture taken with Sadie and save the 40 minute wait!  So she headed over to the waterfall and, surrounded by their pre-teen daughters, gave them her best mermaid-look and they were on their way!

After meeting Ariel (the pictures say it all!) and meeting back up with the boys (shockingly enough, they had opted out of waiting in line one more time to see a mermaid!) we headed to Goofy’s barnstormer.  Now, if you have been a faithful reader of this blog, you will recall that Silas and Goofy did not fare so well the first time around and he vowed not to return until he was 16.  However, he decided on his own to face his fears and give it one more try.  Unfortunately Sadie also wanted to be brave.  I tried to convince my little diva that this was worse than the roads to Houghton, which she inevitably pukes on most days.  But she was sure she would love it!  I think that the saying, “Mother knows  best” should be reserved for moments such as this.  Silas, in his infinite wisdom, told her to hang on tight and scream as loud as she could.  At first I was impressed that she never had to do that until I realized that she was too terrified to open her mouth!  When we reentered the bay it was evident to everyone that she did not love it!  After she stopped shaking she explained that it was even difficult to get the breath to stay in her mouth.

And now for the final favorite memory of the night.  In the fall I was at a consignment shop and found the tiniest little Disney princess costume one has ever seen.  It was on the clearance rack and although I couldn’t think of a single reason to make this purchase, I just could not resist.  Well, that costume was the hit of the parks!  Every person that passed us throughout the day commented on the outfit and could not believe how adorable Corinna was in it!  But at 11 pm, when we were standing on the boardwalk, ready to board the ferry, we encountered the most energetic extended family from Ohio.  They played with our kids and we told stories back and forth.  The rest of their party had gotten separated and was on the opposite side of the waiting area, separated by ropes and a few thousand people.!  However, they desperately wanted their family to see Corinna.  So, they started chanting, “Hold up the baby! Hold up the baby!”  As J.L. lifted her in the air by her feet and she looked around, people started clapping and cheering for the itty bitty Cinderella! It was hysterical! 

Heading out of the park that night we were thoroughly exhausted and so unbelievably happy.  We felt like we came, saw and conquered just about every part of Disney that we could do with 3 children under the age of 6!  We also realize that these last 9 days were a gift and we could not feel more grateful to have had the opportunity to share these magical moments with our kids! 

Fake Birthday

Lest you think Silas had no cake or party for his birthday, let me assure you that we made up for it well before leaving town.  Before going further with the blog, I wanted to post some of the pictures from our celebration of him with family and friends!

Once again we tried to fit in a bit more than the average family.  When we got to Florida J.L. commented that in the last 2 weeks he had been to North Carolina twice, Vegas, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Idaho, driven through the place he was born, PA, MD, WV, VA, SC, GA, celebrated one 90^th birthday and had a birthday party for his favorite 6 year old.  And while that sounds super exciting, let’s keep in mind that while he was galavanting across the county I was home with 3 kids planning a birthday party and packing for a 3 ½ week trip!  J 

It was definitely a busy time, but so worth it to see the look on Silas’ face when 10 of of his best buddies and he were out in our front yard hitting each other with pool noodle light sabers, trying to break Hans Solo out of ice blocks and eating Hoth Dogs! 

Thanks to all the parents for bringing your kids out to celebrate with us and even staying for the fun!  And a special shout out to the best extended family in the world!  Thanks for traveling, supporting the Star Wars/lego obsession and, once again, eating the unnaturally colored, too sweet cake and pretending to like it.  You guys are the best and we are blessed to have you all in Sy’s life!