Disney World - Our Final Day

We spent our final day soaking up as much magic as possible in Disney's Magic Kingdom. Our morning began at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where Gracie's transformation from everyday princess to "pop-princess" took place. We had planned this experience for her months in advance and I wanted her to enjoy every step in the process. Sean's mom took Ethan for some Memaw time while Sean and I stayed with Gracie.


She decided well before her appointment that she wanted to dress up as Jasmine, the princess from Aladdin. This wasn't my first, or second, choice for her, so Memaw and I tried to gently convince her to choose a different princess. Once we arrived at the boutique, she chose an Ariel costume. Minutes later, when other little Jasmines began exiting the boutique, I saw the look of disappointment on her face. She loved the Jasmine costume. Since this was obviously her experience, not mine, I made the costume switch for her and watched my little girl strut around in the dressing room, clearly the cutest, blonde-headed Jasmine ever.


When it came time for Gracie to choose a hairstyle, I decided to step back and let her take the reins. I'm going to be honest, it took a lot for me not to jump out of my chair when she decided on the "pop princess" hairstyle. Wild colors, braids, and hair-twists were not exactly in my vision, but I genuinely wanted this to be all Gracie, so I told Sean to tell her her hair was beautiful, no matter what...



The finished look was adorable, very sassy and a little more than I'd bargained for, but adorable nonetheless. Upon seeing herself for the first time, I could tell Gracie was a little taken back by the pop-princess hair, too. "I didn't know it would be so spiky", she told me later. I was able to remove the colorful hair, upon her request, leaving her with a twisty, sparkly up-do.


We ended our final evening swimming in the pools at our resort, after giving Ethan a chance to tell his cars good-bye. This was such a special trip for our family. I appreciate all the time and effort Sean put into making this a memorable vacation for our children. I'm also grateful that Cynthia was able to join us and re-live the Disney experience with two of her grandchildren. She was also a huge help throughout the week; I'm not sure Sean and I would have survived without her!




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