These Little Moments...

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...

Those first few days of this long-awaited vacation were certainly memorable and magical. Each park we visited - Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios - was exciting and fun, but this, our first full day in the Magic Kingdom, was what my little girl had been waiting for. The castle, the princesses, the magic of it all - this is what I'd been waiting to share with my daughter. Throughout the day, we met all of her favorite princesses, had lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant in the dimly lit West Wing of the enchanted castle, and rode lots of rides, including the carousel and tea cups. Later, we watched an exciting afternoon parade, the nighttime parade, and ended our evening with the beautiful fireworks display over Cinderella's castle. It was certainly a day filled with special moments and wonderful memories. Gracie was so shy as we approached the princesses. They were very patient and gentle with her, something I appreciated so very much. Most often, they had a story a...

On Wednesday morning, we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's. This was a character meal featuring Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck! Ethan did much better with the characters this time. We had originally planned to head back to our resort after the meal to take it easy, let the kids nap, and spend our day at the pool. Once Gracie saw Cinderella's castle from the monorail, and then again from the windows during breakfast, we knew our plans had changed. It would have seemed cruel to allow her to get that close, and still make her wait another day to visit Disney's Magic Kingdom. (I absolutely adore her smile in this photo.) (This was our view during breakfast.)  After breakfast, we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, where we spent a good part of the afternoon. It was so exciting to finally be there! Ethan wanted to see "big Buzz" again, which worked out wonderfully since we found him! Ethan was su...