the finale...

Our main reason for the trip was the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. Uncle Jim and Aunt Carole wanted to give this experience to the girls. It was amazing. The girls spent an hour being transformed into their favorite Disney princess. Calla chose Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) because "I look the most like her, so I won't need a wig." Amelia wanted Ariel for two weeks leading up to the trip. I was very surprised to hear her choose Belle instead. She was a lovely Belle. They loved the dress up and the shoes. Wands and tiaras. And the pixie dust was everywhere!

Magic Kingdom really does live up to it's name. You feel magical in every part of it.

The teacups.

Dumbo's flying elephants.

Cinderella's Golden Carousel.

The girls' bucket list was completed first. Up next was EVERYTHING else.

It's a Small World. It's still as mesmerizing as I remember it being 20 years ago. Ooh. Ahh. Where are we now? London. Spain. Paris. This was one of Calla's favorites that she passed on to others when asked, "So, what was your favorite part of Disneyworld?"

Amelia lost her lanyard full of trading pins somewhere between Dumbo and It's a Small World. I went to the nearest lost and found store in complete distress. As I relayed my story to the worker, he must have seen my emotion over the situation. I prayed that somehow someone had found the lanyard and was honest and and turned it in. Please. It's a lot of money wasted. I don't want to put a damper on the day. He came back into sight with a look of defeat. I immediately started to feel the tears well up. He told me they did not have it, BUT - Disney would like to offer me a new lanyard and 8, EIGHT, pins as a replacement. My gratitude was obvious. I thanked him none-the-less and he replied, "Have a magical day!" Thanks, I think I will...

Stitch Adventure - Not a favorite amongst the smaller set. Well, amongst the 8-year-old set. It was worse than the airplane ride. Imagine with me, a circular room with seats and large harnesses that fit tightly over your shoulders. The creepy voice of Stitch teasing that you can't capture him. The lights go out for a debilitating 120 seconds as sounds and other surprises come from speakers and holes within the harness. Stitch is right behind you giggling that evil chuckle. He's running back and forth. He spits at you. He scratches at your neck. Calla was begging the people to let her out. Her screams were awful. She was mortified. I couldn't do a thing. We were all trapped. That was not the greatest memory.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Factory - the perfect way to calm Calla's fears. Nothing else would be scary. Promise.

Peter Pan ride - pure magic.

We went to find some princesses to autograph our books. We had to wait in line. For a very long time. Cinderella even "lost her slipper" and left for a good 25 minutes during our wait. Do we wait? Do we go watch the parade? Calla's response made our decision. "We have parades at home, but the princesses are only here." We stayed and met Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella. It was truly enchanting.

We made it in time for the parade and even found Jim and Carole in the massive crowd. The kind people around us made sure the girls had a front row seat. The sweet lady next to me said, "After all, we're supposed to be here for the kids." The parade was an exciting end to our trip.

The only thing left was to see the fireworks. But more importantly, the girls were tipped off that Tinkerbell made a descent from the castle during the fireworks. That's all they wanted to see from that point on. Cranky, tired kids. Fussing about not being able to see. Maybe we should just leave before this gets ugly. And then...there she was. Tink took her flight down. It was worth the wait. We watched the end of the fireworks from the monorail as we went back to the hotel.

So that was Disneyworld for us. So much packed into 3 days. We loved it and are so grateful for the gift. Thank you Uncle Jim and Aunt Carole.