We went, we saw, we conquered!
We've been home for almost a week after tackling Disney World with the fam, and it's taken us this long to recover. Now I get the concept of needing a vacation from the vacation! We had a blast and came home mucho exhausted, but it was worth it! The whole trip was very spur of the moment and planned a few days before we were to fly out. But if you know us, you know that if it weren't for the last minute we'd never do a thing! Everyone I know who's ever even thought about doing a Disney trip has invested months of
A good friend of mine and her family go to Disney so much they have season passes. I got her on the phone immediately and she assured me it was doable. But then she said "I've planned a trip in as little as 6 weeks out so you'll be fine". When I reminded her that I didn't even have 2 full weeks, she said "well, this will probably be the best trip you'll ever take then because you'll have no agenda"!! That was the truth, but it was perfect for us. Sure, the girls would have loved to have a character breakfast here or there, but at this stage in the game they don't know what they're missing. My philosophy is that when they're a couple of years older and will remember more of what we do when we're there, that's when I'll make grand plans. It was so nice not to have to be anywhere at a certain time - we took our time and enjoyed every single bit of it in the most relaxed sort of way. We weren't rushing here or there trying to beat the clock. There are pros and cons to doing it the way we did it, but this was our first time to get our feet wet and next time we'll know just what we want to do and when we want to do it.
We flew out on Sunday, the 4th of July, from Huntsville at 6 in the morning. If you do the math, that means we were up at around 3 a.m., and while most people would be dragging their feet, we were doing just the opposite. We sang Airplanes at the top of our lungs (it's been our fave for a while now - my husband is the king of getting us hooked on songs way before they're on the radio) and then had the radio on full blast all the way to the airport. It was time to p-a-r-t-y...Huntsville Airport style. There's just something about going to an airport to catch a plane that gets us going!
Before I move on, I must give you fair warning.
A. This is going to be long.
B. Some of these pictures will hurt your eyes because they're so blurry! J dropped my camera a few weeks ago on accident and the lens fell to pieces. I got a new lens right before the trip and thought I was back in business. Until I tried to take a picture of the girls going ballistic when Bethany got home that Saturday night (they hadn't seen her in a week so they were completely giddy) in our dimly lit living room...
Turns out the lens wasn't the only thing broken. The flash didn't work either! At 10:00 that night, 5 hours before we're supposed to be up and at 'em to leave, I learned that I didn't have a camera that would work unless I was taking pictures in broad daylight. Talk about an unhappy camper!!! I was physically sick. But it all turned out just fine in the end.
The girls getting ready to check in at the airport...
Please take note of Cate's new picture pose. She's got that right arm up in almost every picture I take these days. Don't know why and don't know where it came from, but it's her thing and we roll with it!
We made it through security by the skin of our teeth and claimed a spot near the windows to watch the action...
That's a prime example of why a flash comes in handy!
Example number 2...
While Cate hammed it up, Towns listened to her iPod to try to calm her nerves...
B was worn out from looking like a celebrity and just wanted on the plane...
Finally, it was time! Getting ready for take off...
It sort of broke my heart that Towns wanted to take her first flight with her sister sitting by her side and not her mother, but Bebs was thrilled! I bowed out gracefully and resorted to being official photographer.
Cate sat with J and asked a million questions about what was happening and how everything worked...
Let me just say that these things don't really mix:
-Cate
-An airplane with doors sealed air tight
-20,000 ft above ground
She was climbing the walls, climbing over seats, climbing under seats, wanting to run up and down the aisles, and even the pilot talking to her didn't phase her. She's something else! A short flight like ours we can somewhat handle, but believe me when I tell you we won't be going to Paris anytime soon! Ha!
My favorite quote of the day:
(We were on the runway waiting for our turn to take off)
Bebs: There are so many airplanes everywhere, this is so crazy!
Towns: Well, Bethany, we are at an airport.
I thought B and I would die laughing - Towns was so serious and not trying to be funny at all which is what made it even funnier! And what I love is how B hugs her so tight after comments like that and says, "Towns, I love you" like there's nothing more important in the world than just the two of them. Sweetness!
We landed safe and sound, and hopped a tram to baggage claim...
B's still working on hard on the well-traveled celebrity look...it doesn't take much! :)
And this man, well, he's a saint. That's all I've got to say...
We pushed and pulled him around all of Orlando and he handled it like a champ. It's never easy being the only male in the permanent company of four females, bless him!
We could have told the girls the tram ride was all there was to being at Disney World and they would have been 100% satisfied. They were mesmerized...
Getting to our hotel was a total fiasco, but we finally made it! We were tired and hungry. The tired part we never really fixed, but the hungry part was remedied right away. We were as good as new and ready for a family picture (except for Towns - not sure what that's about)...
It sprinkled most of the afternoon, but that didn't stop us. We hit the pool in no time flat and were jumping for joy that we were finally at Disney World...
We swam for hours and were all ready for a little of this...
After a short snooze, we got ourselves pulled together again and hit Downtown Disney...
We checked out the scene and opted to take our girls here for dinner...
The atmosphere and food were fantastic, and we walked around more of Downtown Disney before heading back to the hotel to catch the 4th of July Magic Kingdom fireworks show from our balcony. What a way to spend Independence Day!
That wraps up day 1...little did we know what was in store for us the rest of the week!
To be continued...
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