Disney!! (and my longest post ever!)

I decided that I can't start blogging about this year before I touch on a few big highlights of the past couple of months.  The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Jeremy and I took the girls on their first trip to Disney World!  We told Chloe about the trip back in March when we booked it, so as you can imagine, we were on a Disney countdown for the greater part of 2012!!  Truth be told, I think both Jeremy and I were just as excited - we couldn't wait to share the experience with the girls, and neither of us had been to the parks in over 10 years.

After what ended up being an 11 hour drive, we finally pulled into the Animal Kingdom Kidani Village around 10:00 at night.  We got Chloe and Madeline out of the car and they immediately ran inside the hotel lobby.  Upon entering, the staff showered them with stickers, crowns, coloring books, crayons, and Disney themed drinking cups.  It wasn't long before extreme excitement kicked in and they were both running around like wild, tiara-adorned banshees!! 

On Monday morning, we started our Disney adventure at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the Magic Kingdom.  This was the part of the trip that Chloe was most looking forward to, as this was where she would finally be "turning into a princess!"  Prior to the trip, she told almost everyone she met: "Hi, my name is Chloe and I'm going to Disney World soon to turn into a princess."  No joke, she told waitresses, store clerks, people at church, friends at school, neighbors, you name it..the word was out!   Thankfully, I can report that the event lived up to it's expectations. Chloe was completely enamored with the whole thing, and it was so stinkin' adorable that I could hardly stand it.  I was the annoying mother taking 3,000 pictures, while the Boutique's paid photographer tried to get a photo in edgewise! 

Girls are supposed to be at least 3 years old to visit the BBB, but Jeremy and I knew that since Chloe was having the experience, Madeline would not be accepting that limitation.   We asked our Disney travel agent about this and she said she would go ahead and make the appointment, and if anyone asked, just tell them she is 3.  This made me nervous because Madeline had only been 2 for a whopping 3 weeks and, like her mother, was not blessed with the gift of height.   Needless to say, she was the smallest one in there by a mile, but the ladies didn't question us.  They just went about their normal routine and turned our little Maddie Grace into "Belle!"  

Getting her nails painted in "Bibbidi Bobbidi Blue":

Blowing her nail polish dry:

Getting her hair done.  She wouldn't let them style it, so they just brushed it and put glitter in it.

        

Lip Gloss:

The big reveal!!  

(The girls don't know what they look like until their whole makeover is finished.  Then the stylists turn their chairs around to face the mirror so they can see themselves for the first time)

Chloe's favorite princess right now is Sleeping Beauty.  She wanted to be Aurora, but the dress for that character has long sleeves and she complained that they were itchy.  Plan "B" was Rapunzel :)

Here is Chloe getting her hair done.  FYI, if you are at Disney and notice hundreds of the slickest and tightest hair buns you've ever seen, just know they have all been at the BBB! 

Getting her nails painted:

Make-up time! 

And finally, magic glitter! 

When they turned Chloe's chair around, she was in complete awe!  It was too cute!! 

   

My sweet princesses!! 

After the makeovers, we immediately headed over to the carousel ride.  Out of all the rides at Disney, I think this was probably one of their favorites.  I found it a bit discouraging, as we could've just gone to the mall to enjoy this!! ;)

After lunch, we headed home for naps.  The girls had gone to bed super late after we arrived at our hotel and then still woke up pretty early! 

Daddy's girls!

After some downtime, we went back to Cinderella's castle that evening to have dinner with the princesses.  One big mistake we made in planning the trip was having this big dinner the first night.  Every night thereafter, Chloe was in tears because we were "supposed to be having dinner with the princesses!"  Nothing throughout the rest of the week lived up to having a meal with Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora and Ariel! 

Meeting Cinderella:

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Madeline coloring at the table:

Meeting Snow White:

Jasmine:

Chloe eating one of several rolls:

Spending some time with Ariel, one of Madeline's favorites! 

Sleeping Beauty:

It was a late night, but well worth it!  What a fun first day we had!  Here is a cute picture of the girls walking the long halls of the hotel trying to find our room that evening:

Day two of the Magic Kingdom was filled with lots of rides, parades, treats and balloons.  We accomplished a lot this day and stayed at the park from about 10 am until after dinner! 

The girls blowing some magic glitter:

Our family on the Jungle Cruise ride.  This one was a lot of fun! 

Taking a juice break!! Chloe was watching Aladdin's magic carpet ride:

The Dumbo ride, one of the girls' favorites:

Meeting Ariel (yes, again!) in Ariel's Grotto.  This was in the new FantasyLand part of the park.

The first of many fun parades we watched.  Chloe was dancing in the streets just before it began. Madeline actually slept in the stroller through this one. 

Daddy buying the ridiculously cute (and ridiculously priced) Mickey balloons.  I have to say, they were a lot of fun for the girls and made for some really fun pictures.  They also helped us spot our stroller a lot easier in the overly-congested stroller parking areas near the rides.

Day Three was a "day off" (from the parks) for us.  I'm so glad we did this.  We all needed the rest and it gave us some time to check out Downtown Disney and visit some of Jeremy's family that lives in the area.  I think 5 straight days at the parks would have landed me in therapy!! ;)  

Playing with Mr. Potato Head in the room with Daddy that afternoon :

Day four was spent at the Animal Kingdom.  Since we were staying at the hotel there, we didn't have to head out as early for our character themed breakfast that morning.  This is a picture of the girls waiting for the bus to take us to the park.  I thought they looked so cute sitting on the big bench!! 

First, we had breakfast with Donald and his friends at the Tusker House.  Donald is outside the restaurant, so you meet him before going inside.  Madeline was terrified of the characters up close, so J and I had to be in most of the pictures! 

Madeline spotting Mickey as he came over to our table:

Chloe loved her mountain of Mickey-shaped mini waffles:

Daisy!

And Goofy!

After breakfast, we went on the Jungle Safari ride.  The kids (and adults) loved this!  

Next we stopped on a little bridge nearby for some fun photo ops! :)

After a Lion King show and a couple of rides, we got in line to meet a few more characters.

Baloo and King Louie:

And the girls FINALLY got to meet Minnie!  

The Animal Kingdom also has a fun carnival themed area.  We bought some tokens and let the girls play the games they wanted.  They each (with Daddy's help) won stuffed animals, so they were happy! 

For our last day at the parks, we decided to try out Hollywood Studios.  A few people had told us not to go there since there isn't as much to do, but I have to say, it was actually one of our favorite spots.  It was a lot more low key and though there weren't any rides for the kids, there was a lot there that they enjoyed - Disney Jr., princess shows, Toy Story mania, face painting, parades, dance parties, etc.  

Waiting for the bus..again... ;)

Inside Hollywood Studios:

Enjoying the classic, chocolate-dipped Mickey ice creams:

By the end of it, Madeline was wearing most of hers! 

After they finished their ice creams, they helped Mommy eat her frozen lemonade :)

Madeline shopping in a gift shop:

Watching a Disney Channel dance party :

It wasn't long before they joined in...

Stopping for a rest!!

Chloe getting her face painted!  Madeline was sleeping in her stroller again and missed this..though honestly I was kinda thankful for that.  These were full face paintings and I was sure Madeline would've had hers smeared everywhere within the first hour! 

Leaving the park!  

Later that evening, after changing into Christmas outfits, we headed back over to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas parade.  It was such a cute production.  A musical performance outside the castle, a light show on the castle, fireworks, a winter-themed parade, and fake snow..complete with hot chocolate and cookies for everyone!  I'm so glad we did this on the last night...it was a great send-off!  

Here are a few pictures of the castle before the sun went down, and afterwards all lit up!  It was so pretty :)

Day six was departure day :(  I took the girls behind the lodge to see all of the animals one last time while Daddy loaded up our car for the trip home.   

We had such an amazing trip!  So thankful we were able to take a vacation like this,  and I can't wait to go back in another year or two.  Although this is by far my longest post ever, this is only a small sampling of the 500+ photos I took (and yes, that was after deleting a good handful!)  Disney World really might just be the "happiest place on Earth!" :)