Hi! Last week was our big week taking the girls to Disney!!! It was pretty much the perfect family vacation and seriously a lot of fun. To anyone thinking of going, we highly recommend taking your kids when your youngest is at least 48 inches or 6 1/2! The girls did SO great I can't believe it! We have told them since they were probably 3 that we would take them to Disney once they could walk a long way without whining. (never felt like dodging the crowds with a triple stroller or having to carry three tired children) And it totally worked! They walked each park in 98 degree heat at our pace without whining! They were such troopers and loved every minute. The whole trip just gave me like an "enhanced" love for my fam or something. They are just the best and it was so much fun to see them experience all things "Disney" for the first time. Get ready for a long blog post! :)
We stayed 2 miles away from Disney at the Caribe Royale and then took shuttles in to the Disney parks each day. The first day we went to Magic Kingdom.
We started them out "easy" with a little Dumbo ride....
but they soon wanted the big roller coasters! Once they discovered the fun roller coasters, that's all they wanted to do! :)
Here's Hailey with Princess Belle as she was chosen to play the Beast in a little show. Too cute!
They met a lot of princesses...here they are with Merida from the movie Brave.
Had to get some ice cream from Aloha Isle (pineapple dole whip cup = YUM!) on such a hot day.
Splash Mountain was also a hit ride. :)
Then the next day we headed to Sea World! They loved Sea World too! On one ride, they put you in a helicopter simulator thing and you "fly" to Antarctica. When you get out, it's like 30 degrees and there are penguins everywhere. Hailey said "Mom how are we going to get back to Sea World?" ;) At least the rides are believable!! :)
We saw a dolphin show, Shamu show, Sea Lion show, dog show, etc. Dolphin show was our fave!
We also experienced quite a few 3-D shows at all of the parks! One at Animal Kingdom freaked the girls out. It was about bugs and half way through spiders are dropping from the ceiling like on your head and then you think the show is over and the announcer says "Please exit to your left but let the beetles and maggots go first." Then right after he says that you literally FEEL bugs crawling to the left under you butt! CRAZY! Pretty funny though too! :)
Watching the dolphins...
Before we left I gave the girls a little princess journal to write down their favorite things since they are learning to write at school. Who knew that would be such a hit. They wanted to stop and right down their favorite things a bunch of times. Super into it. :)
Then Sunday was our day at Epcot! (or the Giant Golf Ball place as the girls call it) Epcot was also a hit because they have these little Kidcot stations throughout the park in each "country" that you have to find and then get a stamp from each country. The girls loved the little "treasure hunt" too! The Soarin' ride was also very cool.
Met Sleeping Beauty...she told them to stand like a princess which this is apparently how they stand?? :) That night we also had dinner with the princesses but I"ll spare you all of those pics. They met Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Mulan! :)
Monday was Memorial Day so we took a day off and relaxed at the hotel pool! All my girls and I having some virgin Pina Colada's! :)
Monday night we went to Downtown Disney for dinner. The girls somehow got hyper after dinner:) Side note here but Emily is in the middle of the pic below and if you notice her right eye...she is having surgery on her eyes next week Tuesday so prayers would be appreciated! We've been watching her eye since birth every 4 months or so...and it was improving for a few years but has now been steady for the past year or more. So they recommend correcting it now. Her eye muscles have been pulling her eyes (mostly her right eye) outward so they'll go in and loosen that muscle. eek! They have to do it in both eyes so they are even. Amazingly Em is actually excited for her surgery. I think she feels special doing it since she's the only one and she said the other day "I'm excited to take a nap!" She has always loved her naps. :) So please pray it goes well and that the surgery works! Thank you!!
Here is one of the girls' favorite roller coasters at Animal Kingdom. Mt. Everest - In the middle you can see Ryan in an orange shirt and Em and Hailey right in front of him in blue and pink. (Addison had seen a few Disney episodes explaining how this one has a track that appears broken and has you go backwards so she wanted E and H to be the guinea pigs first) :) Sure enough they loved it and Ry also said it was fine for me to do it so we all did it again later! :) Super fun one!
Their other faves that I don't have pictures of but I want to remember is Space Mountain and then Atlantis ride at Sea World. The one they did the most though and is their most fave is one at Hollywood Studios called the RockNRoller Coaster. The thing goes from 0 - 60 mph in 2.8 seconds! Then proceeds to go upside down and corkscrew a few times. They loved it! :) Em and Hailey also went on one with Ryan twice called the Hollywood Tower of Terror! It's like a haunted hotel where you go in the elevator and then it drops you 10 stories, up 5, drop 4, etc. etc. No fear here! :)
Another favorite ride was the Safari in Animal Kingdom. We really felt like we were in Africa! Super close to so many cool animals!
River Rapids was another ride at Animal Kingdom. Every got pretty wet on this one but Emily was SOAKED! Like wringing out her clothes soaked!! Luckily I had randomly packed one extra outfit that day. Super fun!
Then we went back to Magic Kingdom for another day....
Yummy buffet breakfast at the Crystal Palace with more characters!
And an extra perk was that my best friend from high school - Tatum, happened to be at Magic Kingdom with her 2 girls and mom that same day! It was SUCH a treat to meet her youngest daughter and to spend the day with her!!
Love you Tate!!
We did the Belle show again and this time Ry was picked for a role. Totally great daddy of girls!! :)
We kept running into Tatum even after we said good bye. :) So we had to do our famous "pose" that we did throughout high school at every Homecoming, Prom, etc. :)
Pic is blurry but here I am at 18 weeks with baby with the castle in the background! The girls are already planning when we will go back in 6 ish years when baby is 48 inches. :) So fun! :)
Every night we had made reservations at the various parks for dinner. It worked out great and was nice not to have to wait! Here we are at Mama Melrose's at Hollywood Studios.
Brought some glow sticks from home which were much cheaper! :)
And then our last day was a day of relaxing at the hotel pool again until we left later that night. SUCH a great trip and so thankful that we could go together!
Back home again at almost 19 weeks! I really felt very good on the trip even though it was so hot. I just drank a lot of water and really felt great all day! Every night at like 9 when we got back to the hotel and went straight to bed, the baby would go nuts kicking. :) Addison even got to feel the baby kick one night. She's the first one to feel it move! :) I LOVE that feeling and am trying to savor every moment. This little one has been pretty active as I have felt movement since about 12 weeks! I thought this wasn't possible but my Dr. did say it can happen in second/third pregnancies - especially since my lining was all stretched out! Yay! Feel so so blessed! :)
And here I am at 19 weeks with triplets! :)
