What an amazing three days!

If you follow me on Facebook, you will see that I have posted tons of pics of our three days at Disney.  I decided on posting this pic here because I think it sums up these past few days the best.  It was an amazing time that I wish I could bottle up forever.  I am pretty sure that when Walt dreamed of this park, he had my family in mind.  Disney is great for all sorts of people.  Disney is perfect for a guy who is a romantic at heart, with 4 little girls.

Sunday we went to Downtown Disney which has free admission, mainly because the only thing there are shops and restaurants.  The highlight of the night was getting the updated silhouettes that we first had done at Disney in June of 2009.  I first saw the silhouettes at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.  He had all girls, and in one of his rooms at his house, he had these done of his girls.  I thought it to be a great way to capture your loved ones in a old fashioned way.  So, in June of 2009 I had these done of Reagan, Caroline, and Baylor Grace.  We were all excited to get them done again, of course with the addition of Hadley.  Our kitchen wall will now be complete with all 4 updated silhouettes clippings.

On Monday we went to Magic Kingdom and we were all totally excited.  We figured this was a great time to go and that the park wouldn't be near as crowded as the other times we went.  Boy were we wrong.  It wasn't the most crowded it has ever been with us there, but it was close.  At one point there was a 75 minute wait for Splash Mountain.  We decided to do two things first, Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain. We get there for the opening of the park and raced to the back of the park through Adventureland.  We passed up meeting Ariel, Tinkerbell, all sorts of things, to get to the Pirates ride.  All the girls jumped in but we soon realized we had made a mistake.  We probably needed to break Caroline and Baylor Grace in on this ride thing.  Probably should have started off with Its a Small World.  They got a little nervous because of some of the Pirates ride.  They both had been on it before and loved it.  This ride, back in June, is what started Caroline on her pirates kick.  But, when you're an adult you can ride these rides a thousand times and see something new each time.  I guess as a little kid you can find something to new to scare you each time.  Regardless, they made it through.  Then Caroline decided she was going to ride Splash Mountain like a big girl.  She just barely made the height requirement, Baylor Grace was turned away in disappointment.  My face in the picture on the way down, was the first unmanly thing I did on this trip.  I was so proud of Caroline for being a big girl and riding it.  She actually did okay with it, until the water hit her right square in the face.  It was a long, fun day capped off by the light parade and the fireworks...which Caroline made it through.

The second day was at Animal Kingdom, a park we had never been to.  The highlights were first, I may or may not have danced with an African Bongo group (second unmanly thing I did on this trip).  Callie may, or may not, have filmed it.  I can neither confirm nor deny that I actually got some compliments from the women in the audience.  My girls acted as if it was perfectly normal.  The Lion King show was amazing.  And despite that fact that Baylor Grace slept on my lap, drool stain and all, it was a great show.  The best part of the day for me was the roller coaster we road called Everest Expedition.  I recommend you watch it above before you go any further.  I haven't always liked roller coasters.  I am more like Caroline than Reagan when it comes to them.  However, I really wanted to ride this one, and ride it with Brooke and Reagan.  My brave little 5 year old rode it with her Mom and I. Even though you could see  the ride throughout the park, I don't think she had any real idea what was about to happen.  If she did, she might not have rode it.  I was so proud of her making it through, even if her Dad did have to carry her for awhile afterwards.

The last day was our second day at Magic Kingdom. Due to the weather, the crowd was really low.  We got to ride all the rides we wanted to, with little to no wait.  Some of them, I just stayed seated and rode again.  We also got to meet all the characters we wanted to. Around lunch, the girls went back to the hotel for naps and I stayed out at the park.  I rode a few more rides, met a few characters, even watched a parade.  There I was, solo, pink cotton candy in hand, watching a Disney parade (third unmanly thing I had done).  I realized that there was no way for me not to look like a total creeper.  Regardless, I was having a great time. It was truly an amazing day.  Almost, magical.  We were talking at dinner about our favorite parts of the trip. I asked Reagan if she knew what mine was and she said "yes Daddy, yours was all of us being together."  That's right sweetheart, it was.  I remember when we were here this past June, after the fireworks and during the mad dash for the Monorail, Reagan told me that this day was what she dreamed of her entire (5 years) life.  I knew at that point it was worth every penny we spent. I also knew we had to come back.  Tonight, after the fireworks, and during the mad dash to the Monorail, Reagan began to cry.  Not a sob, not a cry to make a scene, but tears.  Tears because all the build up was gone, and her three days were up.  This was something they had asked for from Santa, and they had a great countdown calendar at home.  Her Mom was crying a bit too.  It was a beautiful, magical three days.  It may be better to have love and lost, then to never love at all.  It is also better to be sad that this trip was over, then to never have gone on it in the first place.   The best part of this entire trip was Hadley.  Boy did she love Magic Kingdom.  She spent the two days waving at everyone.  I mean everyone.  She danced, she was amazed by the rides, and loved the Fireworks.  She had the biggest smile on her face.  All the more reason to come back.

And with that, our adventure at Disney was over.  I feel that the above picture says it all.  Two of my girls, sleeping with their Daddy.  I have no idea how much money I spent here, not sure I want to know.  The fact is, I would do it all over again tomorrow if I could.  One of my dreams was always to have a family and to be able to spend days like these past three days with them.  Moments like my parents shared with me when I was a kid. I guess Disneyworld really is the place where dreams come true.