Ok, it's been a while... but since our honeymoon trip, we've traveled so much, I wasn't sure for a while whether I was coming or going! We've been to KS, CO, FL (me, twice) for various trips, and Ben has been gone 3 out of the last 4 weeks for work. May saw the end of school, and June saw Girl Scout camp and a trip to Turkish/Greek Isles for the two big girls. Which brings me to this post....
So the big girls go on a BIG wonderful trip somewhere fabulous with my parents just about every year. It begins when they are about 8 years old, so Madelyn has been invited the last couple of summers. Peyton however is still "under age"... and she doesn't get invited on the ski trips either... or any of the other trips or even dinners out with Grammy and Grampy. We DID take a girls trip with her cousin Tabi to Chicago for the American Girl Place shopping extravaganza right after school got out. They had too much fun, let me tell you! A sample of photos:
Peyton chose Kit and is very excited about the upcoming movie! The girls had a ball choosing various accessories for their dolls, watching the show, eating in grown-up restaurants (they were both very well behaved, I might add), and shopping in the Big City! It was a grand trip...
Just before we left for Chicago, I started toying with the idea of taking Peyton on a surprise trip just for her... So I did a little research, and booked plane tickets to a secret destination. I told the two big girls about my plan, and they were great secret-keepers. I managed to pack and get Peyton to the airport without her knowing a single detail that she was going anywhere - she only knew that she was getting a "surprise" day with mom. She wasn't quite sure what to think when we pulled up to the airport! A photo of her with her sisters, who would be gone by the time we got home...
And then we were off! We were on our way to... ORLANDO!!! Yes, home of Mickey and Minnie and the gang, only Peyton didn't quite associate the two. So I got her to Orlando and to my aunt's house without her suspecting our BIG SURPRISE destination.... you got it! The MAGIC KINGDOM!
I tried very hard to get a picture of her face when we entered Disney property, but it wasn't to be... We arrived first thing in the morning, and didn't have any traffic or trouble getting in the parking lot. We rode the ferry across to the MK and started our day heading for Cinderella's Royal Castle to see about eating there and meeting the princesses. What LUCK, because we got right in for breakfast! It was truly priceless, as you get to meet Cinderella, plus get photos with her, then go upstairs and Jasmine, Snow White, Belle, and Aurora all walk around and meet and greet everyone. We had our autograph book and camera ready! They do a little wishing ceremony that was wonderful, the food was good, and the whole experience was worth the (hefty) price tag.
Did I mention that the Fairy Godmother was right outside the castle and we were the last admitted to meet her before she had to go read the mice a story?? That's about how our day went -- pretty perfectly!
After breakfast we headed to Fantasyland. We rode the "It's a Small World" ride, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, the carousel and met Ariel. She was fantastic! She spent about 10 minutes chatting with Peyton about various things like dolphins and swimming. Honestly, you'd think they'd be rushing people through, but it isn't like that, they really take time with the kids.
Then we were off to ToonTown and Minnie's House. After a tour, we headed to Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster, and while in line, it looked like one barnstormer of a thunderstorm was headed directly for us! We were so lucky that we were able to ride the coaster and get over to the big tent to meet some of Mickey's friends before the skies literally opened up! It was quite a thunderstorm, but we were inside, so all was well. We met Donald Duck and Goofy, but poor Pluto got summoned away by Mickey, so we didn't get to meet him.
After we met Donald and Goofy, we were stuck in the gift shop for a bit while the rain passed. It was a little dicey, but we did a bit of shopping, and got a little snack, and soon enough the rain let up to a drizzle, so we went to see Mickey's house and then meet Mickey and Minnie themselves!
Then we headed to the Haunted Mansion! That was the first time I'd ridden that one, and it was so funny! We loved when you go past the mirrors and it looks like a ghost is riding in the car with you! And luckily the ghost was on my side, as I'm not 100% sure how well that would have gone over with Peyton. We rode the Pirates of the Carribbean, Jungle Safari, (during which the rain began again and we were forced to don our ponchos), the Magic Carpets, and went into the Swiss Family Robinson tree house.
After a quick snack, we went to Tomorrowland. I wasn't sure there'd be much of interest to Peyton in this section, but boy was I wrong! We didn't take many pictures, due to the rain, but she loved the Transit ride (the people mover), the Carousel of Progress, and especially Buzz Lightyear's ride where you get to shoot things with your laser gun for points! Her only complaint was next time she will drive, because I didn't do a great job! At this point, it was about 8pm, so we went to find somewhere to eat dinner. We got right into Tony's for a great spaghetti dinner! We were both starving, so it didn't take long for us to devour the meatballs! We finished just in time to catch the SpectroMagic parade down Main Street. It is truly wonderful to see! The lights changed from color to white, and many characters are represented!
After the parade, we did our big shopping, where we purchased a pin trading kit, and a couple other pins she liked, and Cinderella pajamas! She traded two of her pins with Disney cast members, then we headed down towards the castle for the big fireworks show. I didn't have my good camera, so no fireworks pictures... :( ... But the show was fabulous! We saw Tinkerbell fly, and Peyton was on my back during the show, all the while wishing "I want to be a Princess ... I want to be a Princess ... " as shooting star fireworks went off and Mickey and friends told everyone that wishes do come true if you believe. THAT made the whole trip worthwhile! I leave you with the last couple of photos we took ... The whole day makes me want to go back very soon with the whole family!!! Priceless precious memories!
Our trip to Discovery Cove and Sea World the next day coming soon!
