D-I-S-N-E-Y!

*I took this pic on my cell phone---I LOVE the way it turned out!

We took our kids on their first trip to Disney World in mid December.  The kids had a magical trip despite all getting sick and the heart-breaking news about my dad's death, but I am not going to talk about that in this post.  Aylin and Hilton are already asking when they get to go back and talking about all the things they are going to do next time.  Aylin (6 1/2 yrs) was at a perfect age,  tall enough to ride almost everything (even though she chickened out on some things) and old enough to make it the day without crashing.  Hilton (3 1/2yrs) was not quite old enough to make it the whole day without crashing, but because he is a tall little guy, he was able to ride quite a bit.  He, however, did not like the characters - lol!  Weston (1 1/2yrs) loved everything he was able to ride, took little naps in his stroller or in someone's arms, and was his usual happy self except when he got sick at the end of the trip.  He was also terrified of the characters - lol.  SO here is our play-by-play magical vacation   

Day 1-Surprise Travel Day

My mom (who was going on the trip with us) and sister Tessa (who was our ride to and from airport) came over bright and early so they could be there when we woke the kids up and told them what was going on.  We had all the suitcases packed and their t-shirts laid out so they could see them.  Bobby, my mom, and I were already dressed in our travel t-shirts.  The kids pretty much acted how I thought they would, relatively NO reaction :(  they #1 don't do well with surprises and #2 don't do well with early mornings - lol  By the time we got some chik-fil-a and got to the airport they were SUPER excited!  I have a high school friend who is a Delta pilot and she contacted the pilot of our first plane ride and hooked us up with an early boarding flying lesson!  It was an awesome way to start our trip and the perfect way for the kids to have their first ride in an airplane!  Our flights were great, the kids were great, and we got to Orlando and had my dream car (Nissan Armada) as a rental!!  Got settled in to our beautiful rooms and went to our first character dinner @ the Swan Hotel.

Day 2-Magic Kingdom

We had the most amazing day.  Not a single fit was thrown.  We got to ride a lot of rides and meet a few characters.  Bobby and Aylin were chosen to be a part of the Belle show!  We had another character dinner w/ Pooh and Friends, tickets for the Very Merry Christmas party, and great seats for the parade.  It was during the parade that my uncles and cousins were trying to get a hold of us to tell us about my father's passing.  Everything was so loud that we didn't hear any of the phone calls and finally after riding Peter Pan a message came through to give my uncle a call.  We knew something was wrong and my poor mother made that return phone call standing behind the castle in the middle of the huge firework show.  I know she will never be able to look at a firework show the same, and I know why that day was absolutely perfect in every way.  It turned out to be my mom's only day at Disney with us, because she and I stayed up all night getting plane tickets switched around and getting her back to Memphis so she could be with Tessa and they could start working on arrangements.

Day 3-Hollywood Studios

This was our worst day.  I was exhausted from no sleep, it was SUMMER hot, and the park was super super crowded.  We really didn't get to ride much or see much but I did get a free cupcake because they liked my homemade star wars t-shirt and we had an AMAZING dinner @ Ohana with a great view of the fireworks. The rest of our group at Disney arrived in time for dinner and their smiling faces and hugs helped make the day better.

Day 4-Sunday NOT SO Fun Day

After morning worship services, Aylin threw up in the beautiful rental car.  We took Bobby and Weston back to the room to nap and I took Aylin and Hilton (he had a fever) to the CVS clinic.  On the way, Aylin threw up again and Hilton also decided to throw up in the beautiful car.  So there I was, trying to find the CVS clinic by myself, had to climb into the back of the Armada to clean up puke and waited an hour to see the DR.  Of course, while there the kids were bouncing off the walls!!  Both kids ended up with strep throat and ear infections (we found out later, like a month later, that Hilton also had MONO).  We made it back to the rooms, got settled in, had a short little Bible study (we missed evening services) and then I just had to get out and away from everything to clear my mind.  So one of the other ladies and I went to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping...it was GREAT, even if we did get rained on - lol!  It was at this point that I made the decision to make the rest of this trip awesome for my kids.  We would do whatever it took to have a magical vacation, we wouldn't focus on the sadness and we would just focus on the present and all things magical Disney.  

Day 5-Magic Kingdom

We headed back to Magic Kingdom today with everyone and had another GREAT day.  We got to ride some of the rides we missed on Friday, saw some more characters, Aylin did Bippity Boppity Boutique which she loved, Hilton did the Knight option there and got a shield and sword which he still plays with daily and his hair all spiked and glittered - lol!  That night we did the pirates cruise with captain hook, mr smee, and peter pan and got to see the fireworks and the musical light show from the lake which was really cool.

Day 6-Universal Studios

We had another GREAT day, but did miss out on a lot of rides b/c the kids were either to small or they chickened out.  We also had another wonderful dinner @ Chef Mickey's.

Day 7-Animal Kingdom

Aylin, Hilton, and I had another GREAT day with the group, but Weston was not acting like himself (he wasn't smiling) so Bobby took him back to the room and he had a high fever that went away with meds.  We did the Nemo show and the Lion King show...the LION KING SHOW WAS AMAZING!  We ended this day with Bible study and Aylin and I went for a walk down by the lake outside of our complex.

Day 8-Epcot

I had been looking forward to this day ever since Sunday because I knew I was going to introduce my kids to Figment, whom I have always associated with my dad.  Bobby dropped us off and took Weston to the CVS clinic just to make sure he didn't have strep too (the DR said he was fine and just had a fever virus, which was gone now), so Bobby and Wes came back to Epcot to spend our last day altogether.   We had another Great day, the kids loved figment and I told them stories about PawPaw and his figment and then bought one for each of my kids and one for each of Julianna's kids, and a yummy dinner in Mexico followed by another great firework show.

Day 9-Real Life

We headed back home this day and by the time we landed in Atlanta, Weston had broken out in a full body rash and was running fever again.  I called our pediatrician and told them what was going on and asked for an appointment for 45 mins after we would land in Memphis.  Turns out he had strep throat, strep throat rash, and some type of viral infection-we think Hand/Foot/Mouth, because 4 of the friends we were with came home with strep and HFM a week later! Although none of those 4 really held Weston and so far no one else has gotten HFM.  He slept in the bed with Bobby and myself, and the other 4 adults who all took turns holding him haven't gotten sick yet, and we pray they don't, b/c the 4 older kids who got it had it EXTREMELY bad!  :(  When we got back home, my mom, Tessa, and my sister and her whole family were at our house because the next day we would all drive to AR for my dad's funeral service.

Here I want to send out some thank yous.  We were still about 2 years away from affording this trip all on our own so for the amazing selflessness, help, planning, and help with Weston we give out a huge hug of gratitude to the Winsteads, Schrimshers, and Beverly Coker.  We can never repay you for all of your kindness throughout the entire trip!  To my HS friend, MAGS, thank you for helping make my kids' first flight awesome!  To Shannon Rister, who organized some groceries and dinner to be delivered to my house for my sister who came over for the funeral before we arrived back home, to all the people who helped her out, and to all our church family who were praying for us, we will forever be grateful for your compassion.

Aylin is very excited to go back in a few years and add more pictures and autographs!  She got 23 autographs and pictures, Hilton got 10 but only 5 pictures b/c he just did not want his pic taken with the characters, and Weston only got 4 autographs with pictures because he was terrified - lol!

Just a little after thought: I found out later that there were a lot of people talking about how they couldn't believe we stayed at Disney after my dad died and to them I say this:  First, My dad would have NEVER dreamed of taking away THAT trip from his grandkids, I have very fond memories of my family enjoying Disney throughout my childhood and he would want the same for my kids.  Secondly, if the funeral services would have been held earlier in the week then I would have flown back for them or if my mom said she needed me there to make decisions instead of talking on the phone, but there is NO WAY that we could have flown everyone back early, it was a very expensive last minute change of flight for my mom and that X4 would have been crazy.