I'm now currently in the process of putting a video together for our little women with pictures and videos that I took while on vacation. They are constantly asking to see pictures and the videos, and I have a feeling they'll be watching their video over and over again.
Our sole tragedy (and, it was a tragedy) on our vacation was that we lost Crannie's beloved blankie that she has sniffed and sucked her fingers with since she was 7 months old. The same blankie that I always covered her with as a newborn and would put in her crib since she was tiny. The same blankie with the "special spot" that she loved and would sniff in particular, and the same blankie that smelled just like Maddie. The same blankie that even Dan would grab sometimes (he does it with Faith's as well, as do I) to sniff since it's so soothing! Yep, that same blankie is now officially lost after 4 years. Faith shared her blankie very well during the entire trip, and luckily Faith's smells pretty much like Maddie's so it was also soothing. But, of course Maddie kept asking every day for "Hankie" and we visited the Lost and Found there every day (not to mention called all of the places we had visited). We ended up going to Target and picking out a similar material blankie that is pink with flowers. Their blankies have always been neutral, but Maddie liked the pink one and called it 'Jasmine.' I can't say though that she has taken to it that much since it doesn't have the 'special spot' or the 'smell' and she's still wanting to share Faith's. I was definitely just as upset-if not more-about losing beloved blankie.
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It's quite the experience that not only Maddie and Faith, but Dan and I as well, get to experience and share all of these first time memories together. As Maddie kept saying throughout our vacation, "now we have to bring Abrie Constein because she can't see too well through your bellybutton, Momma." Haha. It really is something else though to see Maddie and Faith's faces and reactions to everything, and also live it for the first time with Dan as well. We kept telling each other how surreal it felt that we were doing something we've always wanted to do, and to be able to get to do it for our girls also. We definitely had quite the magical time.
We got to Orlando on Sunday after driving the 17 hours (with stops) starting Saturday night. It was quite the drive, but my little women are troopers. They seemed to keep the big picture in their minds the whole time, and were so well behaved the entire 17 hours. Maddie kept telling us when we had first arrived in Florida and we had told her to go ahead and rest her eyes since it would still be another 3+ hours, "But, I'm too excited to close my eyes!" They were beside themselves when we reached the hotel. They are two little girls that truly appreciate hotels, and just love the free reign of getting to explore new places, etc. They loved that there was an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, and definitely took advantage. They also spent forever every day fooling around on their bunkbeds and clowning around in the tub as usual.
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We went to SeaWorld the first two days since we had the 2nd day free. This has always been a lifelong goal of mine to get to SeaWorld. I LOVE aquariums and zoos, and have always loved killer whales and beluga whales. Luckily, my little women share that appreciation for wildlife. They were in awe of the park, as were Dan and I. It's a beautiful park, and it had so much shade that it made for a really nice two days there. We saw everything except the sea lions and turtles, and they especially loved the simulated ride into the Wild Arctic, the dolphin cove, the Shamu show, and especially Happy Harbor. They could have spent all day there, and Dan and I were so happily surprised that it didn't even get packed in that children's area while we were there. Cran and Beebster had it pretty much to themselves the majority of their time spent there. These girls can't ever get enough of carousels, and so their sea carousel was a huge hit with them. They spent FOREVER each day on the slides and also loved the sand, which was so clean. Dan and I could sit and relax with our feet in the sand, and it was like heaven. Of course they also love getting wet, and loved the little splash pad.
I packed lunches every day (and took breakfast also) so we never had to worry about lines for food or anything like that, and it was so relaxing. They absolutely loved the "Believe" show, and it was hilarious because I think Maddie was half expecting the killer whales to find some sea lion pups or baby grey whales to eat. She has seen that on "Blue Planet" and kept asking if these were "nice killer whales!" hahaha.
The second day at SeaWorld, we went over to see the dolphins first thing in the morning since we had heard that was the best chance to feed the dolphins. Faith and Maddie desperately wanted to feed them. Faith was too young, but was still able to go right up to the dolphins and put her hands in the water to pet them, and we got Maddie a packet of sardines to feed them. Dan and I kept laughing because we couldn't believe our Crannie was dangling sardines for all of the dolphins that kept coming right up to her. It was unbelievable! Dan and I got to pet them, and although Maddie and Faith's arms couldn't quite stretch far enough out to reach them, the dolphins were all literally inches from them and kept 'smiling' at our two little women. They thought this was great! We loved SeaWorld.
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We lucked out and were able to get our two Disney afficionados over to the Contemporary Resort on our first full night there to eat at Chef Mickey's with Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto (or, as Faith would say.. the "Ruff"). They were in HEAVEN. Not to mention, they were already in heaven at the little gift shop there in the resort since it was their first Disney gift shop to enjoy. Maddie found her 'baby Jasmine' doll set that she desperately wanted (that I didn't think they sold, but kept telling her "well, maybe at Disney we'll find her") and Faith found some 6 inch-or-so set of the 7 dwarfs who she just adores. Needless to say, she then showed off her prize dwarfs to Goofy and friends whenever they came around to our table!
It was an awesome experience to eat with the characters and have them hug our little ladies. Faith has NEVER allowed a character to hug her at Sesame Place (even though she waves incessantly and talks about it constantly afterwards, she's just always been too shy in the very moment to get too close) and yet hugged and kissed every single character that night. It was just awesome. Our little Beebster is still just a little over 2 years old, and yet she knows every single Disney character just as well as her big sissy. It's so neat! And, of course, she LOVES Mickey and friends. She especially loves Pluto ("Ruff") and Minnie, so she was so excited to see them. Maddie of course loves every single character just as much! They had a blast. Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their faces the entire night, and I barely even ate from being so excited. To top off the awesome night, we walked out of the resort towards the parking lot at almost exactly 8pm and all of a sudden saw the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle. Maddie thought this was pure magic, and stood there so quietly. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me quietly, "I wished a wish that all of my friends could be here at Disney." It was too cute. Faith fell and skinned her knee while watching the fireworks (or, as Maddie would say, the "sparkleworks") but loved them nevertheless. She kept waving to the sky!
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We went down to Downtown Disney on our 2nd full night in Orlando, and we all loved it so much. We ate at Rainforest Cafe and they were too funny that night clowning around and Beebster hugging Maddie the entire night. They rode the carousel- OF COURSE!- and loved the gift shops. Maddie found a set with the princes that she chose, and was only disappointed by not getting to do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. We have NEVER, ever seen Maddie be so disappointed about something. We were leaving the gift shop and "Never Had a Friend Like Me" (the genie song) came on, which is one of her favorites. She'll usually belt out the lyrics at the top of her lungs, but looked at us so sadly and told us she wanted to get dressed up like a princess. She noticed an older girl going towards the window wearing a Belle dress and all dressed up with her hair done, etc and the photographer was taking her picture. She stood in front of the window and tapped on the glass longingly. I saw tears in her eyes, and I felt so incredibly bad that it was so expensive to get to do the boutique. She quickly came around though and in true Maddie fashion was telling us within minutes that she was "so grateful, Momma." My little sweetheart.
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Our sole day at Magic Kingdom was everything we ever imagined, and that much more. This has always been a huge dream of mine, and one that became even more clear when Maddie and then Faith started enjoying every single Disney movie known to man. I'm not at all a person to cry when I am happy, but I couldn't hide tears when we rode the monorail to the park from the parking lot. Maddie and Faith sat in between Dan and I with their little legs dangling over the seats (and Faith's skinned knee quite visible!) and Dan and I kept smiling. It was just plain awesome, and so surreal. They were in heaven the entire day, as were Dan and I. We chose a perfect time of year to go when the crowds aren't TOO bad and the prices were much more affordable for us, and they were able to ride the majority of the rides they had wanted to experience with little or no wait. They keep telling us constantly that their favorites were Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and (of course) the Carousel. Maddie has been singing "It's a Small World" constantly while Faith hums the background music to it. They loved everything!
I never thought that they would get to actually MEET characters either, and meet them they did. Beebster loves Ariel, and she was adorable at how mesmerized she stood next to Ariel. She kept asking, "where Dee?" (as in, where's Melody from "Little Mermaid 2") and smiling so bashfully. She does the exact same thing Maddie used to do when she was 2 years old which is smile towards the floor and look so bashful when she is in awe or so excited. It's precious. Maddie of course was in princess heaven, and asking all about where Prince Eric was, etc. They were adorable. Maddie then saw the Fairy Godmother outside of Cinderella's castle and gave her a huge hug and said "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" to her at the end. In the afternoon, we only waited 15 minutes to see Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora (or, "Awa" as Faith calls her). They were beside themselves. Faith started humming "Once Upon a Dream" to Aurora and dancing, while Maddie got down to business and asked if Merryweather was upset that her dress wasn't blue on that particular day. They then went with Cinderella, and she was too funny asking about their bows in their hair and telling them she loved their dresses (which Maddie had insisted they wear those particular dresses just in case they saw the princesses, so that they would be "beautiful!"). Cinderella told them, "you know, when someone puts such a pretty bow in your hair it means they love you very dearly" and Maddie pointed right to me (I have a picture of it) and smiled. It was so cute. They then saw Belle, and Faith didn't want to leave her side. It was such a cool moment!
They just loved the parade, and waved to everybody. They kept asking though why certain characters weren't there (Faith: "where, (making bunny wrinkly noses), Momma?"-- she wanted so badly to see the White Rabbit!) but they were still very pleased. Not to mention, they absolutely loved the show in front of the castle. On our way out of the park, Faith saw Anastasia, Drizella, and Cinderella's stepmother at Storytime with Belle and kept telling Dan that she wanted them to kiss her on the cheek! She LOVES those "bad girls!" hahahaha.
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, Dan's life, and their little lives.
The whole vacation was nothing short of incredible, and so surreal. We're realizing dreams of our own that our little girls share with us, and that is something that can not be expressed in words. Dan and I- and Madison and Faith- feel so blessed that we got this opportunity and we had the time of our lives!
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