More Disney 2011...

Disney World is easily one of my top 10 favorite places! I love, love, LOVE the looks on my kids faces when we walk around a corner and see something new there!

Cassidee has a serious love for this castle and everything about it!

Our first stop when we got to Disney was Magic Kingdom. We got there in time to wait for Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Her they are with her "pet." I can't remember it's name or know how to spell it!

This was Cassidee's most favorite thing about the trip!

On Saturday morning my kids ran in the Disney World Princess Relays before the half marathon. This was the end of it. They were hot, they were tired, they were thirsty, and they claimed the sun was too bright to open their eyes, even though we were in the shade! They are holding up the medals they received!




The races were at Hess Sports Fields in the ESPN Sports Center.

The Atlanta Braves were also having their spring training there, so I stopped and watched batting practice one day for a few minutes.

The next day we spent at Epcot.

Cassidee wore a "It's My Birthday" button all week (even though we were about 3 weeks early)....you get some special treatment....

Anyway, she received a special call from Goofy one morning. He sang her Happy Birthday!

Both of my kids have a great love for all the princesses and Cason gets as excited as Cassidee does when we see them!

MULAN

Cason has a serious love for Snow White!

LOVE this picture!

We spent one day at Animal Kingdom.

Silly Lilo and Stitch!

We had a great lunch, on the water, with Mt. Everest in the background. Cason is looking at me with a blank stare, Cass is smiling at Daddy, and Jeremy is smiling at??? The people behind me???

The Lion King show at AK is awesome!

While Cassidee was riding the Dinosaur ride, Cason played on the ones outside!

Since AK closes at 6 in the evening, we had time for a little swimming at the resort that day. Cassidee had been begging, so it worked out perfectly! She stayed in the little 1 foot kids pool for a while, then she and I got in the big pool for some real swimming!

He never stopped moving the whole trip! He loves everything Disney!

There's nothing much better than dinner, followed by a Mickey rice crispy treat, all in your pj's!

Another day at MK and Cassidee wanted to dress up!

Every time we meet Tiana she tells her about BFF Reagan that can't wait to come meet her!

We had bought Cassidee a new Ariel dress for her surprise dinner date with Jeremy that was happening that night. Since we were meeting Ariel and Eric and I had the dress with me, we let her see the new dress and change so she'd be dressed appropriately when she met them!

We had to change again when we met Aladin and Jasmine. Cassidee had a long conversation with them about her princess b-day party coming up. Jasmine gave Cass her address and told her to send her an invitation. Aladin claimed his feelings were hurt when Cass said it was for girls only and he couldn't come. Cass told him to stay home and play with Raja the tiger!

A trip to Disney isn't complete without waiting an hour in the sun to see Woody and Jessie.

Totally worth it!

This was day three or four of going, going, going and my kids did melt down a little bit about 3 in the afternoon. We decided not to go all the way back to the hotel, but to ride the monorail in circles and make them lay down a bit. Cason only needed one complete trip to be OUT!

Cass got comfy and slept for a while. Actually, I know that at one point all 4 of us were crashed out! I'm sure we got some funny looks! After 6 - 8 laps (about 2 hours) we were all cooled off, rested, and ready to play some more!

Another highlight for Cassidee was going to Cinderella's Dinner at the Grand Floridian Hotel with Jeremy one night to celebrate her birthday!

Oh man....one of my favorite pictures ever of these two!

This is the only place we have found where you can meet Prince Charming!

Cinderella made a big deal about Cassidee's birthday sash!

Cinderella and the birthday girl!

Gotta love $35 mac n cheese and strawberries!! :)

We spent another full day at Hollywood Studios. We woke up that morning to rain pouring down outside. It looked short-lived, so we ran to breakfast, ran to get on the bus, and ran into the park. We ended up buying a couple of ponchos to cover the kids and the strollers, but Jeremy and I got soaked. Because of the rain we got to ride a few rides before the crowds came. Jeremy and I both rode the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster that is possibly one of the most fun I have ever ridden. We were going to take Cassidee on Tower of Terror but she got scared at the last minute so we didn't do that. We got Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania and then waited in line for it. My kids love, love, love that ride!

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We also love going to see Woody and Buzz at Hollywood Studios. They are in a room that is made to look like Andy's room from the movie. Cassidee wore her Jessie shirt like she did last time we were there. Last time Buzz asked her to dance with him like he danced with Jessie in the movie. This time he pointed to her shirt and then wiped his face like he was wiping away a tear. Woody came over and hugged him. Cassidee got a huge kick out of this! Her favorite stories to tell are what the characters did when we met them!

We also love meeting the green army men!

This was a huge hit for Cason, being the big CARS lover that he is! He even kissed Lightning good-bye! (This is also when I noticed that Cassidee was not feeling well and running a fever. She was going, going, going and all of a sudden didn't want to get out of the stroller to see CARS or anything else, which is very unlike her! She was very lethargic and just wanted to take a nap. It was 10 am. She wasn't well! After many doses of motrin thru-out the day, she became her normal, perky self by the next day! My poor kids don't handle "lack of sleep" very well!)

My most favorite show that we saw the entire time at Disney was the Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios. It was in an amphitheatre and we had great seats! Don't you just love the pose I'm getting here while taking her picture? She cracks me up and worries me all at the same time!

This was the end of the show, with a view from our seat. No zoom or anything. I could have come back and watched it again.......I can't even describe why.....I just loved it! Cassidee sang along with every song too! Just a great memory I'll always have!

We went back to Epcot on our very last day (half day) that we were in Florida. The kids were pooped, but we had a few things left on our list, one of which included seeing the fairies. They used to be at MK but moved to Epcot during the remodel over at MK. It was the perfect place for them. The Flower Show at Epcot started while we were there and it was gorgeous! They had topiaries (no clue how to spell that) and hundred of various colors/kinds of flowers planted everywhere. It was a great backdrop for meeting Tinkerbell!

Here are the kids with Tink and Terrance!

And with Videa and Rosetta!

Cassidee is still sad we missed SilverMist. (Her favorite, I guess!)

Here are some of the (again, I can't spell...) topiaries. They had some from almost every Disney movie. They were very impressive, although we did hear one lady say, "I wonder how they grow them like that?" HELLO!

Here's an example of all the colorful flowers you'd see walking around Epcot. I loved it and it smelled so great!

Jeremy took Cassidee to ride Soarin' one last time (her favorite ride at Epcot), so I got to hang out with Cason for a bit. He really wanted to wait in line to see Chip and Dale, so that's what we did. He sat on a wall and I couldn't resist a picture or two and luckily he was happy to smile for me!

Love this little, handsome man--goofy smile and all!

And when we got up to see C & D they signed our autograph book. I then looked at Cason and said,"turn around for the picture." Everyone laughed cause Cason stayed the same way while C & D turned around. Ha ha! Jokes on me!

The kids liked going in the Innovations building where they had simulated house fires, had a fire truck, got to play in a house, etc. Cason thinks all fire trucks are Jeremy's, from Jeremy's station! He even told one little kid walking by that it was his daddy's truck. The kid asked Cason if he could touch it. Cason said NO! I laughed and then told him to be nice!

We ended our time at Epcot and Disney World all together at a private meeting with Mickey and Pluto. If you have a Disney credit card, it's a free thing for you....just FYI. (You get the 5x7 picture free)

We have decided that we will wait longer than 5 months before we go back again. They are doing a remodel at Magic Kingdom so we will go back when it is finished next spring. I have also decided that I am fine with this being our family vacation destination spot for a few years. My kids love it, I love it, Jeremy even loves it, and I just don't get tired of seeing my kids deliriously happy all the time! Happiest place on earth for sure!