Disney World Excitement

The kids had a chance to go to Disney World for two days this year... We woke up and got out of the door in South Florida at 5am so we could check in early at the All Star Music Resort and head over to visit Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. My parents came along for the wild ride as well. Our first day was kindly sponsored by a number of ABC O&O reporters who work in Toledo, so we were able to park hop for a day - that's why I was so intent on visiting two parks with the kids. They got a chance to visit a couple of very cool animal experiences - one a "hike" through an animal area (including having a chance to see many gorillas) and the other was a safari ride through the Animal Kingdom natural preserve. It was amazing to see the number of animals we saw in such a short amount of time.

After a bus ride over to the Hollywood Studios we stood in a very, very long line (110 minutes or so) to ride the Toy Story Mania 4D experience. It was so, so cool. Even the waiting line was exciting. We got the full Andy's Room experience as we waited. We also got to see June and Quincy from Little Einsteins. (Jordan loved that) We ran back to Animal Kingdom to enjoy dinner and play in the Dino-Rama area.

We took the kids and the grandparents back to the hotel and ran off to spend extra hours on our own in the Magic Kingdom. The holiday decorations on the castle are just plain beautiful. I don't remember it that way two years ago. Randy and I rode all of the rides we normally don't get to ride because of the kids. That was pretty fun.

The next day we had a quickie birthday present opening time for Jordan before running off to the Magic Kingdom. I presented Jordan with her 3 year old t-shirt that I won in the Type-A Mom's Back to School party back in September. Her t-shirt was from Tote And Tee - a very cool online store with very sweet shirts. Jordan looked beautiful and excited in her shirt. It certainly screamed: I'm a big girl. We added a necklace full of Disney pins and a crown to complete the "look" for the day. That is... before she went to her big birthday gift: A trip to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique to get princess hair. We learned a big lesson during this trip: You want to be in the Magic Kingdom the moment is opens in the morning. No one is there. We walked onto four rides before 9:30. It was amazing. We all enjoyed the Buzz Lightyear ride, the Monsters Incorporated Laugh Floor (which we saw the night before and I LOVE it.), It's a Small World and Peter Pan. The kids were in heaven.

The boys and girls split so Jordan could see Mickey and Minnie and the boys could get a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain. Mickey and Minnie were wonderful and took bunches of pictures with Jordan. The boys got us passes and we met up with a former student of mine and his wife. She broke her foot recently and that mishap taught us another lesson about Disney: You want to be injured but not too injured to enjoy Disney. A wheelchair gets you to the front of every ride along with the rest of the people you're visiting the park with. That access made it possible for Cameron to ride every roller coaster. They got to enjoy a pile of rides while Jordan got pretty. Walking around the park with a little white and pink poofball was really funny to watch. I can't tell you how many random people took pictures of Jordan and I giggled inside thinking about how many of those photographers are looking at their pictures now and just realizing the little girl who was dressed up only had one hand! That was another lesson we learned during this trip: If you dress your little girl up to a level that is just shocking and a bit over the top, people won't notice little differences like a missing arm. (hee hee)

The princess treatment wasn't over... We watched a holiday parade where Santa even noticed Jordan and wished her a happy birthday. We rode the Jungle Cruise and then took Jordan and the rest of the family to a Cinderella-themed dinner at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridan hotel. It was quite the experience... I documented that in a separate post. Anyway, the day exhausted Miss Jordan and after she passed out in my arms, I passed her over to my parents to take her back to the hotel room. Apparently that hand off didn't go as well as we had hoped. (Thanks Mom and Dad - sorry about that) While Jordan slept, her brother, dad and I rode Space Mountain and enjoyed the SpectroMagic parade.

It was so much fun and I think we packed in four days of fun into two long days. Randy and I were sore from the long walks and the hours I carried Jordan in my arms when she was tired (yes we had a stroller but sometimes Mommy's arms keep a three year old from falling apart).

Now that I've written so much, I'll now present a review of the view I collected during our adventure. I call it "2 Days of Disney in less than 10 minutes." It runs 7:30 and it was edited using Motionbox so the cuts are a little rough - no dissolves or pretty stuff. But it does show a very busy family in a very fun place!

A very princess 3rd birthday

Jordan had the ultimate princess experience for her birthday... Along with getting sweet and fun princess accessories (a crown and a wand) she also got to get her hair done at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom. It's as girly as it gets. Little girls come in and can pick the style of hair they want. It's super cute and silly. To add to the silly, my mom bought Jordan the fluffiest, prettiest possible princess dress and Cinderella shoes for her birthday. The final result can be seen here:

If you can't see it here, visit this page.

I know. It's silly. But to add to the fun, Jordan got to have her birthday dinner at a character dinner with all of the main characters from Cinderella - including Prince Charming, Cinderella and the evil step-mother and step-sisters. Jordan ATE it up. The combination of a girly dinner event and the fluffy dress made her so happy. And to build on that happiness, Jordan fell for Prince Charming. She kicked off her "glass" slippers and the prince kindly put a shoe back on for her (picture can be seen in the scrapbook pages above). He even invited her to dance with him after he danced with Cinderella. She was smitten. You can alao see a little bit of that happiness by watching this moment from her birthday celebration at dinner (You'll also see this moment in the big Disney video compilation I'm working on):



Will I ever be able to match a birthday like this? Probably not, but I also don't expect this love of princesses to last forever. She got to absorb the pure fun of it all at a young age... You know, the age when it's still okay to be a princess without seeming stuck up! The experience is all she's talks about - especially "her castle" (you know, Cinderella's castle is now Jordan's castle) and the prince.

"Santa? Please we go to Disney World?"

There's a wonderful website that let Jordan and Cameron record a message for Santa -- and then their message is emailed to me!

Here's what Jordan had to say:


Crazy adorable.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!

Today may not have been the most fun of birthdays... We spent the day driving home from Florida. I think we made up for it by going to Disney the day before Jordan's official day. The moment we got there, Jordan was treated like a princess. She was wearing a birthday girl shirt... Someone noticed and told us to go to city hall. So we were able to get Jordan a pin that said: "Happy Birthday Jordan!" Anytime a person who works at Disney noticed that pin, Jordan got cool things: Like stickers or Mickey glitter... Heck we even got an extra "Fast Pass" to the Stitch adventure ride. I remember going to Epcot a couple of times for my birthday was I was in elementary school... But I certainly don't remember getting a pin and getting extra-special treatment from Disney "cast members."

Anyway, Jordan was an awesome Disney World girl. She napped in her stroller, she smiled and waved hi to strangers, she gripped onto me tightly on the Buzz Lightyear ride. And she started picking up words. When we first got there, Cam said the name Goofy, Jordan said: "Goofy." We never got her to say it again, but it was cool for that moment. She did say "Yay!" a bunch of times. But for most of the time, she just smiled, said hi and giggled at her brother. It was pretty awesome. We had a dinner lunch at Disney where Jordan got a cake. The wait staff announced Jordan's birthday and asked everyone to blow her a kiss. It was very sweet. She wasn't very interested in the cake though. I'm guessing it's just because she was tired. But when she licked the icing, she made a big face! We have another cake planned for her at Grandma and Poppy's house, so we'll see what happens.

When we were driving towards home today... I watched the clock and kept thinking moment by moment about what was happening one year ago on this day. At 5:06 we sang "Happy Birthday" in the car to Jordan. She was pretty tired at the time, but seemed to appreciate the song. This picture is one of the many I took while she and I played in the back seat of the van. I can't believe what a sweet and happy girl Jordan has become in the last year. She and I have spent so much time together... As I fed her and watched her grow... As I took her from appointment to appointment... As we learned how to hit every possible milestone in whatever way it took. My big girl is amazing. I've said it many times before, when Jordan was born, Randy and I were at peace with the challenges ahead. But I seriously believe that Jordan can and will do anything. She might have to do it differently, but she is amazing and has found a solution to everything. She is also so flexible and willing to go with the flow. She has dealt with so many therapy appointments, doctor's appointments, family trips and needs... Even loud kids in the baby room. She maintains a happy attitude and a willingness to play and enjoy life. And she LOVES her brother. The one thing that was proven time and time again during our holiday trip was how Jordan LOVES her brother. The way he makes her giggle and how she would play with a piece of dirt if Cam was playing with it first. She loves that boy with all of her heart. Our family is so blessed. The cool part about Jordan's limb difference is how we've been able to meet new families, get to know new communities and have a better understanding about how being "different" is okay. And an amazing benefit to Jordan in our life is how we're learning how being around different people doesn't have to feel different. That may be one of the greatest gifts for all of us. When I think about my family and how lucky I am to be a part of this, I want to cry. I feel blessed and lucky to be the Mom who can guide Cam and Jordan into happy and caring lives.

Happy birthday little girl! I can't wait to see the amazing things you are going to do in the next year.