Disney World--Day 5

Our fifth day at Disney may have been my favorite. We didn't have any reservations or places to be at any specified time and the weather was just beautiful! We headed back to Magic Kingdom to try and do/see some of the things we hadn't been able to day the day before.

One of the things I had read before our trip was that the lines to see the characters gets longer as the day goes on, so we planned on trying to see a few of them first thing when we got to the park. We first went to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse 'backstage' in their dressing room at the Town Square Theatre, which is just inside the entrance of Magic Kingdom. Yes, I realize we had already seen them at breakfast the day before, but for some reason I really wanted to see them in their 'traditional' outfits as opposed to their chef attire.

We got to the park right when it opened (9am) and the line wasn't too long--it took about 10 minutes. But we walked through so many ropes that extended in the lobby for when the wait gets to be over an hour!! I can't imagine!

This was what I was looking forward to!!!

Mickey loved Blake's ears!

I love this picture because you can see Blake's enthusiasm as he initiated the hug and then Wyatt's reaction as Mickey hugged him. Wyatt did like it, but he clearly is not a 'touchy-feely' kid!

Blake giving Minnie a kiss....

...and another (notice Wyatt and Sadie's faces:)

...and another hug for Mickey (I warned you this kid loved the characters!)

I wore my ears (unfortunately they were tipped a bit forward but they are all sequins--too cute!) and Matt was still in search of a pair of ears for himself. Wyatt REALLY wanted Daddy to have some and so it was the next mission for the day!

We really enjoyed walking through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. My kids have grown to love that movie and it's such a wonderful classic. I don't even know where you can still get it, but my mother-in-law got it for the kids several years ago and they love it. I didn't take many pictures here because we were too busy marveling at how exact this replica was of the original in the movie. It was so much fun for Matt and I as we both loved the movie as kids also.

Baby Ashley joined us again for this

(and notice Sadie's "1st Visit" pin that she insisted I put on her again that morning)

This is a pretty crummy picture but it's the only one I had of the Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride....Wyatt and Sadie loved riding in the front and being able to control how high we went!

And then the moment I think I had been looking forward to most on our trip...or at least one of them...getting to go into Pixie Hollow and meet Tinkerbell and one of her fairy friends (that day is was Rosetta).

We walked through a 'passageway' that shrunk us all down to fairy size! I loved all the details inside as we looked around (I loved this too because I think Tinkerbell and the new fairy movies are my favorites)

For those of you unfamiliar with Disney fairies, this is Rosetta---and Sadie immediately noticed the sparkle on her arms and asked if it was pixie dust--of course it was!!!

One of my favorite pictures of our trip!

And then Tink!!

She immediately noticed Sadie's shoes and commented on how much she liked them and how they were just like hers (we certainly didn't plan this, but Sadie loved it!)

Blake has a thing for Tinkerbell

(most likely because he watches it with his big sister and hears about fairies often at home, but she is also a cutie!)

Wyatt obliged by waiting in line with us but he had no interest in meeting either of the fairies.

So in return, we then headed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It's a classic Disney World ride and I wasn't sure if my kids would like it because parts are a bit scary and there is a bit of a drop in complete darkness at the beginning of the ride, but we warned them (once we were on the ride, of course!) and they did great.

Like every Disney ride, the exits lead you right into a gift shop.

I have no idea why Blake looks so 'rough' here because he was actually well-rested and in a good mood, but it's pretty humorous that while holding a sword he looks like this.

The above and below pictures were taken by a Disney photographer that takes pictures throughout the day for the specific purpose of showing them projected against the castle during the "Wishes" show in the evening, which begins the nightly fireworks. So this picture was up on the castle that evening!!

The boys left the Pirate store each with a 'pirate' cap gun and they have been playing with them almost daily ever since. Matt and the boys played "cops and robbers" that night in our hotel and Blake asks to play it everyday. (I can honestly say that growing up in a house of all girls, I don't think I ever even heard anyone actually play cops and robbers.)

These two pirates did a little show outside the ride when we were leaving and it was hilarious!! I would go back just to see the two of them...and the guy playing Capt. Jack Sparrow looked and sounded exactly like Johnny Depp!

We rode the Jungle Cruise and a few other rides before grabbing some lunch.

...the kids really wanted to do a 'crazy picture'...

...and then Blake noticed something going on...

(another of my favorite pictures from the trip--and yes, Matt found some ears!)

This is how our family works....the boys head off to discover something, Sadie hears music and is immediately in her own little world, and I am lagging behind trying to capture every moment.

...and Sadie stays in her own little world dancing...

This was the same parade we had seen the day before when we arrived. There are a few floats that pull into the streets and then stop and all the characters get out and dance in the streets with everyone. Sadie was in pure heaven!! (She loved watching the Disney Dancers!)

We were right behind Woody the entire dance and Sadie was in heaven....Matt was taking these pictures and I had no clue (clearly!)

After the parade, we went into one of the gift shops we had been looking at the day before and let the kids each pick out one thing...this is what Sadie chose. And boy, does everyone love playing with these things!! I initially thought it was a bit of an odd choice and tried to convince her to maybe get a stuffed Minnie Mouse or something like that, but Sadie doesn't do things the way you would think and it usually ends up being even better!!

Daisy Duck was just outside the gift shop, so we got in line to meet her. Again, Blake.

I mean, look at that smile!!

Family picture all in our ears in front of the castle!

(I wish someone would have told me my ears were constantly tilted forward! I just wore them like a headband but apparently I wear my headbands crooked!!)

We headed back to our hotel around 2pm and the kids all crashed for a bit. BUT, it was Valentine's Day. We had this awaiting us when we came back..

Since it was Valentine's Day, Matt had arranged for Sadie and I to get manicures at the spa at our hotel at 4pm. So he sent me to the pool to enjoy some peace and catch up on my reading while he stayed in our place with the sleeping kiddos. Just before 4pm, they all came over and the boys swam while Sadie and I enjoyed our girl time! It was wonderful!!!

After we swam a bit more, we headed back to Downtown Disney for dinner and ate at a GREAT Irish Pub. Fish and Chips and great beer...what more could you ask for?? We truly had a great family dinner and they even had some live Irish folk music start playing shortly after we got there--the kids LOVE live music and were completely engrossed in it. And to top it off, they had a girl do some irish dancing for a few of the songs and it was very impressive!( I also ran into a woman who works at the Starbucks here in Woodbury during our dinner....a bit embarassing that I recognized the Starbucks lady..but also crazy to run into her there!)

I had to include this picture that Wyatt drew on the back of his menu after we ordered our food. Wyatt is my thinker/observer and you can always tell he is thinking something but I can't always get him to verbalize it. (I don't prod too much, but I often wish I could just get inside his head.) So although he didn't say a lot while we were waiting for our food, I think his picture speaks volumes.

(hows=house.....notice how he wrote the word 'love' between each person in our family with an arrow between each of us....I couldn't have summed up our day any better!)

And Sadie's drawing also

(She has been working really hard on drawing stars.....I think she's got it down!!)