We have been wanting to take Hailee to Disney World. Over the years, our excuses not to ranged from her "being too young" to "we'll wait till...(before a deployment, after a deployment, when we have more money, etc etc)". Since our time in the states is coming to an end, and we are only 3 hours(tops) away from Disney, we jumped on the opportunity!
Cody and I decided not to tell Hailee about it until we were literally pulling through the welcome sign. She knew we had a surprise in store for her, but she did not know that it was going to be probably the BEST day of her entire little life. She could hardly contain the excitement as we drove closer to the parking lot. She screamed every time she saw a bus that said "Disney" on it.
The kids were SO good. We were the most worried about bringing Andrew with us. We weren't sure how he'd react to being outside all day, being in the heat with his eczema, riding on the monorail, rides, seeing the characters, etc. He did SO WELL. He loved the monorail, he snuggled with me on the rides, and he clawed Daddy when the characters got close to him. It was definitely hot, but I made sure he was well moisturized, and his eczema didn't flair. Thank goodness. He took one nap, at his normal time, but other than that stayed up most of the day. He even watched the 9pm fireworks. Once we put him back in the stroller to head back to our car, he was out like a light, though.
One funny thing about Andrew is that once we got close to the castle, I thought I'd let him walk a little so we could take pictures of him. Now, he never has fought me when it comes to walking. He usually holds my hand when he walks. But this time, when I put him down, he wanted nothing to do with me. He kept pushing my hand away when I reached out to hold his. Then he kept walking faster to get away from me. It was like he wanted to get to that castle, haha. He was so upset when I finally went to pick him up to bring him back to the stroller. I wanted to get a picture of him and I, in front of the castle, but he was not having it. Oh well.
We knew Hailee would be a trooper thru the day. She fought to stay energized towards the end of the day, but once we got in the car and started our way back home, she was out. She was exhausted. I think it was around 4 oclock she said, "Can we just go home and sleep and come back tomorrow?" hehe.
I have gone to Disney a lot in my life, and it(for the most part) looks the same to me. Sure, there are small changes here and there..but, it's still the same. (I'm referring to Magic Kingdom). But, the end of the day show was so awesome. They still have Tinkerbell "fly" out of the castle, but other than that it was different. I love how they "change" the castle into different variations of it. It seems so magical. The fireworks were awesome. It really gives you such a happy feeling, even as an adult. haha. Of course, until you turn around to head back to your car and have to fight the thousands of people.
All in all, we had a really great time at Walt Disney World. Another memory to keep in my mental memory book. I know it will be a day Hailee will remember for a long time! WELL worth it! :)
