Disney Bound!

Ahh, yes, the rite of American childhood is quickly approaching Jenna: her first trip to Disney World. We just booked our trip for the end of March and we are all beside ourselves with excitement.

I started thinking Disney would be a good vacation for this year when after three days on Cape Cod the girls told us they were "beached out" and Dan was getting very cranky because of all the sand that was getting into the car. Honey, I told him, the Cape is a GIANT SANDBAR. You can't not get sand in the car with two little kids. You're fighting a losing battle here. But he couldn't hear me because he was using the rental house's wet/dry vac in the garage trying to get the sand out of the car.

So Disney it is.

Jenna is the same age as Michaela was when we brought her and we thought it was a great time to bring her: the magic is still very much alive. She was awed by the princesses and loved all the shows. (I, however, was fairly convinced that if I heard Under the Sea from Little Mermaid one more time my brain was going to spontaneously liquify inside my skull.) We took lots of pictures which I put in a scrapbook album with lots of descriptions of what we did, where we went, what we loved, and Michaela totally remembers the trip. Whether it's real memories or suggestions from the pictures and stories, I'm not sure, and I really don't care. She remembers.

People have very definite ideas about how old children should be before you bring them to Disney World. Some think younger is better, some bring newborns, and some think it's a waste to go before the child is about 10 because they "won't remember the trip". Whichever camp you happen to fall into, and really, it is a personal preference kind of thing, PLEASE don't spoil anyone else's fun by telling them that they are making a mistake. When we would tell people we were going and how excited we were, several said to us, "Oh... she's too young! She won't remember anything!" and it kind of left us with nowhere to go in the conversation. It's a real buzzkill.

So we are going for 6 days and staying on the property at All Star Sports, which is a Value Resort and Dan thinks is some kind of code for "White Trash Stay Here". But I have put the kabosh on that type of thinking and am excited about how much money we'll have to spend on the essentials, like Mickey ears and face painting and t-shirts. We have been making reservations for fun dinners and even scored a lunch with the Princesses in Epcot on the third day we are there. I thought Jenna's head was going to explode when we told her we were going to lunch and Snow White, Jasmmine, and Sleeping Beauty were going to be there. Just seeing that face was worth the whole trip.

Jenna was been looking at our scrapbook from our first trip with Michaela and very slyly asked me, "Mom, are the Princesses wearing tos-tumes?" because I think she's trying to figure out if they are real or dressing up in a costume. I told her they were wearing their outfits and left it at that.
Michaela is playing this all very cooly... she is excited for the rides and the shows and the getting out of school part but is telling us that she's not into seeing the princesses anymore. That's for little kids. She keeps making this gesture: opening her mouth really wide, holding down her middle and ring finger with her thumb, raising her pointer finger and pinky into the air and saying, "SWEET!"
I am excited that we will all be together, that we have the means to do it, that we got such a GREAT deal, and that in March I won't have to cook dinner, make beds, wash dishes or do laundry for a whole week. Now that's a vacation.