Disney World 2.1

Yes, I know. We were just here. But Aurora had soooooooooooo much fun the last time. And we figured this was going to be our last trip before baby comes (and for a while after baby comes), so we went for it. This is a very long post. The next few probably will be, but I am capturing every detail of our trip. And I have the time to since we have to go back to the hotel for Aurora to nap...

 

Tuesday – Oh my gosh the last thing I wanted to do was get on a plane with Aurora. She was in such a bad mood! I don’t know why but she was fussy and clingy all morning and I couldn’t get anything done. Nick was home, but she would not let me put her down. It took me 15 minutes to address a card because she was being such a basket case. I don’t know what the deal was, but we finally made it to the airport and the drama seemed to stop. We were very fortunate – our original flight was cancelled, but they were able to get us on the next set of flights (to Dallas and then Orlando) and we made it to the resort only a few hours later than expected. Yay for Nick’s Priority Access. I always make fun of him, but it actually really helped this time.

Aurora was reasonably well behaved on the flights. She kept saying that she wanted to go home and she didn’t nap at her usual time and I think she was just tried and did not want to be in one place. Surprise surprise. She fell asleep on the second flight and sort of napped. It was really her bedtime at that point, but she woke up for the last 10 min of the flight and for the bus ride to the resort, so I’m calling it a nap.

Wednesday – Seeing as how Aurora went to bed after midnight we had to wake her up this morning. I was amazed how deep she was sleeping – she was really tired. And you could tell, but there was so much excitement that she handled it really well. We went to the Magic Kingdom Park first – have to start there of course. We saw Mickey first thing and Aurora was so excited! Last time we were here she spent the week collecting hugs. This time she wants to sit in everyone’s lap. She made herself right at home with Mickey J Then one of the cast members there saw she was dressed like Snow White, her name was Aurora, and it was her birthday (oh yes – I am going to use this birthday to every advantage. It may not be until next week, but she doesn’t know the difference. Her birthday can be a month long) And he short cut us in line to see the princesses. So instead of waiting 25 min we waited 5. Yay! We saw Cinderella (Aurora and her compared shoes), Princess Aurora, and Rapunzel (they danced together). And she sat in each one’s lap.

Then we got to see Scrooge McDuck which was awesome because Aurora has been so in to Duck Tales lately. And then we finally got breakfast (at 10:30 when we had planned to get it first thing). The characters were so distracting! Everywhere we saw one we had to go say HI. 

Then we saw the cute little performance that they do in front of the castle and Aurora loved it because we got to see everyone – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. And I can tell my preggo hormones are out of wack because the stupid thing made me cry. The princesses all came out and were dancing with the princes and it was so sweet and then Mickey told Minnie that she was a princess to him and I couldn’t help it. I have issues right now.

We went in the Tiki Room and discovered that Aurora loves the birds singing but no longer loves the Tiki Men. They are kind of scary now. Then we went on the Jungle Cruise (she loved it), Pirates of the Caribbean (she hated it – she buried her face and would not let go of me. I will say though – high quality snuggling), and then It’s a Small World (she loved it). She said as we were beginning It’s a Small World, “remember that.” Which was funny because we kept asking her if she remembered things and she hadn’t really responded, but this she said out of the blue. So maybe that ride left an impression on her the first time.  

 

Aurora just wants more of everything. After each character it’s “More Mickey,” or “More Princess,” after the Jungle Cruise it was “More animals,” after the Tiki Room it was “More Tiki Room.” She just wants more of everything. She’s like the seagulls from Finding Nemo – they say “Mine, Mine, Mine,” but Aurora says “More, More, More.”

We went back to the resort in the middle of the day so Aurora could nap. It’s not ideal, but if she doesn’t get her nap then she really doesn’t have fun. And we figure this trip is all about her having fun. And getting hilarious video of her and the characters. And I will say that it’s giving me a chance to keep up on journaling for the trip and post pictures. Because you all know how on top of things I usually am.

 

We actually had to wake her up after 2.5 hours. We didn’t want her on a super weird schedule, so we had to. Who knows how long she would have slept. I know she was tired. Then we went to Epcot. Nick loves Epcot. I think it is a very pretty, romantic park and if you are wanting dinner it’s probably the best place to go, but for a 2 year old it’s not that exciting. We went on the Nemo ride 3 times. 4 times? I lost count. It was enough after 1. It’s cute, it’s just… Yeah. You only need to do it once. But Aurora loved it because she LOVES Nemo. We had dinner in “Mexico.” I know, I know, we basically live in Mexico, why not do something different, but it was easy. And Nick went on the Mission to Mars ride and said he almost barfed. He even took a Dramamine, but apparently it’s intense. I went on it when we were here years ago and I don’t remember it being that intense, but I’ve never had motion sickness problems. We are hoping Aurora (and baby) take after me in that regard. While Nick was on the ride Aurora and I played in a little kid area and I had the scariest experience of my life. Aurora climbed up into the crawl area and went all the way around by herself. It’s like at McDonalds in the tubes and nets. And I couldn’t get to her (unless I crawled up there myself). It was very scary for me. I know, and I think she’s the drama queen. But she really enjoyed crawling around and then afterwards she spun in circles singing “Frosty the Snowman” and saying that she was “so happy.” Awesome. 

Thursday – Yay! Aurora got her 11 hours of sleep last night and we had a well-rested happy girl on our hands. She had a great time yesterday, but today she was beyond happy. She was all smiles and very affectionate. Awesome! We went to Animal Kingdom and it seemed like there was a lot more to do this time than last. We had really only planned on half a day there, but we are definitely going to go back.

We got to see lots of characters which is always a highlight: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Donald, Goofy (FINALLY! That’s all she’s been talking about for the last month), Pluto, and Chip and Dale. We went on a spinning triceratops ride – she’s so my daughter. Spinning rides are the best.

 

We saw the Live Nemo show which she loved. It’s just like the movie, but Live and with music. Funny thing though – whenever we watch the movie at home we get to the sea turtles part and she gets bored and says she’s done. And it comes after different time intervals because I don’t always start the movie in the same spot and a lot of times she wants me to skip the sharks. So it’s not a time thing. And today when we got to the sea turtles she was done too. Apparently they are boring. I think that’s my favorite part but for whatever reason Aurora never wants to watch it. And she kept saying “skip it” when the sharks came on during the play – it really was just like we were watching the movie at home. And I think the whole theater heard her yell “Daddy!” when Nemo did. It was hilarious.

After Aurora’s nap we went back to the Magic Kingdom. It is definitely the park with the most to do with little kids. We saw Mickey again and did a few rides and how horrible is it that I can’t even remember which ones? Things are starting to blur together.

 

The Dumbo ride was a lot of fun. The best part is the line – they have a little play area that you can wait in so it’s actually fun. It is absolutely adorable and circus themed. Aurora could only play in a small part of it because most of it was for big kids, but she had a lot of fun. We were allowed to play as long as we wanted and I know we played longer than we needed to – the line was really short.

We went over to the new Fantasyland. They are still working on it, but the Beauty and the Beast Section and Little Mermaid section are open and super cute. We went on Ariel’s ride and Aurora loved it. She is very in to Princess Ariel. I think the ride is a duplicate of the one they put in at California Adventure not too long ago. Took them long enough! They have some Fairy Tale adventure thing that we haven’t done yet and a Be Our Guest Restaurant that I really want to go to but the line is always crazy.

 

We saw the Electrical Parade, which Aurora and I loved. The only thing I don’t love about it is how crazy it is trying to get a spot and how pushy people are. It never fails – someone always elbows their way in front of us. At least Aurora got a good view for the most part. We actually ended up staying for the beginning of the fireworks but Aurora hated it so we left. We were all the way back in Fantasyland when they started going off and they were too loud so Aurora buried her head and wimpered the whole time. We basically ran all the way through the park to get out of there. And we made it to the front gate as the fireworks were ending – so we beat the rush at least. Afterwards Aurora kept saying, “More fireworks.” Weirdo.

Candyland

Aurora’s 2^nd birthday party. January 19, 2013.

 

I know that I say this every time, but I cannot believe how fast time flies. I know that everyone tells you it will. And I knew it would. But I still don’t feel that I was prepared for my little baby to be 2. But she is (almost). Actual birthday January 30, but we did the party a little earlier this year because it is going to be a very eventful year. Usually things slow down after Christmas, but not anymore now that Aurora has a birthday in January and this year I am throwing 2 baby showers in February, becoming an Aunt in March, and making Aurora a big sister in June. It’s going to be crazy. LOTS to look forward to.

I had a really hard time deciding on the theme for Aurora’s party this year. I got off easy last year getting to choose what I wanted, but this year was tough because I wanted to do something she would be excited about. First thought was Dora (dora dora splor as Aurora calls her). But I cringed at the thought of buying all the decorations and couldn’t see where I could be real creative with it. (However, after doing this party I may reconsider a completely store bought party next year. Being creative takes time!) Next thought was Disney. I could handle that… Then Christmas came and Aurora fell in love with Frosty. Yes! Winter Wonderland! But Nick vetoed the idea. I don’t know why I let him – I think it would have been adorable. But then while we were talking about it we were playing Candyland and Aurora kept demanding lollipops. She LOVES lollipops. And I looked at the board and saw all the pretty colors and I was sold!

I think the party was a success. The kids seemed to have fun – they decorated gingerbread houses (and ate more of the candy that they put on…) And they ran around like crazy. The boys were really into the Candyland pathway that we put out and kept driving cars on it. Not the girls – just the boys. Kind of funny. They played outside with the bubbles and thank goodness none of them fell into the pond. They were trying so hard! And I thought for sure one of them would barf from all the candy/sweets, but none did. At least not at our house. Sorry to any of the parents if that was your fate...

 

So I was really happy with the way it turned out. Most importantly Aurora had a good time and she got her lollipop!
 

Teeny Cha-Wee-Wee

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a great holiday!

 

Just a few updates since my last post:

Aurora has learned to say our last name. Sort of. When we ask her what her name is she says Ror-A, Cha-Wee-Wee. It's hilarious. She's been saying it since Thanksgiving and she's sticking with it :)

 

Aurora can now count to 10! Actually New Year's day she hit that milestone. She loved counting. And every time she sees letters or words she starts singing the ABCs. But its always "A B C D E F G" and she stops there. She knows her name starts with an A, but that's pretty much the only letter she recognizes.

We had another ultrasound just before Christmas for the NT-screen. Everything came back normal - yay! It was funny watching this one - I remember Aurora's and she was all over the place - kicking like she was trying to bust out. This baby looks significantly calmer... Just kind of chilling out. I'll take it!