Little Miss Avery and Sweet Caroline: July 2012

Disney World. Everyone aspires to get there ASAP with their young children, and then once you are there, you wonder if you were heavily medicated when you decided to do it. We (Chris, Avery, me, my parents, Scott, Jen, and Addy) were at DW all last week, during a hurricane. Yes, Hurricane Debby was in the Gulf of Mexico. You might think this would deter visitors to the famed parks, but no, it was as if there was a homing device drawing every tourist in the Orlando area to the Magic Kingdom last Sunday. The rain was wicked- you couldn't see a few feet in front of you, and you couldn't move but a few feet at a time because it was wall-to-wall people in the streets (and in all of the indoor rides, of course). It was weird, seeing an army of walking trash bags (ponchos were a hot commodity) and trying not to get poked in the eye by the passing plethora of umbrellas. Of course, Ave ripped her new Tinkerbell poncho clear down the middle moments before we left the hotel room, so she was traveling in a sort of cocoon under an umbrella in her stroller, wrapped in the torn poncho, which we MacGyvered into a protective waterproof blanket. We were soaked, and we only made it to about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Things improved...and we ended up visiting all four parks, most of them in the rain. We had high hopes for Avery's enjoyment of all things Disney, she had watched the Beauty and the Beast live show on You Tube, and LOVED it, so of course we took her to see it live at Hollywood Studios. She hated it. Screamed. Cried. Thought the dancing cupcake was going to "get her." Delivered her catch phrase of the entire trip, "I need to get outta here right now." The scene was similar at the Little Mermaid Show, The Lion King, and the Finding Nemo show at Animal Kingdom. Her tubes amplified everything, so we are thinking it was just too loud (and the crazy haired gymnast monkeys at The Lion King show were admittedly terrifying). She was braver by Friday, back at the Magic Kingdom, when she rode the indoor rides that COULD be scary (such as Peter Pan's Flight, which was very psychadellic) with her sunglasses on. That seemed to be the trick:).
Unfortunately, she didn't wear her sunglasses during our very expensive lunch with the princesses at Cinderella's castle on Friday. Despite her love of all of the princesses, the sight of them in person at our lunch table was a little too much for Ave. "I gotta get outta here," was said many times. She pulled it together for some pictures, but overall she was pretty freaked. I think it was all the blush the princesses wear- blend, girls, blend!

Overall, Avery and my niece Addy fared much better than the adults...while we were all ready to thrown in the (very soaked) towel several times, the two-year-olds could have cared less about the weather and crazy crowds. It was a fantastic first Disney experience for them. But...I think it will be several (many?) years before we return. I've always loved everything about Disney, but whew! Maybe a little too much of a good thing this time:).

NEVERTHELESS...A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PARENTS FOR PLANNING (AND LARGELY FUNDING) THE SPECTACULAR DISNEY TRIP! WE ARE SO INCREDIBLY LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH CARING PARENTS LIKE YOU...AND AVERY AND ADDY ARE SOOOO LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A FUN AND AWESOME NANA AND PAPA!!! LOVE YOU!

The ride there was pretty good- Addy slept, and Ave didn't move until the end when she melted down on the floor of the plane:).

Ave was pretty timid with Cinderella...

Then, she warmed up to Belle right away (we all agreed that Belle was awfully tan to be living in a castle in France).

Chris and Scott agreed that Belle was in fact, their favorite princess.

Snow White seemed to be eyeing Chris, so I shut that down (kidding, kinda).

Inside "It's a Small World"...seems to get weirder as I get older!

Uncle Scott and Avery at "The Living Seas."

Right before Ave. freaked at the "Beauty and the Beast" show (it may have been because the dancing cupcake bore a striking resemblance to Nikki Manaj).

At the pool during a break in the rain!

Swingin with Papa at Bonnet Creek resort (on the Disney property, right across from the Swan and Dolphin resorts)...

Anniversary dinner at the Waldorf Astoria- eight years in the books!

A brief moment of sun at "Animal Kingdom"!

Riding the train at Animal Kingdom...

After seeing Pocahontas, Scott and Chris changed their vote for fav. princess. Is there a male version of a cougar? Because Pocahontas was MAYBE eighteen.

My FAVORITE ride- Kilamanjaro Safari- living out my dream of spending that summer in Kenya- I SO should have done that!!!!!

So I know this picture is unnecessary, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my stomach won't look nearly that intact after Avery has a brother or sister (when she's eighteen), so I thought I'd capture it for posterity.

The lazy river at the resort.

At the Rainforest Cafe. Another source of pure terror. How was I supposed to know that the freaky elephants and gorillas actually moved and made noise?