The Day Has Come

        I can hardly believe that after a year of talking about and planning a Disney Trip with my mom and dad, sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 kids, it is here today.  And it's so funny to me - you mention to anyone that you're heading to the Happiest Place on Earth and everyone has advice.  Go here.  Do this.  Watch out for this.  Wear this.  You put together a group of people who wouldn't ordinarily have anything in common and mention you're making your FIRST trip ever to Orlando and everyone has something to contribute, not unlike diverse opinions about child-rearing or politics, but much more fun. 
    It's been a great ride getting ready for this.  Elijah has been the greatest cheerleader, creating wish lists of best spots after reading a travel book we got last year.  And a funny story I have to share, though it loses its significance in translation -- my mom, who is the true planner in this vacation, got a friend's friend or a travel agent, not sure, to put together our trip for us.  We told her what we wanted and she basically made it happen and mailed us this amazing, organized slicky folder with calendars, schedules, and information we may need.  One thing she did was to include a Most Popular, Must Do, and You Can Skip list of things in each park.  Here's the part that made me giggle:  the one thing Elijah has at the top of his Magic Kingdom list is to see the "Hall of Presidents."  I'm not kidding you when I say the kid loves to read about the founding fathers.  He has an amazing memory when it comes to names and birth dates and death dates. I look to him for any presidential trivia. 
      After I got this amazing folder of info, I sat up with Elijah and we went through it, and there in the Magic Kingdom section it says:  Hall of Presidents, "you can skip this one, it is very, very Boring to kids."  You can imagine how melodramatic Elijah was:  "What?! What?! How can they say that?! That's crazy!!" As he runs into where his dad and sisters are and throws himself down.  Too much. And while our travel gal doesn't believe kids will get anything out of it, and there's a good chance Lydia and Lanie will be bored, we will make the greatest effort to see this hallowed hall of past and present Presidents. 
      To prepare for this week-long adventure, I've been to the store every single day.   I keep thinking of something else.  It's to the point that I've been to three stores looking for moist cat food because our vet said it was a better choice, and God forbid I leave my felines with hard, crunchy food.  I'm actually having a hard time with leaving them and have gone to great measures to buy silly cat toys, cat nip, and have asked several neighbors to stop in and give them attention. Guilt, guilt.  See this post, Car Trip Cat from our summer trip and you'll see that we are not ones to leave our animals. 
      In this picture, Lanie and I are making another last minute shopping trip, only this time for Belle's dress since Lydia has opted not to wear her Ariel halloween costume from two years ago.  Since we'll be headed to Cinderella's castle for dinner, I figured splurging for an itchy Target princess dress would be better than charging our Disney dollars for a real one. 
      The girls are excited.  Elijah is excited. To be honest, I can hardly clean house today (because you never want to leave a dirty house) because I want 3pm to come so we can start this vacation.  The prayers last night were all about Disney.  Lydia prayed one of thanksgiving that we get to go on this trip, one we wouldn't have been able to do without my parents generosity. Elijah prayed for safe travel, and Lanie prayed that she could go to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique like her friend Ella did. I don't think we'll be making that dream come true this time around. 
      Please pray for us on this trip.  Pray that we relax, as oxymoronic as it may sound, that we have peace and time well spent between family.  Pray for our endurance and patience, and that we are ever thankful for God's blessings this memorable week.