Disney

At the end of February Roo and I went to visit “Miss. Tracey” in Orlando. She talked about it for weeks before we went, telling all of her teachers “I go see princesses.” It was a girl’s only trip and Roo received the princess treatment the whole time. We had a blast.

Upon arrival, Tracey’s nanny picked us up at the airport (along with her girls Ella Grace & Anna Catherine) and we headed to the barn where Tracey was having a riding lesson. Up until this point Reagan has been scared of horses whenever she has gotten close to them (I am assuming she is overwhelmed by their size). We watched Tracey ride Zee, her horse, for a little bit and then Ella Grace walked us up and down the outdoor paddocks to visit all the other horses at the barn. Roo was actually excited to see them and not scared at all. Once we had completed our walk, we wandered around the barn grounds visiting all the barn cats and dogs until Tracey’s lesson was done. Then Tracey brought Zee over to meet us and Roo didn’t even flinch. It was so cool watching her get over a fear. She even helped groom Zee’s legs, neck and cleaned the tack, all three girls did. Very cute to watch the three little busy bee helpers.

On day 2 we headed to Disney. Before heading out all the girls had their hair and makeup done, then each got to pick out a princess tiara to wear. Tracey had given Roo a Cinderella doll as a gift, so of course she picked the Cinderella tiara. These girls were ready to go. Once we got to Disney, the first thing we did was show Roo Cinderella’s castle, then we headed to meet the princesses. Roo got to meet Cinderella, Belle and Princess Aurora. She was so happy, but I think a little overwhelmed. Nonetheless, she greeted each princess with a smile, got a hug and then got her picture taken. She felt like a princess and I even got her a princess autograph book for all the signatures. Next stop- meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I though she’d freak because every time she gets up close to the characters she starts shaking, but she was so happy to meet Mickey and Minnie she blew them kisses. The last characters we met were Tigger, Pooh & Eyore, that is when she freaked out a little bit. It was way past nap time and at that point I think she was just done. In fact, she fell asleep in my arms as we were in line for “It’s A Small World.” We also rode a couple of rides, but with three kids under 5 it takes a LONG time to get around the park. At the end of the day we headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to stay overnight.

The lodge was cool and we had all kinds of safari animals right outside our window, but let’s just say our stay was less than great (I think Tracey is still arguing with Guest Relations at Disney about it). Besides the room accommodations being less than impressive and horrible food, Reagan woke up at 1 AM throwing up all over me and Anna broke out in some kind of crazy skin rash. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We spent the rest of day 2 recovering at Tracey’s house, Reagan slept most of the day. So unfortunately we didn’t get to go to The Animal Kingdom. Maybe next time.

On Day 3 Reagan announced that she wanted to meet Curious George so we headed to Universal. We got to see a couple of shows- Barney and the animal show, but the biggest thrill for Reagan was meeting The Man in The Yellow Hat. There was a performance and then kids could line up and meet several different characters. She was so excited to meet Curious George, but I think the actual size of his head freaked her out. Thank God for The Man in The Yellow Hat, he helped her recover and we got a couple of great pictures. She is still talking about meeting them.

Day 4 and it was time to go home. We all had a great weekend with very few complaints. Reagan was sad to go home. In fact once we got home and had to get back to our regular routine on Tuesday she freaked. During breakfast she kept asking Kerry, “I go Disney?” Kerry said “yes, some day, but not today” she threw herself on the floor and preceded to cry inconsolably for what seemed like fifteen minutes. I haven’t seen her do that in a long time. She finally recovered and we went on with our day as usual. It is a good thing my best friend from college lives in Orlando, because I think we are going to have to go back pretty soon.

Ice Skating

This year (courtesy of Auntie Court), Reagan has officially taken up ice-skating. Not consistently, but I think we have gone 5-6 times this winter and Roo LOVES it. She has her own pink skates (with a coordinating monogrammed skate bag of course), and a couple of skating outfits. She only lasts on the ice about: 30 most times and if I am on the ice with her, forget it. So typically if Court is around I watch with pleasure from the waiting room. She has gotten pretty good and for the most part can “march” on her own for a few feet at a time. She could probably go further if she wanted to, but she is only 2 ½, I guess my expectations can’t really be that high. Maybe next year she will be ready for lessons…what am I getting myself into?