Disney World, Days 1 and 2

We had an absolutely wonderful time at Disney World! I'll post pictures from each day so I don't feel too overwhelmed.

Anyway, we had to get up in time to catch a 7:30 am flight to Chicago. That was no problem getting everyone up and ready b/c we were all so excited! Here are the kids waiting for our plane:

We had lunch in Chicago, then got another flight to Orlando. Once there it was super-easy to go hop on Disney's Magical Express to our resort. I give Disney lots of credit - everything is so engineered and stream-lined that there are no inconveniences, frustrations, or worries. They take care of everything!

Ruby on the bus (with Baby Dear):

Reder and Dad were really excited by this point!:

Our hotel was so cool. It was African-themed, and out the back was a large rock to observe the savannah and all of the animals in it. Our room was not far from the lobby, which was great b/c this hotel was huge and it was possible we could have had a huge hike from our room to the store, lobby, pool, bus, etc.

Here we are reading books before bed on the top bunk. The kids never fought over who got the top - it just seemed to be given that it was Reder's:

Tired kids! Notice all of the stuff that Ruby has in bed with her every night:

Here are the kids standing on the balcony of our room. You'll notice the savanna in the background. It was so cool to see zebras, giraffes, and a whole bunch of other cool things. We bought Ruby a new princess dress in Bozeman and brought it with us, assuming (correctly so) that it would be cheaper here than there. We are all ready for the Magic Kingdom here:

We first booked it to Fantasy Land and scared Ruby to death on the Snow White ride. So next we took it easy with a ride on the carousel. Gosh, bad picture:

Having a little snack. It was really hot and humid this day:

Riding the teacups. Ruby was seriously PO'ed that we did not get to ride in a "hot pink" teacup. This new trait of her personality has been shining through lately, much to our delight. :)

Ruby insisted on steering our race car. The problem with this was overcorrection! Finally I grabbed the wheel and tried to keep us going somewhat straight so we could catch up with Dad and Reder:

We did not ride the "Denvo" ride as expected, but the line was way too long for us to handle in the heat. But, they had a Dumbo sitting out in front so we plopped the kids in that for a picture. Somehow we got away with this lame move. However, the other day at home Ruby said out of the blue "Hey, we forgot to ride Denvo!" She did not forget, apparently. Maybe next time.

Having some Mickey Mouse ice cream - a scoop in a cup with two cookies poked in the top as ears:

Of all the coolness at the Magic Kingdom, Reder was most excited to ride the little train that drove around the perimeter of the park. He's pretty excited here!:

Tom Sawyer's Island was a hit. Reder loved looking for hidden tunnels and caves. Ruby was scared from the caves, so she didn't go in all of them. The coolest thing was the barrel bridge. Ruby is trying it out here:

Reder loved the barrel bridge. I stood in a central spot (where I took this picture) and he ran laps, round and round and round. He was hot and dripping sweat by the time he was content with his time with the bridge:

Finally Ruby threw a major fit and then promptly passed out in the stroller. Jason parked in an out-of-the-way spot while Reder and I went into a gift shop. He is fascinated with the monorail so he spent his birthday giftcard on that (thanks Kell!). We also got Ruby some little plastic princess figurines to play with (that was a hit!!). While we were in the store a marching band stomped by and stopped right in front of where Jason was with Ruby and played a tune. Remarkably it didn't wake up Ruby - guess she was tired! Here we are, calling it a day:

This night when we got home we went and ate in the hotel restaurant, Boma. It was a buffet of African food, and really really delicious. They even had great kid food (of course, it's Disney, they expect kids!). The only bummer was the price - we didn't know how expensive it was before we sat down! Ha! Then we changed into our swimsuits and went swimming in the cool hotel pool (don't know if we got a picture of that), complete with water slide, which they both went down again and again. It was a "magical" day!