Disney World 2016: Day 3-Hollywood Studios

Just as we did for our Magic Kingdom day, we were up early in order to arrive at Hollywood Studios 30 minutes before opening. We are wanna-be morning people but we really aren't so this was a sacrifice to be up, fed, dressed and at the park at 8:30 but it made the rest of the day go smoother so we sucked it up and did it :)

I just love baby Jack's expression in this one. He was ready to see some shows!

I love how the adults are doing what the photographer requested and the kids are like, "ehh" HA!

Our first fast pass was for Toy Story Midway Mania, it was a fun ride and I'm so glad we fast passed because the line was crazy, even on a lighter crowd day.

Georgia and Jack were all about the shows and Little Mermaid was Georgia's favorite of all. I don't think she blinked the entire time. She is now mermaid obsessed and told me she doesn't want to be a dentist anymore, just a mermaid :)

Hollywood Studios has a lot of great shows and both Georgia and Jack loved Disney Jr. Live On Stage. They got to see Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins and our favorite, Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. There was a lot of fun sensory effects and we sat in the floor so they liked that. Aunt Ash took lots of good care of baby Jack on our trip!

There was Star Wars events everywhere! I've never even seen one movie/episode (I don't even know what to call it ha!) so this wasn't really interesting to us but seeing this walk by was pretty neat.

We left HS around 11:15 and headed to the Contemporary Resort to Chef Mickey's, a character dining lunch featuring the classic Disney gang. We had never been to "the resort with the monorail running through it" but always wanted to so this was the perfect reason.

It was a buffet and we were starving so we may have made 3, 4, 5 trips through the line! This was one of the dessert bars. And there's the monorail coming through behind it.

Another PhotoPass picture that melted me. She hopped right up there by the Mickey statue and posed just like this. This was such a fun experience for her!

We ate our lunch and as we were finishing up the characters started to make their way to our table. First up was Goofy who taught Georgia Grace a dance move or two.

This picture captures a three year old's first Disney World experience. She was just smitten with the characters and it's written all over her sweet face.

Mickey was next! He was energetic and playful, they communicate so well without speaking words.

Jack was catching a nap but still received a visit from Mickey. Mickey won me over when he did that!

More autographs for her autograph book which she thought was super cool

Donald came over next and was a lot of fun

Minnie is Georgia's favorite so she couldn't wait to meet her!

Georgia blinked but I still love this picture of the girls

Eskimo kisses, with Minnie Mouse, at Disney World. Does it get any better?

Jack woke up just in time to meet the last character, Pluto. He was a hoot and gave Jack a big lick with his tongue :)

After Chef Mickey's, we decided to take the babes for a ride on the monorail. I remember riding the monorail when I was a little girl and it sticks out as vividly in my mind as any of the rides. I always feel like I'm on an episode of the Jetson's. We also loved being able to wheel the stroller right on the monorail without folding it and then we said we hoped we could stay in a resort with monorail access our next trip :) We better start saving now!!

We headed back to HS for the afternoon/evening and snapped a quick picture with Aunt Rhonda and Aunt Ash. They coordinated their Disney vacation so they could be down there to share the magic with us and they were a huge help. They love my babies like their own and they are the best friends you could ask for. 

I scheduled a little fun for mommy and daddy too and had fast passes for Tower of Terror. This ride is just the best and Marcus had never rode it so I was excited for him to experience it. Rhonda had a fast pass too so we all screamed and wanted to vomit together. 

Both babes kicked back and napped in the shade while we rode. I'll mention it more later but I have never loved my stroller more than I did on this trip. It's hands down the best double stroller out there and the babes made it look super comfy.

After that we had fast passes for the live performance of Beauty and the Beast which was spectacular. We got such a kick out of Gaston! 

Georgia Grace and Echo Lake.

We ate supper at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. You talk about hilarious! When it was our time to be seated, the hostess shouted, "Harrison kids, come eat! Marcus, dinner's ready!" HA! The whole restaurant looked like it came straight off the Wonder Years set. I was in heaven.

I really wanted to stay for Fantasmic but everyone was tired including the babies so we decided that would be something we could see when they were older. It was another fun day at Disney!

The Night Before One

My baby boy Jack,

One year ago tomorrow I was walking our driveway at 2am trying to labor as long as I could at home before heading to the hospital to deliver what I knew would be our big, strong boy. You were punctual and had decided your due date would be the day you entered the world. It was a long ten months and we were so very ready to finally meet you.

Fast forward 365 days and here we are celebrating your first year of life. I can't even begin to describe how perfectly you settled in as baby brother to our new family of four. Your newborn days were easy and breezy which was exactly what this mommy needed as I tried to navigate taking care of two babies at the same time. You made my job easy.

You have shown us how different two babies can be despite being raised by the same parents. You are our aggressive, energetic child that also loves to be cuddled and babied. You have two opposite sides but they both fit you and make you perfectly Jack. You like your naps shorts and night sleeps long. You prefer life sans clothes and your favorite person in the world is me. We call you the president of the mama's boy club :)

You keep us on our toes with your demanding nature and rambunctious ways. I have a feeling broken bones and bloody accidents are part of your future. You are all boy.

You are super smart and catch on to things fast. And you have the best example leading you in Georgia Grace. Her love for you is so strong and she always makes sure that your needs are being met. She's the first to tell mommy if Jack is crying. She is your best friend and I pray that she always will be. I know one of the greatest gifts we could give you and your sister is each other.

This year has gone by too quickly, but I have learned and matured as a mother because of you. The little trials that panicked me with Georgia Grace don't bother me like they once did. The second time around you are privileged to have a calmer, cooler mother than what your sister had. You don't have as many perks of being second born but this is definitely one of them :)

You love your people and let anyone hold you and take care of you. You sure know how to win over a crowd! You have already traveled to the beach and Disney World and you love to go and do. 

You jabber (words-mama, dada, ball, bye, hi, ba ba), clap, have taken steps, climb everything and eat like a champ. Your favorite foods are eggs, strawberries, whole peas (not baby food peas), cheese and tortillas. You still take your bottle and we are slowly weaning you to whole milk. You love your wubbanub paci and we already know that will be hard for you to give up.

We pray for you everyday. Your life is so precious to us and we only want the best for you that we know only comes through Him. 

Happy first birthday, Jack Porter Harrison. You have stolen our hearts and balanced our pink with blue like nobody else could. We are all just crazy about you and so thankful God chose us for you. 

Love,

Mommy

Disney World 2016: Day 1 and 2

Blogging our trip is important to me so in order to get it all documented, I am going to recap all our days in a few posts and then do one all encompassing post at the end full of information and tips. I know there are a million Disney tip sites out there but I feel like everyone's trip is unique and there is always something you can learn that can be helpful. But let me say this was our first Disney trip with kids so we are no experts but I am happy to share our experience and tell you about what worked well (and didn't work well) for us.

When we started planning our Disney trip a year ago, I knew I wanted to go when Georgia was around three and before Jack was big enough to be toddling around everywhere. We thought spring 2016 would be the best time for us based on school calendar, crowd levels, weather and ages. Since Marcus and I both work for a school system, we will always have to respect that when we plan our trips. 

I booked our trip last September. I didn't use a Disney travel agent, however I've heard others who highly recommend them (they're free!) so I might do that next time. We do have a cast member friend and she was able to get us some nice discounts on our park tickets and resort reservations. Thank you sooo much Becky! You're our favorite person now :)

Now, on to the recap!

Day 1-Travel day

We also knew that based on the ages Georgia Grace and Jack would be in spring 2016 that flying was a must. A twelve hour car ride with two kids three years old and under just didn't sound like a good time. I started racking up our frequent flyer miles a year out so most of our tickets were paid for-thank you, Southwest. 

This was Georgia's fifth flight so she is an old pro by now. She doesn't even acknowledge take off and landing anymore. It was Jack's first flight and I was hopeful his first experience would go as well as hers did. The first ten minutes he was super mad that he was contained and unable to move around freely but then he fell asleep and all was right in the world the rest of the flight hallelujah!

We were allowed six check-in bags and let me tell you we used every one of them. I had one whole piece of luggage just for food and drinks (bottled water and bottled juices). 

Our 1 hour 45 minute flight left Nashville at 4:25pm and we arrived in Orlando at 7:00pm (we lost an hour going over to ET). We decided that we would use all Disney transportation so the Magical Express picked us up from Orlando International and transported us to the Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed there our last visit in 2012 and since this was our first visit with the babies, we decided to stay where we were the most familiar.

We requested the Jamaica village because it is the most convenient for the buses and was a convenient bridge walk over the barefoot bay to the main resort pool and courtyard.

By the time we settled into our room, it was bedtime so we called it a night to get rested up for Magic Kingdom the next day.

One hiccup we did have the first night was with our luggage. Disney will let you check your luggage and they will deliver it to your room for you so we elected to do that since we had so much stuff. The down side was we had an evening flight so our luggage did not arrive to our room until 2 am. That made the next morning a little stressful since we did not have all our things laid out ready to go but we made it work. I still think I would do it again to get out of wagging my luggage around.

Day 2-Magic Kingdom

I broke all the Disney touring rules and planned for us to be in Magic Kingdom our first day in the parks. I knew we were going to make two days for Magic Kingdom and I just couldn't keep Georgia away from Cinderella's Castle a day longer.

We woke up early so we could be at the park 30 minutes before it opened. It took us longer than expected but we still managed to get there about 10 minutes early. The bus transportation is nice in that it drops you off close to the park's gates but it can sometimes be a frustrating experience too. 

We finally got everything checked and scanned and we were headed down Main Street USA! I caught Georgia's reaction when she spotted Cinderella's Castle for the first time. She was so excited! 

We decided it would be a good opportunity to take some castle pictures while the park was pretty empty. It was a picture perfect day (actually week, we had amazing weather!) of blue skies and 75 degree weather. 

After several months of planning, our Disney vacation was finally here!

Their first Disney vacation-Georgia, 3 1/2 and Jack, 11 months

I purchased the PhotoPass feature that allows you to have your picture taken by Disney photographers that are uploaded to your Disney app just by the photographer scanning your Magic Band. I am so glad I did it. I took a lot of pictures with my iPhone 6s but having pictures in high resolution and pictures that the whole family is in makes the PhotoPass worth it in my book.

We started our morning in Fantasyland. We were able to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea-Little Mermaid, Peter Pan's Flight, and see Enchanted Tales with Belle and Mickey's Philharmagic. We had a fast pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but decided to not try it. She was barely going to meet the height requirement and Daddy didn't like the idea of that so we changed our fast pass. She will be ready next time!

She loved Under The Sea and Winnie the Pooh. 

Jack was on easy street this trip. He rode in the stroller a lot but liked to be out so he could see everything. He napped whenever and wherever. Being a little brother is tiring sometimes!

We took a midday break for lunch and a little rest in the room. It was nice to break the day up but getting back to the park on the bus on this day took forever. At this point we were doubting taking the break due to the time in transport!

We came back rested and ready to see some more of Magic Kingdom. 

We rode Walt Disney World Railroad, Country Bear Jamboree and It's A Small World. It's so great how many attractions are baby friendly.

The sweetest girl in all the kingdom. She didn't shed one tear the whole vacation. It really was the happiest place on earth!

We had reservations for dinner at Be Our Guest restaurant with the Beast. This is one of the newer dining experiences at Disney World so I was very lucky to book dinner reservations which is the only meal that the Beast dines with you. We were excited!

Outside the doors to the Beast's castle.

The dining room was spectacular. It felt like a scene taken straight from the movie.

After a nice meal, we got to meet the Beast! This was our first character encounter so I was a little nervous, especially considering he's probably the scariest Disney character ha!

But she wasn't scared at all. We went right to him and posed for pictures like a big girl. I was so proud of her!

Jack also thought the Beast was great and we got a pretty good family picture with him.

And a whole group shot as well!

After our dinner, we caught a small part of the electrical parade as we headed for the exit. It had been a long day and we were afraid to burn both ends of the candle so we headed back to the resort before the fireworks. We would do that later in the week. 

Our first day was hectic but we got our rhythm and made lots of memories. I felt like we maximized our time well considering we had two babes and a double stroller to maneuver through the crowds. It was a good, solid start to the week!

Tiny Dancer and We're Going to Disney World!

It's April and we are so ready for our spring break vacation that begins in just a few hours. I feel like a Disney expert at this point with all the pre-planning and reservations I have made. This has made my type A personality thrive! However, as much planning and itinerary making as I have done, I am aware that we are taking a three year old and a baby to Disney World so plans could get scrapped in the first 30 minutes. We will make the best of our trip and I can assure you the happiest place on earth will not disappoint.

It's been a busy week prepping for our trip among lots of other activities we have had going on. Here's what our week has looked like pictorially- 

The Easter bunny knew the way to her heart. Now she can be a princess at nighttime too! When we are home, the kids are mostly in pajamas so a new gown is like a new outfit to her. I just love the smile when she saw herself in the full length mirror.

I turned my timehop back on this week (I deleted because it was a sob fest) and this popped up from three years ago. I just love this picture so much. I can't believe I now have two babies that have celebrated their first Easters. Motherhood is flying by so quickly.

Jack stays with Mamaw Carolyn on Wednesdays and they have started their daily strolls now that spring is here. He loves being outside just like Georgia did at the same age and doesn't want to go inside. This will be a summer spent outdoors I'm sure.

Our countdown chain to Disney is almost gone and this is how we feel about it!

Being a ballerina is very demanding. She always falls asleep on our way home from dance class. Dance has been such a fun experience for the whole family. She is one of the youngest in the whole academy and it's so precious seeing her dance for a few seconds and then get distracted and do her own thing for the rest of the time ;) We tell her she must do two things: 1. Do your best and 2. Obey Ms. Moira (and have fun but we know she is doing that!) and as long as she does those things, we let the rest go. I love our tiny dancer!

Thursday our beloved Owen Theodore would have turned seven. We still miss him everyday. I absolutely love and can relate to the saying "Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong"-W.R. Purche. He was the best! 

We danced twice this week to get in extra practice for the upcoming recital. Daddy was in charge of her one afternoon when I couldn't be and he sent me this picture and I melted. I know she's mine and I'm biased but she's just a perfect angel. 

I want to give a huge shout out to my amazing husband for all he has done this week. I have been stretched between making plans for our trip, shopping for the trip, appointments, work obligations and the list goes on. He is such a hands-on dad and does whatever needs to be done. I also have a wonderful family that fills in the gaps and takes care of our babies when we need them to, I am so thankful for how they love them and help us on a daily basis. I have got it made in the support system department!

It's time! Disney World here we come! It's going to be a wild 48 hours getting packed, transported and settled in our resort but I cannot wait for all the fun!

If the forecasted weather holds up we have hit the jackpot! 

If you want to keep up with us next week throughout our Disney vacation, I will post daily (probably hourly ha!) on Instagram and probably upload to a Facebook album nightly. I will probably give the blog a rest until we come back and then I will overwhelm you with details and pictures because.....Disney :). 

See y'all in a week friends! Here we come, Mickey!