OK. So it took me a little longer to get back to the Magical Memories than I thought it would. We got stuck in Wonderland. If you missed the first five you can find them
here.
5: Roller coasters. Yep, we spent so much of the summer here at King's Dominion with some of the best roller coasters on the east coast, but it was the coasters at Disney that finally got Jeff to give it a try. I think part of it is the amazing story that Disney incorporates in to each of their rides. Waiting in line is often like walking through a movie set. And the rides tell a story as well as give you a thrill. We started at Animal Kingdom with Expedition Everest. Great ride! Except we didn't give Jeff enough time to get psyched up for it. He was in absolute hysterics for the whole ride. Didn't even try to enjoy it. Whoops. The next day we hit Thunder Mountain. We explained it as a fast train ride. He LOVED it. Wanted to go right back on. No real roller coasters at Epcot, but we did love Test Track. Speeding outside at 60 MPH is pretty awesome.
Finally we hit MGM and the Rockin' Roller Coaster. Since it's inside, Jeff couldn't see what was coming up. The one coaster he really enjoys at King's Dominion is a launching coaster so the fact that the Rockin' coaster launches is a bonus. He willingly climbed aboard, a little nervous. When we shot into the first loop I could hear him screaming with glee. Yep. Loved it. When we went back later in the week we asked to sit in the first car -- AWESOME!! Through the rest of the week we hit up Space Mountain and headed back to Animal Kingdom for a second try at Expedition Everest -- success. Pretty awesome.
If you're wondering about Erin and the roller coasters, there was never any question. She's my thrill seeker and crazy girl. We're just lucky that she's tall enough to ride them all at Disney.
4: Breakfast with Alice. We headed to the Grand Floridian for breakfast with Alice and friends. It was our only character meal, but totally worth it. Since we were involved with Alice in Wonderland at home it was the perfect choice for a breakfast. The food was great, but the kids barely ate (although Erin drank about 5 glasses of this fancy orange/passion fruit juice. So much the server left us a carafe). Erin wasn't willing to get up from the table to go to the buffet because she was so nervous that she'd miss a visit. One of the great things about this breakfast is that they are human characters and you can have a little conversation with them. We got to meet Alice and the Mad Hatter and Alice's friend Mary Poppins. Alice was so cute with Erin and played with her hair pretending she was the White Rabbit. Pooh and Tigger were also there. Even though Jeff is 6, his excitement to meet Pooh and Tigger was unmatched. He ran up to them both with huge hugs. Pooh even tried to take Jeffrey home with him. It was an amazing experience.
3: Meeting Tinkerbell. One of the characters that Erin was especially excited to meet was Tinkerbell, so we gave in and waited in line for an hour. Tom and Jeff took off for an extra ride through the Caribbean. Part of the excitement was that you didn't know which of Tink's friends would be with her. It turned out to be
Terence. Most little girls were bummed, but not Erin. She had collected a Terence pin a few days earlier and couldn't wait to show him. The whole visit turned into pure silliness. Terence was super excited that he found someone with one of his pins. He called Tink over and made a special point to show her. Erin also had her Tinkerbell doll with her and they compared the outfits. It made Erin feel so special. And she will never lose that Terence pin.
2: Jedi training. This is one of the few things that we had planned from the beginning. Knowing Jeff's obsession with Star Wars we figured it would be something he'd never forget. Our first attempt to hit the Jedi training was thwarted because we were 10 minutes too late to get in line and missed all the sessions for that day. So, on our last day in Orlando we made sure to arrive at the park extra early. Even still, we were back in the line to get signed up. Both kids wanted training so we signed up both of them. The whole training show is based around the kids learning a lightsaber routine and then Darth Vader arrives to test them all. As is typical of Jeffrey, he was the first to volunteer to take on Vader and did with great gusto. Erin had studied very well and made sure to have all the moves down before it was her turn. Either way it was an experience neither will ever forget.
1: This.
I don't need to say much more. Just that he asked her to dance (the boy HATES to dance). She said yes. They both smiled. This will very likely never happen again. And only happens in the Happiest Place on Earth.
I can't wait to go back.
We didn't let that slow our Christmas experience at home though. Even with Alice in Wonderland in early December we still found time to decorate at the house. We went and cut down our own tree at a local tree farm. The kids set up their advent calendars and helped decorate the tree. Jeffrey took charge of the Christmas village and put it all together under the tree. We had a few evenings of sitting by the tree before heading up to NY.
Paper flew. Shouts were heard everywhere. Jeff got 3 Lego Heroica games he'd been wanting. Erin received a special note telling her that we would take her to get her ears pierced. As you'd expect, the rest of the day was spent putting together Lego games, opening Pet Shop toys, trying out new DS games (Aunt Katie came through with some new chargers), reading new books, trying on new clothes etc.. Mommy got a Kindle Fire, so she was certainly occupied with that. 
The next few days included a trip to the Museum of Play and Erin's trip to get her ears pierced. The Museum of Play is a truly cool place. The kids could have spent all day there. Erin had a great experience getting her ears pierced and was so brave. She loves her new sparkly ears. Of course there was still time at Grandma and Grandpas to play more Legos, battle on the Wii, and knock down some Angry Birds. 
