Girl-tastic Magic Kingdom Day! (Part 1)

My recent Animal Kingdom and Epcot trips were a bonus. I had only intended to take a one day girls' trip with Riley and my sister. Riley and I watched Tangled the night before. Roo knew the trip was soon, but I didn't tell her it was the next day because I wanted her to get a good night's sleep. After she went to bed Mike and I watched Congo. It ended up being a bad call because I woke up in the middle of the night screaming about a jungle spider on the curtains. The day finally arrived, a sunny (for the most part) Wednesday. I was so excited for this trip. I sprang out of bed with the alarm.

I happily put on my Aurora inspired outfit and went to wake up Miss Roo. She was confused about why I was waking her up when it was still dark out, but I asked if she'd like to...you know...maybe...visit the Magic Kingdom today?? She sleepily donned her Rapunzel inspired outfit. Isn't she the cutest tiny Rapunzel ever?!?

We had quite a few bumps before getting on the road, not the least of which was a severely flat tire on the wheelchair. Not, "This one needs a little air" flat, like "the tube inside is broken so every time I fill it it goes flat in minutes" flat. Mike suggested waiting until a bike shop was open and getting it fixed but it was already getting late. I told him to throw the chair and my hand pump in the back and we'd deal with it. The way I saw it, we could either rent a chair when we got there or navigate the park with a flat all day.

A whole bunch of other small irritating issues happened and then we got on the road for real. It was a lovely drive we played eye spy and instead of "I spy with my little eye" Roo kept saying "I spy with my yellow eye..." It was incredibly adorable. She played the way all 4yrs do, by deciding based on your guesses what they intended rather than a head of time. It was thoroughly entertaining.

When I saw that sign, I almost wet myself literally and figuratively because I had a huge latte and We MADE IT!!! We arrived just after 10am. Jessie was kind enough to switch lanes so I could get a clear shot. Yay girls day!

We took a ferry ride with a view of Cinderella's digs. Off the boat we were rushing on a flat tire (we decided not to waste valuable Disney time getting a rental) to Frontier Land for our first fast pass, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! My very favorite Disney ride. This was beyond special because this was the first time my now 40in little princess was going to ride it with me! It fills my heart to bursting remembering how nervous she was waiting to get on and how full of glee she was when it was over. After that Disney milestone it was time to meet the fairies!

My house is well versed in the residents of Pixie Hollow, but Jessie learned their names as we inched through the line. Then we all shrunk to fairy size and took in the Magical Nook for the very first time...So, adorable. There was Rosetta (Roo's second favorite fairy! She's a hardcore Periwinkle lover.) Jessie (just as Rosetta sashayed over) said "Oh, is it Fawn?" Uh-oh. To which Rosetta replied "Do I Look like an animal fairy?!? I don't think so, Honey." I almost died. Bonus points to the Photo Pass Photographer for catching the moment on film. The second picture is when they were discussing when Rosetta had animal fairy talent in Pirate Fairy and all the bugs climbed on her and was like "ew, ew, ew!"

After some fairy hugs which transferred some pixie dust to Roo's absolute delight it was time to check in with Peter Pan's bestie.

Disney milestone-check! Meet the fiaries for the first time-check! What's next? Why a journey under the sea with Ariel of course! Yay, girls' day!! After the Ariel ride and a quick potty stop it was time for our second fast pass: Enchanted Tales with Belle! I'd never done this one before since we were with the boys over the summer and they were NOT interested in the least. You get to put on a play for Belle. You surprise her by re-enacting how she and Beast met!

Riley got to play Mrs. Potts! She did awesome, of course! I did my conservatory training/theater degree proud making galloping horse noises and wind sound effects. Seriously it was so fun! You have to do it at least once. We all enjoyed ourselves and Belle thanked Riley with a special book mark. It says "You'll always be part of my favorite story. Belle" So cute!

Coming up: Princesses, World Travels, Mermaids, Aliens and A Mad Tea Party!

Back To Adapting

It was a slightly different "back to normal" today. I found myself with kids neatly squared away at their respective schools rushing home to Miss Leeloo. Which wasn't an altogether unfamiliar thing, to have a baby at home. I reflected on what I saw as the biggest challenge all the way home: How will I get her outside quickly? Luckily, she had been out a few minutes ago and was lazily munching her breakfast in her "room" (crate) when I got back, passing my husband in the driveway.

She was calm enough and settled down to sleep for a bit afterward so I had time to ponder. I mulled it over while I folded laundry and tidied toys. I wasn't going to cause a regression making her pee on the pee pee pads all day. Plus, that wouldn't be super fun for my back either. I decided to try my go-to in Middle School, I would attempt to use my wheelchair as a stroller and push her to the backyard. If that failed I could attempt to carry her on my lap.

Plan A was an epic fail. She wanted nothing to do with being in the wheelchair by herself and even with my arm serving as a seat belt she jumped out. Than I attempted to sit down and scoop her up, but she is no longer the 13.1 pound baby we brought home. While I am still able to lift her from the lower couch trying to pick her up from my wheelchair is a no go. Shoot. We'd have to do it baby duck style. She'd have to follow me.

I got her outside, but she recoiled from the heat and camped out in the shade on the patio. I rolled down into the grass and tried to coax her out. I used the same words Mike does "pee pee time". She didn't budge. After such a long nap she had to be bursting. I got down on the ground and petted her, eventually pulling her into the grass. I got up and watched her for what felt like forever and then finally she got up sniffing. With her bouncy puppy run she found a nice spot in the flower bed and took a tinkle. I praised her no end and thought maybe we might just make it.

The rest of our potty trips were increasingly longer and in some cases unsuccessful. Just like a toddler she followed happily then almost immediately began testing my resolve. On the plus side she knows Mommy and Daddy can take her out to potty now with certainty. Also a bright spot she's 11 weeks old Thursday which means in a week she'll be old enough to hold it. She's growing up so fast.

Wheels!

My tires were so worn down there was no tread left, but I needed to put all of our money towards the wedding. We paid for the wedding ourselves and have no debt from doing so. It just means we have a full back burner of necessary stuff to wade through now. With Mike's car all fixed up it was my turn. This is what my tires looked like:

As you can see they were shot. I've had this wheelchair about 11yrs and never replaced the front casters so we went ahead and did them too. I like the last picture because it looks like they're going to wheelchair tire heaven. Obviously, I've replaced the tires quite a few times just not since my back surgery two years ago. It was time, especially since I'm going to be laid up for a little while after Thursday.

Here's what my chair looks like with proper tires and spiffy green casters on the front.

Close-up:

I think Miss Roo are gonna take it for a test drive at the mall today.

PS: Oh My! I can't believe how long I "dealt with" those bald tires! It's like I was walking around in shoes two sizes to small and now I have shoes that fit properly. Whew. Now, surprise! all my labwork for surgery has to be done today ):