I Survived

Well, I officially survived Disney.  You all know I was a little bit worried, but we actually had a GREAT time.  (Which is largely due to my friend Anna, who, after reading the blog, facebook messaged me with a TON of great Disney survival tips.  Thank you, Anna! We basically did everything you suggested and it was awesome!)

We stayed at a condo property in Orlando, which fortunately had a pool and a playground to keep mommy AG from going insane getting bored while John worked.

Incidentally, playgrounds aren't so good for potty-training. (I believe the word you're looking for is "duh.")  Of the two times we went to play, AG pooped in her underwear, um, let's see....BOTH TIMES.

Poop-2, AG's Pants-0.

After that, we pretty much avoided the playground at all costs.

Allow me to share a few other lessons I learned at Disney:

1.  Two and a half may be just a tad too young for the Princess Tea Party.  Either that, or she just hates princesses.  Thirty-one, on the other hand, is the perfect age.

Clearly, there aren't enough opportunities in life to wear a tiara, am I right?

2.  Apparently, dads don't usually attend the Princess Tea Party with their daughters.  As John discovered upon being the only male in the entire room full of princesses, pink, and tiny little tea cups.

He totally owned it though.  I may have even caught Sleeping Beauty flirting with him.....sending me in search of the nearest spinning wheel.

(Okay, I'm out for that.)

3.  Dads with strollers are a little bit scary.  It's like the Indy 500 or something, especially when they're jockeying for position at a popular ride.  Excuse me, husband?  Do you see me literally jogging to keep up with you?  Simmer down, now!

4.  If you wear an inappropriately warm shirt to the Magic Kingdom, you may just find yourself purchasing a Cinderella tank top from a random gift shop.  If Cinderella went goth and started wearing studs, that is.  It is very likely the ugliest shirt I've ever laid eyes on, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

And $34 goth princess tank tops.

5.  It is TOTALLY worth it to push through your toddler's nap time so she can see the Main Street parade at 3pm.

(Just remind yourself of that later, when she's sobbing hysterically because her grapes accidentally touched her grilled cheese sandwich.  Or something hugely upsetting like that.)

I'd do it again in a heartbeat for another smile like this.

Here are a few other photos from the trip.....

That crazy Minnie, always trying to jump into every photo.

To infinity and beyond......

John actually tried to make me go do the Macarena with all those crazy people down front.  He claimed it would be fun for Ally Grace.  I am pretty sure he meant it would be fun for him to watch me humiliate myself.

Um, I'm good.  But thanks.

A little venture out to MY happy place.

John REALLY wanted to wear a fanny pack, but I convinced him just to carry AG's backpack instead.
Which is obviously far less embarrassing.
(I also may or may not have promised to NOT put this picture on the blog.  Oops.)

Date Night!  This was approximately five seconds before the humidity killed my hair, thus prompting me to wear it in a ponytail for the remainder of the trip.
Florida humidity=no joke

Ally Grace meeting two of her favorite "people" in the world.
We are just a tiny bit obsessed with Toy Story these days.

(And AG likes it a lot too.)

After all that chaos fun, I am SO. GLAD. to be home.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take a baseball bat to my computer, Office Space-style, as it's now taken me THREE HOURS and SIX COMPUTER SHUT-DOWNS to get this blog written.

I'd almost rather take my chances at the playground.