Day 1--Off to see the Mouse...

First plane ride...

Lucky for Daddy and I (and those seated around us), J and MG behaved well on the plane ride to Orlando. I, being the good Girl Scout, was prepared for almost anything. I was armed with a full bag of tricks and ready for "blast off" (as J so energetically called it). You'll be happy to know I held a straight face when the flight attendant instructed me on proper oxygen mask procedure should a "problem" arise in flight. Just what I wanted to hear 3 minutes before flying the friendly skies with my children. You know, when they tell you to be sure to place the mask on the face of the little people before the big people? I think it was at that moment the color temporarily drained from my face but I never let my kiddos see I was freakin' out!

J was beyond thrilled to be on an airplane. "Hey Mommy! LOOK! It's ______!" was heard more times than I could count. Considering I very rarely look out the window in flight it was challenging. MG could have cared less about the plane ride. She just wanted to see Cinderella.

J checking us in at the Polynesian...
We celebrated J's birthday in WDW (a few days early). When we arrived at the Polynesian, the birthday boy was selected to "help" Mr. Mark, the concierge, check us in to the resort. He even received an official Walt Disney World Year of a Million Dreams certificate to commemorate his very important job. He thought he was BIG STUFF!

After getting settled and the girls taking a short nap, Daddy headed off to "Tommy Bahama" night at his business conference. Ha! While he was gone I took the kids to the Magic Kingdom for the first time. It was one of those "Mommy moments" that I hope I can always remember. I wish I could have bottled the excitement they were feeling. J was about to burst to catch a glimpse of Mickey. MG was SO excited to see Cinderella's Castle she couldn't contain herself. She was giggling with pure joy when the monorail rounded the corner to reveal the Castle in full view. "LOOK MOMMY! IT'S CINDERELLA'S CASSSSSSSS-TLLLLLLLLLE!"

We made it to the park just in time to see the lighting of the castle. Between the show on the castle stage, the beautiful music and the looks on my babies faces when the castle lights came on, I was on the verge of happy tears. All of Walt Disney World was decorated for Christmas and the entire castle was covered in lights. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!