The Sextons Blog: November 2011

James, Caroline and I took a wonderful trip to Orlando to visit Disney World this month. It was the most amazing trip. I cherished every second of this trip with my sweet Caroline. Every part of this trip was pure magic to her - the flights, staying in a hotel, riding the buses to the parks, and all of the activities in Disney World. James was already in Orlando for work, so Thursday, November 10th Caroline and I flew to Orlando. We arrived at the airport and rode the Magic Express bus to the Pop Century Disney Resort. Our hotel section was 50's themed, and a huge Tramp statue from Lady and the Tramp was right outside our building. Caroline loved that! After checking in, Caroline and I grabbed some pizza for dinner and ate in our room. We woke early the next morning to get to Animal Kindgom by 8am for the Extra Magic Hour. We jumped on the bus and made our way to Animal Kingdom. Caroline and I made our way to the Safari ride first, and we didn't have to wait in line. We got right in the jeep for the amazing safari ride. We saw elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hipos, lions, and much more. Caroline loved seeing all of the amazing animals. After the safari, Caroline and I made our way over to see "Bugs Life" - the 3D show. She was a little afraid of the show. The 3D must seem so real to a three year old. After the show we headed over to Camp Minnie and Mickey to meet some characters. The very first character Caroline met was Pocahontas. She was awe struck. Caroline got to talk to, hug, and get an autograph from the "real" Pocahontas! We then went on to see Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and Thumper the rabbit. By this time we were very hungry, so Caroline and I grabbed lunch at the Flaming Tree BBQ restaurant. We had a yummy meal while sitting down near a beautiful reflection pond. It was such a peaceful lunch with my sweet girl. After eating lunch, we walked over to DinoLand and played in the Boneyard. Caroline had a blast climbing around the playground and digging for bones in boneyard. James called and said that he was headed to the resort while we were in DinoLand, so Caroline and I decided to head back to the resort to meet him.
James met us as we were getting off of the bus. Caroline was so happy to see her Daddy since he had been away for work for several days. When we arrived back to our room Caroline was delighted to see that the Princesses had visited our room and left her a few gifts. They left her a Snow White Princess dress, a Belle Princess Dress, and stuffed Minnie Mouse, a make-up kit, and a sweet note. She was beyond thrilled! We immediately played with the make-up and dressed in a princess dress. Once she was dressed and ready we all headed over to the Magic Kingdom!
As soon as we arrived at the Magic Kingdom we headed over to City Hall for the Princess meet and greet. Caroline met Cinderella, Belle and Aurora. We stepped out of City Hall onto the front porch just in time to see the 3pm parade going around Main Street. We stood on the porch and watched. Caroline was dressed like Snow White on this day. When the "real" Snow White saw Caroline from her float she waved and blew kisses to Caroline. It was so special to Caroline. A Princess had picked her out of the crowed. It made her feel so special. After the parade we made our way over to Adventureland to meet Ariel. We had to wait a while, so our tired girl took a quick nap on Momma's shoulder. She woke up just in time to meet Ariel and Prince Eric. Ariel is her favorite Princess, so we were all so excited to meet her. We then headed over to meet Tinkerbell and Rosetta. The setting for the Fairy meet and greet was gorgeous. After meeting Tinkerbell we rode the Jungle Cruise, which Caroline really enjoyed. We then picked up our special wrist bands for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that we would attend that evening. Our next stop was meeting Rapunzel! Rapunzel loved seeing Caroline because they had on the same pretty pink Princess shoes. We rode a few rides, got our cookies and hot chocolate, and then lined up for the Christmas Parade. The Parade was amazing. We all loved seeing all of the Character's dressed up for Christmas. After the parade, we secured the perfect spot to watch the light show on the Castle and the fireworks display. Caroline was so tired, but we decided to stay in the park a little later. We went and rode Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride , Dumbo, the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, It's A Small World (Caroline's favorite), Winnie the Pooh, and The Mad Hatter's Tea Party. She also got a chance to meet Jasmine. We finally decided to leave the park around Midnight.
The next morning we headed straight to Magic Kingdom with our little Belle. We immediately went to meet Snow White and Tiana from Princess and the Frog. We rode Buzz Light Year in Tomorrowland. We were walking around and stumbled upon the Celebration Dance Party. Caroline and I ran over to dance, and Woody from Toy Story walked over and grabbed Caroline to dance with her! That was so much fun. After the celebration, we went to the Crystal Palace to have lunch with Pooh, Piglet, Tiger and Eeyore. Caroline loved meeting all of the characters. After lunch we decided to go home for naps. We headed back to the MK with our little Rapunzel for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had a fun dinner, and then watched the Electric Parade immediately after on the porch of the Liberty Tree Tavern. We took advantage of the Extra Magic Hours and stayed until 1:30 am riding all of the rides. One of my favorite memories from this night is riding It's A Small World. We were all by ourselves in the boat, so we sang and danced to the singing. Caroline stood up in the boat and hula dance with the hula girls. It was beyond adorable. As we were getting off the ride we heard the fireworks expolding. We ran up the ramp to watch the fireworks from Fantasyland. Before we could watch the fireworks we had to throw a coin into the water at It's A Small World for a wish. Caroline wispered to herself "I wish, I wish, I wish ... for a real horse to ride." What a sweet wish! After watching the fireworks we walked through Cinderella's Castle. A hostess for Cinderella's Table started chatting with Caroline. They became fast friends, and the sweet hostess decided to give Caroline a special gift. She gave her a special blue wishing star and explained that this star was so special because she could hold onto it and make as many wishes as she wanted on this one star. Caroline treasures this gift more than anything that we bought her on our trip. That star is pure magic to her. I will never let that star too far out of my sight. I want Caroline to always hold on to the belief that magic is real and wishes come true. I will never forget this special night. It was so special to be there experiencing all of the wonder with my sweet girl.
Sunday we ventured over to Hollywood Studios to ride Toy Story Mania, watch The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Nick Junior Live, and Beauty and the Beast. The Beauty and the Beast show was amazing. Caroline loved the live singing and acting. She actually sang along to most of the songs. Before leaving the park we let Caroline have her face painted. She was in heaven! She will still tell you that was one of her favorite parts of the trip. She looked beautiful. We left Hollywood Studios and went back to the hotel to nap. That afternoon we headed to Epcot. Our first stop was the Finding Nemo ride. The ride was fun, but Caroline really enjoyed "Turtle Talk with Crush." Crush the turtle interacted with the children in the theater. It was a really cute show. Our special event of the evening was dinner with the Princesses at Akreses Restaurant. We arrived at dinner just in time for the Princess processional. All of the little girls paraded around the restaurant with the Princesses (Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Cinderella). Aurora saw our sweet Caroline and picked her to hold her hand during this processional. It was so special for Caroline to be the one and only girl holding the hand of a "real" Princess. She was start struck. All of the princesses came to our table to see Caroline. Of course, the most special visit came from Ariel. Caroline was dressed as Ariel that night, so the "real" Ariel loved our girl. They chatted for a long time. Ariel even called Caroline by her nickname, Liney. Caroline thought that meant that they were special friends. It was such a fun dinner. After dinner we watched the Illuminations firework show and then headed back to the hotel.
Our last day was spent at Magic Kingdom. We rode rides, ate lunch at Casey's, watched the Celebration Parade, and explored Tom Sawyer's Island. I got a special treat right before leaving the park. We had Caroline sit for a sillouette cut out for my Christmas gift. It is beautiful. I love my sweet girls profile. She has the sweetest little bell nose and the most beautiful curls. I love looking at the framed picture on my mantle. It reminds me of all the fun we had on our magical trip, and it reminds me of the beauty of my precious three year old Caroline. Our girl was so tired on the bus on the way back the hotel that she literally was falling asleep with a sucker in her mouth. It was an amazing and exhausting trip.
Overall, this was the trip of a life time. We will go again when William is old enough to enjoy Disney World, but I don't think it will be the same. Disney World through the eyes of a three year old girl is a beautiful place. I will treasure the memories made on this trip for the rest of my life.

These pictures loaded in the wrong order. They start with the last day and work back to the start of the trip.

Leaving Magic Kingdom for the last time

Caroline's favorite room of "It's A Small World"

Hula girls in "It's A Small World"

This October has been super busy! Fall is my favorite time of year, Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I am so excited to have the nice weather that William can be out in. There are so many fun Halloween activities around the city, and we are lucky enought to have many good friends to do the activities with. We have visited the pumpkin patch twice, explored Story Book Forrest, Haunted the Zoo, partied with our neighbors at a Halloween costume party, danced with our friends in our costume at ballet class, carved a princess pumpkin, celebrated with our church friends at the church Halloween party, tailgated with friends at OSU's Homecoming, and trick-or-treated with our neighbors. All of these activities were packed into a two week span, and we all had a blast.
This was a very special Halloween for our family. Caroline is now old enough to fully enjoy all of the festivities, and it was William's first Halloween. How magical to watch my three year old daughter dress up as a Princess. She is at the age where she actually believes that she becomes a princess when that beautiful dress-up dress goes on her little body. Her whole persona changes. I love that her imagination is so vast and creative. She is amazing. Caroline loved all of the Halloween activities. She loved all the hayrides, pumpkins, and candy, but most of all, Caroline loved being with her friends and family. She is a social bug, so any excuse to see friends is good enough for her.
To go along with the little princess, William was dressed as a pea. He was absolutely adorable in his little fuzzy green pea in the pod costume. What a joy William is. He is too young to love all the activities like Caroline does, but you would never know it. He is so calm and easy going. He never complained or made a peep during any of our outings. We dragged him all over Oklahoma City, Edmond, and Stillwater, and he just rolled with the punches. He did fuss some on the car rides - he is not a fan of being strapped into the car seat. He wants to have someone to smile up at. William is such a wonderful addition to our family. I love that our family celebrations are even more wonderful with 4!! We are beyond blessed to have such wonderful friends and an amazing family.