the most magical place on earth...

it has been a very busy weekend! (and we are exhausted!) we flew to orlando, matt was in a wedding, madelyn (and matt) had their first trip to disney world, and we drove down to fort myers. i will warn you now that this is going to be a pretty long post.

madelyn started the trip by eating her first banana straight from the peel while we waited for our flight on thursday morning. and she was just shoving it in her mouth. we would try to tip it to the side so that she wouldn't get a bite too big, but she was having none of that! this has been a really helpful skill during this trip. another new skill that has come in very helpful this trip is sitting in a kitchen chair to eat. she really likes sitting at the table and eating with everyone else like a big kid. i think we are going to have to buy her a booster seat when we get home and say goodbye to the highchair.

in orlando we stayed with "auntie" natalie and rob (who actually had to leave for the weekend, unfortunately) and attended chad and leslie's wedding. matt was a groomsman so he had lots of wedding activities thursday, friday, and saturday and natalie had to work on friday so maddie and i were on our own without a car for the day. natalie drew me up a map for walking to a nearby park. so maddie and i headed out friday morning (in the thick humidity) to find the park. there was a panera nearby so i picked up a bagel on the way and maddie checked out the great playground at the park. it was really nice and even had a canopy over the swings to block the sun. there was the neat "seat" thing that i had never seen before and madelyn really liked it! the video shows her spinning around in it - it sits at an angle so that when she shifts her weight it spins. she really got the hang of it when we took daddy and natalie on saturday morning. (it sounds like she wants to get out, but when i took her out she got right back in - i think she is just frustrated that her shoes get stuck on the rubber.)


natalie babysat while matt and i went to the rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception. i am sure that she just loved having us - we stayed all weekend, asked her to babysit friday and saturday, madelyn broke her grandmother's lamp, and we drug her out to disney. she said that she enjoyed our visit - but...

so now for the big event! disney world! we never would have taken her this young, but as matt says, "the price was right". natalie works for epcot and was able to get us into the park for free. so there was no pressure to stay all day and get our money's worth. we just went took in a few rides and souvenirs and then got in the car to head to fort myers. i have a picture from my first trip to disney when i was at least 6 months older than maddie that we were trying to recreate. we took this picture on the way in while she was fresh, but then got the mouse ears and minnie mouse doll to match my picture. we forgot to stop again on our way out to take a picture with the accessories so we took one from the outside part with the same planter in the background (i didn't get my picture scanned in so i will have to add it later).

we were able to go on the small world, winnie the pooh, snow white, and peter pan rides. madelyn did really great on all of them. i was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to sit still long enough or would cry when it got really dark, but even on the snow white ride she never cried. she did stand up and hold on to me with a death grip while shoving her face into my neck for a while, but never cried. here are some more pictures and captions from our disney adventure...

heading into the park from "pluto 25"

the iconic castle shot down "main street u.s.a."

in awe of "small world". she finally started pointing at things towards the end of the ride. but she took everything in the whole time and would look where we were pointing.

auntie nattie is a natural with a stroller!

the snow white ride was just a little too scary. (yes, i took a picture. i know - i have a problem.)

maddie and auntie nattie in their 3d glasses for mickey's philharmagic show. the show is about 10 minutes and maddie made it through about 5 with the glasses on her face before trying to take them off. i was very proud!

madelyn was so in love with her minnie doll that we had to take the tag off to pay for it because she wouldn't let go. i was surprised because she has had so little disney exposure.

trying to stay hydrated in the hot florida sun was a top priority for us snowbirds.

today we are going to take some pictures with madelyn's two cousins (annabell and briana) before having dinner with the whole family tonight. but now, we are all going to take a much needed nap. love.