Dear Babes,

We did it! Daddy and I managed to get you to Disney World for the surprise of your short little lives, and all without you suspecting a single thing!  You’ve been asking to go to Disney World for the better part of a year now, and all we ever say is “We’ll see” or “Maybe one day.” This time, you knew you were going on a vacation but you were so excited just to be going to the airport and getting on a plane that you didn’t even question the destination. Lila, you had it in your mind that we were going to the beach, and Matthew, you just didn’t care. We got all the way through a connecting flight and walked halfway through the Orlando airport before we revealed we were there for Disney World, and boy did your berserk reaction have passers-by stopping in their tracks.

You were unbridled balls of joy, your little bodies literally shaking with happiness. You were excited about renting a car (you’ve always enjoyed “borrowing cars” as you call it, probably because our doing so usually coincides with road trips or a vacation.) You sang all the way to our hotel suite and enjoyed running throughout our “new little house.” I still can’t believe we managed to corral you down for short naps but your little bodies were so tired from our early morning flight and all the ensuing excitement that you didn’t resist. And after a little recharge, we headed out to Downtown Disney for a little sightseeing and dinner. We thought you would get a kick out of the T-Rex restaurant but Matty, you whimpered the entire time that the robotic dinosaurs scared you. Of course, when we finally left, the first thing you did was call Grandma and PopPop to rave about the “super cool” place we just ate and how you were “so brave and not scared at all.”

Because you were still so overwhelmed, you went right to bed for the night without incident and were up at the first ray of sunlight. After breakfast we began our adventure with the Magic Kingdom. Lila, you were all set and ready, decked out in your treasured Cinderella dress. Matthew, not being a fan of hot and itchy polyester costumes, preferred instead your bright red “super cool” Mickey & Friends tee. We hit the ground running and started riding immediately. And you wanted to ride everything. So that’s just what we did. We went from line to line and you two really impressed us by making sure you went to the bathroom pretty much before and after every single ride. It made for lots of bathroom breaks, yes, but that was much preferable to you having any potty emergencies while in the middle of an hour-long wait.

We really had no set plan. I imagined we’d just go with the flow, get in line for any ride that didn’t exceed a 45 minute wait, and go until you just couldn’t go anymore. I figured that might be around 5 or 6 pm but you babies sure fooled me. You jumped from ride line to ride line, danced in two parades, watched a fireworks show, and viewed every attraction there was.  I could tell you were obviously getting tired but at 8 pm you were still begging to get on “just one more ride”. And since you weren’t falling apart at the seams, we decided we could grant this one time wish. And so we waited in line for “just one more ride” about three more times. And then, because you actually had ridden everything but the two rides you were not tall enough for, we finally made our exit. Poor Matthew, you couldn’t take it any more and finally conked out in the stroller ride to the car. From the monorail to the car seat, you would sleepily ask if you could still have pizza when we got back to the room. But when we finally arrived at 10pm, you were so comatose we just laid you right down without undressing and disturbing you.

We wanted you to sleep in as long as you needed to, but of course you were still up bright and early, ready for Day 2. This day we went to Hollywood Studios and it was more of the same, walking and riding and enjoying the sights and surroundings. Once again, aside for the two rides you were too small to get on, we viewed every attraction and rode every ride, some even twice. Lila, you loved the Star Tours simulator and Matthew, you were entranced with the Great Movie Ride. You both loved The Muppet 3D movie, the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” playground and Toy Story Mania. We spent all day here too, but because this park was smaller, we were able to finish up early enough to leave and have dinner at Matty’s favorite pizza buffet.

Initially we entertained the idea of visiting Disney World for an entire week, but we made the right call by truncating it to just two days. Although you were still just full of excitement and never acted up or out, it was clear how tired you both were today. Two days was just the right amount of adventure for your little bodies to handle.
And even though we had to wake you up at 5 am the next morning to catch an early flight, only to be delayed for hours and hours and hours due to bad weather, you two were troopers and hung right in there with us. It was a long journey home and it took Mommy and Daddy the better part of a week to recuperate. But your smiles, that sheen of pure happiness on your face, and the wonder and amazement in your eyes that on several moments brought tears to my own eyes, for this I can’t wait for the chance to do it all over again…

Love You Forever,

Mommy