17 Days of Wishes Come to Life- A Sept. 08 WDW and DCL Adventure 3/27 new link posted

[Figment's Friend]

I love the photo of Little Prince looking up at Terk! And how awesome of Aladdin to be three pins richer, thanks to his knowledge of Disney tunes! I love your giraffe pictures. Definitely my favorite animal at the Safari.

 

[pmama]

I've read up to page 6 and am subbing so I can catch up later. Love your TR so far. I love TRs w/ video, makes you really feel like you are there. I look forward to reading more.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am very happy to hear that your Little Prince did well on It's Tough to Be a Bug. DH and I really enjoyed that attraction before and I was nervous about the stink bug part-if I remember correctly, it stinks up the place pretty bad, right?

I hope we have that kind of luck with the rides!! So awesome!!

 

[jaycns]

Day 3 continued...the parade!

As we settled in to wait for the parade we put some of our many snack credits to use. **On the deluxe dining plan you get two snacks per person per day on top of the three meals per person per day...it's WAY too much food. But I loved having it. Ha ha.** We each got a lemon freeze (basically a lemon icee type drink). They really hit the spot on a hot afternoon.

And here's a picture of our Little Prince awaiting his first WDW parade. I had my fingers crossed that the music wouldn't be too loud for him or the parade scare him in some way. He's so happy here, it is almost like he knew what fun was just down the way!

As we heard the parade start to approach, dh picked up our Little Prince and I grabbed the camera.

Would he like it or lump it?

NEITHER!! It turns out he LOVED it!

This was such a special moment for us. Dh said it was one of his "top dad times" and for me, it was a little bit of heaven on earth. I didn't see much (if any really) of the parade other than to turn and try to see it through our Little Prince's eyes. I was enraptured with his expressions, his little noises, his giggles of delight. I sort of take that back, I did see some of the parade...but in an entirely new way, I was watching it through the tiny eyes of my tiny guy. Everything was so much more bright and amazing then even I(miss stop-and-smell-the-roses-and-then-gush-about-them) had ever noticed before. I don't have much to say about the parade because I was not really thinking in words, I was just plain feeling it. Life doesn't really get much better than this!

It all started with King Louie...just look at that smile!!

Aladdin got in on the fun with a high five from King Louie.

This "bird" float came over and let our Little Prince touch his beak!

When our Little Prince saw this float...he started laughing uncontrollably.

I love this shot, you can almost see the magic!

I love this next picture too...you can see the happiness he was feeling written all over his face!

All too soon the parade ended. When it did, I saw our two youngest holding hands and smiling huge smiles at each other.

When the parade ended we decided to head back to the resort so that we would have a chance to rest and clean up before our evening plans. This night would find us dining at the Kona Cafe.

As we walked back to our van, I snapped one final picture of our Little Prince hitching a ride on dh's back.

To Be Continued...

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your little prince is so adorable. I just love the huge smile he always has on his face, what a happy baby.

 

[LindaBabe]

I have tears in my eyes at baby's happy face! He looks like he is so ready to go to sleep on Dad's head there in the last photo, lol

How COOL that you got to go to Africa as a kid, Jay! when you do take the kids to Africa, I hope you need a nannie and will pick ME to fill the role! Africa is one of the two places left on my bucket list (the other is Nepal, which won't be possible, because of my lungs). I dream of Africa.

Starrzone was right about your flexible, non-picky kids - SURE wish you could teach parenting classes to quite a few parents I've met, lol.

Happy Day, Jay.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Oh my gosh, Jay! What a wonderful moment that parade was! The Little Prince is most definitely a Disney baby, his expressions were so cute!

 

[kaysmommie]

What awesome Parade pics! The little Prince is enjoying Disney as much as his brothers. The pics of him enjoying the parade and the one with King Louie are just adorable. Your never too young or old to enjoy Disney . Thanks for plugging my trippie BTW. It's not as good as yours and sometimes I can be just brutally honest . Waiting for more of this fabulous trippie.

 

[Illini4ever]

The parade pictures of the little guy are the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

[hjohnson6]

What a wonderful experience watching the parade through Little Prince's eyes. The pictures of him are too cute!

 

[jaycns]

LOL...yes we do have a day slotted for AK. My DH made me do it. Hahahaha. I am sure I will LOVE it though.....MK is my favorite though. I am sure you are right, I am missing a ton of photo ops, aren't I???

Speaking of photos...yes, I am totally obsessed!!!! I can't help it Jay!!

I am really looking forward to seeing what great photos you are able to capture at DAK. It is the most "photogenic" of the parks in my opinion. Or maybe I am just most drawn to it personally. Either way, I am really looking forward to seeing those.

I'm so glad Aladdin knew the Disney songs.... how could he miss, right? Don't you just love those magic moments?! Did he get to pick the pins or were they certain ones?
I am wondering if we will see the official Disney EE photo of you and the boys coming down the huge hill on the roller coaster? Did you get one?

He got to pick them off of her lanyard. They weren't 'special' pins but to him they were 'special pins' (if that makes any sense at all).

We still laugh over that.

It's nice to be missed. I'll try not to let it happen again.

You best be doing that missy! And Barb, of course you are missed! That's what happens when people care!

Great Trip Report. Your Family is so cute!!! Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks and thanks and thanks again! My next installment will showcase a few new towel friends and our meal at the Kona Cafe.

I love the photo of Little Prince looking up at Terk! And how awesome of Aladdin to be three pins richer, thanks to his knowledge of Disney tunes! I love your giraffe pictures. Definitely my favorite animal at the Safari.

Giraffes are such beautiful animals. I love their long graceful necks. I also love that they look so graceful but yet are full of such power. A full grown healthy giraffe doesn't even fear a full grown lion. Talk about grace (and power) under fire!

I've read up to page 6 and am subbing so I can catch up later. Love your TR so far. I love TRs w/ video, makes you really feel like you are there. I look forward to reading more.

I have a few more video clips that will make it into the TR. I love them in trip reports too. Anyway, thanks and welcome and glad to have you!

I am very happy to hear that your Little Prince did well on It's Tough to Be a Bug. DH and I really enjoyed that attraction before and I was nervous about the stink bug part-if I remember correctly, it stinks up the place pretty bad, right?

I hope we have that kind of luck with the rides!! So awesome!!

It does smell really bad (I always hold my nose) but smells in no way seemed to bug the baby. Even on the figment ride with the skunk smell he had no reaction. All of my kids did well as babies (except Aladdin who sadly didn't make it to WDW as a baby) on the rides. What should be scary doesn't yet hit little ones until they get a little older (at least for my kids). Goofy as a toddler/young child was far more apprehensive about rides than he was as an infant. I am sad to say that neither Aladdin to a small degree nor Stitch (at all) has the good sense to be fearful of things. Those two have always been my higher, faster, more intense kids.

Your little prince is so adorable. I just love the huge smile he always has on his face, what a happy baby.

He is a very happy and calm baby. I am so glad he is of that temperament. Our trip could have been a whole lot different for the entire family. He seems to have done all of his "naughty stuff" in utero. He sure was not a well behaved little on while in there!

 

[jaycns]

I have tears in my eyes at baby's happy face! He looks like he is so ready to go to sleep on Dad's head there in the last photo, lol

How COOL that you got to go to Africa as a kid, Jay! when you do take the kids to Africa, I hope you need a nannie and will pick ME to fill the role! Africa is one of the two places left on my bucket list (the other is Nepal, which won't be possible, because of my lungs). I dream of Africa.

Starrzone was right about your flexible, non-picky kids - SURE wish you could teach parenting classes to quite a few parents I've met, lol.

Happy Day, Jay.

I think he was asleep on dh's shoulder within the next few steps. He had really enjoyed himself, but the heat and all day nature of the parks got the better of him. Heck, it got the better of me.

I loved Africa. I was in middle school at the time and went with my school. It was a life changing trip for me. I realized that life in the United States was truly a blessed life (even the poorest of the poor have such an advantage here). More than that though, I saw the beauty of people loving the life they have. I witnessed people having pride in themselves, not for what they owned but for who they were on the inside. The fact that you could tell their word and their honor were something they would never trade (for anything) That has stuck with me all these years. I often remind myself that I should aspire to be as good of a person as those wonderful people I met in Africa. They were the most complex individuals on the inside. And to top it all off, they were very welcoming, funny, kind...well I could go on and on. And don't even get me started on the animals! I cannot wait to experience Africa again with my own children and I pray that they get even half as much out of their trip as I did my own. Come on Nanny Linda! Or should I say Granny Linda!

Ha ha ha, I could teach a parenting class... I don't think so, I have just been blessed with wonderful kids.

Oh my gosh, Jay! What a wonderful moment that parade was! The Little Prince is most definitely a Disney baby, his expressions were so cute!

YES, he is a Disney baby! Through and through!

What awesome Parade pics! The little Prince is enjoying Disney as much as his brothers. The pics of him enjoying the parade and the one with King Louie are just adorable. Your never too young or old to enjoy Disney . Thanks for plugging my trippie BTW. It's not as good as yours and sometimes I can be just brutally honest . Waiting for more of this fabulous trippie.

Ha,I highly prize honesty in all forms. And don't sell yourself short. You write an awfully entertaining trip report writer. I wouldn't have sent people over if I didn't enjoy it!

The parade pictures of the little guy are the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time.

That really was one of life's sweetest moments for me.

What a wonderful experience watching the parade through Little Prince's eyes. The pictures of him are too cute!

I wish that I would have gotten a better picture of Stitch and our Little Prince holding hands at the end of the parade. Seeing them smile at each other and realizing that it was not just dh and myself who had enjoyed watching him watch the parade was so sweet. All of the boys had fun watching their baby brother laugh his way through the parade.

 

[xoktenox]

I really cannot get over how good your Little Prince is. And he is too adorable for words, he's smiling in every picture! I hope that when I have kids they have just as good a time as Little Prince obviously had on your trip...and that they behave as well as him

 

[MouseTriper]

I am really looking forward to seeing what great photos you are able to capture at DAK. It is the most "photogenic" of the parks in my opinion. Or maybe I am just most drawn to it personally. Either way, I am really looking forward to seeing those.

Thanks Jay, I am really looking forward to it too. I can't WAIT to get pics of our little guy on his 1st trip to WDW. I LOVE seeing all yours of the Little Prince...he is just sooo CUTE!!!

I cannot wait to experience Africa again with my own children and I pray that they get even half as much out of their trip as I did my own. Come on Nanny Linda! Or should I say Granny Linda!

Okay if Linda has dibs on the Nanny part then I wanna call dibs on being your PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHER while in Africa????

 

[MouseTriper]

Oh Jay....the parade pics are absolutely adorable. You are so right, you really can see all the magic in your Little Prince's face and smile. He is ADORABLE...as are the other boys!!! I loved this update. Can't wiat to hear how you all enjoyed Kona....we loved that place!!!

 

[CastleCreations]

WOW!!! Great trip report so far..I just read all 15 pages...and can't wait for more. What a beautiful family you have. I know what you mean about tearing up. Sometimes, when I'm watching a parade or just having a quiet moment at Disney with the girls, I get teary eyed, just thinking how blessed we are to have these moments together.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Great update Jay! I love, love, love your pictures! Especially the ones of your Little Prince. My nephews went to Disneyland for the first time this summer and I cannot tell you how much I wanted to see their first reactions to everything Disney has to offer. I've seen how my oldest one melts when a Disney movie turns on. I just hope I'm with them when they encounter Disney World for the first time. I hope they love it as much as your son did!
And as for you going to Africa...wow. That's an experience I've always wanted to have. Just the whole idea of going there.... How very lucky you are. I hope you get your dream of taking your children one day. They're very lucky kids to have a mom like you.

 

[SkyGirl]

I can't tell you how the parade pictures of The Little Prince brought tears to my eyes. I was transported back to when we were praying and praying for his safe arrival!

And I agree: MORE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Figment's Friend]

What a perfect Disney moment, especially for a parent! I'm so happy the Little Prince loved every minute of the characters and the floats, he just looks like he's in complete happiness! You'll always have the memory of his first parade. (And by the looks of it, I'd say he's a Disney fan!)

 

[KittyKat08]

OMG! Your little Disney Prince is just adorable. His reaction to the parade is just priceless.

Can't wait till the next installment, as you said same bat channel, same bat time.