Okay by Saturday I meant TUESDAY!!! So this newest installment is right on time!!!!
*ahem*
So...we had just finished at Cosmic Rays...an order had been put in for a baby sister...our tummies were no longer rumbly...all was well!!
It wasn't quite time for Wishes spot staking. Hmmm...just enough time for one more ride on Splash Mountain!!
Sally was not so happy with this direction.
She fixed me with a look and said
"MissCammie...I am dry now."
"Yes Sally, you are dry now." (Very often Sally will make statements with the hope that someone else will draw the conclusion for her. She does this so that she won't upset anyone with her wants or needs. This is not really a good way to communicate. So I will often repeat back to her what she has stated without drawing her conclusion for her...even though I know exactly what she wants. Cuz I'm mean that way...
)
"MissCammie I do not want to be wet again. I am still feeling mad that the people in charge of Splash Mountain did NOT tell us that we might get wet."
"Yes Sally. That was very irresponsible of them."
Sally was fighting with herself. She did NOT want to go on Splash Mountain again. She also knew that if she didn't say it herself she would be riding Splash Mountain again. She also knew I wasn't going to let her off the hook...
"MissCammie I would like to NOT ride Splash Mountain again. Can I stay with you and Teddy can go with Daddy...so they can have Daddy Teddy time?"
slipping in that last part about Daddy/Teddy time was a nice touch!!
I gave her a hug and told her what a BRILLIANT idea that was!
So the boys headed off towards Splash Mountain and Sally and I decided to ride Thunder Mountain. The line was really short!!!
The best thing was that Sally and I got to sit in the VERY front seat. Much to the dismay of the little girl next to us. She whined very loudly about not getting to sit in the very front. Her dad told her to "put a lid on it".
Sally was so excited to be in the FRONT!! She whipped out her camera and took a picture of it!!
The ride was fun. We love that ride. Sally loves that she can tell people that she rides REAL roller coasters, not just baby ones. She held on tight to my arm until I asked if she was brave enough to put her arms up.
She put one arm up...to about her shoulder...for Sally that was real bravery!!
We were done before we knew it. I gave Jay a call to see where they were in line.
Still waiting, but almost there.
So Sally and I scurried over to Splash Mountain to see if we could get a picture of Daddy and Teddy coming down the mountain!!!
Sally found a perch and fixed her eagle eyes on the water fall!
It turns out that Daddy and Teddy were right in the front too!!!
I thought they were going to get really wet, but they actually didn't. They had some splashes but it wasn't bad. I think the real danger is being in a log that is to the side of a log that is just coming down...like we had been that morning...a person really gets SOPPED in such a situation!!!
The boys met us in the Briar Patch. Teddy was alight with glee. The child sparkles with joy. Oh goodness if we could just bottle that stuff the anti depressant industry would be out of business!
I showed Teddy the picture I had taken. He wanted to know if we could "make a poster of it!"
Sally shared her tale of front seat riding. Both kids were very satisfied with their thrills of the evening. All was well!
And the BEST thing was...
...It was almost time for Wishes!!! I love me some Wishes. I may have mentioned this before...It is my all time favorite thing EVER at Disneyworld. Ever. My husband and I saw it every single night of the Disney portion of our honeymoon...except the night we did Illuminations...which is good...but it's no Wishes!
Sally was walking beside me and she gave my arm a squeeze.
"Miss Cammie...you are starting to look like Mrs. Swenson..."
ACK!!! Not THAT!!!!
Who is Mrs. Swenson you may be wondering? Well...let me tell you!
Mrs. Swenson was a very nice but rather maritally unfortunate woman who lived down the street from Sally's nursery school. She was a very polished woman actually who lived in Chanel suits and always looked "done". I believe she was a wildly successful real estate agent and president of her homeowners association! It just so happened that her husband was a big jerk and he beat up on her...and after one beating she came staggering into the gates around Sally's nursery school and PASSED OUT on the playground. She had a very nasty black eye. Sally and two other girls found her and alerted their teacher. (It seems that Sally and the other girls had been first in line for Playground and just after they raced outside there was a pile up of kiddies so the teacher was dealing with that...they made that VERY clear, that Sally and crew were not outside ALONE! After that situation a new rule was instituted in which a teacher had to do a sweep of the playground before any children were allowed outside AND a new fence was installed...the place was Fort Knox after that incident!!) Anyhow...Sally was her usual sweet self in a situation in which someone is hurt or sad. While the other little girls ran for their teacher, Sally held Mrs. Swenson's hand and sang songs to her until a grown up came. It was a big to-do on a lot of levels. Stranger inside the gates, kids finding said stranger...the possible scarring for life of the kids who found her...But the kids weren't traumatized really. Only three of them had seen her, and the teachers told them some story about Mrs. Swenson getting an owie and getting lost on the way to the doctor so she did the right thing by "hugging a tree" until someone found her...none of the other kids had made it outside and once the situation was realized the entire class was whisked away to another part of the building...and they came home with a solid life lesson about tree hugging...
*ahem*
The only lingering whisper of that bizarre event is that Sally will once in a blue moon invoke the name of Mrs. Swenson when someone is bruised and/or looking bad. She remembers very little of the event but she remembered the woman's name. I don't think she even knows what exactly she is saying. Either way...it meant I looked less than stellar!
So we decided to stop for a "powder room" break!! I rushed into the nearest bathroom, and sure enough...I looked like I'd been socked in the face...which I had...
*ahem*
I whipped out the heavy duty concealer and expertly hid my black and blue-ness. Sally gave me a nod and told me I didn't look like Mrs. Swenson anymore!
YAY!!!
Okay...back to the task at hand!! It was time to stake out our Wishes viewing spot. Of course we wouldn't be the kind of people who would push and shove and rude our way into "our" spot...but we know where we want to park ourselves!
Happily there was an open spot right on the curb just down from Casey's! So we settled in. Jay went to get the fatty bombs/aka corndog nuggets he is so fond of during Wishes...and of course a cold Diet coke for moi! The kids were pretty tuckered at this point and were happy to sit in the kid transporter and veg out for a bit.
The Castle is so beautiful at dusk!
Sally took this one!!!
This was my artistic shot...of balloons...
As seemingly the entire population of the park headed towards MainStreet, our chill vibe was getting a little squished...by rude people...obnoxious kids...one of whom was BARKING. Seriously...like a dog...over and over...incessantly...
of course this particular child parked himself right down next to us. And he barked...and barked...loudly...
his parents were either deaf or completely and totally unaware of the fact that their child was under the impression he was a dog...and annoying the bejeezus out of everyone around him.
Sally peered around the kid transporter and looked up at me. She said "Can you believe that kid?" with her big brown eyes.
I shook my head in an exasperated way to say "nope...i really can't..."
Teddy wasn't nearly so subtle. He was getting a bit cranky as he is wont to do when he is tired and very hot. So he poked his head out of the kid transporter, turned to the barking child next to him and said:
"Hey kid. Stop it please because apparently you aren't a DOG. And barking isn't for kids and you are making my head ache!!"
I died.
I was so astonished and proud of him for remembering to say please and so grateful because the kid quit barking. He blinked at Teddy a couple of times and turned away from him. But he stopped barking.
I went around to the front of the kid transporter and got down in front of Teddy. He immediately said,
"I said Please MissCammie."
"Oh buddy, you are NOT in trouble! I just wanted to tell you how brilliant and brave you are! Because guess what?! The barking was making MY head ache too!!!"
He gave me a big grin and said,
"Oh...so then can I please have a cookie please MissCammie?"
Teddy was well aware that his father and I had put the breaks on any more sugar for the evening...he was also well aware that he had done something cookie worthy and he was NOT going to miss an opportunity for possible cookie getting!
and we were on vacation...and we aren't on vacation very often...so YES Teddy...you may have a cookie!!
When Jay got back I told him what had happened and that I was going to go fetch a cookie for my gallant Teddy...and one for Sally b/c it's all about being fair!
I fought my way down to the stark white interiors of...the shop that sells all the candy and the cookies and such...the name is escaping my memory at the moment...but y'all know what I'm talking about right? I got Teddy a FAT chocolate chip cookie and a vanilla chip one for Sally(okay so it's white chocolate, but Sally is only concerned about the brown color...if it's white, it's vanilla!!)
Then I fought my way back through the undeoderized crowd. UGH! People seriously...can you not smell yourselves?! Yes it's Florida...but hygiene is an important lesson to teach our children...don't you think?
*ahem*
FINALLY i made it back. I handed the FAT cookies to the kiddies and told them to gorge away. I had gotten one for Jay too...cuz I love him. And he shares.
Teddy's response to his cookie was:
"Yumm!!! Being brave tastes GOOD!!!"
I'm not kidding. That is exactly what he said.
Not long after that Wishes started. Pinkerbelle flew through the sky much to Teddy's delight. The magic settled over the crowd and I was transported to the happy space in my mind.
I love Wishes. I love it. Now I'm fixing to get sappy here...so I apologize if I over schmaltz a bit...
Cuz seriously...From the first bright burst of light over the Castle I'm a goner. I am plugged in to the Disney magic.
The crowds disappear, the smell of the unwashed masses no longer disturbs me...The voice of Wishes has descended and that is all that I can hear.
"When stars are born, they possess a gift or two.
One of those is, they have the power to make a wish come true.
Star light, star bright,
first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might,
have the wish, I wish tonight.
We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do,
and all our wishes--all our wishes
will come true."
*sigh* love it...
I weep every single time I experience Wishes...tears streaming, sappy snuffling...the whole works.
I cannot help myself.
And the words were that much more poignant because Sally and Teddy were so full of wishes and longing for what was and what will never be again. I prayed that they could let go of their old wishes and set their hearts on new ones. I prayed that their hearts would heal and we did our best to move forward.
That is what Wishes does to me. It sets me to praying and wishing hard for those I love. The very first time I saw Wishes was the first night of my honeymoon. I said a prayer of gratitude that I had been led to this wonderful man who was now my husband. I felt blessed beyond belief.
My prayer that night was for my new family. I prayed for their happiness. I prayed for their joy. I prayed for their strength.
And maybe...because it was Wishes...my prayers would make it straight to God's ears and mercy would be granted to these little people that I love so dearly.
Jay handed me a kleenex and put his arm around me.
He gave me a squeeze that said "I love you...crazy or not..."
After the heart thumping brilliance that is the Wishes finale, I had to re-orient my brain a bit. Gotta get plugged back in to reality if I want to avoid being trampled by all the gazillions of people trying to get out of the gates at the very same time.
Teddy had jumped out of the kid transporter before I could wipe my eyes. He hugged my legs and said
"Did daddy step on your toe?"
Without fail that child brings the laughter into my weepy world. He has an innate sense...comic timing...the next Jim Carrey!
It was the end of our very first full day at Disneyworld. It had been quite a day! Getting sopped, fastpasess, the Sparkle Sisters, smells of DEATH and Wishes...what a great day!!
Up next:
EPCOT!!!!
Your children are adorable and I love how Sally people watches for "rule breakers". Sounds like a job in law enforcement could be a possibility! 
Now I don't think that my dsd will even believe we are going untill we get on the plane. Teddy and Sally are so lucky to have a wonderful person like you and their father in their lives. 
Can't wait for the next installment.
