Dear Ellie,
This week, we are visiting the happiest place on earth… DISNEY WORLD and we are having so much fun. We have been here all week and still have two more days to play and explore. So because we have a lot to fit in, your Mimi and I wrote up this blog ahead of time. How about we tell you all about this trip next week when we are home and have time to reflect, reminisce, and wish we were back in Florida! So what is this week’s blog then? Your Mimi and I chatted on the phone last week to get excited about our upcoming vacation. And what a better way to anticipate our trip then to recount your first Disney experience (that’s right… this is your 2nd visit to Orlando!) November 2010. Your Mimi’s words are in italics and mine are in regular font.
Oh Ellie, it was such an amazing experience to see the look on your face the first time you saw the characters, the rides, and the atmosphere! You were very advanced for your age and so perceptive to what was going on around you! I have to tell you my favorite part of the trip last year… taking you on the Mad Tea Party Ride... we spun and spun around in teacups and you laughed and laughed (I always knew you would be my tea party partner!).
Your Poppy loved taking you on the Winnie the Pooh ride, I think you enjoyed Pooh’s garden while we were in line more than the actual ride.
My favorite part of the trip was meeting Cinderella’s step-mother and sisters. We had gone to the Magic Kingdom really early one morning. The park was just about empty and there weren’t any lines for the characters. But the mean mom and sisters were hilarious- they never broke character, Ellie (they scolded me for not being a good mom when you were squirming)!
Or maybe my favorite part was watching your Mimi and Poppy share their love for Disney with you!
You see Ellie, Disney has a special place in their hearts as it holds a lot of history for them (their honeymoon was here over thirty years ago). Your Poppy, always the morning person, has everyone up, dressed, and fed by park opening so we can be the first in line. However, with you Ellie, he was very flexible with your sleep and feeding schedule. I have never seen Poppy so relaxed and happy before!
Your Mommy hasn’t mentioned yet the really cool family part in our trip… we made it into a family reunion of sorts. The Ginn-Russell Family reunion boasted about forty people (all who stayed at Bay Lake Towers or the Contemporary). We rented a banquet room on Thanksgiving night and had a catered turkey dinner.
But really, we were celebrating, appreciating, and enjoying family!
Having so much family there made the trip very unique. I know Uncle Ryan, Poppy, and your Dad loved the cabanas and the pontoon boat that Jimmy rented so they could go tubing.
I loved the private restaurant up at the top of Bay Lake Towers where we would meet in the evenings to watch the fireworks and have a snack. It was very cool because the family could break apart but always had a place to meet up.
And remember that awesome dinner that Aunt Sammy made one night?
That is one of the best reasons to have a condo- the kitchen made meals so easy. Your Uncle Ryan and Daddy loved the late night snacks we bought them.
But we sure did have our share of eating out. Remember that yummy steakhouse that was at the Dolphin and Swan hotel and we ended up walking quite a bit to get there (I think because we didn’t get the right transportation)?
Ellie, you were such a good girl and very patient (riding on your Dad's shoulders was very fun)! And once we got there, the food and company was amazing so the walk was totally worth it!
Kim, how about telling Ellie about the Osborne Family Light Show at Hollywood Studios?
Ohmygosh, that was the coolest experience… you see Ellie, there were millions of colored Christmas lights lining the back of the park and they were choreographed to Christmas music! Talk about getting us in the mood for the holidays! And even more fun, were trying to find the 43 hidden Mickeys embedded in the lights (and I read later one hidden Minnie so we will have to be on the look-out next time).
I got into the holiday mood when we went to see the giant Gingerbread house (that was real) at the Grand Floridian!
Oh that smelled so delicious but how amusing did we make things after? It was a girls’ afternoon for some reason and we ended up having a relaxing drink out by the pool.
How could we forget that? Ellie Girl, you made this fancy place turn into a zoo when we had to change and feed you!
Oh Ellie, you really did make this trip the best (until this year of course!). You changed so much over the course of that week. Your first two teeth popped through and you were crawling by the end of the vacation!
I can’t wait to see how much you learn and grow on this upcoming trip, especially watching and playing with your older cousin Colin.
Oh Ellie, Disney with Steve, Jackie, Amber, Brett, Colin, Craig, and Taylor (and with our core family too of course) is going to be awesome! I can’t wait to tell you about it in our next blog. So Kim, I have to get packing. Ellie, I will see you in a few days.
Mom & Mimi
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