The Beginning of a Trip to Remember

The girls' big Christmas gift this year was a trip to Disney World.  This has been in the works for months.  Tommy and I are doing our best as parents to emphasize to the girls that creating memories with the ones you love is more important than something that sits on your shelf that you forget about.  To be honest, the only things my girls play with on a consistent basis anyways, are their dress up clothes and art supplies.  

So on Christmas morning, Ariel called the girls to inform them that they would be going on a trip to Disney World very soon.  Campbell was indifferent, being that it was not concrete and in front of her.  Addisan on the other hand...

We went with a Disney theme for their gifts this year.  On Christmas Eve, the girls receive a pair of pajamas and a book from us.  This year, it was a Minnie nightgown along with a Disney Book.  These nightgowns were on clearance at Target (on-line) for only $6!  I love a good bargain!

There are some years that I will also purchase matching pajamas for the "big" girls too.

Santa brought the girls matching pillowcase dresses made by an elf named Etsy.  I thought these would be ideal not knowing what the weather would be like in Florida in January.  I could layer them with short or long sleeve shirts and in the summer, they can be worn without anything underneath.

Santa also brought them two long sleeve shirts along with Britta water bottles in preparation for our trip.

Three weeks later, we were ready for our trip and bags were packed.

I purchased their souvenirs prior to going.  Each item was a Disney themed gift from the dollar bin at Michael's.  It gets better though....they were 75% off and to top that, I was able to use my teacher discount!!!  Each morning, they could pick  a new souvenir.  

My parents were very gracious and let us borrow their Prius.  I am in LOVE with their car.  It is so high tech compared to our older Hondas.  We spent less than $200 in gas roundtrip.  Not too shabby!

The girls were rock stars during the lengthy car ride.  There was minimum bickering, especially considering we do not own a portable DVD player.  Each of them received an iPod touch for their birthdays this past year.  We do not splurge on gifts like this for their birthdays, but we thought this would be a gift that they can grow into for years to come as well as help the car ride go by quickly for them.  They played several games and listened to their music during the car ride.  

For a good portion of the trip, they played imaginative games as well as did lots of artwork.  They truly amazed me how well behaved they were.

Too much to write for one blog entry...more to come.  All I can say though...this vacation was magical!