Disney World Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

On Sunday, we returned from the happiest place on earth! I have been saving, researching and planning (which was half the fun for me ;) dreaming, day dreaming, and talking nonstop about Disney World (sorry Spencer and friends!) for over a year now. Visiting Disney World was literally a dream come true and we had such a magical time!

So now I'm going to blog about it and share way too many pictures and details and multiple posts so if that's not your thing, come back in a week or so :)

Spencer came home from work a little early on Friday afternoon and we hit the road right away (a 20 hour drive!). We would have loved to fly, but driving made Disney so much more affordable for us and we are pretty used to super long drives through the night. We prefer the physical exhaustion of driving through the night peacefully with sleeping kids vs the mental exhaustion of stopping at a hotel half way and dragging out the misery for another day in the car with wide awake and whiny kids ;) Jack and David fell asleep for afternoon naps right as we left, then woke up for a few hours, then went to sleep for the night, and then when they woke up in the morning we only had a few hours left to go. Jack and David are good little road trippers! They've had a lot of practice! #thanksalotiowa
My mother-in-law was so sweet and sent us a package the day before we left with activities and treats for our car ride!

Mickey Mouse, here we come!!!


 
We got to Disney World early in the afternoon. We had every intention of checking in early and taking naps before heading out to the Magic Kingdom but our hotel room wasn't ready until 4:30 and honestly, we were all too excited to take naps anyway! We hit our hotel pool first! My brother and sister-in-law, James and Maddie, bought these cute Paw Patrol hats for Jack and David and they loved them!

 

I somehow convinced my entire family to join us at Disney World and I'm so glad they came! We had a blast with them and it wouldn't have been the same without them!
After swimming, we showered, ate dinner, then headed to the Magic Kingdom for the evening.
Here they are on the bus with their cute Mickey outfits from my parents:

We got there right as the Move It Shake It Dance Party started and it kind of felt like all of Disney was celebrating that I finally entered the Magic Kingdom ;) A party just for me! haha FYI My career goal is to be a parade dancer at Disney World - I don't need to be a princess - just let me skip and clap my hands and click my heals in a Disney parade and I'll be perfectly content ;) I pretended that I was a cast member in the dance party and hope I didn't embarrass my family too much with my obnoxious dancing ;) I was just reeeeeeally excited to be there!

I had no idea how David would react to all of the characters but HE LOVED THEM!!! He would wave to them until his hand almost fell off and ask to give all of them hugs :)

After the dance party, we headed over to meet Mickey! David was so excited to see him and had a really hard time waiting his turn to see him.
All the Wirthlins with Mickey!

We rode the train, used fast passes to ride Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and did a few other attractions in Tomorrowland before heading back to our hotel early so that we would be rested for Epcot the next morning!
 
 
I purchased the Memory Maker, which gave us the digital downloads to all of the ride photos and all of the pictures that cast members took of us throughout the parks, and it was the best purchase ever! We got over 700 pictures, videos, and "magic shots" and we always got everyone in the pictures.







 
Jack at the #INCREDIBLESSuperDanceParty with some obnoxious lady behind him trying to take a selfie with Mr. Incredible ;)

Such a fun way to kick off to our week at Disney World!

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Day 2 & 3 - Epcot and Hollywood Studios -----------> here
Day 4 & 5 - Magic Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon -----------> here
Day 6 - more Magic Kingdom --------> here
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom ---------> here

Things I'm Loving

• Disney World in THREE DAYS!!!! We can't wait!!!! (Jack and David love the countdown that we made :) (Please excuse the Halloween and Christmas jammies!)

• Our girl's trip to Chicago to celebrate Lisa's 30th birthday! Her husband bought the hotel room for her birthday and we had the best time! This was my first time without kids in Chicago and it was definitely a different/awesome experience! We ate and shopped our way through the Magnificent Mile and I went to sleep as the sun was rising. I haven't stayed up that late in a looooooong time! Chicago photo dump below :)

 



Birthday cupcakes at Sprinkles!







Stroller free! Yay! haha

The next morning, we went to the Bean, walked along the lake, grabbed a quick lunch, then headed back home. I am so grateful for all of my amazing friends in Iowa. I wouldn't survive living in the middle of America without them ;)


When I got home, David wanted NOTHING to do with me. He is the biggest daddy's boy and a weekend of fun with Spencer (swimming, basketball at the gym, and Chic-fil-a) just solidified it even more. When I got home, he wouldn't even look at me, let alone give me a hug, the little turd. Oh, well, I guess Spencer being awesome is a good problem to have ;) But I should have stayed in Chicago longer!!!

•  My crazy boys! I came downstairs the other day to this:

 
I'm not sure what Spencer was trying to do??? Get foot prints on our walls? Impress David??? Yes, to both. David wanted a turn next.
 
This is what Jack and David wore to the gym on Monday - a clip-on tie and a newborn sized beanie :)
 
Jack built a "snowman" in my break room at work :) He still calls me "Miss Annie" as soon as he gets to the pool area (even when we are alone) and it makes all of my co-workers laugh so hard! During his swim lesson, my other students have no clue that he's my son :)

I feel like this picture perfectly sums up David - a basketball in one hand, a snack in the other, at hot mess full of hair, and watching his favorite show (Monster's Inc).

• Monday night date night to the one time showing of the Abolitionists, a documentary about a man's mission to end child sex trafficking around the world. I don't have the words to describe this movie - it was heartbreaking and horrible and sickening, yet hopeful and powerful and inspiring. I hope that more people can watch this movie and be inspired to help and make a difference. I was expecting to watch regular previews before the movie, but instead, there was a preview about Fight the New Drug and a series of clips about other people and organizations who are fighting to free children and adults from the sex slave trade. (Insert fist bump emoticon :)

Things I'm Loving

• Spring in Iowa! I can't get over how gorgeous our bike trail is this time of year.

 

• Digging for worms! Jack is always excited about the cold, rainy days because it means the worms are out! 

•  Zoo trips! Our zoo membership expires this month and I don't think I'm going to renew this summer so we are trying to fit in as many trips as we can this May!

 
 
 David wanted to buy a pink giraffe to go with his pink turtle but I am a mean mom and said no :)
 

•  Tuesday track workouts! I'm glad they started up again because these ladies make me run faster than I would by myself and they distract me when the workouts get hard. 

•  Sleeping babies! One night we found David asleep with a turtle stuffed animal tucked in his shirt :)

•  Camping! We went camping with friends this weekend and had a great time!

David was too excited to fall asleep!

 
 We went on a little hike the next morning. It was so beautiful.



 
 
 I love these ladies!

When we got home from camping, we took naps then went to see the Jungle Book (the first movie we've attempted to see as a family). The movie was great, but we learned that David's still not ready to sit through a two hour movie. The first half, he SCREAMED the name of every animal he saw, and the second half, he sprinted up and down the aisles. You live and learn, I guess :)

• Mother's Day! I slept in until 9:30, woke up to a yummy breakfast, went to church, came home from church to made-from-scratch Indian food (because Spencer stayed home from church with sick Jack :/), FaceTimed our moms, went for a walk, and ate a yummy dessert. It was a great day!

  Jack and David gave me a Ninja blender! Somehow, Spencer and I have survived almost 6 years of marriage without a blender (we have a magic bullet though and use it almost every day) It was time. :)

When we first moved to Iowa, Jack was two and David was five months. Due to our move and our full month we took to visit family, David had no routine - he still woke up three times in the night and didn't have an feeding or napping schedule. It was stressful and exhausting. We had neighbors next door who had two little boys that were two and four and I remember telling Spencer that I was so excited for that stage! We are now at that stage and I have to say, it's just as amazing as I thought it would be! I wish I could freeze time and keep my little two-year-old and four-year-old forever. This is the stage that I'm going to look back on and miss terribly. Slow down, Jack and David!