Day 4, Afternoon: Magic Kingdom with Nana and Papa

After the Great Chocolate Cake Throwing Incident, we all slept for a couple of hours and woke up in much pleasanter moods. Sam and Ellie were so excited to show Nana and Papa everything at the Magic Kingdom. Sam specifically wanted to ride 'It's a Small World' with Nana because I had told him months ago that was her favorite. He also wanted to ride the Go-Karts with Papa.

Our family at the park entrance

As soon as we walked in the park, they started the Flag Ceremony. It was really neat to watch- they choose a park guest who is in the military to participate, and the WDW Band and the Dapper Dans performed.

Then on our way to Fantasyland, we caught the Dream Along with Mickey show in front of the castle. There is always something going on around every corner at Disney World!

Ellie waved at all the princesses.

Sam was mesmerized by Peter Pan and Captain Hook

Shortly after these pictures, Maleficent came out in a cloud of smoke and fireworks and we had to leave. I told Sam it would get better and they would beat the mean old witch but he wanted nothing to do with it, so on to Fantasyland.

We rode 'It's a Small World' first. I know a lot of Sam's friends had told him that ride was boring but my tender-hearted little boy just loved it. He was so excited to show Ellie all the dolls, he kept telling her, 'you will love it, Ellie, you will really love those dolls'. And of course he wanted to sit with Nana and Papa. I'm so glad they were able to share that with him.

After Small World, the boys wanted to ride Go-Karts and the girls wanted to eat. So we split up- the guys headed to Tomorrowland while Nana, Ellie and I went to Adventureland. We wanted a burrito, a Dole whip and a Tinkerbell sighting. We got 2 out of 3 but the line for Tinkerbell was just too long. But we had a nice dinner just the three of us... amazing how quiet and well-behaved Ellie is when she's by herself. :)

We met back up with the boys to watch the Electric Parade. Sam was really worried again about the fireworks but we assured him he would be out of the park before they started. I took a couple pictures of us waiting on the start but then I decided to put the camera away and just take in the parade. It was exactly how I remembered it from 25 years ago- the music, that electronic voice in the beginning, even Pete's dragon! We all loved it. The Fairy Godmother even blew kisses back and forth with Ellie.

 

Like I said, I didn't take any pictures but I borrowed some from the internet for memories.

 It's Elliott!

After the parade, Nana and Papa were so sweet to whisk the kids out of the park while Clay and I stayed ALL BY OURSELVES. We had a blast... watched the fireworks, rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (so fun), the Haunted Mansion (so lame), shopped for Christmas happies, held hands and had coffee and cinnamon rolls at the Main Street Bakery. Nana and Papa got the kids bathed and in the bed before we got back. Good times.