Today? Magic Kingdom.

We arrived early, the kids fueled by donuts and the adults by sticky buns (which omigosh if you’re ever at Disney just dive into one of those and don’t come up for air). We got to see the opening ceremony and charged into the park. This was a good plan, as we hopped onto three or four rides with no waiting. Shep, who up until this point has been on stimulus overload, was actually enjoying himself and asking to do more.

After a while we split up, R&D taking Neko to the bigger kid rides, while Shep and I settled in for another round of Winnie the Pooh and the teacups.

I have to say, however, my favorite ride is Small World. It’s ticky-tacky nostalgia, but the kids, even the babies, ride through with slack-jaw awe and never know where to focus their eyes next. Plus I can’t get enough of the weird retro illustration style.

Later on we bought pretzels bigger than the kids’ heads and Neko ate THE WHOLE THING. Clearly the donut wasn’t enough, so we had to top it off with more nutritionally void carbohydrates. Shep ate all the salt off of his pretzel, and every now and then would kindly offer me a piece or two (of the salt, that is), saying “It’s really good!”

We actually managed to get the kids in bed by 9:30pm, only to have them awoken by the fireworks. Neko came screaming through the room, rounding us all up. So we all sat and watched the fireworks, which up until now had really scared Shep. “I’m not afraid of them now!” he declared. I can’t think of a better way to end the day.

We declared today Pool Day. The kids have been itching to go since we arrived, so today we planned the whole morning around it. Of course, I don’t have any pictures of the actual pool since I was watching Ellery most of the time. Ellery pooped out after about an hour. Shep was not much further behind. But Neko? She lasted for hours, and thank goodness Renita hung in there with her, because I went screaming from the cold water in about ten minutes flat.

In the afternoon we headed to Epcot where we had dinner reservations. Our big quest was to find the fabled Beatles store somewhere in the United Kingdom, which we had heard about by someone with whom we were standing in line. It turned out to be about two walls of random paraphernalia, none of which was particularly appropriate for Shep. We finally selected a box of magnets and Shep thoroughly charmed the man working the store and a random fan who was shopping by pointing out all the Beatles and declaring his favorite is Paul. The store clerk said his favorite was John and Shep nodded and said, “Yep, he has the glasses.”

We also hit up the Nemo ride and aquarium, which was a huge hit for Ellery. As were the beans and rice during dinner, as you can see.

And, yes, nearly every picture from today is of Ellery. Why? BECAUSE SHE STANDS STILL. I’m trying very hard to capture the moments, but it’s a bit like shadowing some celebrity that just wants to grocery shop in peace. You two duck at every turn.

Today is Saturday, which I think we can all agree is not a good time to visit the Magic Kingdom. So we headed off the the Animal Kingdom instead. We began in the dinosaur area, which was a home run considering how popular dinosaurs are around here. Every little girl should get to climb on a triceratops skull.

Then we were off to the Nemo show which Neko thought was amazing. I thought the first five minutes were pretty amazing, too, with spectacular costumes and puppetry. And then Shep decided the whole world was caving in around him and began to freak out, so he and I left with Renita and Ellery.

We decided to head out to some other area of the park, which is pretty laughable, because Renita and I are completely inept when it comes to geography and directions. By the time we’d looked at the map from six different directions and walked about 62 miles, we had gotten nowhere and Tom called to say the show was over.

So we threw in the towel and met up at the petting zoo area which was Neko’s top pick for the day. Now, it always amazes me when we travel hundreds of miles and the kids’ favorite thing is something we could do on an average Tuesday and be home in time for lunch.

Anyway, there were goats and sheep to pet. Shep fell in love with this goat named Violet, and cuddled with her for nearly an hour. I’m not kidding. Neko explored the entire Conservation Station (which is no small thing) while Shep held long conversations with Violet and growled at anyone who dared to come near his goat.

In other news, Neko and Shep are going to bed at 10pm, but Ellery is waking up at 5:30am. The parents are tired, but having a really good time.

On your mark! Get set! GO!

We made it. The kids were absolute troopers. R&D were saints. Even though I kind of forgot about booking that whole Magical Express thing where they pick you up and take care of the luggage, which you know, saves you the cost of renting a car which offsets the cost of staying at a nicer place (read: better location) But, you know, this plan only works IF YOU REMEMBER TO USE IT.

Managed to fix that whole snafu at 8am, and it all worked itself out. We barely had a chance to immerse ourselves in our surroundings before we declared it time for bed. Tomorrow? A fresh start.

On a side note, happy birthday to Beth, who I never remember to send a card to, yet she almost always remembers to send one to me.