M-I-C -K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!

This past weekend we took our first family (with Ruthie) trip to Disney World!! We had a wonderful blessing of a FREE trip. My mom was at a conference in the Coronado Springs resort (a Disney resort) so she invited us to share her room. And, my brother's wife's family works at Disney and they got us into the park for free. Our entire trip (minus the gas) cost us about $5!! Talk about a blessing!!

We were supposed to leave on Thursday night when Tony got home from work. However, Ruthie's 2nd and 3rd trip to the pediatrician for an ear infection(s) that wouldn't go away got in our way. Poor Ruthie. She was SO pathetic. She DIDN'T feel well at ALL. She just sat around, and cried. Of course, she didn't sleep at night or eat much at all! We actually took her on Monday the first time and by Thursday when she was still running a fever and crying her head off at night, I took her back. That was Thursday. I thought he'd just change antibiotics and we'd be off. (Yes, I just admitted that I was taking my sick girl to Disney...but it was FREE) That's actually what he did, but he said come back tomorrow morning I want to check it out again. Which we did, and he then changed her medicine again because he could finally see that she had a STAFF infection in her middle ear and an outer ear infection. CRAZY. So, again we changed the medicine and went on our merry way. PRAISE THE LORD!! The third times the charm... she started feeling better after one day of the new meds!

ANYWAY

We were intending to take Ruthie to the Magic Kingdom where kids reign supreme, but once we got there we found out that because of an unscheduled "Regis and Kelly" taping that the Magic Kingdom was closed to cast members and their guests!

So, we quickly decided on another park and ended up at Hollywood Studios. We had a SUPER day. God blessed us with seeing Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck right as we entered the Park!! She did so well with those cute characters... She kissed Minnie's nose and Daisy's bill.

The best stunt show I've ever seen is their stunt show with cars. It's like the driving they do on the movie "drifting" I spent the entire show going... "oh"... "oh-no".... "woah" Because I thought they were going to hit each other. They were driving SO fast and close together. Ruthie, by the way, slept through the entire LOUD thing!! :)

At the end of the day, when it had gotten dark, we were able to see the "Osborne Family Festival of Lights". It's like 5 million lights or some crazy number. They had originally belonged to ONE family, and after some disputes with his neighbors he donated them to Disney to display at Christmas time. They played REAL Christmas music and it was just beautiful. When Ruthie saw the lights she used both hands to point and said, "Oh, WOW" over and over. It was totally cute. To top it all off, they at certain times during the light festival they had SNOW machines at the tops of the buildings.... and it SNOWED in FL!! (Except without the cold, and the bad driving, and the snow days!)

Anyway, after a week and a half of no sleep (due to Ruthie's ear infections....yes plural) over Thanksgiving, we were really excited to share this special weekend!! :) Enjoy the pictures below.

Friday afternoon at the resort's gift shop. We had fun looking at all the cool things. She liked these ears the best! Please don't mind the ketchup ALL over her face. She's just recently gotten into "dipping" and ketchup is one of her favorites. To put it mildly, she isn't the neatest dipper!


Saturday Morning- Ready to see Mickey!! We're on the boat to get to Magic Kingdom...


Tony and I on the same boat... it's almost empty because we're actually going BACK to the parking lot to get a different disney bus to take us to the Hollywood Studio's Park.


The only part of the Magic Kingdom we'd see that day... (boo hoo) The castle from afar!


Us with Minnie and Daisy... if you enlarge it you can see the PRECIOUS look on Ruthie's face. She's going in to kiss Minnie's nose!!


By this time in the day, she was needing another dose of medicine and Mr. Incredible scared her just a bit. She didn't want me to stand by him!


Uncle Matt and Aunt Rachel on the San Francisco street!


Daddy, Uncle Matt, and Ruthie waiting for the car stunt show


The amazing stunt show in action (remember, Ruthie is sleeping!)


Our fam with our special glasses!


With both pointer fingers point and say, "OH WOW!"


Ruthie reaching for the snow... which you can't see in the picture! Also note, that by this time of the day/night, one of her pig tails was completely OUT!!