There's Magic Everywhere (Part II)

In case you missed "Part I," Alexi had a blast on her first couple days in Florida and really got the "rockstar treatment" from some of Universal Studios characters.

It went so well, in fact, that I didn't think anything the rest of the trip would chalk up to it, and that was fine with me.  If the rest of the trip was half as good as the beginning, it was still going to pan out to be the week of her life!

Sunday Alexi got to hang with her Great Aunt and Uncle for lunch and after spending Monday at the park, we took Tuesday off to visit with some more family.  Alexi got got to hang out with her Great Great Uncle and some cousins!  They drove down for dinner and Alexi just loved getting to spend some time with them.  Then Wednesday marked our first day at Disney!!

I'd like to point out that before going on this trip I thought Alexi was a bit young to really take it all in and enjoy it.  She loves going just about anywhere, so I thought it was going to be great, but a bit over her head.  Wouldn't ya know it, Dad was wayyyyy wrong again.  Magic Kingdom is when that really sank in.

At Universal, she had such a personal experience, I credited her great day more to a few specific people than the whole park.  When we went to Magic Kingdom, I knew it was a much bigger park, more crowded, and there was no way it would be as special to her as her first park.  Wrong again.  We rode "It's a Small World" first and she was in utter bliss.

Again with the shrieks and giggles and "Obwataayyyyys!" and "Ooo ahss its daaaaahssss!"  This continued with all the dancers and rides alike all day long.

She made a bunch of friends again with park staff and other park goers alike.  This girl just draws people to her, I love it!  Her pure excitement is both contagious and addictive, people could not get enough, and she was just eating it up.  At one point we entered one of the gift shops and whoa what a mistake, the smell of fresh made caramel covered popcorn mixed with a hint of cotton candy was too tempting.  So as I told Kerith to grab some of the popcorn she had been hinting at earlier, she pointed out that Alexi had never tried cotton candy.  Alexi was just hanging out in her stroller during this conversation and a woman who was stocking the cotton candy shelf had been admiring her just out of our view.  When she overheard that Alexi never had cotton candy before she barged in to our conversation, "What?!?"  "She has never had cotton candy?!"  "Well this is her very first cotton candy, and it's on the house," as she handed us a package.

Thinking back, it seems like such a small gesture, but she didn't have to do that, and it is just one more thing that helped make Alexi's first trip to Florida the best week of her life.


Later that night was the big parade.  I knew now that she was going to be excited, but she hadn't made any new character friends today like she made at Universal, so I didn't have any expectation of her stealing the show at all.  Guess what....

The last parade we saw was at 5pm, so well lit this time of year in Florida, this was an 8 o'clock parade, all dark out aside from the amazing Christmas lights and some street lamps.  There were thousands and thousands of people there, lining the dark streets at least 6 rows deep the whole parade route, on each side.

Mimi and Pap Pap scored some front row seating by skipping the last ride and heading over to main street.  We were next to another nice family with all of the kids a bit older, maybe early teens.  The older man next to me couldn't help but notice Alexi's excitement, or the fact that I was trying to capture some of it on video.  She was looking more toward him as he was to the side where the action was coming from, so he offered for me to switch seats with him.  I gladly accepted and got some of her excitement to remember forever.

I spent pretty much the entire parade staring through the camera straight at Alexi, well that and staring at her without the camera.  Either way, I have seen plenty of parades and enjoy them, but the unadulterated joy pouring from her is just to contagious and addictive to look anywhere else.  As it turns out, despite the dark night and thousands upon thousands of people jam packed into a 10 ft sidewalk on either side of the road, I wasn't the only one to notice her.

At the end of the parade everyone from Mom to Uncle Brett to others nearby had a different story to tell about how "Cinderella's mouth fell open when she saw Alexi, and she stopped waving to people to grab prince charming to point her out, and say "look how cute she is."  Or how "those dancers just couldn't stop staring at her" or "the step sister grabbed another step sister and said, "Look how excited that girl is!"

I thanked the guy who offered his seat with his family to me, so that I could catch some of her joy on video and I'll never forget his reply.  He simply said "No, thank you.  Thank you for giving me the chance to watch her smile."  He put his hand on my shoulder and said "And yours, too."  I guess I was kinda of enjoying myself a bit, too. 

At the end of this parade, I am fairly certain she thinks that parades are put on directly for her.  The performers at both parks do a great job of making it feel personal for all of the kids, but I swear Alexi's experience was like none other I've seen. 

There's more to come, but she's up from her nap so it's time to play for a bit before mommy gets home!

There's Magic Everywhere (Vacation Part I)

I've started this post at least a dozen times so far, and to be honest, I'm too overwhelmed to find the right words.  The second I start thinking about where to start I am bombarded with memories, of some of the greatest moments of my life.

Oh man...it just happened again.  OK here goes:

Our first "park day" was spent at Universal Studios.  I've got a secret, I think that's my favorite park ever.  I just love being in the middle of "sets" everywhere you turn.  I could spend a day just doing photo shoots with Alexi in the alleys.  Dang it, back on topic!  Alexi.  She was so excited, literally all day long there were shrieks of pure joy coming from the stroller, up on my shoulders, where ever she was.

Mom and I went to ride a ride Alexi couldn't go on, so she hung out with her Mimi and Pap Pap.  Somewhere along the way they found a street performance by Dora and friends.  Alexi is not shy about her love for music and dancing and by the end of their performance, the characters literally lined up to meet Alexi.  That's when mom and dad found her.  Alexi sitting in her stroller, with a line of characters (including Dora) waiting for their turn to meet Alexi.  One of the "flower dancers" who met Alexi just couldn't leave her, after the other characters got their turn, she come back to Alexi and hung out with her until Dora's team had to leave.

It was amazing, and Alexi was in heaven.  We went and enjoyed more of the park, including some rides, and then found another street performance.  Alexi loves to dance in her seat but hasn't ever been able to balance while standing unassisted to stand and dance.  Until now.  She got so excited by these dancers that she made me put her down and stood right up, started walking and dancing to the music, even getting her feet in on the dancing!!  I don't even remember what this one was, but again, she caught the attention of a few performers and again, one in particular couldn't leave her.  This awesome dancer kept encouraging Alexi to dance with her and just had to get some hugs in once the dance was over. 

 The show was over and they had to move on, so back to some park fun we go!  I am not mentioning much of the fun she had exploring and riding rides, but she LOVED it all, I am just trying to keep this as short as possible.  Which is proving to be pretty difficult.

Later that day we scooped up a nice section of curb and planted down for the parade.  I can't begin to explain how awesome the shrieks of joy are that come out of this little girl!  I'm sure you other parents know what I'm talking about, but it's by far the best feeling on earth to hear this raw excitement pour out of her.  Her made up words make it even better, "Staywbwoo!!!"  "HIYA!!!"  "Istiabwoooo!!"  I wish I could get them right, but I'm sure I have butchered them.

To put it simply, she loved the parade.  Then, the Dora float came by, with her flower dancers.  One flower dancers in particular looked like she about melted when she saw Alexi.  Yup, it was her friend from earlier.  These performers meet hundreds of kids a day and then see thousands of them during the parade.  She managed to spot Alexi.  They have dance numbers where the parade stops and the dancers interact with the kids along the road, this was not one of those times.  The parade kept moving, but Alexi's friend just had to come say hi, so she broke formation and came over to say hi to Alexi!  Alexi was a rockstar for a day.  Or so we thought.

To be continued...

Dun dun DUUNNNNNNN!!!!!  (Cheesy, but I figured I'd space out the week a bit, or it would be a pretty lengthy post..)