Happy 5th Birthday, Princess Hannah! -- Magic Kingdom Day 3

Well, today was our last day at Disney World and we fit a whole lot of fun into it.  The whole purpose of this trip was to celebrate Hannah's 5th birthday and I'm so glad we were able to actually be at the Magic Kingdom for it!

We were up bright and early again because we had a special surprise for Hannah for her birthday.  Before heading in, we started our day with the classic picture in front of the train station right outside the park.

Then, it was time to head to Cinderella's Castle for an extra special birthday treat.  We decided to let Hannah do the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique as her birthday present from all of the family.  I figured the next time we came, she may not even be into princesses, so this was the perfect opportunity to get dolled up.  She had no idea what was about to happen!  We arrived at the castle before they had even opened and she was still so unsure of what was going to take place.  Then, they opened the doors and we were able to check in. First, she needed to pick out her princess dress.  This whole trip, all she could talk about was Tiana so I was banking on her picking that dress.  But as she looked through them, she found Princess Anna's dress from Frozen and immediately grabbed it.  I didn't even know they had it yet!  I double checked with her several times to make sure it's the one she wanted, and she kept saying yes.  Once they had it ready, she was able to put it on and wait for her hair and make up to get done.  Here is our birthday princess mid-makeover.

When she was all done, she got a special birthday sash to complete her outfit.  She looked like a true princess!  This was such a memorable and special experience for us all.  I'm so blessed to have this sweet girl as my daughter!

Needless to say, she was quite excited to be a princess all day long!  We had another surprise up our sleeve, but had a little bit of time before that was going to happen.  While we waited, we bumped into the Fairy Godmother...

 and the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters from Cinderella.  We added them to our list of characters!

Then, we realized that the line for Repunzel and Snow White wasn't very long, so we waited patiently for our turn for pictures and autographs.

Since Princess Hannah was all dressed up, she needed to make sure she picked up her skirt while she posed and walked!

Next came time for the last birthday surprise -- a birthday breakfast for all of us at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle!  This was something else new for all of us and it was so special!  We first got our picture with Cinderella.  She even kissed Cam on the cheek and left her lip print -- he was mesmerized!

After that, we went up the staircase and sat for breakfast.  Like the other meals, the princesses came around to the tables to visit with us and let us get their pictures and autographs.  Both of the kids loved this!

After breakfast, we made our way around the rest of the Magic Kingdom and made sure we hit everything we wanted to.  Of course, we saw more characters...

took naps in the strollers (Hannah did too, but I don't have the picture on here)...

 and bought our first set of Mickey Mouse ears while waiting for the parade!

We also rode lots of rides and had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather and spending time with the family.  We knew we wanted prime seating for the electric parade and fireworks, so we found a curb spot a couple of hours before the start and camped out their for the evening.  We took turn getting snacks and doing some last Disney shopping before the night was over.  We also got a Casey family picture in front of Casey's!

We watched our final parade and fireworks and called it a night.  The day was once again magical for all of us.  I'm so blessed that we were able to spend this milestone birthday with our sweet Hannah and most of our family.  I hope the memories we made on this day will stay with her for a long time!  Happy 5th Birthday, baby girl!  We love you so much!!

Hollywood Studios - Day 2

We decided to spend day two at Hollywood Studios.  We knew there was quite a bit for the kids to see and do here so we headed out bright and early!

I haven't been to Disney for quite a few years and had never been to the Toy Story Mania ride.  Everyone said it was a must so we went straight there.  There was a wait already, but we knew it wouldn't get any shorter so we got in line and waited.  Such a fun ride!  Even the waiting was fun!  This Mr. Potato head that talked to us while we waited was pretty cool!

And the ride did not disappoint!  It was awesome!  The little ones had fun shooting the guns and the big ones had fun trying to see who was going to score the most points!  I would have totally done it again if the line wasn't 2+ hours!  I can't wait to go back sometime and ride it again!

We then headed over to see the Disney Jr. Live puppet show, which the kids loved!  Next to that were the one and onlys Sophia the First and Jake!  Each kid stood in line and got their picture taken with them.  Hannah was in love! 

And Cam was ready to be a pirate!

Since he was in pirate mode, he decided he NEEDED a Jake sword!  I was a little worried, but he did pretty good with it.  Look at that pirate look!

We had fun finding other attractions at Hollywood Studios including the Muppet 3D show.  This was the kids' first taste of 3D and they seemed to enjoy it.  Here is the Miss Piggy fountain outside the venue.

Next, it was time for lunch at Hollywood and Vine to eat with the Disney Jr. Characters.  When we were there, it was Jake, Oso, June from Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny.  Even though some of these characters were a little older, the kids have watched all these shows and had a great time!  I did find out that a few weeks after we were there, Doc McStuffins and Sophia were going to be joining the cast.  Oh well!  You can't see them all!

After lunch, we headed to see the stage production of Beauty and the Beast and got there at just the right time.  It started pouring for just a bit as we were under the amphitheater watching the show.  Next we headed over to the Honey! I Shrunk the Kids play yard so the kids could burn off some energy.

As we were walking around, we also ran into some Green Army men.  The kids were both passed out in their strollers at the time so the adults got in on the character action!

 One of the only things Tim wanted to make sure we did was see the Indiana Jones stage show.  We headed there next and had a great time seeing the stunts!

It was starting to get dark and we had one more thing to see.  One of the holiday only events at Disney is the Osborne Family Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios.  We headed that way and it did not disappoint!  We've seen some awesome lights and this one takes the cake!  What a fun new thing that we all got to experience.

We had a great day at Hollywood Studios!  We got home and went straight to bed so we could be ready for the final Disney day!

The Magic Kingdom - Day 1

What a truly magical day we had today!  I will never forget the faces on the kids as they stepped onto Disney for the first time and saw Cinderella's castle!  We made some great memories!!

We were up and on the bus early to make it to the Magic Kingdom as soon as possible.  When we headed inside, it was awesome to see all of the Christmas decorations still up.  I've never been to Disney around Christmas so it was fun having a new experience for me too.  Hannah immediately was out of her stroller and ready for a shot with the castle in the back ground!

Not long after that, we saw our first character.  Although it wasn't one the kids knew well, Marie from Aristocats, it didn't take them long to figure out what to do!  I knew we were in for day of finding characters and filling up their autograph books.

We continued to walk down Main St. and stopped to get some pictures with the castle in the background, a classic shot for the Magic Kingdom!

Next, we headed toward Liberty Square because Tiana was over there somewhere and that was Hannah's favorite princess (for the day!)  Before she arrived, we went into the Christmas store to look for ornaments.  Since the Magic Kingdom had just opened, so had most of the shops.  The worker asked Hannah and Cameron to help her decorate her magic tree.  They put on ornaments and then it magically turned on!  She filled in their names on the tree so that all day people could see who helped.  It was a fun little surprise to start our trip!

Also while waiting, we spotted Chip and Dale at the entrance to Frontierland.  The kids loved getting autographs and pictures taken!

Finally, it was time to see Princess Tiana!  It was awesome seeing Hannah's face as she got to see her first princess, and she was quite the princess!  First, she was beautiful!  And it was so fun to see her just as she was in the movie.  Hannah was completley in awe!

And she wasn't the only one.  Mr. Cameron had his turn, and oh boy!  He was smitten right from the start.  Tiana squatted down to his level and just loved on him.  Just look at this face!  It was so fun!

It was almost time for the first show of the morning, so we took our places and waited.  It was a great performance and it was the first time we saw these two...

The kids were in love!  We then decided to head to Fantasyland because there is brand new attractions there that none of us had seen before.  We found Alice on the way so Hannah waited in line while Cam rode the teacups.

We then rode the Winnie the Pooh ride before finding the new Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction.  We couldn't get a Fastpass because we were not staying on the property, but the line wasn't awful so we waited...and it was so worth it!  A small group of people head into the attraction and through various rooms re-visiting the story of Beauty and Beast.  Kids (and dads too!) get assigned various parts to help tell the story to Belle as a surprise.  Finally, we are ready for the show and Belle comes out!  Both Hannah and Cameron got a chance to talk to her!  I'm so glad we saw this new attraction!

Next, we headed over to the new Little Mermaid ride to check it out.  It was so fun and the kids had a blast!  Another great new addition to the Magic Kingdom.  Right next to it was Ariel's Grotto where she was waiting to take pictures and sign autographs.  There was a little bit of a line, but we made it up to see her and it was worth it again.  She was so fun and acted just like she does in the movie!

After that, we took the train back to the front and all the Caseys headed back to the condo for a little rest time.  We had dinner reservations at Chef Mickey and we wanted to make sure we stayed until fireworks, so we thought a break might help.

It wasn't long before we loaded up again to head to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey.  This was all of our very first experience of a character meal, so we didn't really know what to expect.  I'd say over all, it was successful!  The food was pretty good and you can't beat seeing the classic characters and getting some one on one time with them.  We took lots of pictures!

After dinner, we jumped on the Monorail to head back to the Magic Kingdom for the parade and fireworks.  Main St. was already filling up so we headed toward Frontierland to watch the parade from there.  We got front row spots for the kids' first experience at the Light Parade!  I was too engrossed in watching the kids that I didn't get any pictures!  We walked a little ways and got to see the fireworks before we left.  We didn't have the best view, but we knew we would be back in a couple of days to see it again.  I got one final shot of the beautiful castle all decorated for Christmas before we left.  It was a day we will never forget!

We are Here!!!

We have all made it to Florida as of today!  We had a little bit of craziness getting to Florida (delayed flight out, missed our shuttle, kids wouldn't go to sleep because they missed their new toys, Tim couldn't rent a car because his license was expired, etc.), but we made it!  Both sets of parents made it also and it's time for the fun to start!  After settling in, Ken, Delaine and us headed over to my mom and dad's resort to catch a bus to Downtown Disney.  Before going, we let the kids play at the playground for a bit.  Hannah wanted to take some pictures with Nana and I.

 We got to Downtown Disney and found a spot to eat dinner before walking around a bit.  The kids had fun looking at the huge Lego store and some of the Lego creations that were there.

We also went to the biggest Disney store there and had a ton of fun looking at all the stuff!  Hannah really wanted to buy something and really wanted a princess dress.  I held her off for now (she has a surprise coming on her birthday!) and instead decided on a Minnie Mouse that is dated for 2013.

Before leaving, there was a DJ playing music in the streets.  Cam was LOVING it!  He got right down and started dancing like crazy.  He loves music and loves to dance and he was cracking us up!!  Check out his moves!

We headed back to our condo afterwards so we could go to bed.  Tomorrow is a big day for us!

Merry Christmas from the Caseys!

Merry Christmas from the Caseys!  We have had such a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Jesus.  Last night, we had a great Christmas Eve service at church to help prepare our hearts for this special day.  The kids were very excited and didn't want to go to bed.  But, eventually, they did go.  When we woke up the next morning, we started off by reading the Christmas story on our bed before seeing if Santa arrived.  When we finished, the kids ran down the hall and found some goodies!!

Hannah immediately saw the Bitty Twins and stroller and was overjoyed.  Cameron was pretty happy with his Batman stuff too.  He played with the Batcave most of the day!

After that, Tim and I had three presents for them to open as well.  Hannah got a new Disney Jr. Guess Who? game, a big box of Legos, and a new swimsuit, flip flops, and Tangled towel with her name on it.  She loved it all!

Cameron also received a new game, Gator Golf, a box of Duplos, and new swim trunks, flip flops and Spiderman towel.

We try not to go overboard with Christmas and I think it was very successful this year.  The kids loved all of their gifts and had a great time playing with them all.

Around mid morning, my mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa came over for a Christmas brunch and more presents.  I guess I was slacking because I don't have any other pictures.  Overall, it was such a fabulous day!  We are now gearing up for our big Disney trip and we can't wait!