My Three JPMs: Walt Disney World Part I

As promised I am posting some of my favorite pictures from my favorite place! We had such a great trip. As Preston gets a tad older and a tad taller each year it gets better and better. I know big JPM probably isn't loving going once a year, but our window of time is passing by fast where they are young enough to really enjoy the magic of the characters and believe it and feel it. So, so far, this year was my favorite. Even though it appears Jackson left the "honeymoon phase" with his diabetes while we were there which caused him to feel bad some the first few days and experience some bogus highs. Still..he is like me. Disney can drown all that out. He still had fun, still enjoyed himself, and even once said "Mom, aren't you proud? I felt bad and was high but still watched my attitude!" Yep, buddy. I sure was proud.

Preston loves Goofy and Minnie. And, Goofy was just that at breakfast..pushing Preston's ears off and picking at him. Last year Goofy was the only one he was interested in. This year, however, Minnie took first place. Much to Paul's dismay. :) Preston is in this stage of loving Dora and Cinderella but we are working on it. :) It doesn't bother me..Jackson, too, did this somewhat. So, it's all good. :)

And, of course who doesn't love Donald Duck??

There's Preston's girl!

This is all from our breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We love eating there! Like I said even more so this year. As the kids get older and can do more for themselves and require less "babysitting", it is easier to really enjoy things like this.

In case you didn't know, I recently got a new camera. I wanted one to take better pictures of the kids, but secretly I really wanted it because last year my old camera took horrible pictures of the castle at night. :) My FAVORITE thing by far at Disney is the castle. And, I really, really like it at night all lit up. In case you can't tell it changes colors every few minutes. This was taken at the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular. Seriously, you know I LOVE Disney when you hear I sat down on the asphalt Main Street for the show. Yep, think of all those germs. :) The kids sat in my lap mostly (it did bother me a tad they were sitting in it). But, they sat on the road some, too. Paul's OCD was still in check as he stood on the sidelines. :) To be perfectly honest, I had considered standing (although my feet hurt and I knew the kids would prefer to sit...well Jackson would probably worry somewhat about the germs but follow my lead.) But, some not so nice foreign speaking people (sorry, but it is true..they were rude!) were all in a tizzy about me standing.

Tizzy or no tizzy though isn't this a beautiful picture????

See how red raced and tired he looks? I don't remember exactly how high his sugar was at this point on day one, but it was super high. Poor guy. But, seeing his sweet little face hugging that chipmunk...he still was happy to be there!

Preston was in love with the characters, too. As a young child, I don't remember doing so many character greetings (and I know we didn't do character meals), and I am so glad this is a new tradition I made for my kids. It really is what makes it different from Six Flags and just your typical amusement park.

See, already Jackson looks better in this picture. Minnie can up anyone's spirits!

And, while Minnie is a favorite of mine and theirs, noone tops Woody and Jessie!!!! You have NO idea how long we waited in line to see them! It was worth it though. Thankfully it appears Jackson felt pretty good in this picture.

Maw Maw got Preston some cowboy boots (that came in handy...I'll post about that in a minute) for Christmas that are Toy Story themed. Here is Preston showing Woody how their boots match and his say "ANDY" on the bottom, too!

I love this picture. It so reminds me of my two boys' personalities. I noticed the difference in them, too, today when I took Preston to the dentist for the first time. Basically Preston is looking at Woody like "I love you but I am not sure I can trust you" and Jackson is like "Where have you been?? I have been looking for you!" Jackson is all about some strangers (even if this person wasn't in Jessie's costume I am sure Jackson would have still hugged them.)

And this is where the boots come into play..I probably shouldn't post this..but this is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. And, Preston's first time riding it!! And, you have to be 40 inches..he is like 39 and some change. So...I put his cowboy boots on and packed small jars of playdoh (yes..I am serious) in the heel part to make him taller. :) I learned this wonderful trick from my sister when we took Nicholas when he was three..but we used folded napkins. And, Nicholas was not feeling it and threatened to tell the workers once he saw that some of the rides were scary. Well, Preston was alright with it..except my kids have big mouths and they wanted to blab to the worker what we had done. :) AND..the boots fell off in line..with small jars of playdoh falling out and rolling several lanes over with Paul (note he is also carrying all of the diabetes supplies as well) chasing them down and glaring at me. Man, now that is some memories!!! :)) So, we removed the playdoh..and then panicked when they started remeasuring kids at the spot where you board. :( Paul whispers to Preston, "Stand on your tippy toes, ok?" Preston says, "Ok." I'm like whatever! He doesn't really know what that means!? But, thanks to good old dad saving the day he rushed by the remeasuring area and acted all confident. And, my brave, sweet boy (with me holding his head up and putting my arm behind his head so he didn't hit it) rode his first real rollercoaster (well, big one anyway.) He LOVED it!!!! I sure hope he is 40 inches on his own next year though. Paul will strangle me if I do that again. Well, we did do it a 2nd time for Star Tours and they did remeasure him, but the playdoh stayed in the whole time because the line was super short and I carried him the whole way (and you have to carry him lengthwise so the boots don't fall off). Anyway, the lady looked at me like she was on to my secret at the top of the line. :) I was nervous. And, Jackson definitely knew what we were doing so I was thinking what kind of example am I setting?? haha! But, hey, what happens in Disney STAYS in Disney right?! To top it off, Preston didn't even like Star Tours.

Another huge first for us was Jackson being tall enough (without playdoh or boots!) to ride Space Mountain! Every year he has asked about this ride and inquired about it, and this time he got to experience it first hand! He rode big rollercoasters at Six Flags in the fall, but this was his first one in the dark, indoors, and where you sit by yourself instead of side by side with mom or dad. Honestly, I teared up on the ride with him watching him when the lights would happen to flash where I could turn and look at his face I would behind me, and I was remembering going as a child with my family. It was a special moment for sure! (See how crazy I am!?)

Jackson still had his mouse ears hat from last year when Preston wasn't into it. But, the first stop we made was Preston getting his own hat! I love seeing them wearing them! SO cute!