05.19.2008 The Most Magical Place on Earth!

Disney World was magical - as always! I was so excited to be taking my boys to the most Magical Place on earth - a place that has always been so fun and holds so many special memories for me. When we got to the Park, we were waiting for the ferry to take us over to the main entrance and Grant was handed a piece of chalk by a cast member and got to color all over the ground at Walt Disney World, write his name, etc. Then once we got over to the main entrance, the music welled up, I saw the bushes trimmed to look like Mickey Mouse, and I stood there and cried. I was taking my boys to Walt Disney World! What a special day! As we approached the gates, Grant would point with wide eyes at everything he saw and with his mouth open wide would gasp. Oh the wonder of a child! We had a great day. Grant was a little overwhelmed by everything but was still very excited to see Buzz, his favorite movie character. I still wish we had bought him that Buzz hat. He loved it! His favorite event all day, however, was the Donald Duck Boat, an area for small children that allows them to run around on lilly pads which squirt water at them. We took his shoes off and let him go at it. He had a ball with the other kids. He also really enjoyed "It's a Small World." We didn't do too many other rides because they tended to scare him quite a bit. Overall, he did great. Unfortunately, we had to miss the parade and fireworks that evening since we were coming home that night (2 1/2 hour drive), so we left around 8:00. I did something really stupid. We had gone out to lunch to avoid the high prices of park food and when we came back, we were dealing with Grant who had not had a good nap, trying to get him to eat his lunch, trying to gather up everything that we thought we might need for the rest of the day, etc. I finally got him to eat his sandwich so I sat him in the stroller to eat while I finished getting everything else ready. We started walking toward the park, Grant leaned forward and fell flat on his face into the parking lot. In all the chaos, I had forgotten to buckle him in! So here we are in the middle of the parking lot - Grant's screaming, Chris is running back to the car to get something to clean out Grant's very bloody elbow and knee which makes Grant scream even higher and louder because it stung. People are walking by looking at us very strangely. They offered to call us an ambulance which we turned down, but promptly took him to the first aid center in the park for some bandaids whereupon the nurse told us that sometimes parents just try to bring their kids when they're too little. Oh, brother! We were having a great day, and Grant just had a little spill which was completely my fault. I'm sure kids fall there every day. Ugh. I felt so badly. But after we had the bandaids, all was well and we all enjoyed the rest of the day (aside from a wellspring of guilt every time Grant would point at his bandaids and say, "Owie!"). We all can't wait to go back! Grant Making his Mark on Walt Disney World Our first view of the Castle from the ferry Grant looking at everything in utter amazement Welcome to Main Street, USA Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse and his friends welcomed us to the park by giving us a fantastic show in front of the castle.