Emma - Tiny Tots 2015/2016

Emma had a great first year at Concordia Lutheran's Mother's Day Out.  Here are just a few pics from her year!

Nashville

Ben had a business trip to Nashville and tagged along.   We stayed with his friend Joseph and his girlfriend Jess.  Nashville is very pretty!  There are some great restaurants and "music row" was awesome to see!  Just a few pictures from that trip.  (Sarah kept the kids for us so I added some pics she took.)

Emma's first Disney trip....

Ben and I decided it was time to take Emma to Disney World even though she may not remember it.  At just shy of 3 years old she is over the moon about everything princess but more than that everything Frozen.  So while Disney still has Anna and Elsa we knew it would be a priceless experience.  I knew E could walk the park as I was not doing the stroller thing so that was another deciding factor.  2 full days of Disney for our girl!!

That said Ben didn't necessarily want to go as a family as we knew Cash was not going to enjoy just going to Magic Kingdom.  I was only going to take E to Magic Kingdom as she would not be interested in the rest of the parks just yet.  So while Ben would be taking Cash to the coast for a boys beach weekend my mom and I would be flying to Orlando for a 3 generation girls weekend at Disney World!

I was very excited and couldn't wait to share this experience with my mom and my daughter.  We randomly talked about the trip with Emma.  It was mainly the "idea" of going to Disney.  So we built it up without her ever truly grasping that we were going.

As we got closer to the date we received our Magic Bands in the mail which we got to pick out when booking our trip.  This was something a little different than when we took Cash.  So I let Emma pick out the color of each of our Magic Bands and they had our names engraved on them.  She picked purple for her Nana, orange for me and pink for her!  I thought that was a really nice touch by Disney!

Emma wanted an Anna dress so I thought that was the perfect time to get her one and she could wear it when she met Anna and Elsa!  My mom came over and painted E's nails for the trip which was just the beginning of so many special moments.

The time had arrived!!

We headed for the airport late Friday afternoon for a direct flight to Orlando.  Ben and Cash drove us to the airport before they headed to Port A for their boys weekend.

Emma did great on the plane as I expected and immediately after we departed the plane in Orlando we started to see everything Disney.  We couldn't resist stopping for character picture taking in the airport.  We boarded the Disney Magical Express and headed to the hotel.  I chose the Contemporary again as that is where we stayed when we took Cash.  Its just so convenient with its proximity to Magic Kingdom.

It started to get late although Emma was still doing great!  We checked in, took our luggage to our room and went to one of the restaurants for a quick dinner.  A little side note....my mom and I ordered a glass of wine and the waiter carded us both!  HA....a great end to a great day!!  Emma had her own big girl bed and slept very good!

The next morning we were up and out of the room super early for our character breakfast at the hotel.  It was the same breakfast we did with Cash.  Emma was very excited....unsure but excited!  She didn't know what to think of the size of Mickey and Goofey.  They are much smaller on tv!

After breakfast we went back to the room to get ready to head to the park.  My mom braided E's hair so she would stay somewhat cool in very warm weather.  The weather was just beautiful and I would say not to hot.  We took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom for a fun filled afternoon of Disney magic!  She met Mickey at the end of our day and we couldn't leave without getting her first pair of Minnie ears.  I thought for sure she would go straight for the pink crown Minnie ears but no...she went for the classic black, red and white.  I got her name engraved on the back just as we did for Cash and to see her face after she saw herself with those ears on was PRICELESS!!!!!  I of course started tearing up...again!

Our little friend while we waited to eat lunch!

After a long day we headed back to the hotel for Emma to rest before heading back to the park for the evening parade and the Wishes Fireworks Dessert party.  It was late in the evening so I was glad we had E take a nap.  They had fun desserts and cider in champagne flutes.  We got great seats to see the castle and once the show started Emma was mesmerized!  It wasn't until they played Let It Go that I lost it.  I was so emotional to see her reaction.  She was looking for Elsa of course and was so excited to hear "her song"!  It was a moment I wouldn't trade for the world.  The fireworks were amazing and to see them from that view point was just great!!

The next day, Sunday, we had a pretty laid back morning as I knew our afternoon would be filled with visiting the princesses!  I took Emma to the pool while my mom relaxed.  Emma enjoyed that and it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the park.

After the pool we headed to the park.  First stop, lunch, although Emma didn't even make it to the table before falling asleep.  That definitely told me all of the go, go, go had worn her out even with naps.  She woke up during lunch but wasn't too hungry so we finished and went straight to the PRINCESSES!

Emma was looking super cute in her Anna dress and couldn't wait to show off its magic.  It's a dress that lights up and plays "For the First Time in Forever".  We met Cinderella, Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa.  She was so over the moon to meet them all I am not sure there was a favorite.  Of course when you walk out of any character meeting or ride there is a gift shop for your buying pleasure!  (catch the sarcasm) We had to buy a "plush toy" and grabbed one for our friend Giada too!  Emma was so happy and we caught one of the best pics showing just how happy she was.

Before leaving the park, for the last time on our trip, we stopped to meet Tinker Bell.  She really enjoyed that as well.  I didn't think she would as enthralled with Tinker Bell but she was genuinely thrilled to meet all of the characters!

Just a few pics from our last day in the park.

We headed back to the hotel, took a couple of pics, grabbed a very quick "to go" bite at the cafe and ate in the room.  It had been a long day and we had a VERY early flight.  We had to be downstairs at 3:15am the next morning.  It was a little insane but I was thankful for the direct flight and getting home by 8:30am.

Up the next morning, everyone still in the Disney spirit, and headed home.  We got to the airport, had coffee, and were ready to board for San Antonio.  Ben picked us up at the airport and we were home by 9am.  We all slept on the plane home which made it go by super fast.

It was an absolute magical trip.  To see Disney through Emma's eyes was one of the best experiences of my life! To have my mom there to share it with made it even that much more special!