May 10, 2011: WDW Day 8

Because someone made a super early breakfast reservation immediately following a super late night, we were up well before the sun. I was up even earlier, fighting with the airline check-in lady at WDW, and by about 715 we were up at the Carriage House checking our luggage for our flight (with no trouble - as I had told her. When will people understand that I'm usually right in WDW?! ;)). We were at the TTC by 7:30 and in the park just a few minutes before 8.

We grabbed a picture (or 12, loved the photopass chica there!) in front of Cindy's castle before heading over to Crystal Palace for our reservation. I have to say, other than Tigger, the character interaction here was bad. And we're never totally sold on breakfast buffets for our family, so it will once again be a while before we do breakfast here. The girls enjoyed it though, a fact for which I have very little evidence because I had some sort of issue with my camera, apparently. Did I mention manual settings for 75+% of this trip? Well this particular morning it was on auto, so I have no idea what happened or who/what to blame. But you'll just have to take my word for it, Emmersyn and Hartley liked the food, liked the characters ok, and loved getting Piglet's and Eeyore's autographs to round out their Pooh & friends set. :)

After breakfast, we waited just a few minutes for Tiana and Naveen to arrive, which made the girls' day. We hadn't met them before, and they were downright charming. For real. And we already knew their costumes are gorgeous. (Apparently, they made my day, too?)

We also rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and "it's a small world" again before it was time to head to the Harmony Barbershop for ... drumroll, please... first haircuts!

The girls were so, so good - and adorable. We chose to send Emmersyn first, because we know our kids and how Hartley's anxiety works. She was awesome, and really seemed to have a great time. :)

When the neighboring stylist (in a barbershop?) was finished it was Hartley's turn, but she - quite humorously - opted to wait for Ivette, because Emmersyn had already tested those waters. That was fine with us, and with the staff, and with the people waiting behind us, I'm sure. When Emmersyn was finished, it was Hartley's turn. At which point she changed her mind ;) ... but we avoided a meltdown thanks to Ms. Minnie Mouse herself. Or, rather, a replica of her that does a great dance. Literally.

Hartley was fixated with this toy and sort of enjoyed her haircut (what she noticed of it), but even once she had to give up the toy she was quite proud of how brave she had been and how beautiful she - and her sparkles - looked when it was all said and done!

They each got "First Haircut" ears (which they now get to play with in their dress-up boxes) and certificates, and I have to say it was every bit as great as I thought it was going to be -- and well worth the wait to time it with one of our trips!

As promised, Emmersyn and Hartley had lunch at Cosmic Ray's ("The Sonny Eclipse restaurant") though Zach and I were hardly ready to eat after our buffet breakfast just a few hours earlier. I'll never argue with that place though, if for no other reason(s) than to watch the girls dance and hear the surprisingly sweet ballad, "Bright Little Star", in the middle of Sonny's otherwise corny show.

While the girls napped, Zach and I took turns on Haunted Mansion. We usually skip it and opted to ride this time to check out the new, interactive queue. It was cool enough, but the ride SERIOUSLY does nothing for me. I texted Zach throughout because, until the updated hitchhiking ghosts during the last 30 seconds, I was bored out of my mind. Hehe. To each his own!

Next I headed for a Dole Whip (that I didn't share with anyone!) while Zach rode Pirates of the Caribbean and wandered Adventureland a bit. I enjoyed relaxing in the shade near Aloha Isle in Adventureland, where I had just spotted one of the last people Emmersyn had been oh-so-desperate to see... and her surprise guest!

We were first in line, and the girls were thrilled to say hello to Ariel again... and meet Eric!

After we said our goodbyes to Ariel and her prince, we also said goodbye to Cinderella's Castle and the Magic Kingdom for this trip. Since we had the time, we were going to spend half a day each in the MK and in Epcot on our last day, which couldn't have been more perfect!

It was just before 3 when we got to Epcot, which meant we only had a few hours. We walked on Spaceship Earth which the girls always enjoy, but were disappointed to see not see Emmersyn in the special ending. For whatever reason her face missed the face-detection, and a clipart dude was in her place. She was totally bummed!

We ate at Sunshine Seasons for "Lunch #2" (aka Zach's and my lunch, but the girls found Lunch #2 sooooo funny!), hit up Club Cool for one last round of "girl pop", and spent a lot of time in Innoventions.

It was a seemingly unproductive afternoon at Epcot other than those few things and some time spent in Mouse Gears picking out the perfect souvenir for each girl, but it was perfect. We ended the day sitting here:

... and eating one of these:

There was dinner at McDonald's and a search for a gas station and a drive to an airport. There was a bit of a snafu checking the carseats for a few minutes, and then a trek through security. Those parts are never fun to remember, though, right?

Emmersyn and Hartley were excellent on the late flight (leaving at 9pm!), and fell asleep pretty quickly - as we had hoped they would, but never expected.

Eventually we made it home (very, very late), and then we waited a million-and-a-half years for the folks at the Dayton airport to give us our luggage, despite being the only people in the airport. You know, the norm there for baggage claim.

Since then, we've celebrated some birthdays, gone to Kings Island, gone to the Community Center, fought a lot, swam a little, and done a bunch of other things that I'm behind on sharing... but I promise I will. I needed to do this though, so I can get our photobook made and our memories "published", before they fade away.

Because, as always, we made great ones together.

December 6, 2011