We're home. What a fun week we had, with great weather and manageable (mostly) crowds. Allison got to ride on just about everything so for the first time since we've had children all five Cooks could ride the fun rides together! Usually we have to settle for the "baby" rides but not this time! We saw LOTS of characters and got the autographs too. Ed and I loved seeing Katie, at 11 years old, enjoying the characters as much as her sisters! She had a blast!
Here's Rebecca (she wants me to call her Rebecca now, not Becky anymore, and I told her I'd try) and Makenzie. They LOVED being together! Makenzie is so sweet, I miss her, but I'm so thankful that we got to spend a couple of days with her!
This picture cracks me up because Ed is posing with one of Allison's imaginary friends, I think this one is Emily. Every once in awhile she gets on an imaginary friend kick where we'll hear about Olivia, Emily, or Jessie. What a hoot!
Ignore this picture as it is a repeat and I, of course, couldn't figure out how to delete it without deleting my whole post!...
Some things I observed while on vacation...Disney World is one place where being a family and being with your family is celebrated and appreciated! It's about being together and doing stuff together! Sometimes I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred directions with one somebody saying we need more family time. Then another somebody telling me my kids need activities to enrich their lives, like ballet and piano. It's hard to know the balance. But this week it was about being with each other and I liked that very much!
Another observation...All children have meltdowns. Anytime and anyplace. From any country. You can't judge parents of children who are having a meltdown, that's not fair. Perfectly good parents have children who have meltdowns. Some children have them more frequently than others but, make no mistake, all children have them. Yesterday on the monorail, Allison was less than happy but not quite in meltdown mode. A very nice couple from Britain with two little boys, told me that their youngest boy had just had his meltdown right before we got on the monorail. It's good to be in the company of folks who understand this phenomenon of childhood. So next time you see a child in meltdown mode, give his mom a smile of understanding, and try not to judge her, she's doing her best.
I also noticed that I didn't see as many tattoos as I seem to notice here in Mass. Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps that means that tattoos are more popular in different parts of the country and world for that matter. I did notice some older women with small tattoos on their ankles or the back of their shoulders. I wondered if they were new tattoos or ones they've had a long time. Someone should do some sort of tattoo poll, don't you think.
We met a family from our town while we were in line to meet Buzz Lightyear! One of the little girls told her dad that Becky, excuse me, Rebecca goes to her school. So of course we got to chatting. Isn't it amazing what a small world it really can be sometimes.
I'm sure there will be more photos of our trip. I've given up the idea of putting them into an official scrapbook and have opted instead for the traditional photo album! By the way, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique was the best! I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or the girls!
