Christmas at Disney World

My sister Katie really wanted to take all of the kids to Disney this year. She and my mom decided to treat the family to Disney World for Christmas. (We missed my brother Patrick and his family. They were unable to make it to Florida for Christmas.) It was quite the adventure with 3 one year olds in tow. They actually did remarkably well and seemed to really enjoy all of the excitement. When we first arrived Katie had Mickey hats(complete with names on the back) made for Travis, Brayden and Emily.
What's a first visit to Disney without Mickey ears!

Welcome to the happiest place on earth!
(Thanks to my sister Erin for this picture.)

Emily with Papa and Gramie

SMILE!

The park was PACKED but we managed to get around pretty well. After getting everyone in the park, our first stop was Dumbo. Waiting in the line was not a favorite for the kids, but they enjoyed the ride. Emily kept flipping the switch to make Dumbo fly up and down.
She was sad when the ride came to a stop and
we told her it was time to go.

Emily, Amy, Travis, Katie, Erin and Brayden

We only made it on a couple of rides while we were there (Dumbo and It's A Small World) but we spent some time in Toon Town and watched the Christmas parade. Speaking of the parade, Emily LOVED it! She clapped and cheered for Mickey and his friends as they were singing and dancing. She was very attentive the entire time.

Emily watching all of the people in It's A Small World.

We visited Mickey's house and took a tour of the garden.
She decided that shoes and socks were optional and were not needed. (We humored her for a few minutes and let her go barefoot.)

Cheese! This is Emily and I with Aunt Erin and cousin Brayden.

clapping at the parade

The highlight of Emily's day came when we went to go get her silhouette made for Nana Jensen. All day she had been noticing the balloons that were everywhere. When she was having her silhouette made a little kid next to us had a balloon. She sat there staring happily at his balloon. Gramie surprised Emily with a Mickey balloon of her very own! Squeels of delight were heard and an enormous smile spread across her face. Thanks Gramie!!

This is Emily letting out shouts of joy after receiving her balloon!

Emily survived a day of no naps like a champ! (She fell asleep on the ride home in a matter of minutes...she was worn out!) We were delighted that she faired so well. It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas celebrations. We all had a wonderful time.
Thanks to Mom and Katie for a great day at Disney!

Cinderella's castle...beautiful!

The whole crew