We have arrived!

Four o'clock in the morning came awful early...especially since I was the one who couldn't sleep. I guess maybe I was excited too! The kids were quiet on the ride for the first three or four hours though they didn't really sleep. Then Misty was starving and there was no being quiet after that. They played with new toys and watched a movie called "Sammy and the Stinkers." I don't know much about the movie but it brought lots of laughter from the back of the van.

As we crossed the state line Justin spied palm trees and said, "Look, palm pom trees. Is that where we get pom poms?...Just kidding." Of course, I am not so sure he was kidding. The kids saw orange trees for the first time though they argued they weren't trees at all they were orange bushes.

We picked up the tickets from Leslie Purdy's mom and father's house. (Thank you Kathy Leadbeater and Dr. Phillips High School). They have such a nice home on a beautiful lake. We are so appreciative of their work to get us the tickets. The kids kept looking for Walt Disney World. I think they expected it to be the whole state and nothing else would exsist but Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Though billboards advertising Gatorland, Knights Table and other attractions brought squeals of delight. I believe they pointed out every billboard there was along I75 from the stateline to Orlando. We had to look at every one of them.

We arrived at the hotel around 2 PM and decided to head over to Downtown Disney to have a look around. WOW, every thing Disney and everything at a price! Despite the ring of cash register it was like going to a museum for the kids. They oohed and aahed over everything they saw. There was a skeleton pirate, princesses, legos, dinosaurs, Stitch, Winnie the Pooh and every other Disney character you could imagine.

Misty said the best part of her day was seeing all the princess costumes and getting her picture taken with Belle. Jesse's favorite was the pirates and the legos while Justin loved the Rainforest Cafe, legos, pirates, and swimming in the pool. But, I think I agree with Rosie the best part was that we were together!