Alas. It was our last day at Disney. And I wanted to make the most of it. So I woke everyone up early so we could go to the Magic Kingdom and spend the entire day and most of the night there. That didn't quite work out the way I'd planned.
We ate our Mickey waffles for breakfast and then headed to "the Kingdom." No one was more excited (okay, so maybe I was!) than Hannah Kate because this was the day we were going to visit the Princesses. Now, of course, Mason had no interest in that and decided he was much too cool for any kind of character meet and greets by this point. So us girls stuck together while Mason and Daddy went off to do some "man" things.
We met up several times during the day, including the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade.
And then we met Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty . . . most may call her Aurora, but Hannah Kate has always called her Briar Rose). She took so much time with Hannah Kate. I have no idea what they talked about, but she just kept on talking! Hannah Kate, on the other hand, was just frozen there with a smile plastered on her face, trying to make sure that Mommy WAS NOT missing this.
And then we met Rapunzel, who was just the most delightful little thing. If Hannah Kate smiles any harder, she's going to pop a blood vessel!
Hannah Kate then had the pleasure of meeting Ariel in her grotto.
And, really, yall . . . Mason had a blast at the Magic Kingdom, too! I just don't have as many pictures of him because you can only take so many pictures of Splash Mountain! But here he is outisde of Pirates of the Caribbean, which he also really enjoyed.
Slowly, the sun begin to set on our Disney vacation. It had been a really warm day, and the crowd was getting bigger. We were tired. We were all tired. But it was our last day, and I was trying to make everyone push through it. We'd planned to stay for the nightime Electrical Parade and the Wishes fireworks show. I was MOST EXCITED about seeing Tinkerbell come flying around the front of the castle and couldn't wait to see Hannah Kate's reaction. But it was not to be.
Mason was very tired and hot. He kept rubbing his eyes, and the sunscreen eventually began to irritate his eyes. He'd gotten bitten on the underside of his arm by an insect the day we were at Animal Kingdom, and he had scratched it so much that it was obviously infected and had created a huge red welp on his arm. Things were quickly going downhill. We found a cool, shady spot to sit down for supper and take a little break. And then we were headed to grab a spot for the nighttime parade, but Mason was ready to go. He was most pitiful. I knew he did not feel good.
I actually ended up taking him to First Aid because I thought he felt of a fever, and, sure enough, he did have a temperature. So they gave him some medicine and even some cream for the insect bite on his arm. I was hoping that would do. We had only 2 hours to go. But, again, he was done. He wanted to go. And I . . . well, I really wanted to throw myself down on the concrete in the middle of Main Street and kick and scream like I'd seen a little 5-year-old doing earlier in the day (literally) while her grandfather just stared helplessly motionless. Yes. I wanted to throw a fit. We'd come all this way, been at Disney for five glorious days, and I'd saved the best for last. I. wanted. to. see. Tinkerbell. fly. around. that. castle!
We found a spot in the midst of what had become a very thick crowd to watch the nighttime parade. And it was an awesome parade. We had an hour left before the fireworks. As much as I wanted to make Mason stay . . . just suck it up and stay . . . I couldn't do that. So we left. Yes, you read that correctly. We left an hour shy of the fireworks over Cinderella's castle. Didn't see it. Missed it. Now, granted, the children have no idea what they "missed" because they'd never seen it before. And I begged. Oh, how I begged! "Oh, please, don't you just want to stay and watch the fireworks?! These are going to be the best ones ever. You love fireworks!" Even Hannah Kate was too tired to play along with me. I wanted to cry.
In retrospect, I should've either let everyone sleep late and rest. Or we should've gone back to the hotel for awhile in the afternoon to get some rest and then returned for the nighttime festivities. But that just means that now we absolutely HAVE to go back so we can see the fireworks and Tinkerbell fly around the castle! I'd said we'd wait until Ellie was five or six years old before going back so it would be a trip she would actually remember (it's not like Disney is cheap, you know!), but I don't know if I can wait that long!
And, by the way, Mason was absolutely fine the next day! The fever was gone, and the insect bite looked much better. He was also quite chipper during the 14-hour drive home!
Here were are at the end of the day on the last day of our trip . . . all looking a little worn, yes . . . but having the time of our lives!
