More Cuteness Than Ever!

We started the day VERY early *smile* at the ole crack o’ dawn. Renee made reservations for the group at Liberty Tree for a character breakfast. Hmmmm, put a group of quatlings together with Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Pluto and look out! Maya wore her Minnie ears, and she was thrilled to see Minnie! We sat with Amanda and her family. Amanda and I compared notes about planning for the trip and discovered that we are both Virgo’s, hehehe (we planned a lot). My birthday is Sept 12th and hers is the 13th! Lisa and Athena sat with us and even Clara, but her mom and dad fit at the table behind us. The food was good, the characters fun and the company OUTSTANDING! Renee gathered all the children together for a picture and Clara’s dad suggested that we ask a character to join us - how fun, Dale (or was it Chip) got in the picture too! Maya, Athena, and Clara are becoming best buds - adorable to the third power! Their moms rock too (if I do say so myself).

After our delicious breakfast, we headed over to Small, Small World. Jacqueline and Maya road together - their were so many oooohs, and ahhhhhhs. Jacqueline is amazing - so beautiful, sweet, and fun! She took such good care of Maya (and lamby!), she is going to be a wonderful babysitter when she gets older.

Next stop? Dumbo, of course! Being in line (the Dumbo line is pretty long) with Jacqueline made the time go very quickly, she and Maya are bonding so well.




Oh, somewhere in there was the carousel. Maya’s favorite! I think this was her third or fourth time, hehehe. Daddy takes over for this one and I stayed on the sidelines. I just asked her why she likes the carousel and she said, “because I like it when the horses go around all the time.” Well, of course!

I just asked her, her favorite ride and she said the merry-go-round, but next favorite was the Dumbo ride. “Oh Small World was my favorite, too”. (She’s so cute, I’m so biased, chuckle, chuckle)



We met Becky, Troy and Clara at Cinderella’s Castle to see the Dance Party and show. We were in the center of the circle in front of the Castle which was a perfect place to for the Dance Party! Then we moved in to have almost front row seats for the Dreams Come True show. The girls had magical stars in their eyes. Maya started mimicking the dance steps of the dancers, to the delight of the family (strangers) behind us. After it was over, the mom came to tell us that she really had talent (how kind of them!).

There are always a few stinkers ( I learned to dance wearing my back pack to establish my space in tight lines - SO bad) but the vast, vast, vast majority of people we have met have been so kind. From the group of little girls that let Maya go ahead of them in line at the candy store, to the man that helped her off the car ride, even strangers act like family and friends. And the Disney cast members have been outstanding too. While we were waiting for Wayne to bring Maya’s ticket ( I forgot to get it in the afternoon) there was a cast member with a few hula hoops. She taught Maya to hula and her friend blew bubbles. Maya had such a blast, we couldn’t even call it waiting!

Even though there were thousands of people there, for most of the morning, the GuatAdopt families were all in Fantasyland, so we would run into each other here and there. So fun!!!

ToonTown (or ToonLand as we keep calling it for some reason), was where we went to Minnie’s House and Mickey’s House. The kitchen at Minnie’s house was so fun! It was hard to girls to keep moving! There was a fun oven and microwave with popping popcorn.

I wanted to see Tinkerbell, so bad, but Maya didn’t want to wait in line, yeah, you read that right. I behaved though and took it in stride.

Maya’s sitting next to me on the bed right now making letters out of coffee stirrers. These are the moments of my life…. We come to Disney and she sees the magic in life, I see the magic in the coffee stirrers. This trip is about connecting to families that have shared a common experience, probably the most important experience of our lives - adopting our children. This trip is about teaching those children that dreams do come true. We are learning (children and adults, alike) that there is magic in the big moments - the fireworks over Cinderella’s castle, and the little moments - making letters from coffee stirrers. Thank you, God, my Father, for giving me these blessings….I’m counting ‘em!

We took the monorail to the Polynesian to take a look at the beach. Beautiful white sand….not the ocean, but hey, even Disney can only do so much, and it was too cold to go in the water anyway. Maya had a blast. There was a little boy playing with an elaborate sand castle. We asked his mom if they built it and the rest was history, as they say. The two ran up and down the beach , played in the sand, fought over a yucky (in my opinion, anyway) leaf, and generally enjoyed the afternoon. Wayne headed back to All-Star for a well-earned rest.



After the Polynesian, Maya and I went back to Magic Kingdom to meet Becky, Troy and Clara at Columbia House for dinner. Troy went to Space Mountain and Becky and I just hung out at the restaurant with the girls. Then we joined Lisa and Athena for the Country Bears Jamboree.




I think I remember seeing the fireworks at Disneyland as a kid (mom are you reading? Did we see them?) but Wayne and I are such early birds that we have never been in the Magic Kingdom at night! So Maya and took the opportunity to see them. WOW! It was amazing. Kind of like seeing the ball drop at Time Square, rafting down the Grand Canyon, this will go down on my list of just-gotta-see-or-do things in life. Then we went to Tomorrow land for the Rapid Transit ride and the Speedway. Maya had a blast driving the car. Well, for some of the way! As we were walking in she said, “Mommy, I can’t wait to get my driving license.” but about halfway through the ride she screamed, “Mommy YOU drive”

We saw the Lights Parade - WOW! I think this is where Maya really felt the magic. She called out each characters name, with varying degrees of excitement, but each one was with enthusiasm. Ariel was a very popular one. I think because Ariel called Maya on the phone the day before we left to say, she knew we were going a trip and have fun! Minnie Mouse finished out the parade and Maya just kept saying, “Hi Minnie! Hi Minnie!” Have I said “adorable” fifteen hundred times yet? Oh, only 1,499? Okay, it was adorable!

On the bus ride home, Maya rode with Becky - I was across the aisle but because there were people standing we couldn’t see each other. And she was okay with that. Woo-hooo!

To the bench ( what do they call it when lawyers have a timeout and go whisper to the judge?) Maya just saw a BAB Dalmatian ad and said, “Mommy, you should get one of those for Miss Jody Lynn.” Aww, I hope this child will have a generous spirit……

Animal Kingdom and New Friends

Today we headed over to Animal Kingdom and met some of the other families on the trip. Renee, who organized it and her husband Nick were there. Renee and Nick have a little boy, Nicky, who is just adorable. Nick’s brother Joe, also joined them. He’s a Disney cast member and helped us find our way around.


Lisa and her daughter Athena came on their own - Lisa’s husband is in the Army National Guard and because he was scheduled for training this weekend, he had to miss the fun! Athena is just beautiful and such a sweet baby. Lisa fostered in Antigua but hadn’t met Renee or Jan until today.

Jan Benjamin, her husband and son Josayah, are just as nice in person as she was over the internet. We have so much enjoyed meeting them.

Maya’s new best friend is Clara, Becky and Troy’s daughter. They are from Colorado! Clara and Maya are the same age and just having a blast together. The played “dinosaur” and are being very good about sharing toys. They fed the ducks, ran around the “Boneyard” , ate ice cream and mostly ran…..and ran…..and giggled…..and ran some more….. And giggled some more. TOO adorable!











We first stopped at the Nemo, live play. It was amazing. In true Disney style the kids were entertained from the moment we sat down. Something as simple as this….. On the sides of the stage there were large plastic “bubbles”. Every once in awhile, Nemo would swim through. It kept the kids busy and laughing, trying to spot Nemo. The play was done with a combination of puppets and actors. The colors were just amazing. We enjoyed it very much. My favorite parts were Dory and at the end, when thousands of bubbles poured down. Awesome!



Then we headed for Dinoland. Most of the kids when on the Triceratops Spin, but Maya said she preferred to play the carnival games. We played the one where you squirt water at a target and the first on to “fill” the balloon wins. After losing twice, the carnival lady gave us a prize - a stuffed seahorse - it pays to be cute, hehehe. Then we played a ball toss game and Maya one a stuffed thing that looks like a sea serpent, loch ness thingie but with very bright colors. SO cute.



The kids had a blast at the Boneyard and I got a workout!







We saw tons of animals on the "Safari"! Can you see the giraffes in the last picture?

We all had dinner at All-Star Music and met more families. I found a common ground with Dave and Robyn - we both like Christian Contemporary Music. They got off a cruise ship that morning with Mercy Me! It was a Music Cruise and sounded wonderful. Dave entertained us with stories of sharing a teeeeeeny-tiny cabin with two kids. Everyone had to be in their spots for anyone to even get dressed. He’d had a dream the night before about having to step outside the room to get dress and ……his dream came true, hehehe! Dave and Robyn have two children from Guatemala - a boy and a girl!


Yesterday, Maya chose a stuffed animal for her “treat” - a small fox. She has named her “Little”. We are soon going to need a full - size trailer for all the creatures, as she calls them. We have…. Lamby (of course!), lamby with pajonny’s on, Little, Sea Serpent, and Seahorse. Whew! And yes, we have lost lamby once. At Epcot, we left lamby at the USA Kidcot, went on to Japan, Morocco, France, and UK before we realized lamby was missing. I wad the hurrier and went to each Kidcot and gift shop searching. Wayne ooked on his camera and discovered, just as I got there, that the last time Lamby was in a picture, was USA. We rushed over and sure enough - Lamby! Yipppppeeeee!