Austin was awaken by tiny little fingers trying to pry open his eyes with a "wakey wakey daddy. The sun is up so I am up. The Princesses are waiting to meet me. So up and at it." When he pried open his weighted eyelids, Mia was sitting on his stomach with her little hands on her hips, so impatient to get on with the day even if the sun was barely shinning in the room. A glance at the bedside table confirmed it was too early to be awake, it was 7 am, so with a groan Austin rolled back over, covering his eyes with his arm.
"Sweetheart, it is too early to wake up. I know you are excited to see the Princesses but they are still sleeping. So why don't you have some snuggle time with mommy and daddy for awhile." Austin whispered as he pulled Mia off his stomach and into the cozy space between him and Ally before wrapping his arms around them both. Gracie tried to get away with lots of squirming and protesting but ended up remembering that she loved to snuggle with her parents so why not take this opportunity to snuggle even deeper into the circle of love surrounding her and enjoy being with her parents.
The alarm woke up everybody at 9 am from a restful and deep sleep. This time Mia had to be awaken with kisses on her neck and cheeks and whispers of "wake up sweetheart. It is time for you to meet your Princesses. Mommy and daddy have a fun filled day planned for us so up and at it baby girl." It started off being hard to wake up Mia as she kept pressing their noses as if they were snooze buttons or burrowing herself deeper in the one mention of the fact that it was finally time for her to meet her heroines got her up and bouncy with excitement and childish energy in no time at all.
"Amelia Harmony Moon! Come here. Before we left the hotel room mommy and daddy told you that you needed to hold mommy or daddy's hand while in the park cause you could get lost. There are a lot of families here who are just as excited as you to see their favourite characters and it would make mommy and daddy very sad if we lost you. So stay close to us at all times." Ally said in a firm but gentle voice which instantly froze her daughter in her tracks and with a resigned look on her face she turned back to grab her mom's hand with a "I'm sorry mommy. I'll be good." look on her face.
"Ok where should we go first? Should we just go with the attractions and rides we see as we walk through the park?" Austin posted the questions to both ladies as he examined the map chuck full of words and pictures to see what could be fun to start with. He had looked at the brochure and saw some attractions that interested him but might not be experience this trip cause of the scariness to Gracie. No use scaring or traumatizing his little girlie for nothing, no nightmares equals no "what were you thinking?" conversation from Ally.
"Well there is a huge parade on the main street at noon with all the characters children would want to see; the Princesses, heroes and of course Mickey, Minnie and their friends. So let's head over there and go on rides along the way." Ally suggested as she looked at the list she had made up, her and her lists, after Austin had brought up the trip. She thought it had everything for all three people in her family to enjoy. She hoped it did cause it wouldn't be a family vacation if someone is bored.
The first attraction was a sing-along with a woman and man who were overly perky and energetic, though being like that when trying to keep little ones engaged and involved in the activity is a bonus and it works. There was a combination of toe-tapping, hand clapping and different voices mixing together to become one voice, the parents reliving their own childhood with classic Disney songs they sang at that age.
"What would you guys like to eat keeping in mind that there is no pancakes here (smiles playfully at her hubby who stuck his tongue out in mock horror). Ohh there is so many different kinds of food from a lot of countries, I wish I could try them all. Oh well I guess I will have to take samples of whatever my hubby and baby girl have, hint hint." Ally said as she took in all the shops in front of her, mentally going through what she felt like for lunch as well as what suggestions she might offer to Mia.
The little family had a little picnic under the shadiest tree of sushi-Ally, spaghetti and meatballs-Mia and a pizza with all toppings-Austin. Ally and Austin made a little game of "sneaking" bits and pieces of their spouses' food off their plate when they weren't looking and then "pretending" to be angry with them when they were "caught". They had the perfect spot to witness the parade as families flocked to that spot to get the best seats they could.
The parade was a colourful, musical and loud experience, Gracie was constantly on her feet, cheering as loudly as her little body could: "Look it is Princess Jasmine! Hi Jasmine! A whole new world. A new adventure to ensue. Hi Mickey! I am down here! Can they see me? I am waving at them and they aren't waving back." Austin put her onto his shoulders so she could see better though he kind of regretted it when Mia would kick him in the chest with her feet or bounce too hard on his shoulders.
"It is Cindy, I mean Cinderella. I wonder where her mice friends are? I guess they stayed behind at the castle so they wouldn't be squished by all these people. Though they would have to stay in the walls cause Muffy the cat would be after them the entire time. Even though Jacques, Gus and Molly are smart cookies and can outsmart that cat. She is even prettier then in the movie." Mia said as she clutched her autograph book to her chest in awe, gathering her courage to go up to Cinderella.
"Hi Cinderella. My name is Mia and I am a huge fan. You taught me to never ever give up on my dreams even when people are meanies and try to stop you. And my mommy and daddy taught me to dream big so I have big dreams like you do. I just hope I find my happily ever after like you did with your Prince. Anyway, can you please sign my special book?" Mia said all in one breath while holding out her book and pen. She had defiantly inherited her mommy's adorable rambling when she had a lot to say or got really excited about something.
Afterwards, she came running full speed to her parents who were standing not too far away with smiles at how giddy their munchkin was. "Lookie lookie! Cindy gave me her autograph and she talked to me, yup she did. She said that I should never stop dreaming. And I am going to listen, yes I am cause she is a princess and they are smart as well as pretty. Like mommy. Ohh look I see Tinkerbell. Gotta go." before rushing off again, causing her parents to jog after her.
"Tinkerbell, I am your biggest fan. I get into trouble with my mommy and daddy a lot and get boo boos cause I want to fly just you but I fall a lot. Too bad I don't have pixie dust cause everyone knows that you need faith, trust and pixie dust to fly. Do you have any pixie dust you could let me borrow? Please I really want to come on all your adventures with your friends, with mommy and daddy's ok of course. (brings out her pleading puppy dog look)." Tinkerbell just shakes her head sweetly but agrees to sign her book for her.
"Mommy and daddy, Tinkerbell signed my special book. I wanted her to lend me some of her pixie dust so I can be a fairy too and not get all boo booed. But still meeting her so super duper cool. What is on the fun-genda now?" Mia said finally catching her breath and stopping jumping, rambling took a lot more energy then people thought so she was tried. Not that she was too tired not to go on more rides or hopefully meet more characters cause she knew she wouldn't get to that point.
"Well I have an idea. There is this arcade game based on the movie "Toy Story" that I would like to try. We don't need to be on teams, I just want to play it." Austin said as he pointed towards the game he wanted to try. The girls agreed so they all squished into one car, Mia was in the middle but she was too busy helping her mommy shoot the digital rings onto the equally digital images and laughing her little head off to care how squished she was.
"Oh Austin Moon shoots, oh and it misses but he shoots again and it is goood! Happy dance happy dance. Let's see if his beloved wifey Ally Moon with the assist of the always adorable Mia can get the same score as me. Oh and the girls score 10\10 basket! The crowd goes wild! Good job girls!" Austin said, actually putting his gun down to give a round of applause with kisses of congrads to both of his girls.
"I think it is time to go back to the hotel. It is getting late and I think a certain little munchkin is getting tired. (the activity and excitement of the day and all its memories were starting to creep up on the little girl ;she was starting to drag her feet and look sleepy-eyed). We have two more days of fun and new friends before we go home. So there is no need to jam everything in today" Ally said as she looked back at Gracie who was behind them until she picked up her baby girl and let her relax in her arms.
"It is Ariel. Good thing her daddy put that special spell on her so she and Prince Eric could be together on land. Mermaids shouldn't be on land or they will get sick. True story. Before we go, can I go over and say "hi"? Pretty please with a cherry on top." Gracie said; her energy coming back to her at the sight of the red haired princess so she tried to squirm out of Ally's arms.
"Hi Ariel. I pretend to be a mermaid whenever I am in water like in the bathtub or swimming in the lake. My mommy says that I am a water baby, though I am not a baby or made out of water. If I had my choice I would stay in the water until my fingers get all raisony or the water goes cold, I just love being in the water like you. Can you sign my special book?" After she was done, she ran back to her parents and it was time to start winding down this exciting day.