Disney Part II – Making Memories

“Fun fact: The Coronado Springs is an Animal Kingdom resort. Animal Kingdom is the largest park by far. The entire Magic Kingdom can fit on the land used for the safari. The entire California Disneyland can fit on the Florida Magic Kingdom parking lot!” ~Awesome Co-Worker

While we were in Disney I received text messages like the one above from one of my co-workers who is the biggest Disney enthusiast I’ve ever met. It was like having our own personal tour guide. He gave us lots of great facts about Magic and Animal Kingdom. In fact he and I talked about Disney every single day before we left. Those talks had me so psyched for the trip!

On our third day in Disney I thought I was going to spend the entire day in bed but after a full night of sleep I woke up full of energy so we headed to Magic Kingdom. Surprisingly I had so much energy that I made it from 9:00 AM until 6:30 PM before I was ready to collapse. I haven’t had that much energy in a long time.

I was delighted by several things at Magic Kingdom…Cam went on Splash and Thunder Mountain, It’s A Small World was open (because it was closed four years ago and you can never hear “It’s a Small World” in enough languages) and I found the place that sells the Dole Whip Float.

If you’ve been to Magic Kingdom, love pineapple as much as I do and have missed the Dole Whip Float then I feel sorry for you. Pineapple soft-serve ice cream on top of pineapple juice…dear God it’s damn good stuff.

One of my favorite things about Magic Kingdom was the picture at Splash Mountain of the four of us. The looks on our faces are priceless…and will go in our scrapbook. Normally I’m not a sucker for those pictures but this picture was perfect.

We spent Day 4 and 5 in Animal Kingdom because it’s so big.

While we were at Animal Kingdom on Day 4 I received an e-mail from the president of the university I attended that made me cry as we were getting ready to ride the Dinosaur ride. She wanted to let me know that they are having a walk-a-thon to raise money in order to help me with medical expenses.

It was so hot at Animal Kingdom that we made it an early day and had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, then we went back to the resort to swim in the pool.

On Day 5 my cousin, Cousin L, and her friend Mark met us at Animal Kingdom. Cousin L works at Disney seasonally and Mark is from Scotland, working at Disney for one year as part of his college studies. Mark was delightfully charming and we wanted to adopt him. Of course we love Cousin L as well.

It was fantastic having our own personal tour guides through Animal Kingdom because we learned so much about Disney and the park itself!

I also found the courage to go on Expedition Everest. Oh my God…I loved it. I loved it so much I got right back in line to go on it again. Now I love roller coasters so much that I’m ready to find some crazy-scary roller coasters to ride. In fact, Expedition Everest really isn’t crazy-scary at all but it’s awesome.

On our final day in Florida it was Mother’s Day. Miss Britt was kind enough to invite us to her house…which is just gorgeous. So we rented an SUV and headed up the highway. Then all of us headed to beach. I had to follow Miss Britt from her house to the beach and let me tell you…she drives like a crazy maniac just like me.

The beach was awesome and not like the Jersey shore we are used to where it’s dirty. There was a manatee hovering the coast so Dude and the kids were out in the ocean with it while Miss Britt and I chatted about motherhood, careers and life. Dude said the manatee came right up to him and rubbed against his legs. Miss Britt made all of us lunch on the beach and the kids tried to dig their way to China. It was a really great Mother’s Day and a nice way to wind down our trip to Disney.

Besides, I love Britt…she’s as genuine, real and down to earth as can be AND a great mom!

Since we’ve been back from Disney I’ve noticed that Dude, Cam, Teenie and I are a lot closer. The communication between us is so much better. The girls seem to feel more secure about my determination to fight cancer again. There is laughter in our home and less anxiety which is something we haven’t had in a long, long time. Not that we didn’t laugh but it’s different…it’s a much more relaxed feeling.

We came home after spending seven days together and we still like each other. The girls will always have those happy memories to hold on to no matter what happens.

Of course none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for you. On behalf of my family…thank you for allowing us the chance to make memories that will last a lifetime…