The big surprise... (Fall Break)

Since before our wedding, Chris and I have been planning a BIG surprise trip to Disney World for our family.  When we started making wedding and honeymoon plans, we decided we would do a romantic getaway weekend to Biltmore for our honeymoon and then take a "big" trip with Lily in the fall.  This was for a few reasons...  (1) Our marriage, unlike a "traditional" marriage, wasn't just all about us... it included Lily and was the creation of a family and we thought she deserved a "honeymoon" or sorts as well.  (2) We really wanted to take her at this age!  She is at the PERFECT age of true belief in the magic of Disney and old enough that she'll remember the trip!  And (3) after we found out we were expecting, it became even more important to do this trip with just Lily... something special just for her!  Soooo....

On Tuesday, October 1st, early in the morning...

 ...Chris woke Lily.  He had her thinking we were getting up early to go fishing (lol) which she was totally on board with, but did have some complaints, since fishing is not exactly her favorite fall break activity, lol.  He carried her all sleepy eyed and bed headed into the living room and snuggled her in on the couch.  It took a few moments for her to notice that she was seated in front of Mini Mouse, who was holding something peculiar.  She finally focused her eyes, squinted up and us, and in a gravely morning voice, said, "what's that?"  We replied that we didn't know, and she should check it out and see...

Of course, Mini Mouse had good news to share!  We have the whole thing on video and it's really funny.  Lily was literally speechless... she just looked at Chris, then at me.... read it out loud and said, "really?"  It was too funny!  After it sunk in, the excitement began.  We got ready, grabbed our already packed bags, and headed to the airport for our 6:30 AM flight (yeah, that early, really... we didn't want to waste any time at Disney!!).

In the past few months Lily has mentioned that she wanted to fly on an airplane and, really, what better way to spice up a trip and get to Orlando in a hurry than aboard a plane!  She was SO excited... and a tiny bit nervous.  It turned out GREAT though and she loved it!  She looked out the window the entire time and loved that we sat just behind the wing... she thought was cool to watch the wing flaps (I am sure they have a more technical term) when we were landing!!  :-)

It took less than 2 hours to get there... 

 ...and when we arrived we were all so excited! 

When we booked, we did an entire "vacation package" through Southwest.  Let me tell you, this is the ONLY way to go!  Everything was included, right down to an upgraded "preferred room" and a Disney Dining Plan that provided more food than we could consume (literally, we came home with bottled drinks and lots of good Micky shaped, individually wrapped, lunch box treats!  We had 2 HUGE meals, and 6 (that's right SIX) snacks a day EACH!

Anyway, Disney picked us up at the airport with no wait!  Our bags were all transported for us and magically appeared in our rooms.  And when we arrived at our resort, it was to a red carpet (literally) and an enthusiastic, "Welcome Hooper Family, We are SO glad you are here!!"  I had to stop at that moment and text la, "OMG, Disney really is a magical place!"  Lol.



We checked in, grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch and were whisked off to the Magic Kindom.

To be continued...