Smith Family Weblog

One more Disney post–just to capture the best memories, like this one of Owen just before he took his first swim in the chilly hotel pool.

And, this one, wherein we discovered we could travel from our resort to the Magic Kingdom by ferry (which is far better than the Monorail, at least in my estimation).

Our hotel was right on the water, and a family of ducklings hung out on the ground below our balcony.

I changed our reservation at the last minute, requesting a room that overlooked the Magic Kingdom. We had the good fortune of seeing the nightly fireworks from our balcony, but Bryan had other plans and insisted we stay in the park for the show one night. It was late, and we were dead on our feet after 15 hours of walking. He was right, though; it was entirely worth it. When the fireworks were done, Ava said, “That’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen.” (Olivia promptly asserted, “Really? What about Owen?”)

We spent an afternoon in Epcot and enjoyed champagne in France, beer in Germany and wine in Italy. The girls had their faces painted and visited with St. Nick. That night, we attended an incredible Christmas concert that featured Neil Patrick Harris retelling the Christmas story (with the help of a huge orchestra and impressive choir).

Did I mention NPH? Oh, right. I think I did.

Admittedly, some memories are probably worth forgetting, like the utterly terrifying trip down Splash Mountain.

But the girls made some new friends…

And secured autographs from some VIPs.

Perhaps my favorite moment was seeing the girls play in this interactive fountain, and hearing Bryan say he remembered doing the same when he was a kid.

We really did have a fantastic time. Only four and a half years until the next fifth birthday!

(More on our Disney trip here, here, and here.)