My cousin, Sarah, was marching in her band on Main Street at Disney and my parents decided they were going to go. I decided to go, too, and take Little Bug to Disney World for the very first time!! It just happened to fall on “D Week”!

We had so much fun even though it was hot, crowded (because of Spring Break) and we are rookies who don’t know the ins and outs of the park and how to get the most for your money when you are only there a day. So to you Disney-pros, you would probably say that we wasted a lot of time!

But like I said, we were there to see my cousin march in band and to see Little Bug have a ball and both were certainly accomplished that day!

My parents and I went with the mind set that we didn’t want to feel stressed all day trying to cram things in. We wanted to enjoy the day. And we did.

Our first ride was…It’s a Small World!!!

It was especially special for my mom to ride this because she can remember her Daddy on this ride with her. He passed away when I was only 5 years old. We all enjoyed the ride because “It’s a Small World” is our kind of ride. In other words, we don’t do roller coasters!

My mom and Little Bug were singing “It’s a Small World” while on the ride.

After that ride, we got a text saying Sarah’s band was about to play. So we went to Main Street and waited for her band to come by.

But first…a band from Rio de Janerio came by! Brazil is where my mom grew up because her parents were missionaries there.

It wasn’t long and Sarah’s band came by!! Sarah is marching right behind the guy who is playing the horn on the row that is closest in the picture.

There is Sarah! Closest on the end, smiling at the camera! Sarah is graduating high school this year and this was her very last performance. It was SO special to be there.

We all took off after the band and followed them all the way through Disney until they went off on one road and were roped off. Below is my dad (blue shirt and pushing Little Bug in the stroller) and my Uncle David (green shorts and, yes, the one who had the brain aneurysm two years ago and has made a complete recovery). Little Bug LOVED watching the parade!

After that we watched one of the Disney parades. Little Bug was so excited to see Mickey and Minnie!

She kept asking me, “Are they real? Will they talk to me?”

She also got to see some of the princesses: Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel. It’s a good thing because the line to meet the princesses was always an hour long wait every time we checked and we couldn’t use a fast pass.

Next we headed to the Winnie the Pooh ride. That ride has a cool playground for the kids to play on while you wait for the ride. Little Bug really enjoyed playing there.

It did help the time to pass because waiting in lines is not Little Bug’s most favorite thing to do! We would be standing in line and all of a sudden she would just dart through the line and I would have to run after her!

Now, my honest opinion about the Winnie the Pooh ride? Not worth the wait! We waited in line for about 45 minutes for a 5 minute (if that!) ride! And we even were stopped on the ride about 2-3 times because of malfunctions. BUT…Little Bug enjoyed seeing Pooh, so that made it worth it to me.

We went to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree. No wait there because everyone just walks through. We all enjoyed doing this. Little Bug liked being high up in the tree!

Little Bug wanted these Minnie ears but they were $20!!! What?!?! So we just took a picture and put them back on the shelf!

I bought her a stuffed Minnie Mouse that she now takes everywhere with her! That was $13 – a much more reasonable price for what you are getting!

We needed a break from walking and being in the sun so we rode the River Boat. That was very enjoyable because we got to SIT! Little Bug didn’t like the loud boat horn but she did think it was very cool that she got to ride a boat!

We went to the Bear show which we all enjoyed because of the air conditioning!! Little Bug’s eyes were glued to the bears the entire time. She sat on my lap and didn’t hardly move or wiggle! She clapped along when the audience started clapping.

It was so much fun watching my girl have so much fun! As the bears were singing their song, Little Bug was “singing along” but she was singing “Jesus Loves Me!”. She looked up at me and said, “Mommy, they are singing the wrong song!”

Later, when I asked her what her favorite part of Disney was, she said, “The bears! But they were singing the wrong song!”

We had fast passes for the Jungle Cruise which was also enjoyable. Little Bug loves animals so this was a fun ride for her.

My parents with Little Bug and my Uncle David and Aunt Mary.

Near the end of our time at Disney, we checked to see how long the line was to see Mickey and it was only a TEN MINUTE wait, so we got in line and Little Bug got to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse!!!

She LOVED that!!

Meeting Mickey and Minnie was a great way to end our time at Disney World. We did go eat at Casey’s (hotdogs) before leaving the park around 7:30pm.

We had some “sleep adventures” with Little Bug. I thought she was too big for the pack n play so my mom brought her an air mattress to sleep on in the hotel. BIG MISTAKE. I am really not sure WHAT I was thinking! Being in a new surrounding with the excitement of going to Disney the next day on top of having a “big girl bed” for the very first time proved to be way too much for Little Bug.

Around 10pm, after trying to get her to go to sleep in her big girl bed, I text my mom and asked her to ask the front desk if they had hotel cribs.

Thank goodness, they did!! I put her in the crib and she was out like a light. So, she finally went to sleep a little before 10:30pm that night and was up around 7am the next day. Then, we were at Disney and she didn’t get her nap and I wasn’t even counting on a power nap in the stroller. (She didn’t nap at all – too much to see!) And then that night she slept from 9:30pm to a little after 7am. So….she was certainly lacking in sleep, but overall, she did VERY well, for which I was very thankful. She, of course, had her moments of not using her “sweet words” and crying over things she normally wouldn’t cry over because of the lack of sleep, but overall, she was still very pleasant to be around. I know it is because she came to Disney with no “slept debt” because I have made sleep for my babies priority from birth, so she was able to better handle not getting enough sleep.

There she is in the hotel crib! I put her in there to play while we packed up the car to come home.

She told me she and Minnie were going back to Disney World that day! I guess they were mapping out their plan for the day!

Sweet Pea stayed home with her Daddy, who had to work. He was able to work from home. His parents came over around noon to feed Sweet Pea her lunch and play with her before her next nap. I thought, for about two milliseconds, about taking Sweet Pea with me too and I am SO GLAD I did not. She would have been miserable in the heat and an 8 month old gets overtired waaaaay quicker than a 2 year old. I am just so thankful I had the option of leaving her with Dave and her grandparents. We look forward to a family trip to Disney when the girls are about 6 and 4 years old.

And I am SO GLAD I now have these memories with my Little Bug at Disney World!

We were there days before the third anniversary of me walking into the adoption agency and being told we could have a baby girl in June if we wanted. Three years ago before that day in April, taking my daughter to Disney World truly was a distant dream that on certain days seemed like it would never become a reality.

And now, three years later, God has given me not one but TWO precious daughters to make memories with.

That day at Disney with Little Bug was a very special day where lasting memories were certainly made.

- Elaine