Juliana and Ruslan

Early on it was clear that Wyatt was Juliana's favorite brother.  She told me that Ruslan was my baby and Wyatt was her baby.  Recently she is just as interested in Ruslan.

Pigtails

As I was brushing Juliana's hair this morning, I realized how long it is now.  We keep it shorter for a number of reasons - it doesn't get in her face (especially while eating), there are less tangles to carefully remove each morning, and because she won't let me do anything with it.  So this morning I asked her if she wanted pigatils and she said yes!  I moved quickly before she could change her mind and after I was done she told me she was keeping them in her hair all day.

These pictures reminded me of the first time she wore pigtails, just past her 2nd birthday.  For a few months, I have lots of pictures of her in pigtails, but not any since.

I have a scrapbook page with these photos that says: "Pigtails - just one of the many little reasons I wanted to have a girl.  Some of the others - tea parties, dress-up, sparkle shoes, dance, princesses, dolls, shopping..."

My wishes came true with this little girl because she loves all of those things.

Disney Day #6

Wednesday was our last full day at Disney World.  This was our 3rd time staying at the Pop Century Resort and although the buses to most of the Parks are very efficient, we forgot how long the buses to the Animal Kingdom take.  We waited a very long time.  Combine that with the fact that it was a very hot and much too humid day and it was not a great day for the Animal Kingdom.  Once we arrived we decided to focus on the most important stuff first in case we didn't stay long.  Juliana went with my mom to the Lion King show which she loved 2 years ago and loved it again this time.  While they were at the show, I went straight to the Safari to get Fast Passes and then to Everest.  Using the single-rider line I was able to ride 5 times in 30 minutes.  Then I met Juliana and mom back at the Safari entrance.  While we were "on safari", it was obvious that Juliana was too tired and we were all hot so we decided to head back to the hotel.

We ate lunch and then Juliana and I went swimming in the big pool.  Even in her swim vest, she was very nervous in the water.  She held on to me tight as I swam and bounced in the pool and eventually she started to get brave.  She stayed next to me holding on and than little by little she started navigating herself.  Every few minutes she would get out of the pool to dry off her face (baby steps in the water) and then she would jump right back in for more swimming.

The swimming break was just what Juliana needed, she was in a much better mood after that.  We showered and headed to the Magic Kingdom.  We were on a mission to see the only characters Juliana really wanted to see and had missed so far in our trip - The Fairies, especially Tinkerbell. 

While my mom went to twke care of some important shopping - the fake hair Juliana had requested from Santa - Juliana and I went for a ride on the speedway.  She was so excited that she was going to get to drive the car - I was in charge of the gas pedal and she was supposed to steer.  After a few minutes she decided that it was to hard to steer so she quit.

We needed a snack before our dinner reservation and we decided that a funnel cake was the perfect early evening snack.

We left the Magic Kindom and walked to the Contemporary Resort for our dinner at Chef Mickey's.  Juliana was getting so tired that this meal was not as much fun as it should have been. 

We made it back to the bus stop before the fireworks started so we didn't have a long wait for a bus.  We got back to the hotel and started packing.

Thursday morning we finished packing, ate breakfast and then checked our bags for our flight at the hotel - this was such a great service.  It was pouring rain and even though we had a few hours before we needed to go to the airport, we would have been soaked if we went to a Park.  S instead we went to a nearby shopping area and then had lunch before driving to the airport.

Trying to imagine going back with 3 kids next time...

Disney Day #5

Tuesday was also my friend Sarah's birthday and we spent the day at Epcot.  Our first stop was getting a FastPass for Soarin' so we could come back later and not have to wait in line.  Juliana was started to get nervous about new rides so we didn't want to wait in line and give her any extra time to panic.  Then we went to the VIP Center for Siemens at Spaceship Earth.  We had a drink and relaxed for a few minutes (it was already getting hot out) and then we walked on the ride from the special back entrance - no waiting! 

We were also given a Express Pass for Test Track while we were at the VIP Center, so we headed there next.  And once agin we walked right on without waiting in line. 

Then it was time for our Soarin' FastPasses so we rode that and to my surprise Juliana loved it!  There was one loud part that scared her, other than that she was very excited that we got FastPasses to come back later.  After a morning of rides and no lines we were having a good time.  Then it was time for our lunch reservation in Norway with Princesses Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White. Juliana took advantage of a few minutes wait to play in the dirt before our Royal lunch.  Juliana posed herself in these pictures, we were cracking up at her positions and expressions.

The food was much better than I expected it to be and Sarah got a birthday treat and a card signed by all of the Princesses.

From Norway we walked through the World Showcase.  At each country they had a kid's center with markers and a shaped tag.  At the first stop, Juliana got a mask and started coloring it and then at each country we would find the stop and get a tag to add to her mask.  There were stamps that could be added at each of the countries and they wrote her name in Chinese on the mask when we stopped in China.  It was a great way to keep her entertained along the way.  That and she was riding in the stroller so she didn't have to walk.

At one point, Mickey and his pals appeared and Juliana was right there when they lined up.  So she quickly ran to Mickey and we took pictures with all of the characters without waiting.

Santa and Mrs Claus were waiting for us in the United States pavilion.  And Santa couldn't stop himself from laughing when Juliana announced that she wanted fake hair for Christmas.

We also stopped for treats along the way.  Lemoncello and Champagne for Sarah and I - it was a birthday celebration afterall...  And of course a break for pastries in France.

Canada was the last stop and Juliana spent some time working on the finishing touches of her mask and she invited a boy to come and talk to her.

We went back to Soarin' and Juliana had a great time again and told everyone that was her favorite ride at Disney.  Then we went on the Energy ride (Juliana was scared throughout most of it) and left the Park asit was getting dark.  We went back to the hotel, had dinner and Juliana went swimming in the kiddie pool.  Then it was time to wash all of the Princess glitter out of her hair and go to bed.

Princess at Rest

Usually the Princess of the moment at our house is running wild, but she took a few minutes to be true to Sleeping Beauty and rest.  I like that she took the time to arrange the skirt of her dress and clasp her hands at her chest.