Caroline is 3!

And just like that, Caroline turned three. It is really unbelievable that she is three already, although she is definitely sassy and stubborn enough to give any teenager a run for their money. It looks like she has finally outgrown her ear infections, and was actually not sick for most of the summer. For so long, we'd celebrate if she went a week without a runny nose, and for the past few months, she's been healthy as a horse. Her language is really coming along. She talks a lot, although it is hard to understand everything she is saying. She gets frustrated really easily, probably a trait she got from me, and is quick to yell when things are going as she hoped. "THIS ISN'T WORKING!!!!!!" is something we hear her scream at least once a day, although usually what she is doing is actually working, she just cannot figure it out. Like if she can't zip up a sweatshirt, or a part of a toy won't go where it is supposed to.

The day before Caroline's birthday we celebrated all the October birthdays in the Kwong family:

On Caroline's birthday she woke up to balloons and her present. Very exciting. Then we went to school to let her celebrate with her class. Ms. Donna went the whole 9 yards, lighting a candle and turning off the light, so that everyone could sing to her. It was very special, and the kids ate a ton of sweets. Then we went to the mall for some Big Bowl, and let Caroline walk around the Disney store, which is what she wanted to do for her birthday. Surprisingly, she didn't ask to buy a single toy at the store. I probably would've made an exception for her, just because it was her birthday, but I guess she is too well trained that toys never happen.

 

Disney!

We survived our first trip to Disney World! It was a great trip with many trying times during the day. The weather was definitely not in our favor, as it was either hot, humid and rainy or hot, humid and sunny with a heat index of 103. Yuck! We left early Wednesday morning, waking the kids up at 5 am to go to the airport. In hindsight, I should've booked a later flight, so that the kids could wake up at a normal time, but I was just so anxious for us to get to Florida and maximize our time at the happiest place on Earth!


Day 1: Magic Kingdom

The kids traveled pretty well. Neither slept, although I could see that both, especially Caroline, were tired. Bennett was content watching videos the whole time but Caroline was less happy, since her Kindle didn't have the internet and she couldn't watch what she wanted. Ugh.

Once in Florida, getting to our bus was super easy. Caroline thankfully fell asleep on the way to the hotel and got a half hour nap in. At the hotel, our room was ready, so we dropped off some of our things, ate lunch and headed to the Magic Kingdom via boat. The kids were super excited, as were we, especially when we got our first glimpse of Cinderella's Castle in the distance.

When we arrived it immediately started raining, and then downpouring. Luckily we were under an awning and it didn't last long. We noticed people lining Main Street and were told the parade would be starting in 15 minutes. We decided to snag a good spot and watch the parade, and we were so glad we did. It was Caroline's first time seeing the princesses. Her little hand was waving at everyone in the parade, but when a princess would near, her hand would shoot up in the air and wave harder. Since Caroline is usually pretty stoic, we could see all the excitement she had, and quite a few princesses noticed her and waved back.

The kids were tired and HOT, so neither was too thrilled to be taking photos.

Our first ride was the carousel because of the short wait. Then we went on the Little Mermaid ride with our first Fastpass. We weren't too sure what the deal was with the Fastpasses, but quickly got the hang of them and were SO pleased with how they work. After the ride, Caroline and I waited to meet Ariel, while Bennett and Joel went on the teacups. Caroline and I waited for at least 45 minutes, with the line never growing longer behind us. By the time Joel and Bennett rejoined, we were two families away from meeting Ariel, and there was only one family behind us. Talk about poor planning on our part, but Caroline was so motivated to meet Ariel, she was pretty good with waiting.

On the Little Mermaid ride

Riding the Tomorrowland Speedway. This was a bust for me, as Caroline wanted to drive, yet wouldn't pay attention to where she was steering. Since it was a free driving car, this was HORRIBLE. I felt really bad for the people behind us because we were going SO SLOW, so that she couldn't crash us. So most of the time was spent with me fighting her for control of the steering wheel, while she screamed at me for trying to drive.

Joel took the kids to ride Dumbo, which they loved. Luckily for me, Joel likes going on rides. I didn't go on a single spinning ride, because I would've surely gotten motion sickness from it. Plus, it was nice to have a few minutes away from the kids while they were waiting in line. We also rode the Buzz Lightyear ride with a sleeping Caroline, because she fell asleep as we were waiting in line. It was so much fun! We decided to go back to the hotel after and order room service. Bennett told us it was his FAVORITE way to eat because he could sit on the bed and watch tv. Being Disney, the room service folks had everything down, complete with table cloths to cover the bed. So great!

Day Two: Animal Kingdom

Our day at Animal Kingdom was a rainy one. Caroline, of course, refused to wear a poncho, but we were semi-successful in covering with her like a blanket. We got there pretty soon after the park opened and quickly went to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari. Bennett later said this was his favorite ride of the entire trip. "It was my first safari!" he said. He liked seeing the animals, and riding in a Jeep. Caroline really enjoyed it too, and we ended up riding it again later that afternoon.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes, in the rain, to see Pocahontas, but it was worth it! (At least Caroline thought so)

Caroline absolutely refused to meet Goofy and Pluto, so no photos of her. We couldn't even convince her to let us hold her near them, like we had done with Mickey and Minnie:

Day Three: Epcot

This day was definitely the day I was looking most forward to, for Caroline's sake. Epcot day was our planned princess day.

We were able to jump onto the Frozen ride before our princess breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Caroline was SO excited when she saw the princesses, but Bennett couldn't have cared less. At one point, Ariel came over and Bennett was eating a piece of salami. He just stared at her, while he kept shoving the piece of salami in his mouth. She said something like, "Oh, that looks good! Want to take a picture with me?" Continued staring and eating... I had to hiss, "PUT DOWN THE FOOD AND SAY HELLO." Ugh. But he did say from the beginning that he didn't care about the princesses, and stayed true to that. Caroline's excitement made up for it though.

After the breakfast, we tried to meet at many princesses as possible, because there were quite a few spread around the park. Obviously this wasn't exciting for Bennett, and he constantly complained and kept asking if we could go back to the hotel to go swimming. "When I have kids some day, and they want to do something, I am going to do what they want to do!" he said more than once. I can't wait to remind him of this when he has kids some day. To appease them, and because we hadn't bought them anything at the parks yet (and because Bennett had asked about them previously) we bought the kids bubble wands. Bennett got a light up Mickey one, and Caroline's was a light up Ariel one THAT PLAYS MUSIC. Oh, does it play music. And there is no way to silence the music. While they were more than once should ever spend on something bubble related, they were extremely effective at making bubbles.

Caroline had fallen asleep and we were about to leave the park when we saw Daisy doing a meet and greet. Since there wasn't much of a line, we went, and decided to wheel Caroline in for a picture!

Back at the hotel we went swimming and then the kids got cupcakes. Bennett's was a chocolate campfire themed one, while Caroline's was Minnie.

After naps we went back to Epcot, because our plan was to eat dinner there. This idea was definitely better as a thought, than something we should've done. By the time we arrived, Epcot was so full of people for the Food and Wine Festival. It took so long to wait in lines for food, and the kids didn't have interest in trying anything new, so we settled on some dumplings from the China area. Well, this was all fine and good, until they finished the few dumplings we got and started screaming for more. By this time, the line had somehow tripled in length, so it took way too long to get the dumplings, and the kids were unhappy. Then Caroline threw a massive temper tantrum because I wouldn't let her stick the spoon she had been scraping a bench with IN HER MOUTH. Ugh. It was a tough evening. It was very hot and humid, despite the sun having set. The crowd was massive, we were hungry, and Epcot didn't have enough rides for the kids' liking. The two we went on in the evening (Nemo and Journey into Imagination with Figment) were not a huge hit with the kids. Nemo was actually okay, but Figment scared them, and they thought the ride in general, was scary. Bennett did enjoy the Talking to Crush experience, but was mad when Crush didn't talk to him. "But they said to raise your hand if you have a question for Crush, and my hand was raised!" he said when we left. I felt kind of sad for him, but considering Crush only talked to two of the maybe 30 kids, I have a feeling a lot of kids felt that way.

This photographer actually commented on how our kids were the most cooperative she had all day. I actually laughed at this, because, as the majority of the photos show, the kids were usually unhappy to be taking photos.

Day Four: Magic Kingdom

Another Magic Kingdom day. We rushed to get there as close to park opening as possible, and were able to get on a few rides without Fastpasses.We were able to ride the Astro Orbiter and do four princess meet and greets. I felt like this was a really good use of time! Although again, Bennett wasn't thrilled to be waiting in line to meet the princesses. While I took the kids to see the princesses, Joel was able to ride Space Mountain.

We told Cinderella that Caroline calls her sparkly shoes her 'glass slippers,' so Cinderella was comparing footwear.

We had lunch at Be Our Guest, which is the restaurant at The Beast's castle. Lunch actually went well, however we made the mistake of sitting in the West Wing, which is the forbidden wing in the story. The room was dark and occasionally had some thunder. Bennett is quite scared of thunder. (Thunderstorms at night are really THE ONLY reason Bennett will come to our room in the middle of the night) So basically Bennett was miserable (again) but Caroline was loving it. After lunch we visited the other rooms and realized we should've sat in another of the other ones, and Bennett would've been fine! Caroline and I took a picture before we left. I thought she was just being funny but it was later that I realized she was posing like a princess. It's AMAZING that after a few days at Disney, the one thing that Caroline was getting out of the experience, is that princesses pose a certain way for pictures. Ugh, but it was too cute.
After lunch we went back to our room to nap, before going back to the park in the evening. Housekeeping left a towel animal, much to Bennett's delight. "It will be our pet! It can sleep with me!" he said.

The rest of our evening was much the same. We went on a few rides, then it started to downpour. We found protection under the awning where Winnie the Pooh usually does his meet and greets. Considering we were right next to the Winnie the Pooh ride, Joel took the kids on the ride. This was a mistake. In order to get to the ride, they had to run through the rain to get in line. Apparently the less than 10 seconds in the rain made Bennett super angry. He kept telling Joel, "DADDY! I am so mad at you!" after he got wet. Then the line took a while, and just as they were about to get on the ride, both kids needed to go to the bathroom. The ride attendant told them the ride was literally less than 2 minutes long, so they stuck it out and went on. It ended up being fine, but afterwards, both of the kids were ANGRY. I should note that we went on the Peter Pan and It's A Small World rides for the first time. Both kids loved them. Bennett in particular loved Peter Pan more and Caroline LOVED It's a Small World.

Day Five: Hollywood Studio
This day was supposed to be Bennett's day because of the heavy Star Wars theme at Hollywood Studio. We left the hotel early and just made it for the park opening. Like the other parents, we ran to the location to sign up for Jedi Training. Already it was a sticky day and we had to wait for about 40 minutes in line. Luckily we got a spot! Joel had taken Caroline to the Toy Story ride and were still waiting to ride, so I took Bennett to the Star Tours ride. This was a horrible idea. We wore 3D glasses and watched a video screen while our seats moved. About 20 seconds in, I was motion sick and needed to close my eyes for the duration of the ride. Bennett loved it though! I, however, had a headache for a few hours. 

After Star Tours, we met up and got the kids a nutritious breakfast. Bennett nearly finished his donut but Caroline only made it through 1/3 of the frosting before she had had her fill.

About to go on the Toy Story ride. This was probably my favorite ride of the entire trip!

After we met Kyle Ren and watched the Nick Jr. show. The kids really seemed to be into the show, which was about Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse.

After the show, we rushed to get Bennett checked in for Jedi Training. He was hesitant about doing it, and said he didn't want to, but we thought it was just because of the unknown. Anyway, to make a long story short, 45 minutes later, it was Bennett's turn to do the training. All the child were paraded to the training area. While waiting to go on stage, Bennett started crying and was told he couldn't do it. Our goal for Bennett to do Jedi Training ended up being a huge waste, but oh well. After we watched the Beauty and the Beast show. Caroline was REALLY into the shows. I was quite amazed, since she doesn't have the longest attention span. Bennett enjoyed it too, but Caroline was actually enthusiastic about them!

 After Beauty and the Beast, Caroline wanted to see the Little Mermaid show, so we went while Joel took Bennett to watch the Indiana Jones show. It was HOT and HUMID waiting in line for the show. Caroline wanted to be carried, then she put her head on my shoulder, and I felt her snuggle in. I could feel the end was nearing. I was still sweating, and holding Caroline didn't make me any less sweaty. Before we entered the theater, Caroline was asleep. Joel suggested I go in anyway and enjoy the show in air conditioning. That sounded like a great idea, and is what I did!

 After the show, I found our stroller, and was able to get Caroline into it without waking her. She slept for another 10-15 minutes, so it was really nice to be child free for that short period.

Day Six: Magic Kingdom

Our last day at Disney! We woke up early and rushed to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to rush to Story time with Belle, which usually had a long wait. We were the first ones in line, and Caroline was really excited to see Belle, although, didn't have quite the perfect picture pose.

After Belle, we decided the split up. Caroline and I went on the Little Mermaid ride twice in a row, because there was zero wait. Then we went on Its a Small World. It was SO GREAT to arrive right when the park opened, because we were able to get on so many rides immediately.

Then we met up with the boys, shared a ginormous cinnamon roll at Gaston's Tavern, and went on the teacups. I think we may have gone on It's a Small World again, with the boys. In total, on this last day, Caroline and I went on the Little Mermaid ride four times, and Its a Small World three times. I honestly didn't mind, since the rides had such short waits, and Caroline enjoyed them so much. I didn't even get the Its a Small World song stuck in my head!

We went back to the hotel early, to get lunch and swim before naps, since we had the Halloween party in the evening.

 Day Seven