Emergency Landing...

Yep, just trying to get home, diverted to Charlotte, for an emergency landing, shortly after leaving Orlando. Something about losing oil in one of the engines, then the captain announces that everyone needs to sit down and buckle up, immediately! He assures us that everything will be fine. Well, I was confident that all was under control with the plane, the problem was that Kayli had already informed me that she REALLY had to go potty! And when you're her age, you don't plan ahead for those things, you wait until you suddenly realize that your bladder is about to burst. Oh, great! I watch her squirm and wiggle and whine, and I see another parent who tried to take his kid to the potty being blocked and diverted back to his seat, so I can't even consider making a break for it. I am frantically racking my brain for an idea, something for Kayli to pee in, digging in the backpack, thinking that this would be the perfect time to have a maxi pad handy, then hoping that maybe I threw in one of her spare "night-time pull-ups."  Well, the luck of the irish was with me on this one as if by magic, there appeared, one of Kayli's night-time pull-ups! I told Kayli the plan was to put this on her and it was ok to pee in it. She didn't like the idea, but I told her in emergencies people are allowed to do crazy things like this, and she agreed as I  quickly performed the feat of discreetly slipping this on her, and just in time I might add! Then the plane landed to a fleet of firetrucks, and emergency vehicles, and the crowd on the plane broke out in applause! Now we all have to get off the plane and figure out how to get home from Charlotte. Airline personnel are frantically trying to get people on all kinds of different planes and people are going in all different directions. I already missed my connection in DC. Now they're telling me that my only chance of getting home this night was to take  "stand-by" tickets on an overbooked plane that doesn't leave for another 3 hours! Oh, this should be interesting...
UPDATE: 11:30 p.m. We're home. Our suitcase is being held hostage somewhere in Washington DC. I'm just happy to be home after dealing with travel arrangements since 6:30 this morning!  Why do great vacations always have to end with "airport drama?"

A Different World

We're riding on the shuttle bus last night, and Kayli says to me "Mom, this sure is a different world than we live in." I ask "What do you mean?" She says "Well, you know how our food looks like Mickey Mouse, and if you want to buy candy, it looks like Mickey Mouse, and then there's all the princesses that live here, well, it's just amazing isn't it?" Oh yes, it sure is...
So, here's a whole stream of pictures to show some of the amazing things we've done...

my little Sleeping Beauty...

Sleeping Beauty doll came along for the day, and really enjoyed the rides!

this "ride" took us through the hot desert, rumbling, thundering rain forest, and farmland. It was pretty cool but Kayli did not like the thunder in the rain forest!  

It was pretty darn hot today (ohhh I'm savoring the memory) so to cool off a bit, we stopped in Mexico to get a popsicle for Kayli and a frozen margarita for me!

In China, Kayli found a fabulous pink parasol to shade herself from the sun. The owner of the shop saw Kayli holding it and motioned us to come over so he could write her name on it in Chinese...

We just arrived at the Princess Dinner at the old castle in Norway...

Kayli got lots of cupcakes on this trip to help her celebrate her birthday...

We've managed to squeeze in plenty of pool time...

My little Cinderella gets ready for the big dinner with Cinderella and Prince Charming...

We just happened to arrive back at the Magic Kingdom as the 3:00 parade was coming down the street...

we made our way to the castle for our bibidi bobbidi boutique appointment...

presenting...princess Kayli...

now, just look at Kayli's plate of "yellow food", mac 'n cheeese, corn, pizza, bread and butter! I had some yummy caesar salad, prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and more...(yep, there goes the diet!)

Kayli poses with wicked stepmother, she really played up her part and just cracked Kayli up!

Funny stepsister...

Clearly...Prince Charming...

and, of course, Cinderella!

my goofy princess...

Breakfast, the next morning...

Ohhh, the soooft, white sand, and the sun beating down with an ever-so-slight of a breeze...Heaven!

and about that "different world" statement, seems like every time I turn around there's another parade coming down another street!

We're staying up late tonight, sleeping in tomorrow, then I promised Kayli we would call it a "pool day!" Woohoo!