A couple of weeks ago there was a big change here at our house.  I was offered a job and after much going back and forth in the decision I finally decided to take the job.  I am working 32 hours each week as an Assistant Director at a child care center.  A few days each week I go in at 7 to open the center and work until around 2.  Then the other days I go in around 1 pm and stay until 6pm to close the center.  The hours are great and my boss is super nice and soooo flexible with the hours I work.  She let me make my schedule work so that Hailey and I can still do the activities we have been a part of- like MOPS and story time at the library, etc.

The place I am working at has a pretty impressive preschool curiculum.  And since Hailey asks all of the time if she can go play with some kids we decided to enroll her in their program. 

Here are a few pictures on her first day of preschool. 

Heading down the stairs to get ready to leave.

All ready to go!

A quick pose next to her cubby.

So far things at work have been good for me.  I enjoy the job I am doing.  Hailey loves preschool and is doing great!  It’s been a big change and we’re still working on getting used to it- but so far it’s been good.

On our last day at Disney World we got up bright and early to start celebrating Rich’s birthday!  We had an early breakfast reservation at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  Rich still didn’t feel good from the day before- and on our last day he was running a fever.  I told him we should just cancel our breakfast reservation so he could sleep in.  He wouldn’t hear anything about that- took a bunch of Motrin and was ready to go.  We got to Animal Kingdom before it even opened and had to give our names for our breakfast reservation to get in.  It was the perfect way to do it!

Posing for our picture at the Tusker House.

Hailey dancing and celebrating all of the birthdays with Mickey Mouse.

Rich with his birthday card and birthday cup cake.  Happy 35th birthday Rich!

Hailey being silly with Donald Duck.

Getting Mickey’s autograph.

Hailey getting Daisey’s autograph.

Posing for a picture with Goofy.

After breakfast Hailey had to go and meet up with a friend she had met before we ate.  While we were waiting to get called to our table for breakfast Hailey made an impression on one of the Disney workers.  So she told us to come and find her after we ate our breakfast because she would have a treat for us.

Hailey and her new friend.  Hailey’s friend took us to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride (which had a 40 minute wait) and took us to the front of the fast pass line.  We were so excited to get to ride without having to wait at all!

After the Kilimanjaro Safari ride we went to see if we could find a few more characters.

Hailey was sooooo excited to meet Chip and Dale.  She thought that they were so funny!

Then she got to meet Koda.

Hailey wanted to stop for one more visit with Goofy.

And one more visit with Minnie.

After we did everything we wanted to do again at Animal Kingdom we went back to our hotel to take a nap.  We all had a great nap!  Then we were off to Downtown Disney to do some shopping.  Disney gives you a gift on your birthday- and since it was Rich’s birthday he got to pick what he wanted.  Normally you get a free day at one of the theme parks, but since we bought park tickets as park of our vacation package Rich got to pick something else.  He decided to have spending money equal to the amount of a park ticket ($80 I think??).  So, we had a bit of extra spending money

When we arrived at Downtown Disney Hailey had to play in the water for a while.

So much fun!!

After some fun in the water we did some shopping and then we spent some time at the Lego store.

Hailey posing with the Lego family.

Rich and Hailey work on building a car for a Lego car race.

Watching to see if their car would win.  (It didn’t.)

After we finished up at Downtown Disney we headed over to Epcot to spend our last evening there.  We did all of our favorite things again.

Hailey loved the Nemo Ride and I think we went on it like 3 times.  She’s waiting here for the seagulls to say “Mine! Mine! Mine!” and to get sprayed by the splashing water.

Rich, Me and Hailey on the Nemo ride.

Hailey and Rich posed for a picture inside Bruce’s mouth.

Epcot

When asked what her favorite park was- Hailey said it was Hollywood Studios.  When asked what her favorite ride was- Hailey said it was the Nemo ride (Seas With Nemo and Friends).  Her favorite character is Cinderella.  Rich’s favorite park is still Epcot and my favorite park is Magic Kingdom.

We had soooo much fun in Disney World- it’s definitely our favorite vacation destination!  We can’t wait to go back!!

On day 6 Rich woke up not feeling well- his throat had been scratchy the night before but in the morning he was just not feeling good.  Our breakfast reservations weren’t until 10:50am so we all slept in.  I offered to cancel our reservation and just spend the day at the hotel but Rich didn’t want to do that.

We stopped for a picture before we ate at Chef Mickey’s.

We had not seen Donald Duck yet all week, so Hailey was so excited when he stopped by our table!

Mickey was the next on to stop by to visit us.

Goofy stopped to take a picture next.

At this point Hailey was being really bad.  I was thinking that maybe all of the character meals had gotten to be a bit much for her.  Doing it every day for a week is a lot for anyone.  She would not stay in her chair and was being really loud and just not listening.  So I had to take her out of the restaurant so we could have a little talk.  When we got back she was ready to start making good choices.  She sat right down in her chair and ate while she waited for the next character to come around.

Minnie Mouse was the next to stop by.

Goofy came around again and sat next to us to read the newspaper.

Then it was time for some dancing and a little parade.  Goofy was being really silly with Hailey and even chased her around the buffet.

The last character to come around was Pluto.  Hailey asked him to give her a kiss, so here he is licking her hand.

After breakfast we went over to Magic Kingdom for a little while.

We got there just in time to see the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party.

After the celebration we posed for a picture in front of the castle.

We knew this would be our last day in Magic Kingdom so we had Hailey pick the things she wanted to do again.  Her first choice was to go on Buzz Light Year again.

Hailey posed for a picture with Zurg after the ride.

Hailey also wanted to meet the characters from Peter Pan, so we went off to find them.

Hailey posing with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.  She was sooooo excited that she got to meet Captain Hook and talked about him all day.  She thought it was great that he was so nice to her and even let her touch his hook.  She even changed her name from Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch) to Captain Hook.

Hailey posing with Peter Pan and Wendy.

We did a few things in Magic Kingdom but it was so hot out and I knew Rich didn’t feel very good, so we decided to go back to the hotel to spend the day at the pool.  We all went back to our room and took a nap- even Hailey!  Then we did some swimming.

The pool at our hotel

Hailey loved the kiddy pool area.

Hailey with a friend she made.

Hailey and another friend- she played with this little boy until we had to leave to go eat dinner.

I have no idea what they were doing, but they had a blast together!

After dinner we walked around the hotel.

Hailey posed in the race car from Toy Story.

Buzz

Woody

Hailey and Rich driving a race car in the arcade.

We got back to our room in time to watch The Office!  Then we went to bed so we could get an early start on our last day.

After a nice relaxing evening at the pool on day 4 we started our 5th day at Magic Kingdom.

I love this picture- we’re all looking at the camera and we’re all smiling!

We got on the train when we entered the park- and Hailey was so excited!

Then we went to listen to Story Time with Belle.  It’s funny because before I had Hailey I remember thinking “who would want to go to story time with Belle?”  Well- Hailey really, really wanted to go- and so did lots of other kids her age.  So I guess that’s who wants to go.  But the story was really cute and Hailey loved it.

Hailey was thrilled to get to meet Belle and talk to her for a couple of minutes.

After story time we decided to take Hailey on her first roller coaster- Goofy’s Barnstormer.

She was excited to go on it, but also a little nervous.

As you can see- she didn’t like it.  She said it was too fast and scary.  And it was a lot faster than I thought it would be.  I knew it was a roller coaster but since kids only had to be 35 inches to ride I thought it would be a bit slower than it was.  The ride didn’t last very long, but the speed was pretty fast and obviously Hailey isn’t a fan of roller coasters yet.

After the traumatic experience on the roller coaster we went to play at Donald Ducks boat for a while.

At first Hailey tried to stay away from the water.  But, it was really hot out and once she realized how good it felt she didn’t want to leave.

Hailey loved this- it was perfect for cooling off- she got nice and wet which kept her cool for a while.

Then Hailey was thrilled to get to meet Tinkerbell!

When Hailey met Alice in Wonderland, Hailey told her that her name was Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch).  So, Alice played along and told her a story about when Stitch hid in one of her tea pots and when it was time for tea, Stitch jumped out and made a mess of everything.  It was so cute and Hailey just loved her story!

Hailey and Rich had to go on the Mad Tea Party ride after Alice in Wonderland told Hailey how much fun it was.  I can not do rides like that, but Rich was brave and went with Hailey.

We enjoyed watching the Dream-Along with Mickey show- Hailey loved it!

Hailey posed with Rafiki.

The Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade was great!  We had a perfect spot right in the front and Hailey was so excited to see all of her favorite characters.

Mickey and Minnie

Hailey loves the Cinderella story and always asks about the stepmother and the stepsisters.  She started asking the day we arrived in Disney World if the stepmother would be there.  So, Hailey was very excited when she saw the stepmother in the parade.  And since we had such a good spot the stepmother even stopped and talked to Hailey and told her, “That’s a mighty fine carriage you have there.”

Hailey in her “mighty fine carriage” watching the parade.

After the parade it was time for our dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace.

The first character to stop by our table was Tigger- Hailey had a big hug ready for him!

Hailey and Eeyore.

Hailey and Piglet.

Hailey and Pooh.

Just before we left, Tigger stopped by again for a hug.  Hailey asked Tigger to bounce with her and they did some bouncing together too.

That evening Animal Kingdom had their Extra Magic Hours for the people staying at a Disney Resort.  The park closed at 5pm but people staying at Disney could stay until 8pm.  So, we went over to Animal Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hours.

Posing for a quick picture on our way into the park.  Hailey was getting tired of all of the stopping for pictures.

We played in Dinoland U.S.A. for a while and went on the TriceraTop Spin.

Since Hailey had renamed herself Lilo (soon after she became the proud owner of a Stitch stuffed animal the night before) she was soooo excited to get to her picture taken with Lilo and Stitch.

Hailey waiting to go into the It’s Tough to Be a Bug show in the Tree of Life.  While we were waiting for the show to start one of the Disney workers asked Hailey if she’d like to help her.  So Hailey went with her up to the front of the show.  I had no idea what Hailey would do because she is usually really quiet and shy around people she doesn’t know.  But when the lady held the microphone up to Hailey’s mouth, Hailey said, “Let’s start the show!”  It was soooo cute!

And that was the end of our fun filled day 5!  We headed off to bed with plans to sleep in a bit in the morning after a long day and Rich’s throat was starting to feel scratchy