Disney, Dedication, a Celebration and a Big Announcement!

I'm Baaa-aack. Did you miss me? I have to admit that I didn't get on the computer for almost 6 days and it felt great. I even had the chance to use my sister's and Roy's and I refrained. Woohoo!

We had a wonderful, but fast, time in Florida. Our journey started early on Tuesday morning as we departed Charlotte and arrived in Orlando by 4:00. After checking into a hotel room for the night, our little family spent the evening walking around Downtown Disney and looking at thousands of Disney souvenirs. The next day, we met up with the Logans and Dawn and checked into our house to start our Disney Vaca '08. This is where our story begins, so enjoy the pictorial narrative of our trip--there are a lot of pictures, so sorry. I prefer to call this "The Station and My Life Do Disney with Top Dawg" (if you don't get this, you're not as big of a blog fan as you thought. Once again, this is a l o n g post.....

Inside the Magic Kingdom: Caroline, Harry Jack and Maddie waiting patiently for Denise to come out of the bathroom so we can start our day.

Roy's favorite ride at DW is the Dumbo ride....I'm serious. He has a picture of himself and his dad on it when he was about 5, so this ride means a lot to him. We waited in a 60 minute line for a 1 minute ride. It was worth it, though!

Okay, this was seriously my favorite part of the day. As you know,Caroline's favorite princess is Ariel. There is a place in DW where you can go to meet Ariel in her grotto. We waited, again, in a 45 minute line. Once we entered the cave and saw Ariel, Caroline's eyes got huge! She was so excited. When Roy sat her down on the rock, she got so nervous, she started laughing.

Then she started singing the Ariel voice scale "ahhhhhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhh..." as she looked in the opposite direction of Ariel. Ariel told Caroline it was pretty but not to sing it to any sea witches. (side note: this Ariel was in big time character mode. She talked in a baby voice and kept playing with her hair. It was funny!) It made Caroline's day.

This is so funny! We watched the first parade go by and Caroline was stunned. We saw the princesses on the floats and she was in heaven! Watch as she spots Cinderella....

Harry Jack on Dan the Man's shoulders and Caroline on Roy's shoulders as they watch the parade. Did I mention that DW was extremely crowded? I have NEVER seen it this crowded. Ever!

Our posse taking a little break after some of us rode Space Mountain and the other half rode the old person people mover. Don't we look like a fun bunch?

The Graham family loves danger! We all went into the Haunted Mansion. We're not scared! Bring it on.

Then we went on It's a Small World to have a break from the heat, our feet and so Roy Austin could eat. Hey, that rhymed!

After a quick dinner and a break from our party to go visit different parts of the park, Caroline and I walked through Cinderella's castle. I told my family that Roy and I were surprising them with booked rooms in the castle for all of us to stay that night (you can actually do that). For some reason, they didn't believe us. It would have been nice, though!

Jimney Cricket came on the loud speaker to announce that the light parade would be 10 minutes late starting. We had fast passes to ride the Peter Pan ride and this would now make us run behind schedule. My sisters were ticked....

...I mean T I C K E D!

But this little guy didn't seem to care. He was fast asleep in Neverland, dreaming that he was still on It's a Small World eating his heart out while his Mommy was nervously looking around to see if anyone was peeking.

Caroline loved the parade, especially the part when Ursula and King Triton came by.

We saw all of the major Disney characters and the princesses. Here is Minnie doing her classic, sassy pose.

After the parade, the Peter Pan ride, and the cool fireworks display, we started the dreaded trip back to the car. Leaving Disney is sad, but the excursion back to the car---with kids---is TORTURE!!!! Here we have Roy with a sleeping Caroline and Danny with a sleeping Margaux leaving Main Street USA.

Friday was spent in the pool and relaxing. Roy and Danny entertained the kids while Denise, Dawn and I laid by the pool reading magazines and my book, Stori Telling. (My review: interesting, yet sad. Tori Spelling is a product of her childhood. She plays the part of victim and she has absolutely no moral compass in her life. Rise above it, Tor. Rise above it.)

Friday night, we all went to Qdoba's for dinner. Someone was having a rough night. Being seven can be tough. Especially when your dad orders something for you that you don't want. Why does life have to be so hard?! WHY?!

Good thing Danny has an older, wiser 10 year old sister who can talk him through these tough times and give him advice. I know my family is laughing right now. This is a typical scene: Maddie explaining the ropes to her brother, while he listens--slightly annoyed.

Once again, Roy Austin is a content little fella.

After dinner, the Grahams and Top Dawg ventured out to Downtown Disney. It was a nice evening and some souvenirs were bought.

The next morning, we went to Chef Mickey's. We got to see the major Disney characters up close, as they came to our table for photo ops.

Chef Mickey's is a great place. They have a delicious breakfast buffet with everything a little heart could ask for. Including candy. I guess the big guy is happier now. This time he got to choose his meal, which consisted of your typical breakfast items and a plate of gummy bears.

As you can see, Caroline had a wonderful time. We left Chef Mickey's at 8:30 and headed on home. Roy said we'll do Disney again in September 2009. I'm so glad he's thinking in the right direction! Next time we are going to spend 3 days at DW, though. It's too much to see and do in one day.

Then this afternoon, we dedicated sweet Roy Austin to our Lord. Our church does a wonderful baby dedication every six months. It's a separate program from the morning service, that way more time can be spent on the babies and families. 2007 must have been a busy year because they had 32 babies being dedicated! It was such a sweet service and a special time.

Our adopted grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Capin--or, as Caroline calls them, Grandma and Grandpa Poopin--came to support us.

So did Grandaddy and Grammy! They drove down Sunday morning. Roy's parents were in Knoxville for Franklin's festival, so they couldn't make it.

Our family on a special day.

Speaking of special days, tomorrow is my mom's birthday. We cooked out steaks tonight and had a little celebration of our own to celebrate the big 6-1. 61? Are you kidding me? This lady doesn't look a day past 39! Caroline gave her an Ariel princess crown to wear and placed the candles on her key lime pie. Happy Birthday, Mommy!

And a big, SUPER DUPER shout out to our brother-in-law COREY LYNCH! This afternoon, he was drafted into the NFL by the Cincinnati Bengals! WOW-WEE! We are so happy for you, Corey. You had a dream and it came true. Let us know when the Bengals play their first game and we are going to try our best to be there. I don't know much about the Bengals, but they are our new favorite NFL team. I hope they play the Panthers next season here in Charlotte. I need to get NFL for Dummies so I can learn about this sport called football. We'll also need to train Caroline to say "Go Bengals!" now instead of "ASU, ASU, GO COREY!"