Disney

Helen and Ella at home mentally preparing themselves for Disney

Helen, Ella, and Alex practice their group picture and their smiles

Day One of Disney - Breakfast with Mickey but all Alex hears is "all you can eat buffet"

Helen stays close to Grandma and keeps an eye on all the weird animals (i.e. characters) walking around

Table for 17 - my brother and his family, my parents, Jean and her family

Goofy tries peek a boo with Helen - she is not amused but she is not crying either

Alex is amused with Goofy's peek a boo for awhile until he realizes that Goofy is not bringing more food

The Cauleys with Mickey Mouse!

Donald Duck with Caroline, Andrew, and Matthew

Donald and Ella

Donald and Alex

The Cauleys and Minnie Mouse

Pluto tries peek a boo with Alex

Pluto, Mommy, Ella, and Sarah

Jean and Helen

The Cauleys at Disney

Daddy and Ella in line for It's a Small World

Mommy and Helen on It's a Small World

Ella and Uncle Brad

Dinner at Disney - have to have the bottles before we can have the good food

On Saturday morning Jean had an extra spot for breakfast with the princesses. Ella was an easy choice. Here's Jean with Jake, Alex, Sarah, and Ella. Ella had a great time and never minded being shipped off with people she has not seen in months :)

Even Cinderella cannot contain Ella

Snow White and Ella (why doesn't Ella look more impressed?)

Ella with her magic wand

Mary Poppins and Ella and Sarah

Princess Jasmine and Ella

I need to brush up on my princesses because I don't know which one this is

Sarah and Ella

Grandma and Ella with her Mickey Ears

Alex plays Mr. Tough Guy like he does not care about all this Disney stuff but he secretly loves it

Grandma and Ella feed the ducks

Grandpa and Alex feed the ducks (Alex is not quite sure he is ready to let go of that food even if it is fun watching the ducks eat it)

Ella and Caroline on the People Mover in Tomorrowland

Alex is the high scorer on the Buzz Lightyear ride

Caroline entertains the girls when they start thinking about having a melt down because we skipped their nap

Alex wants to know when we are moving on to something more interesting

Andrew, Caroline, and Matthew squeeze into a stroller

Ella has fun at dinner (but only apparently as long as I don't touch her or look at her - she had a fit if I tried to do anything with her that night. I'm chalking it up to being very tired and not the early onset of the teenage years)

Alex and Andrew - Alex had a good time eating his spaghetti

Uncle John and Aunt Laurice came up from Lakeland to meet us at Disney

The girls get some love from Aunt Laurice

Grandpa, Grandma, and the babies before we leave on Sunday

Back home Ella can try out her new strategies to get up the stairs that she has been contemplating while at Disney

Daddy and Helen

The girls have Daddy all twisted up when they both want to walk at the same time

Ella tries again but to no avail

Triplets at Disney is not as bad as you think. We headed down on a Wednesday and made it door to door in three hours. Once we got there, the kids were entertained for several hours just checking out the hotel room. Note to self - babyproofing a hotel room takes some planning. Thursday morning we started off with breakfast with Mickey and had a great time. Then it was back to the hotel for naps. We waited until after the afternoon nap to venture back out. The girls went in the double stroller and Alex went in the single. Our first ride was the Pooh honey pot ride which did not go over so well. Helen cried through most of it and Alex had a death grip on me. Next up was It's a Small World which went over much better. Then the merry go round which was a big hit. Dumbo's flying ride was a hit with the kids but mommy was a little scared being up in the air.

On Friday we got adventurous and skipped the afternoon nap and powered through. The kids did pretty well and we got to see a lot of Epcot. We did the same on Saturday but by then the lack of sleep was catching up with them. Thankfully we had multiple adults and kids around to keep entertaining everyone. The hardest part was not letting your arms fall asleep from holding them in line for the rides.

We had a great time, and I'm sure the kids will never remember it but I know Cecil and I will. We had fun just watching their reactions to all the new sights and sounds. They definitely seemed happy to be back home on Sunday though.

Thankfully we have no trips planned anytime soon so we can relax a little. Everyone is growing up so fast. Ella can now take about 6 or 7 steps - if she is in the right mood and it is her idea to walk, not ours. Helen and Alex are right behind her and everyone will probably be walking soon. They are moving away from baby food and eating almost all table food now. It is fun to let them try new foods and see how they react. Ella will not eat scrambled eggs for some reason but everyone liked trying chocolate pudding. The girls can clap their hands and all three can wave bye-bye. And they know how to raise their hands above their heads to show they are "So Big!!"

It is so much fun to see them learning and growing up. But I still have to grab them every now and then and love on them and remind them that no matter how big they get, they will always be MY babies!!