Disney World: EPCOT

Did you know that EPCOT is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow? There you have it. Who knew? This is the place for learning! Each area was more interesting than the next, and we were fascinated by all the new found knowledge.

The only thing we didn't have as much time for as I would have liked was walking around all the different countries and tasting the food and learning about the culture. We wanted to experience as much of the holiday festivities as possible, so we did get to enjoy the Candlelight Processional, which was narrated by Jonathan Groff, the voice of Kristoff in the movie Frozen (Madelyn was super excited about this)! It was a great evening, listening to the story of the birth of Christ, accompanied by a beautiful orchestra and choir. 

Disney World: Hollywood Studios

This was one of the parks I was most excited for, mostly because of the rides – rides that are fast, and a little bit scary! WOO HOO! We all enjoyed the park, and all the rides and meet and greets, but I think everyone would agree that the best part of the day was walking through the Street of Lights put on by the Anderson family. What an amazing showcase of lights that dancing to some of our favorite Christmas music. And it even snowed! This moment made me a little teary-eyed as I watched Little Miss get wrapped up in the seasonal fun! She danced in the streets and jumped up and down when she saw the snow falling onto her face. It was truly priceless.

Disney World: Animal Kingdom

As most of you know, Disney World is actually made up of several parks, four of which were on our radar. We decided to start with the smallest of the parks, Animal Kingdom. I wasn't all that excited about this particular park, but I knew it would be good way to start the long week we had ahead of us.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the end of this day! The scenery was so beautiful, and the atmosphere was extremely relaxed and casual. What fun!

We met up with Papa for dinner at the end of the day.

Goin’ on a Mouse Hunt

I have been keeping so many secrets lately with Grammy’s surprise party, a special Christmas gift (more on that to come soon), and a cross-country trip. Needless to say, I was ready to tell Madelyn about the special trip so I would have one less thing to “hide.”  J However, I couldn't just tell her about the trip, I wanted her to figure it out by doing a scavenger hunt!

We started the scavenger hunt at our house, and she read each clue, which brought her to the next. Finally, she got to a clue that took us all the way to Grammy’s house.

There she found a few more clues, and when she opened the last one, she discovered the surprise:

Sewing with Grammy

Madelyn has forever been fascinated with Grammy’s cooking and sewing, and recently Grammy decided to let Madelyn put her skills to the test. They made a sweet little blanket and pillow for her baby doll. It turned out really cute! I am extremely thankful that Grammy shares these talents with Madelyn because we all know I surely don’t have those talents to share! ;)