We recently got to take a vacation to Walt Disney World to celebrate our ten year anniversary! The plan two years ago was to leave the kids with a sitter and take a vacation, just the two of us-sounds heavenly, right? Well, kids do this funny thing, they grow. Fast. Really fast. As they were growing and growing and our ten year anniversary approached we realized we could not go without them. Our plans changed and it became a family vacation. We knew that if or when we go back they would be old enough to no longer have the wonder and amazement in the simplest things like Peter Pan’s Flight and It’s A Small World. We knew this was already the case with our oldest daughter, but while there we realized that our oldest boy was on the brink of that point too. It is one of those bitter sweet moments in parenting, knowing they are growing and learning about the environment around them but that their childhood is slipping into a past, beautiful memory. You try to capture it and savor it in little moments while also enjoying the new level of awareness and the different excitement and experience that brings.
At least he wasn’t too old to pose like a Lego man with me! 
Still in awe of It’s A Small World, the older kids were asking why we were going on it again. 
Luckily, no matter your age, meeting Eeyore and trading with Jawas is still fun! 
And putting a sparkling dress on will transform any tee shirt and jeans girl into a dancing princess!
One thing I swore I would “never” do, was spend Disney in park prices for a princess dress. As I saw my little girl soaking in every detail and sitting tall with a tiara I argued myself in and out of it each day. Finally one night as we were leaving Hollywood Studios to go have dinner at 1900 Park Fare- a dinner at the Grand Floridian where you get to meet with Cinderella and Prince Charming, I took the plunge and got her a dress. We rushed to the restroom to get it on and she came gliding out a changed girl. She no longer was jumping and skipping everywhere but instead she floated on air, arms poised and shoulders high. She was regal. 
I soaked in each precious moment while knowing I need to make the most of these moments every day. Going to Disney World and having days filled with their wonder was fantastic and worth all the effort, but I know I need to do more to make the most of these moments that are happening each day. Memories are being made day in and day out, I want to get better at stopping and soaking it in as it happens.
