Day two at Disney kicked off with another surprise thanks to Craig, taking his role as a girl dad very seriously and booking a makeover by a local business to transform regular six-year-olds into real princesses! The girls were slow to wake up after such a magical first day, but we managed to convince them to zombie sit on the couch for a little television and breakfast bright and early. Their excitement sparked as soon as the surprise revealed.

On theme, Harper—ahem, I mean, Aurora—was thrilled to style with pink eye shadow and finger nails, plus a fancy updo to complete the look with her beautiful dress. Emerie, fully embracing her new title as Queen Elsa, chose purple eye shadow and nails with an Elsa-inspired twist braid and lower curls. And Reagan, sticking with her alliance to Princess Jasmine, rocked gold and teal eye shadow, teal nails, and a bubble braid updo. The stylist assured us all the hairstyles would survive the long day and the Florida humidity—and they did!

To top it all off, each princess sported bright red lipstick that also lasted the day, along with a healthy spritz of hair glitter (twice, on request!) and a sparkly crown comb. The crowns gleamed in the sun all day—well, except for Emerie’s, who later declared the crown was ruining her life and dramatically yanked it out, but luckily her hairstyle held up! Meanwhile, Harper and Reagan would have slept in their crowns if allowed.

It was a really fun experience and I was impressed with how quickly three incredibly sleepy kids transformed into ready to perform princesses. They even humored me and gave me Anna braids, so my hair was fancy and out of the way for the heat filled day. Everyone insisted on a photo op outside before we left – but carefully away from any impending alligators (according to the girls)- I mean honestly, is that not the cutest picture you’ve ever seen??

Outfits were changed for a second time before 9 AM, with Craig and I insisting dress up dresses would be uncomfortable through a day of walking and direct heat. With that in mind, I packed cotton twirly dresses with same theme of course, that were light weight and soft enough to handle all the activities. And then were were off for the day! While Magic Kingdom definitely took the trophy for the best park of our stay and one of the best adventure days in the past six years, Epcot still offered some memorable moments—despite not having much in the way of rides for younger kids. Epcot focused more on food, beverages, and shopping from around the world, catering more toward older kids and adults. However, the primary reason for our visit was a must: two out of three favorite princesses only make appearances at Epcot, so the choice was made for us.

And when it came time to meet those princesses, whether waiting in line talking to other families or with said princesses, the girls’ excitement was contagious. Harper nearly burst with joy meeting Aurora while Reagan was thrilled for a second Jasmine sighting and in a slightly different outfit. Emerie asked about a million times when we would see Elsa in her frozen wonderland and was undoubtedly in awe when she came into view.

This park entrance was within walking distance from parking, which greatly simplified everything. We wandered through Alice in Wonderland, briefly seeing her walk by but refusing to stop (she claimed to be on break!) and then waited in France until Princess Aurora made her appearance, walking through the gift shops and grabbing tasty treats to try. Harper’s wait was limited and before long Sleeping Beauty walked over.

We were second in line, which was outside again so thankfully still morning temperatures (still hot for us whiny northerners but not 2 PM hot!). As she sauntered up, all three girls squealed with excitement and commented on her dress. The spot was beautiful with the gazebo for shade and a treed backdrop. In no rush, she took the time to answer everyone’s questions and inquiries, giving each kiddo a little bit of individual attention, and hugs to all. Harper was beyond thrilled and talked about that ten minutes for the rest of the trip; and honestly, this is one of the best photos of the visit! With no Disney photo pass option, I took a ton of photos and ensured everyone had a solo or hug photo too. Out of all the princess, she was by far one of the best, in style, humor, and willingness to slow things down and give the girls a great interaction.

We wandered around the area a little longer and determined the landing spot for Beauty and the Beast’s Belle, since we didn’t spot her at Magic Kingdom during dinner the night before. Everyone was heating up waiting in direct sun, but making friends with other excited kiddos waiting too. The enthusiasm for Belle wasn’t the level of other viewings, but the girls still happily took a photo with her and scrutinized why she was dressed in everyday blue and not her famous, yellow gown. After a momentary chat in the shade, we were off to the next country, for a second sighting of Jasmine under the cover of glorious air conditioning! Her line was short, but long enough to admire the intricate walls and decor and the golden lamp. I do have to note, the lines were FAR smaller than the prior day’s park, likely because Magic Kingdom is larger and more focused on the child experience; so that was definitely appreciated. And I’m still a little disappointed we were unable to catch Alice, Snow White or Mulan for meet and greets. As Emerie always says, Alice is daddy’s favorite!

Each country hosted a small coloring station with specific characters to beautify, one of the only real kid focused activities. We found most spots and the girls happily sat down and colored with Grandma Sue while Craig and I wandered through a shop or two for souvenirs or goodies to try. We found a few fun Christmas presents, like fans with their names written in Japanese in the Japan store and princess ornaments. Wishes were made in more wishing wells like at Snow White’s well in Germany, many photo ops stops occurred all along the way and a few more “magic” induced ones by the Disney folks, and a long stop at a huge area with mini trains running through the “village,” with a pathway through it so the kiddos could view details up close. Lastly was a brief stop in China to look at a gift shop filled with panda things, like a panda umbrella that Reagan excitedly begged for (and made it home with us and is already damaged!).

After a morning of when do we see Elsa inquiries from our littlest, we blew through the country of China to arrive in northern Europe- a spot I hoped for indoor air condition to keep with the cold movie theme. The girls first wandered through the themed gift shop, Emerie taking stock of everything Elsa related and to get her long awaited doll (which she looked for at every princess related shop to no avail). Waiting in the princess line felt like stepping right into the Kingdom of Arendelle—it may have been the longest line of the day, but the detail made up for it. Inside was cozy like being in a cold place, the walls were adorned with family portraits of the sisters, and the dining table was set with Nordic flair. The girls were thrilled to explore all of it, giggling and wiggling with excitement as they spotted all the hidden Frozen details. By the time we reached the end, it felt less like a wait and more like a walking through part of the movie set with Elsa and Anna!

Anna was up first and they humored her existence, all the while wanting to get to the real prize of the day, Elsa. I’m guessing this is quite a common response. I’m surprised Emerie didn’t clobber anyone in her path and run straight into Elsa’s arms -the shyness and or utter awe held her back a little- and everyone did a quick Anna photo before pestering excited questions to Elsa. Emerie is convinced that Elsa promised to add her picture to her dress. I’m unsure what was actually said here, other than she’s repeated that sentiment a number of times since then, like it’s the most exciting news of her life! Just as the interaction started a light bulb in the ceiling exploded with a bang, so loud it could’ve been a plot twist in Frozen 3 (hahaha). Everyone in the room jumped but the moment was far from ruined. The automatic Disney camera captured the moment perfectly: Emerie and Harper’s faces frozen (pun intended!) in horror, while Reagan was mid-turn toward Elsa. Trying to lighten the mood, I joked that Elsa must’ve been behind it; without missing a beat she replied with a perfectly straight face, I didn’t do that. After many more questions and excitement we left the throne room and to a nice, Frozen themed photo op that produced two of my favorite photos of the whole visit. A little Disney magic added to Emerie cute reaction to “pretend there’s something on your hand” and a great family photo.

With the final, required stop of the park complete, that equaled a stop for ice cream. The girls spotted Kristof across the way, but we were informed his time was up so we couldn’t join the line to say hello. Instead everyone devoured a rapidly melting treat and took in the landscape of the area. We wrapped up Epcot at this point, with the girls begging to go to the pool again to cool off. Since other princesses weren’t out for a while, we opted to sail through the last half of the park and head back to the condo to relax. This was a good call and mostly avoided the overheated, sun filled tiny humans from melting down in the middle of the trek to the car.

On the way to dinner, which might I add took eternity to drive only THREE miles from the condo (this seems to be a theme in Florida), we swung into a nearby outlet mall. Craig found shorts he was looking for and Sue, the girls and I wandered into an unknown (to us) shoe store, leaving with three pairs of pink flats and a couple pairs of AMAZING sandals for me that, you know, won’t be worn until next summer. Dinner at an Italian restaurant with great service and food, the girls colored and chilled from the busy day, doing great for how late we finished eating.

But did the day end there, after 12+ hours of fun activity?! Of course not. The day we arrived in Florida, Reagan started complaining about ear pain. A little Tylenol resolved it for the moment and thank goodness, with big park days ahead! But the next evening, Harper was having similar ear pain, enough to trigger a check up prior to our upcoming flight. Craig found a 24-hour urgent care not far from our dinner spot, so we headed there pretty late in the evening, with the plan to check all three pairs of ears to rule everything out.

The girls kept entertained coloring and watching a movie in the waiting room, and soon we were back in the exam room. The nurse was a good sport and answered an interrogation of favorite princesses -or LEAST favorite princess as the questions morphed into- before convincing the girls to respond to questions for the reason of the visit. By the end of the two and a half-hour visit, two ear infections were confirmed and Reagan’s freshly flushed out and releasing a massive chunk of wax to show for it! By the end, Harper and Emerie were sound asleep in the car with Sue, no amount of convincing kept them conscious, and Reagan out cold by the time the car was on the road.

It was a long night, but the staff was incredible, and the best part? No pharmacy run in an unfamiliar city! Unlike back home, the doctor prescribed and mixed the medication right there, so we were out the door and on our way with one less stop. Now THAT is what I call a day, and a good one at that. With one more day to cram activity into, everyone instantly went back to sleep in their beds, refreshing for one more day of adventure before heading home.

Orlando Day III: Beach Time!

We opted out of any Disney parks for our last vacation day, knowing it was too close to pass up the opportunity to visit a “real” beach, and that the experience would be worth it. The beach is also less expensive (i.e. free) than Disney extravagance and much needed after the prior two days spending (but also not the point!). The day started out slower, with no fancy makeovers or rushing to get there, and eventually we headed an hour or so east to Satellite Beach. At one point on the drive the dashboard map froze and required rerouting, but otherwise was mostly uneventful, with kiddos coloring and drawing in the back and discussing the events of the past few days.

Thanks to a friend from college who shared fantastic advice and directions to the best spot to visit (it was wonderful to see her and catch up!), we enjoyed an incredible afternoon. The beach was nearly empty, with just a few other people passing by in the middle of the day. The weather was perfect—sunny and in the 80s, which says a lot coming from someone like me who typically hates the heat—the breeze off the incoming tide kept us cool.

The girls were instantly excited to explore the waves, though a bit hesitant at first. They were all determined to stand in the surf and see if they could stay upright (holding the hand of an adult!), and it was adorable to watch their reactions and bliss when realizing the water was warm. Before long everyone was discovering shells—so many, and so different from the ones back home. It was wonderful watching them become completely captivated by the waves and their new collections.

After Emerie had her fill standing in the big waves with Craig, which were increasing in size as time passed, she discovered several Ariel necklace shells and wandered down the beach to find more, just like we do at home. She was the only one to find those spirals and even the adults were impressed at the discoveries. Harper was harder to track down, her enthusiasm lying with jumping and sitting in the waves and running all over the place. When Reagan had her fill of the waves, she walked along the beach with me, looking for specific shells in different colors. I was quite impressed by the variation in shells compared to those on Alaska’s beaches. However, I suppose it makes sense when you think about it—after all we are literally a world apart, with entirely different ecosystems and oceans shaping the shorelines, and Florida is definitely a lot more tropical.

Burying one another in sand was also a required activity, which is very different up north where it’s VERY cold! It was such a fun afternoon, no one sunburned (and I wore my t-shirt to keep that true!), we left with tons of fancy shells to use for crafts back home, and all three begged to stay longer. If we could do it again, I would have stayed another day to go enjoy a second visit.

After physically removing the children from the sand, with a much higher tide at this point, the only consolation that actually maneuvered everyone into the car was the promise of ice cream down the street to cool off. Such a cool spot, called the Surfin’ Turtle, where you could enjoy ice cream or soft serve in the presence of real turtle rescues. This family-owned business was friendly, fast, and Emerie was in heaven getting a treat with her favorite animal wandering around behind her. Definitely a spot worth visiting again!!

We wandered to a few more shopping spots in the area and another outlet mall. Hilarious shopping surprise of the trip? I never realized the store Five Below indicates below five dollars. This northerner assumed that meant another winter clothing store, not befitting for the south at all, and referring to five DEGREES (like the 32 Degrees brand), and I chuckle at how wrong that was. Our last store of the trip, the girls were thrilled to look at all the exciting stuff, and several stocking stuffers were secretly purchased.

It was another long day and jam packed with exploration to make the most of the end of our trip. The only real hiccup was the ridiculous traffic on the way home, bumper to bumper taking more than an hour to go five or six miles. Other than the fact that Alaska appears to have a better ITS traffic system than more populated southern states, it was a fabulous day. The evening ended with a packing frenzy to get all purchases shoved into suitcases and totes, and a quick jog to the nearby Walmart, which was “Alaska Black Friday busy” at 10:30 at night on a Friday. I’ve never seen half the checkouts open at any store in Anchorage, and every single one was open and with a line. Hilarious, indeed.

Heading Home: Travel Day

After purchasing additional suitcases in Cincinnati and Walmart totes in Orlando, we definitely left our vacation heavier than we started it. In our (my?) defense, we found amazing bargains too good to pass up, and my out-of-state shopping was overdue by a solid six years. The outlet malls did us quite a solid, and I don’t even want to share how many pairs of discount shoes returned with us, but it was well worth it! From the light-up wands from Disney on Ice and hand-painted parasols from Magic Kingdom to the oversized light-up goblets from Belle’s ballroom dinner, our packed bags were both eclectic and memorable. And yes, there were also three bags of massive pine cones, a bag of authentic, unwashed seashells and a little sand for good measure, and plenty of other store-bought treasures. The next morning at a balmy 4 AM, we barely—and I mean barely—managed to fit everything into the car. After an impressive round of Tetris-style packing, we loaded three very sleepy girls to trek to the airport and return the rental.

Knowing Orlando International is a lot larger than Anchorage or Cincinnati’s airports, we arrived in just enough time to return the car, score luggage carts to the terminal and onto the train -that many suitcases and three booster seats is a full body workout, even with three adults- check in, route through a long TSA line, and find the correct boarding gate. The highlight—the blog-worthy part—of that three-hour saga? Not one, but two kids puking in the never-ending, winding TSA line. And no, I couldn’t make this up if I tried. It was hot—unbearably so for everyone—whether from the lack of air circulation, the crush of people, or my brilliant choice to dress the kids in three-quarter sleeve dresses and pants in preparation for the colder weather up north. Or maybe it was just the sheer length of time we stood there, inching forward at a glacial pace, looking at other locals in hoodies and sweatpants, and questioning their survival choices! Who knows, but the result? Vomit in front of a lot of people; a different spectacle from the usual oh you have triplets? comments.

Harper, to her credit, managed to give us the classic heads up just in time for full-on mom (and grandma) mode. Cue me frantically dumping out a plastic bag from my backpack to improvise a puke bucket, rerouting her to a nearby trash can mid-eruption. Crisis averted, or so I thought. As we’re catching our breath and trying to regain some dignity amongst strangers (who did NOT offer to help but at least didn’t laugh) —all while still stuck in that damn line—Reagan suddenly spins around and projectile vomits all over the floor. And yes, at this point we were almost to the front of the line.

It’s safe to say this was a TSA experience for the books. After Reagan joining Harper’s puke parade, another TSA agent appeared and swiftly blocked the line behind us with a rope—presumably to protect everyone else from an unfortunate slip-and-slide situation brought to you by the Douglets. Honestly, I’ve never felt more complimented in my entire traveling life (I said what I said!). I mean, how many people can say they’ve had a TSA line shut down in their honor? You? It’s not every day a federal agent takes such action and I was ready to roll with it….that, and then we finally made it to the front of the line!

Miraculously, we didn’t miss our flight and—praise the travel gods—without any more vomit-related disasters. As we were boarding Emerie, ever the sane child, looked at me and proudly declared, well, at least I didn’t puke too. You know what? She’s not wrong. And that sums up my life in a nutshell…small victories, folks, small victories.

Fortunately, the rest of the travel day was calmer; if anything almost enjoyable. Our 6.5 hour flight to SeaTac shortened with a tail wind, and that repeated and shied off an hour of the Anchorage leg. Very minimal turbulence and sunny skies and other than the basic bickering, everyone in our group was completely chill. Only hiccup was a random passenger across the aisle deciding it was his duty to suggest I mask Reagan, who developed a mild, throaty cough the night before. It was clearly aggravated by the dry, air-conditioned and freezing cold cabin, but she had no fever or other symptoms. His tone was, let’s just say insulting, and when I politely declined, he turned to his wife with a dramatic, well, at least I tried and complete with an eye roll. Other than the darting glares from that direction for the next four hours, and the scenario replay of a better response to it than my “um, no” answer him, all was well.

It is good to be home and comical it took me a month to fully write out this adventure. It was a wild 15 days and went by quicker than expected. The girls adapted smoothly to each transition and better than younger years would have, all the different states and hotels we visited (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida = making up for no prior out-of-state trips!), and all the new venues and people. I didn’t get a single demand from Emerie to go home, something she requests a lot when we are out and about in Anchorage, because home is her happy place, as is mine. By the end Harper was asking to stop going shopping, which was fair. Returning home after a long but wonderful trip was a mix of relief and travel exhaustion. The familiar surroundings of home, normal cool temperatures, your own bed and snuggly kittens, the girl’s toys and stuffies, and the chance to finally decompress- it was definitely worth it.

And mother nature was kind enough to wait 36 hours before dropping the first real 6+ inches of snow for the winter, and then back to the usual grind. First big vacation is officially a success!

❤