Pre-Disney

A couple of months ago, we decided that we wanted to take Ella to Disney World.  It was rather a spur of the moment decision, but also a well thought out decision - contradictory, I know.   I really wanted to take her while it is still "magical" to her, wanted to go when the crowd levels were down, and wanted to go when we could get good prices.  Plus, since she didn't get to start 5K this year, it is the last perfect time to go during the school year.  Clint agreed - as long as she agreed that the princesses were real.  So, I asked her, "Ella, are princesses real?"  She responded, "Well, Mom.  In the movies, they are just pretend, but at Disney World...they are REAL!!"  So, from the there, the trip was booked.

The catch...she didn't know we booked it.  We have successfully kept it a secret from her.  I got some paperwork in the mail, including a map of Disney, and of course, she saw it and questioned.  She dropped it after a few minutes of asking, but a couple of days later, she was cutting up my map!!  Silly girl.

Clint and I told all the kiddos that we were heading to Mimi and PaPa's house on Friday - and that is what we did.  We loaded both cars and took off mid-afternoon.  We had dinner at Mimi's house.  Aunt Katie, Uncle JD, Pearce and Anna Elise were there too.  We visited for awhile and then about 9:30, we told Ella that we had a surprise - we were going to a hotel.  You would have thought she won the lottery or something.  She turned and looked at Mimi and said, "I am going to a hotel.". 

Look at that smile...and she doesn't even know what the BIG surprise is!!

So, off we went.  We drove to Gainesville last night and are on our way to Disney now - she still doesn't know.  We told her that we hadn't gotten the letter yet to tell her what the surprise is...so let's see how it turns out.