The Magical Kingdom in Picture Form

Behold: Cinderella's castle.

Behold: the obligatory Dumbo Ride. Looks like he's excited, no?

Behold: the adorable Beth with one huge male gorilla eating a tree in the background (at Animal Kingdom).

Behold: All the ladies on ladies' night at Hollywood Studios. Yes, I did the Rock'n'Rollercoaster three times. Three times, people. You should be proud (I'm a roller coaster pansy).

Behold: the rug rat (wearing one serious scowl), the hubby, and the Liberty steamboat.

Behold: Willy and his dada on Tom Sawyer's island in their matching shirts.

Behold: the Madsen family in their Mickey Mouse t-shirts.

Once again, I've managed to take far too few pictures. Oh, we had such fun at Disney World. I'm just now able to look at these pictures without crying tears of sadness for our ended vacation. We'll be back Disney World, oh we'll be back. Thanks, Madsens for a vacation of a lifetime!

Super Fan?

I'll give you one guess for which team Josh was cheering in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals:

Hint: If the red shirt (with the team's name emblazoned on the front), the red shorts and the red union suit doesn't give it away, maybe the homemade red-colored crepe will. I think we may just have a super fan on our hands. Too bad his team didn't win. Maybe it's because sometime during the third period Josh realized that wearing a union suit in the heat and humidity of summer wasn't such a good idea, so he shed that part of his fan attire. I guess we'll never know if the Red Wings would have won, if only Josh had been able to remain a true, all-red-wearing fan.

Withdrawal

We're back, back from the magical world of Disney. I think I'm back, anyway. The washing of ten loads of laundry, the restocking of the fridge and pantry, the vain attempts to get my child back on a schedule all tell me that I am, indeed, back to life, back to reality. But, I'll admit, I don't want to be back.

I hate to sound too cliche, but Disney World truly is one of the most magical places on earth. And when Will was rummaging through my wallet yesterday and he pulled out these magic cards, I really almost cried. These cards unlocked the magic of the Magic Kingdom--they got us: two meals a day; two snacks a day (and I'm talking dreamy cookies, ice cream in the shape of Mickey Mouse, Popsicles, and even frozen raspberry lemonades); admittance into all four parks and, of course, entrance into our hotel room, a hotel equipped with seven pools, one of which had a pirate ship play land for the little tikes. So, maybe you can understand why I cried a little at the sight of those cards. I cried a little because here in upstate NY there are no such things as magic cards that feed us meals, grant us free snacks or provide us with an endless supply of fun and entertainment. No, no such cards here. Only me--cooking meals, washing dishes, vacuuming snack remnants and quickly running out of ways to entertain my energetic toddler. And while I was excited to get back to my own bed (sharing a double bed with Mr. Josh is not fun times) and equally excited for Will to get back to his own bed (sharing a room with the loudest sleeper on earth is also not fun times) I thoroughly miss that magic card and all that went with it. I think I'll go console myself by eating one of the many giant Disney World cookies I brought home with me. That's all the magic we got left here, people.