Speaking of the monorail, we hopped on for a ride. This was my first Disney Momma moment, one that brought tears to my eyes and made me so unbelievably happy. Tessa spotted the castle and shouted "There it is! CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!!!" To see my baby so excited made my whole trip. 
After a roundtrip ride we left the boys to finish checking in. The girls continued on to the Magic Kingdom entrance and then, for fun, took the ferry boat back to the hotel. 
Our room was ready and our bags (all three luggage carts of them) were being delivered. And this was our view! A corner room with direct view of Cinderella's Castle, it was even better than I had hoped. 
While we were unpacking, the birthday boy had a special delivery - a solid chocolate Mickey Mouse with cookies. Pretty great way to start the birthday week. 
We had reservations for the princess dinner downstairs so it was time for our first dress-up occasion. We headed down to dine with Cinderella and Prince Charming. 
This was our first character dining experience and WOW! Almost as soon as you sit down characters migrate to your table. We whipped out cameras and started shooting, food could wait. For months Tessa has been toting around a photo book of Disney characters and she brought it to dinner that night. The pictures are a combination from my childhood, my mom's childhood and friends who have recently visited. The characters were hilarious flipping through the book looking for pictures of themselves. Prince Charming sat right down with us to get a better look and I thought he might hang out at our table all night. 
Everybody is totally in character and it's fun to talk to them. The more you know about each story the more interesting the conversation. When we asked Anastasia about the baker that she had fallen in love with she begged us not to mention him in front of her mother. Druzilla clued us in that the mother didn't think the baker was good enough for her daughter since he didn't have a castle. Ryan gets a huge kick out of the stepsisters, they are really funny. Cinderella and Tessa had a serious conversation about being home before midnight then they did a little bibbidy bobbidy boo together. Tessa was in awe of the characters and maybe a teensy bit overwhelmed, I was too! 
Then it was time for Prince Charming to waltz with Cinderella and everyone was invited to join the dancing. 
Almost as an afterthought, we ate dinner. It was delicious. Our server brought Ryan his birthday cupcake and a HUGE ice cream sundae. 
We headed back to the room where we watching the nightly fireworks right from our balcony. Pretty great start to our vacation.
On the big first day, Tessa marched right into the gymnasium with her new teacher without so much as a glance back at Momma. The preschool area has mini rings, a balance beam and floor mats. The girls made several circuits here before moving into the big gym.
I'm pretty sure Tessa's favorite part was the huge trampoline. She hopped the length of it several times. But the "pit" was also super fun. From the parent viewing area I couldn't see the big foam blocks in front of where Tessa was jumping. I just saw her bounce and then dissapear down a hole. I laughed when she popped back up out of the "pit."
I dug out the ski clothes and we bundled up to go outside. Because I am still in denial that it can get so cold in the South, Tessa has no snow clothes. Here she is sporting a beautiful ensemble consisting of old ski socks worn as leggings, rain boots, Daddy's hat and my ski coat. Lovely, I know. Can you believe how deep the snow is?!?! 
My mom has been coming to this hotel for her entire life, first with her grandparents, then her children (can you see me?), and now with her grandbaby. Look at how nothing changes but the cars.
The hotel is beautifully decorated for the holidays. We wandered around looking at all the Christmas trees before relaxing with a drink from the bar.
At Christmastime they host a gingerbread decorating contest. Some of these were done by kids! My personal favorite is the Faberge egg, but Santa at the spa with tiny cucumbers on his eyes was a close second. Who thinks of these things?
The Blue Ridge Mountains are breathtaking from the back porch. Ryan, Mr. Never Stand Still, actually requested that we just sit and enjoy the view.
One of the fireplaces was set up as a photo-op spot. Music to my ears. Everyone hopped in the sleigh for pictures. My favorite is Tessa riding the reindeer. 
While we had planned to shop in Asheville, there was so much to do here that we never even left the resort. Happy New Years! 
We really did have a White Christmas, the snow was beautiful. The day after Christmas, the three of us bundled up and headed outside to play. We made a snowman and Tessa announced he should go on the deck. So Daddy carted the heavy snow up the stairs and we parked our snowman where we could see him from the kitchen. Since he looked lonely, we made a snow dog too. 
Our snow dog went crazy chasing snowballs. Puppy's got ups! Oh the happy sounds of my daughter and husband laughing while the snow was flying. 
