Maddie Mouse : Birthdays are My Favorite

Last week saw the celebrations of Kaitlyn and Claire's birthdays. Kaitlyn's was on Tuesday and Claire's on Wednesday, and both were the big 21!
On Tuesday morning (since Kaitlyn sleeps late) I went to Typhoon Lagoon with Claire; we'd been trying to find a day we could go together since the day we got here, but because our schedules are exactly opposite, it didn't happen until now. It was so nice to be able to spend time with her again! We did a few slides, rode the lazy river the whole way talking just like old times, and hung out in the wave pool. Also took a few underwater photos on a disposable camera, but those haven't been developed yet. In the afternoon Kaitlyn, Ashley, and I got ready and went to Magic Kingdom to meet characters, ride some rides (did Space Mountain in our dresses), then finally eat at Cinderella's Royal Table for Dinner! It was a wonderful day and delicious meal.

Typhoon with Claire

cake I made for Kaitlyn

Mickey again!

Main Street Band

meeting Tiana

never really paid attention to horse faces of Cinderella's carousel, but this is frightening

love the carousel

at dinner

my wand and wishing star

broccoli soup

dinner of steak, potatoes, and asparagus

the princesses visited us during dinner

birthday girl!

flour-less chocolate cake for dessert

the waitress gave us one glass of lemonade...

the new Iron Man monorail picked us up at the end of the night

On Wednesday morning, I went with Claire and some of her roommates to breakfast at Old Key West Resort; we ate at Olivia's, which is where Claire usually eats with her family when they are on a Disney vacation, so she wanted to feel at home on her big day. Breakfast was so good, and we got a discount so it was even better! I had eggs benedict that was to die for :) Unfortunately, we had class that afternoon, but it was in Hollywood Studios for a scavenger hunt; we thought it would be a fun, run around HS looking for landmarks kind of thing, but it was mostly walk around the inside attraction, One Man's Dream, and read about Walt who we had already spent an entire class talking about. It was still fun though since it was Kaitlyn, Claire, Kayla, Michelle, Allison (3 of Claire's roommates) and I on a team. And, we finished first so we got to leave as soon as we finished. Kaitlyn and I went to ride Tower of Terror while the other girls went on ahead to EPCOT, which is where we were having dinner. We ate in the Italy pavilion at Via Napoli....it was good, authentic Italian food and definitely worth the money! On top of that, we got free calamari because the chef knew one of the girls from when she had gone with her family and liked our table. Kaitlyn and Claire both ordered their first alcoholic drinks at dinner.....Claire loved hers, but Kaitlyn not so much haha it was another great night shared with friends!

Claire as we arrived for breakfast