In spite of my being sick when we arrived, we managed to venture out to Epcot on Christmas Eve. Lunch at the Biergarten was delicious and worth every penny, especially since it included reservations for the Candlelight Procession. We were exploring the European roots of our Christmas traditions with a German meal and entertainment.
And after that, we kept tradition alive and worshipped our Savior with Christmas hymns and Gary Sinese's retelling of the real Christmas story through scripture.
On Christmas Day, (with much thanks to our niece Katie, who spent phone time and jumped over hurdles to secure our dinner reservation), we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary as guests of the Beast in his castle at the Magic Kingdom. Why is that so important? Our first movie date was Beauty and the Beast and it's been a personal Disney movie favorite ever since. Through the years I've collected a few B&B items. (Just so you know, collecting sentimental things is a tradition of mine.) We splurged on an expensive and delicious meal (an anniversary tradition), toured the castle and hugged the Beast himself before we left. He's the host with the most, and well-mannered enough not to ask why I would dine in his fancy ballroom wearing jeans and sportin' such a messy, unkempt head of wind-blown hair.
So the next few days were spent hopping between parks and enjoying the holiday tradition of playing together. We even saw AG's real-life yellow monorail in action:
Some of our favorite rides were Rockn Roller Coaster, Soarin' (a relaxing ride full of ooohs and aaahs), Star Tours, and Test Drive. We always love visiting the Art of Animation, and this year they featured the artwork of Wreck-it Ralph. That Vanellope was sassy!
In the middle of all this playing and fun, bless her heart, Abby-girl got sick. So I fulfilled the time-honored tradition of being a mommy who stays with her child and brings her back to health. Everybody needs to be mommied. Traditional southern girls know this best of all. And there was still time for more Disney fun including Indiana Jones and C3PO--
At the end of our vacation week, which was full of traditions kept, we talked about the tradition of always being home for Christmas. Would we want to start a new tradition of traveling together for Christmas? The consensus was a resounding "No." Even though we had a wonderful, even magical time, we couldn't escape the sense that it still didn't feel like Christmas. We like being home, together, worshipping and celebrating the birth of our Savior. Home, it seems to us, has its own magical pixie dust.
