And A Smile Means Friendship to Everyone

Toilets and trash cans.

Disneyworld is, quite simply, a dream when it comes to vacationing with small children.

Beyond the rides, the shows, the characters, the autographs, the food, the excitement...there are the toilets and the trash cans. Everywhere.

No looking desperately at maps when someone declares they have to go right NOW! No hanging onto the remnants of a sticky lollipop and ultimately dumping it into your purse, hoping against hope it will stay in its wrapper until you find the only waste receptacle for miles.

Nope, for any parent who has ever gingerly stepped into a gas station bathroom and shrieked "do NOT put Mom Teddy on the floor!" or found yesterday's used gum stuck to her wallet, Disneyworld really is a dream that's a wish your heart makes.

Of course, the Land o' Mouse is also way more than that:

Ex-pat Canadians in Florida and where do they head first? The pool, of course. (Look at The Boy's teeth - they're totally chattering.)

Epcot looking purty in the nighttime.

Meeting the first of many, many, many (many, many...) Disney characters.

The Magic Kingdom at its magical best.

Breakfast with not one, not two, but FIVE princesses.

Getting ready for the Royal Treatment.

The sixth Disney princess.

Hanging out with the elephants on safari.

Hanging out with other animals (and "their BUTTS!" [SNIGGER])

Facing a lifelong (and somewhat unexplicable) fear of TinkerToys.

Honey, I Shrunk The Girl.

Three days in and still liking each other.

Our kids are totally fearless. Every coaster, as many times as possible. They're adrenaline junkies.

Falling into bed, exhausted every night.

Of course, these pictures only tell part of the story, as the trip was as much about spending time with The Husband's family as it was experiencing all that is Disney. We all had a blast watching the little cousins hang out with each other and sharing their excitement with Grandma and Grandpa.

My favourite moment (beyond the ubiquity of public facilities) was after a long day in the Animal Kingdom, waiting to meet the rest of my party at the bottom of Mount Everest:

And knowing my family was laughing and riding a coaster on that mountaintop, hearing the screams, and picking out my daughter's from among them, clear as a bell.