Can I have your autograph?

Whew! We just got back from our FABULOUS Disney vacation. We were there for an entire week. This vacation was such a blessing. It was practically free. A story that I don't have time to go into, but we were overwhelmed by the generosity of some of our friends. Paul took charge and LOVED it! He knows the Magic Kingdom like the back of his hand. He had us on a strict schedule, but we all got to ride everything we wanted. This leads me to a little story. It's good, so don't skim! :)

Paul and I have always bypassed meeting the characters because we thought they were a waste of time. However, our 6 year old, Will, could NOT wait to meet them ALL! We got him a little autograph book at the beginning of the week. Paul and I just bucked up and said, lets do this if it makes him happy. And boy did it ever! We waited with Will and Wesley in A LOT of long lines. See the slide show above for all the characters we met. The boys were thrilled. I have to say that Prince Caspian CRACKED ME UP! He was waaaaaaay into character. Notice the eyebrow raised up. Ha! The last day of our trip we headed to Animal Kingdom. The park closed at 6:00 and we had time to ride one more ride. "It's Tough To Be A Bug". It was 5:50, so we ran up to the doors and just made it in. At the end of the show, the cast herded us out of the theatre and the doors shut behind us. We got about half way back to the "stroller parking" when Will says - "wait, I think I left my autograph book in there!". I looked through the strollers, through my bag, even the cooler and couldn't find it. Will started sobbing. "Oh NO! All that hard work all week and now it's gone, somebody probably stole it didn't they? Now I'll never get it back!" Paul and I knew this was the WORLD to him. And we were thinking how we would have felt as little kids if this happened to us. Paul ran back down to the theatre doors and snuck in as someone was coming out. He started looking, but a cast member was like..."excuse me sir, you can't be in here". Paul - "I'm looking for my son's autograph book" Cast member - "if we find it we'll turn it in". Oh boy. I just knew it was gone. I told Will that I had written his name and address in the front and if someone chose to do the right thing, they would mail it to us when they found it. This boy was crushed. I was crushed for him. I could tell Paul's heart was breaking too. At this point the park had cleared out and we were just about the only ones left. But we were determined not to give up. We went to 2 different guest relations spots hoping they would have it. No luck. So we headed toward the exit. There was one more guest relations spot at the exit and they had a lost and found. Wesley had to go potty, so I took him. On the way to the restroom, I just prayed. God, please let them have his book. Even though I was pretty sure it was gone. I didn't want to go with Paul and Will because I couldn't bear to see him let down again. So off to the potty with Wesley. Wes and I had been gone about 5 minutes. As I was walking out of the bathroom, I saw Will standing there. Waiting impatiently for me. He was tense, but in a very good way. Both hands were behind his back and he had a HUGE grin on his face. "Mooooom, you won't BELIEVE THIS! TADAH! Look what they had!" I literally went to my knees and hugged him and thanked God. I told Will, that I had prayed for him to get his book back. You know what this kid said to me? "Mom, I was praying too and in fact, I need to go be in private for just a minute." He walked around the back of a dumpster and I peeked (one because I can't let the kid out of my sight at Disney world, but I was also curious). I heard him praying and thanking God for his autograph book. I melted. When he was finished he came skipping up to me. Countenance completely changed. This boy's faith had been strengthened. I was all choked up. Then Will says..."Mom, I don't want anything but GOD! I don't need land or a house or anything, I just want God that's all I want." He said it over and over. He even told our tram driver all about it. Each day we would get in the car and say our favorite ride or moment of each day and that day...it was the return of the autograph book!

2 slide shows in one post...goodness. I wanted to share some of my favorite Disney pic's.