OK School is out, yayyyyyyyyy! Enough of that! Now on to more important things.......

Disney World! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! I finally went, thanks to Kyle Christine! The band marched down Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida. It was Tuesday, June 6th, 2006 at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Maybe I should backtrack here. Last year the band director sent in a tape of the marching band performing at the UIL competition. They were accepted by Disney to march in the Disney World parade with 5 other High School bands. Very exciting! So, we chartered 2 buses and planned our trip. Cynthia went with us. There were 70 students and 10 chaperones. We hauled all the instruments and uniforms and enough clothes to last us 7 days in Florida. We were limited to one carry on and one suitcase. I used the biggest suitcase I had. I had bought a whole matching set of luggage from JC Penney's just for the trip. My first luggage! I was so excited :)

No more traveling as a bag lady. It took us 24 hours to drive from Liberty Hill, Texas to Orlando, Florida.

We stopped in Mississippi to change drivers at 2:00 A.M. I missed our first driver, Poncho. He was awesome. I told him I was a school bus driver and I'd give anything to drive that HUGE travel bus. It was awesome. It had a DVD player with 8 screens, surround sound stereo, even a bathroom! that no one used. It was just for emergencies and they said if we used it it would stink the whole way to Florida. So we waited til we stopped for bathroom breaks. We got to Ocala, Florida and stopped for lunch. Travis Mays is from Ocala. I always wanted to go there. I looked for something with his name on it, like Travis Mays Drive or Travis Mays Park......but I didn't see anything :( Travis Mays is a basketball player and played for U.T. and the San Francisco Kings. He played in Europe too. He's been a friend of ours since the 1980's.

From Ocala we drove to Kissimee and to our hotel. Home for 7 days. Housekeeping didn't know what hit them when we drove up in two buses! After we checked in most of the kids headed for the pool. It was beautiful and big. I think all the parents took a nap! For dinner that first night the band directors, Cynthia and I walked to a nearby steak and seafood restaurant. It was delicious! I had the original Kye Lime Pie for dessert. It was amazing! On the walk back to the hotel we saw the fireworks from Magic Kingdom. I was so excited about seeing the castle in the morning I couldn't sleep. I had waited what seemed like my whole life to see that castle in person. I just couldn't believe I was finally there.

That night I called for a 5:00 A.M. wake-up call, then I called my girls who I was chaperoning and woke them up. We all had to meet on the bus at 8:00. We had the breakfast buffet first in the hotel restaurant. It was awful. I paid $25.00 to get the breakfast buffet all week. I'll never do that again. I took bananas and yogurt every morning to the room though. We boarded the buses and drove to the Magic Kingdom. I was so excited when I saw the exit sign to Disney World on the highway. Yes I took a picture! We parked and walked to the gate. We had our bags searched and showed our ticket, then took the monorail to The Magic Kingdom. Walking through the gate was like a dream and then walking around the corner and seeing the castle was absolutely breathtaking. It was just like the Disney Tape we've been watching for 14 years. They had a horse drawn carriage and couples (Disney Dancers) singing, 'I'm Gonna Walk Down the Middle Of Main Street USA' Tears streaming down my face, I was breathless, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was more beautiful than I had ever imagined. Words just can't describe it. The streets were spotless, everyone calls you Princess, everyone is so nice. We saw Goofy walking around with Donald Duck right inside the front gates. It was heaven on Earth. I saw Chip & Dale signing autographs by City Hall. I went into the nearest shop and bought an autograph book and stood in line to get their autograph for Mason. That's all he wanted was Chip & Dale's autograph. Cynthia and I had our picture taken with them too. After that I had to walk towards the castle. I just needed to touch it. It still didn't look real. It must be a dream. It was huge, it touched the sky, it sparkled like crystal and gold. Well I didn't touch it until the last day we were there. I didn't want the dream to end.

It was now 1:30 and time to take our positions at the end of Main Street to save our spot for the parade. We were facing the castle. Our kids were the first band. To hear the announcer say, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome from Liberty Hill, Texas, the Liberty Hill Panther Band!' was breathtaking too! I choked back tears, then my camera broke, then I just watched in awe and thought, wow, there's my baby girl. Look where she is, look what she's done, look how far she's come and she's just 16. I was the proudest parent on main street that day. They played, 'Deep In The Heart Of Texas'. It was beautiful. They marched beyond the gates and I didn't see Kyle again until we boarded the bus to go back to the Hotel. I spent the rest of the time walking on a cloud. We'll be getting the DVD of the parade in August. They interviewed some of the kids, Kyle too, before and after the parade. That'll be on the DVD too. After the bands marched the character parade started. We saw Mickey, and the whole gang. Cinderella and Prince Charming were there too, in her crystal carriage. It was really them, I couldn't believe the magic of this place. Walt Disney must be so proud that his dream is still being realized today by so many people.

The rest of the time all I wanted to do was get back to the Magic Kingdom, but we had to go to Epcot one day and to MGM one day, and to Universal Studios one day. Oh, we went to Animal Kingdom one day too. I'm glad I saw all of it, but Magic Kingdom was my favorite.

I saw elephants and I danced with Lucy & Ricky Ricardo at MGM, and the best part, I met Pluto on the last day when we went back to Magic Kingdom. It was 30 minutes before we had to board the buses to go home and I met him. It was amazing. I was 9 years old again and watching the Wonderful World Of Disney at 6 P.M. on Sunday night on ABC waiting to see Pluto. I kept telling myself not to cry. It didn't work. It was my turn after standing in line for about 30 minutes. He opened his arms to hug me and the flood gates opened. I hugged him and he held me in his arms until I could stop crying for a minute. He kissed me, licked me (he's a dog), he signed my autograph book, and signed it to 'cutiepie' :) He said he loved me by pounding his heart and falling to the floor and rolling around. It was adorable and slightly over the top! I got outside and really cried. I had to take time to compose myself. I had been waiting a long time for that, and I can only think that I got so emotional, not only when I met Pluto, but for the whole trip, the castle and everything because it reminded me of a time when things were simpler. Heck, everything is simple when you're 9! I think the stress of divorce, kids, work, everything, has taken its toll on me this year and being in a place that was a fantasy land was heaven. No worries. I didn't want to come home. After meeting Pluto Cynthia and I rode the Carousel by Cinderella's castle. It was wonderful. I think the best picture of me was taken on the carousel. After that we walked through the castle and I finally touched it. It was real. The Magic Kingdom is a real place. It has real people working every day to make it magical. It has real bills that need to be paid, and real problems that they handle with love and compassion. Just like life everywhere, not just in the Magic Kingdom. We can learn from Walt Disney. Keep it clean, be nice, compassionate, and thoughtful. Or 'Thotful' as Pooh says. Everything you need to know you learned in Kindergarten or at Disney World.

On the drive home we stopped in Mississippi again and switched drivers. Eddy got off and Poncho got back on. When we stopped for breakfast somewhere in Louisiana Poncho asked me if I really wanted to drive the bus. I said are you kidding?? Heck Yes I want to drive it!! So he said as soon as we get back to the High School he'd stop and I could get behind the wheel and drive the bus to the back of the High School where all the parents were waiting to pick up their kids. Oh my, was I one happy camper! We pulled into the High School around

4 PM on Sunday and I got behind the wheel. It was amazing. Disney Magic right here in Liberty Hill! Kyle took pictures. I think I want to drive for Clark Travel now!