Silly, crazy, emotional-roller-coaster day!

The countdown for leaving Orlando is down to 5 days. Why is time going so fast! Before I know it gray hairs are going to be popping out of my head! But today has been a very interesting day. Mainly because I got emotional 3 times… 3 stinkin’ times!

I was on the monorail with a few others from work, going to help during the afternoon parade. I was looking forward to it because I like parade and interacting with guests a ton, and also today was special because it would be my last parade I worked before I headed home. But this little girl was on the monorail with her dad, she might have been 3 or 4. But it was her first time at Disney World and oh my goodness she was adorable! She was all smiles and had giggles of excitement to see Mickey and the princesses. But she was sitting on her dad’s lap, looking out the window. We turned the corner, and out from above the trees is Cinderella’s Castle. She started bouncing up and down and yelling “The castle! The castle!” as she pointed at it. Luckily I had my sunglasses on, because at this point I just started getting a little bit teary eyed. I see kids getting excited every day, but this girl’s experience brought back my memories of seeing Cinderella’s Castle when I first arrived. Of course I wasn’t jumping up and down with excitement (ok… maybe deep down I was!), but I knew once I saw that castle, the next 3 months were going to be magical. Just like every kid’s experience seeing the castle for the first time is magical. And I have had more magical experience than I can count!

Parade was the same as usual, except way hotter and I started getting frustrated at the end after standing 2 hours in the heat. But again, I got teary-eyed as my favorite float came by. A cool float with Alice, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan and Wendy. I smiled as they went by, and Peter Pan even looked at me and winked. He was most likely just being goofy because he was excited to get out of the heat, since I was at the very end of the parade route. And I’ve had some of the characters hug or kiss me as they walked by during the parade, but Peter Pan winking at me was a great way to say goodbye to my favorite float.

I decided to call my Grammie today, because I love her sooooo much! Of course I love her, but the main reason I had to call her was that she sent me this email. A poisonous spider from India was found in North Florida and killed 3 girls… and now they have been found in other states. But did she have to send me an email about spiders being found in Florida, where I am? She didn’t mean to scare me but she did! Spiders are my biggest fear, but she thought it was important information for others and me in our family to know. So after talking about the whole spider thing, we started talking about my Great Grandpa Lewis, who lived in Soap Lake and had passed away a couple weeks ago. My Grandpa Chlarson went to his memorial, and my Uncle Bob was there, my Grandpa Lewis, and probably a few other members of my family. I am not close to my Lewis side at all. I wish I was but it has just been hard with the circumstances I have had to deal with. I haven’t seen my Grandpa Lewis since my Grandma Lewis passed away… 13 years ago. But I have made the effort to talk to some of my Lewis family… aunts, uncles, cousins. It has been good to do what I can. But I do wish I could see my Grandpa Lewis more.

My Grammie was telling me some stories about my Great Grandpa, who I hardly knew. But something she said really hit me hard. She said a couple months ago, she ran into him at church. And the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “That Kylie girl is something else, how is she doing?” It’s as if he has somehow kept up with my life, and I didn’t even know him. That made me tear up probably the most out of the other two times today. I feel so bad that I never found a way to connect to him, when he somehow found a way to connect with me. But now more than ever I want to stay in touch as much as possible with my Lewis side of my family, especially my Grandpa who I haven’t talked to in 13 years. He wrote me a letter and sent it to me when I graduated high school 3 years ago, saying he wants to have a relationship with me. So I’m going to make that happen. I do feel like a part of me is missing sometimes. Maybe being connected with him again is what I need.

My Grammie also told me some great news… my Grandpa Lewis is going to be in Soap Lake for a couple weeks, which means he will be there when I go home. I’ll only be home a day, but if I could see him I think it would mean a lot to both of us. So I’m going to figure out how to get a hold of him and see what I can do.

What a day. From a cute and silly girl, to a crazy parade, to finally an emotional conversation, I think it is time I go to bed and give my non-stop thinking brain a rest.

Oh… and I had Wednesday and Thursday off. I went to Blizzard Beach on Wednesday with some friends from work and got burnt to a crisp! And had an interesting experience I will have to blog about soon! Thursday I went to Epcot with my Friend Laura and walked around the countries.