Up a creek without a paddle

Or in other words at Disney without a camera.

Seriously who goes to Disney with no camera? There is an explanation but really does it matter, no camera at Disney, that is all that matters. Not one picture to show for it.

Yet in true Disney style something magical happened. All day long there were no stuggles to get a kid to look my direction, no aggravation at the spouse to help make these once in a lifetime moments happen. No hassle on rides holding a bulky camera. No wondering if anyone is going to pilfer my $100 camera bag filled with lenses while we are on a ride. Magical, yes. Wonderful, and freeing.

Something else happened to. I remembered the moments that made the day. Locked them away like a treasure in my heart. My favorite? We were in the brand new Fantasy Land area, the part in the back that is made to look like a circus. Made to look vintage exposed bulbs hung all around, sparkling in the night. Primary colors, the colors of childhood surrounded you. We went into the Dumbo tent that houses a fantastic interactive indoor park. My feet were getting a break. I was marveling in the awesome idea to wait in line in a air conditioned park while your children play and parents reprove. I was reveling in this moment when my brother called over my niece and my daughter. He gave my nice the tell tale blue and white souvenir bag famous for housing beautiful bought treasures. He told my niece to give it to Ella, Inside was a mickey mouse ears hat. The ears were silver, the hat was pink and wrapped around the front was a sparkly tiara, cascading down the back was a pink veil embroidered with silver. Ella put it on beaming from ear to ear. Peyton, had a matching one and my brother brought them together for a picture in their matching mickey ears. That wasn't the moment. The magical moment came as Ella turned to run after her cousin. What she actually did was spun around on one foot, kicking the other up in the air while simultaneously flipping the veil over her shoulder like long locks of golden hair. It was her private princess moment, and we all witnessed it. Sometimes you never realize the value of a moment until it burns in your brain as a memory. There may have been thousands of people in those parks that day, but in that moment my little girl, my petit bebe, felt for one fleeting moment, that she was a princess. You can't capture that feeling with a camera. In that moment I felt the gift of motherhood. The keeper of these memories, my gift from God. Pictures are captured on corruptible paper, that fade with time, but I will have that magical miracle moment of motherhood etched into my memory until the day I die.