Lauren Stack

Oh how our family adores the Texas State Fair!

What's not to love? The rides, the animals, the fried food and Texas pride?

It holds a piece of our hearts- so much so that we are having a

Texas State Fair Themed birthday party for my big boy turning FOUR!!!

Here is a peek back at the past five years opening morning at the fair!

2012:

This was my first time to go on opening morning!

We went to celebrate one of my very best friends, Lauren Logan's birthday!

That was the moment I realized it was clean, less crowded and discounted on the opening day!!

I'm pretty sure I called in work sick which was a big deal for me! Haha!

I used to never miss work!

Eli was in the womb and this was before Big Tex burned down

(and apparently before good cell phone pic's! Ha!)

Pregnant with Eli!

Turkey Leg and Corn- Fair staples!

2013:

This year I invited some other mama's to come along for opening morning and we had a blast!

It was Eli's first time at the fair! He was only 5 months old and I remember it being super hot and having to find places to breast him in air conditioning! The life of a mom!!

2014:

This was the first year we dragged the husbands along even though they all have to take a day off of work! This was Eli's second trip to the fair and his first time to really experience the fun!

2015:

I was ten thousand years pregnant with Caroline Carlisle this year which means I got to indulge in just about anything my little heart desired!

I remember Eli LOVING the little farm and the animals so much!

2016:

This has to be one of my favorite years!

Eli really got to enjoy the rides and the games!

CC had a blast and munched on corn like no ones business!

Last April we took Eli and Caroline Carlisle to Disney World

as a part of Eli's THIRD birthday celebration!

My dad and nana came with us and we honestly had

the time of our lives!

Seeing Disney through a three year olds eyes was magical.

It was the absolute perfect age to go and Mitch and I decided that all of our babies will get

third birthday celebrations at Disney from now on!!!!

Cinderella's Castle is just magical!!!!!

This is one of my ALL time favorite pictures! What a cherished memory!

Tea Cups with grandpa!

My princess CC was only 5 months old!!

We Stayed in the most gorgeous 2 bedroom Villa at Kidani Village

{click link to book your room!!!} in the Animal Kingdom!

The room was as nice as the Ritz Carlton and had a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, living room, guest bath, and laundy room!

We literally overlooked Animal Kingdom and had 30 wildlife animals in our backyard!

Eli LOVED having the giraffe so close!

One of the highlights of the trip was lunch with

Chef Mickey!

We got to celebrate Eli's birthday with all the classic Mickey characters and he was totally starstruck the whole time!!!

Some of our favorite things about our days at Magic Kingdom were

Tony's Town Square restaurant aka the Lady and the Tramp restaurant,

the bakery on Main Street {Let's get real, I could have stayed on Main Street ALL day, just looking around and exploring. Everything Walt Disney does, he does with sheer excellence!!!!!}

The "Be Our Guest" restaurant was fun and we found a hidden Mickey but to be honest we liked Akershus Royal Banquet Hall breakfast in Epcot's Norway better! It had all the princesses! :)

the parade everyday had to be a family favorite! We danced and sang and waved

to all our "Friends"!!!

The Winne the Pooh Ride

The Dumbo Ride, the Peter Pan Ride, and It's a Small World!

The next day we went to Epcot and I have to say I was surprised that this was alllllllmost as amazing to me as Magic Kingdom.

We were there during the 2016 topiary and garden display month and it literally took my breath away!

It was just magnificent!!!!!

We felt like we ate and shopped our way around the world with stops in every country!

Breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall was a blast! All the princesses were there and there was a Royal procession for all the kids!

The next day we went to Hollywood Studios and the highlight was the the Toy Story Ride and meeting Buzz, Woody and the Army guys!

After our Dumbo obsession I have to say Toy Story was king in or household for about a year!

And I have to say it's still a family favorite!!!

Some other highlights were the movie ride (which I think might have been a tad scary for kids), the 50's cafe, and chocolate dipped Mickey ice-cream treats!!!

The last day we went on the animal kingdom safari but I somehow don't have any pictures?

Haha!

Overall, Disney World was more magical than I could have imagined and we are already planning to go back for Caroline Carlisle's third birthday!

{And were going to Disneyland this summer but I don't think it's quite the same}

We want to go when it's all decorated for Christmas, stay at the Floridian which is super close and go to the Bippity Bobbity Boutique!!!!