Girls new (shared) room!

Sharing a room is going great!!  No nighttime issues, unless someone wakes up crying or yelling--then the other one wakes up.  But really it's going great and they just go straight to sleep.  We have either been reading them books together on Rose's bottom bunk, or reading them different books at the same time, with Paige on the couch and Rose in bed.  As I mentioned the bunk came the day after we got home from Orlando which was perfect timing as they'd just been sharing a room for 2 weeks with no issues. I also really like that only 1 bedroom gets messy during the day rather than 2.  Rose really messes it up though as she likes to dress herself and pulls out all of her clothes.  The bottom drawer in the dresser was for both girls socks and underwear and now it's all a jumbled mess.  Every day Rose likes to borrow Paige's socks, but mismatched ones, so it gets even messier in there.

I wasn't sure if I would like the dark wood, but I love it. So far Rose hasn't tried to go up there at all, and there have been no injuries! We don't have a bed rail for Rose as we left it at the cottage last summer, but the bottom bunk is low and with a big pillow there at night we're not too concerned.  So far it's been almost 2 weeks and she's never fallen out either so I assume we're in the clear...hopefully.

Anyway, here it is at its neat and tidiest.  The bedding is not matched but coordinating colours from pottery barn.  The quilts are kind of thick so it's hard to tuck it in at the top, not to mention impossible for me to make the bed really besides a basic smooth down.  I'm dreading washing the sheets, but Mike will have to do that for now--the taking off and putting back on I mean.

Bye bye nummies!

While in Orlando Rose announced a few times that "I'm a big girl I don't need my nummies (soothers) anymore!".  We'd say ok and put them away, but then when nap or night came she'd ask for them back and we'd just give them to her.  They were pretty old and disgusting too, but I didn't want to buy new ones and promote the habit! I'm not sure if it was because she was sharing a room with Paige and realized that Paige doesn't have them either, but it was all her own idea.  Right before these announcements, she also announced that she didn't need a potty seat anymore and stuck to it.  Great because it's far easier to wipe her bum when she isn't on the seat.

Anyway, when we returned home she made the same announcement so I put them away and she had a nap!! Time for them to go!! That same day the new bunkbed was delivered so we put her to sleep in it with no soother and she never looked back! Awesome!!!! It was such a disaster taking it away from Paige I dreaded it and had been debating whether to do it before the baby, before the bunk bed, after the baby, etc.  Didn't really know what to do.  So thank you Rose for making it easy!! I have noticed that if she gets upset at bedtime if she's overtired that it takes longer to calm her down, but it'll take time.

Rose's first summer.  Sleeping with the nummie.

Bye bye Orlando!

Our flight wasn't until 2 something on the way home, so we were able to stay until check out time at the hotel.  In my mind, having a coffee at the park would have been nice, but the weather didn't cooperate. In a way that made it easier to go.  Sigh.

We got to the airport with plenty of time which was nice as we could have a full lunch to fill us up before the flight.  They also have a store at the airport with really healthy snacks for the flight--fruit and stuff, which I had time to pick up.  Way more relaxed than our usual rush!

Geez, you'd think they were ecstatic to get home!!

Rose is in the zone

The way home felt super short.  Just under 3 hours, but felt faster than normal.  I guess because I was tending to both girls on either side of me it went by quicker.  They were fine, I was just keeping busy.  Rose certainly was tired and could have done with a nap though as she started to break down when we landed.  She promptly fell asleep in the car on the way home.

When we arrived home (after a brief stop at the grocery store) Scout was waiting for us, as we got the daycare people to drop her off that afternoon.  That was pretty cool.  Scout wagged her tail for about an hour, although I know she has tons of fun at the daycare.  Rose was a huge mess and had 1 or 2 bites of her dinner (we had peanut butter sandwiches for dinner) and then was saying "I want my jammies on!".  Clearly Orlando days are a million times more tiring then Burlington in the winter days as Rose napped almost every day there and has only napped about once or twice since we got home 10 days ago.

So we'll see about next year! I'm already thinking it would be a great idea to go back again....even with a 10 month old in tow.  It just feels very comfortable there, and even if we don't get out as much it's really fun at the hotel.  We decided that next year maybe we'd do fewer Disney days and try a couple of different Orlando things.  Or maybe just more days at the hotel.

Last day in Orlando

I guess in a way it was good that it was cold on our last day.  It prepared us to go home. Not to mention it only got colder after we left so I stopped feeling sorry for myself at home.  

Anyway, we went to Epcot on our last day! We got there as early as we could as I wasn't going to miss out on "Soarin'" this year.  I have wanted to go on it for 3 years and there were no pregnancy restrictions and Paige was tall enough this year.  The wait was long but we got fast passes which was even better. Mike was a wimp and bought a Mickey long sleeve shirt first thing.  Rose refused to wear a long sleeve for most of the day so don't be fooled by the photos...it was cold!

strange face

Chip and Dale!

A Finding Nemo penny

On the Nemo ride

Waiting to get in.  Cold with a slight sprinkling of rain..

Soarin!!! An amazing ride.  Mike took this photo when he went on after Paige and I.  Paige's and my favourite ride of the year!

Rose on the ride in the big ball!

I'm really interested in doing the World Showcase at Epcot in the future.  It's just too much to do when Rose still (sometimes) needs naps.  If it was a sunny beautiful day and we could wander through all of the countries having some snacks and drinks I think that would be fun.  When Rose was a baby and we wanted her to nap we did it, but too much to take on now!

We'd really hoped for some sun for the last day, at least so we could swim one last time.  Mike hadn't really been in days since he was out, so that was too bad.  We ordered room service for dinner and packed up our stuff.  Sad.

Mike conference days

On the 11th, a Monday, Mike started his 3 day conference.  The first 2 days were long, morning until late evening, and the 3rd day was a shorter one ending at 2:30ish.  The weather ended up great even though there was rain in the forecast.  We were lucky as without a car in the rain we would have gotten a little stir crazy in the hotel room.

Of course we spent our days at the parks and the different pools.

Girls with their new wet pets to play with in the water

Paige was really excited to get a hair wrap thing in her hair.  It lasts up to 2 months.  It's actually a pre-done piece that ties onto a small braid in her hair.

Rose watching the hair braiding.  Good thing she didn't want it too, as it wasn't cheap!

Sooo excited about it!!

Sitting on the porch wishing for a tropical drink...

Better view of the hair

Sand park right outside our unit

Watching ducks on a cloudy morning. We left the room super early as I wanted to get out before the rain came...and it never did until the evening.  Only sunny and hot and fantastic in the day. 

I realized I have no pictures from the tiny dolphin pool and the pirate ship pool.  The dolphin pool is great if I don't feel like getting wet as it is only about 1 foot deep and i can just sit off to the side while the girls pretend to be dolphins and alligators.  The pirate ship is the exact opposite as it's very interactive for me.  I worry that Rose will fall down the steps leading up to the slide so I end up walking back and forth at the very least, or going down the slide again and again.  I like the main pool as it has the shallow area, as well as the deeper part for swimming.

Another activity we did one morning was the "Critter painting". They got to pick a wooden critter to paint...Paige chose a salamander and Rose chose a shark.  Paige took a very long time as she painted a pattern on hers, and Rose was slightly quicker but put the thickest paint possible on her shark.  We had to leave them at the activity centre to dry while we went swimming as there was no way we could even attempt to get them back to the room with all of our stuff without getting paint all over everything.

The day the conference finished early, we went to downtown Disney when Mike got home.  He was looking forward to picking up more Lego! We ate an early dinner there as we could see the storm clouds coming.  We got back to the car just in time before it started to pour.

Playing with the new Lego before bed:

Hollywood studios

Sadly, Grandma Val had to return to freezing cold Edmonton on the 10th.  Luckily her flight wasn't super early, but it was right after breakfast.  Mike drove her to the airport after a sad goodbye.  we missed having her around, and I'm sure she missed us ;) and also the weather and relaxing. 

When Mike returned from the airport, we went to Hollywood Studios.  I find this is the least suited to their age category, and has some "movie set" tours of old movies that are older than me, as well as a couple of my favs, Tower of Terror and the Rockin Roller Coaster (which I never get to go on anymore).  But for a short day there are plenty of things to do:

Another Daddy and Paige only ride: Star Tours

Wreck it Ralph! We haven't seen the movie but the girls love the preview!

 I'm glad we went to the Indiana Jones show.  The girls really loved the explosions and the action, although Paige thought the people were really punching and shooting each other.  Good thing they explained about stunts, but it still required further explanation.

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is still kicking around!

Honey I Shrunk the kids.  It was an absolute zoo so we left right away. 

A penny for the collection!

We decided to start a squished penny collection this year.  We bought a little souvenir book to hold them in.  You see them in various locations throughout the theme parks.

It was later in the day when we got home so we skipped Rose's nap but both girls were so tired that they went to bed at an unprecedented 6:30, right after dinner.

A little park and watching a show before dinner: