Part 7: Magic Kingdom by night!

We had dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom, so we made an evening trip to the park.  We first headed to Tomorrowland as we had skipped it on the first day.  We went to Buzz Lughtyear's Space Ranger Spin, which is a ride where you shoot targets with a laser gun. 

Afterwards we went to the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, which is a sit down show that we really liked last year.  Rose was really not into the show, and I ended up having to take her out before she wrecked it for everyone.  We needed to head straight to our dinner after this one.  The skies looked pretty threatening and it was supposed to rain so we covered the one stroller up that we could and hoped for the best--it never actually rained until we got in the car.

The dinner at the Crystal Palace was kinda expensive, but a really tasty buffet.  We got to see the characters from Winnie the Pooh throughout our dinner.  Ever since the incident at Olive Garden with the chocolate milk Paige has been telling all waiters that "last time she had to much chocolate milk and it made her throat hurt a little bit".

After dinner I insisted that we go to the Christmas shop as I wanted to get a decoration for our tree.  I really regretted not visiting the store last year, so that was a must on my list of things to get (along with the tea towels and magnet which i already got). I love wandering through Adventureland and Frontier land in the winter when it's dark early in the evening.  All the little shops and restaurants have lights on, but there aren't many other lights on and it's nice and dark and magical.

One of my favourite moments so far was when the whole family rode the carousel.  Mike took the picture and you can see Rose, Me, and then Paige in the background.  Rose loved the ride and cried when it ended.  Paige needed to go to the bathroom so Mike took Rose on again.

We then bought the girls a spinning glow stick each and went to watch the fireworks which was a bit of a bust.  I was so looking forward to the show but it soon became apparent that the girls were too tired.  We ended up making our way through the park while the show was on and hit main street as the show ended (too bad we bought the glowsticks).

During the day Paige and I had done some major swimming.  Probably more than an hour.  We started swimming as it was cloudy, continued to swim through a downpour, and kept swimming as it got warm and sunny.  It was pretty tiring and probably too much for Paige to stay up super late.  

The girls both fell asleep in the car on the way home.   Rose was spinning her glow stick with her eyes closed.  Luckily the batteries were almost dead and it wasn't lighting up, just spinning (mike had taped the button in the on position with a bandaid when she was getting upset that it wouldn't stay on).  I'm hoping that somehow we can see the fireworks before we leave, but I'd rather leave on a high note than with everyone half asleep and cranky. 

So funny that Paige had more energy last year, and Rose could just fall asleep in her stroller.  I think last year we were less active during the day as Rose needed 2 naps, so Paige could stay up later. 

Part 6: Hollywood Studios

Good thing I'm blogging frequently as I'm having a hard time remembering things from 4 days ago! We went to Hollywood Studios on Thursday.

We lined up to wait for the characters from Monster's Inc.  Rose was a bit scared but obviously happy about it after the fact.  We brought the movie with us and she has asked to watch it repeatedly since..."Monster's INC! Monster's INC!!".

We then headed to the Honey I Shrunk the kids play area.  There were a few slides and very large things to take your picture with.

Rose refused to join Paige in this photo, but kept talking about the "puppy nose" after.  It made loud sniffing noises.

We watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show.

Toy Story Mania ride. Way less of a wait this year now that the ride isn't brand new.

There were these green army men walking around everywhere dropping "grenades", saluting, spying through windows, and signing autographs. So funny.

We also watched the Little Mermaid show.  Rose is not that great at shows and gets bored if they are too long.  She was easier last year as a baby actually, in many aspects.

Part 5: Day off

We needed a little break from the excitement to we had a lazy day at the hotel park and pool.  We started off the day by grabbing a Starbucks coffee from the hotel restaurant, took some family photos,  and then wandered off to let the girls play at the playground.  It got hot really early so Mike went back to get our swimsuits and we had a nice swim before lunch.  

I also wanted a break from cooking dinner and grocery shopping so we went to Olive Garden for dinner.  Pretty good except Rose was squirmy and Paige drank so much chocolate milk she almost puked.  I ate way too much food and we had a really really filling dessert of these sugar dusted donuts with chocolate dipping sauce.

Later, Paige and I talked on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa, who called us at the hotel.