Part 10: Daddy goes to work..

At least it started to warm up for our first day without Mike at the hotel.  In the morning we wandered on over to get a Starbucks coffee from the restaurant, and then signed up for the kids activity "Giant Wooden Snakes".  A lady from the "fun team" hid 4 wooden snakes around the pool area which Paige and Rose tried to find.  Then they got to paint one.  I originally just paid for 1 snake to be painted, but then Rose was jealous and I asked for another one.  The lady gave the snakes to the girls on paper plates.  Rose proceeded to paint the plate and only the plate.  She was reaching in for brush after brush and mixing all the colours up in the ice cube tray that they were in.  Paige was doing a good job in switching her brushes and not mixing and I eventually gave her Rose's snake to paint and just let Rose continue on her plate. THey got soooo dirty! THe plan after the snake activity was to go to the playground so I left the snake and plate masterpieces at the activity desk to dry and took my kids who looked like ruffians to the park.  I wish I had taken a picture of them painting the snakes but I really couldn't take my hands off Rose as she was getting out of hand!

During the afternoon Paige played with  2 wooden snakes for more than an hour and a half while I read and lied down.  

After Rose's nap I took them to the small kids wading pool right outside our building.  It is only 1 foot deep but I sat on the edge as Rose could slip and go under, as she did once.  Paige likes to pretend to be a dolphin in this pool and there is a small seal spray thing on the side, but some other people had covered it up with a chair. 

Cool sky:

After the pool we proceeded to look for our lost money at the sand park but were unsuccessful.

I let the girls watch the Winnie the Pooh movie while I made dinner and then some of Rio.  They have watched Monster's Inc at least 3 times on this trip as well as Rio.  Our days are so busy that by the evening they like watching a show while I make dinner--and I like that they watch one too.  haha.

Now that they are used to sharing a room I read them books together on the spare bed, said that it was time for sleep and they gave each other hugs and kisses, we tucked Paige in and then I put Rose in her crib and I said good night and turned out the light and then they went to sleep.  hmmm...that was a long sentence, but you get the idea...

Part 9: Last minute Epcot, AKA "the coldest day ever"

We actually only have this 1 photo from Epcot! How sad.  The morning was so so so cold at 0 degrees, that I was dreading the day....staying in the hotel room all day was not an option! There aren't many indoor activities in a place like Orlando, so we decided to go to Epcot since we still had days left on our Disney pass.  We put the girls in hoodies and their fall jackets.  Rose had on double layer pants.  We remembered Epcot had some longer rides, and the ones we knew we would go on were relatively close together.

We arrived to Epcot to find that it was busy as ever.  We headed straight for the Spaceship Earth ride in the big silver ball.  The line was moving quick but of course stopped for about 10 minutes while we stood in the cold and Paige was sooo upset about the cold--mike held her like a baby in the line.  Rose was in my arms upset and taking her hood off and then shivering.  Finally we boarded the long ride, which was a nice reprieve.  We then headed to the Nemo ride and accompanying aquarium, which is where we took the above photo.  Rose was not happy about the shark and wouldn't get in the photo.  After she was saying something along the lines of "no shark, cheese"--as in I won't say cheese beside the shark.

We ate an early lunch and then went on "The Land", which was essentially a boat tour about agriculture and greenhouses--Paige really liked it and said "again!!" after it was over.  So funny.  I really wanted to go on "Soarin'" as I missed it last year, but the wait was 70 minutes.  One day...

Our final ride was the Figment ride, which starred a little purple dragon--we knew Paige would love this ride.

After that it was late and we went home.  It was slightly nicer at this point and not a cloud in the sky so it was definitely bearable, but time to bring Rose home for a nap.  We had to skip the World Showcase, but it is such a long walk, and we didn't have time.  Last year we did it as Rose just napped in her stroller.  I wanted to visit the Biergarten this year, but oh well.

Later in the day we needed to leave the room for housekeeping so we went to the park and played treasure hunt with money which we couldn't find in the end.   For dinner Mike BBQ'd steak as he froze in the cold with a broken BBQ.

Part 8: Another day off

We had a $50 resort credit after some housekeeping issues...or I should say "housekeeper" issues.  Anyway, we decided to spend it on a pancake breakfast at the hotel restaurant. 

Then we visited a couple of the parks, and looked at the pirate pool.  By this point the wind and cold were starting so we couldn't actually swim.

Later in the day we went to the "Orlando Premium Outlets".  Mike got some Nike shoes and I got a Coach purse.  Fun times.  Then we battened down the hatches as there was a "windchill warning"--it was going to be 0 degrees the next morning.  Ooooh.  The windchill advisory actually said "dress warmly in layers and wear a hat and gloves".

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.