We made it!

What a day we have had! It started by getting up at 3:00 am to make our flight at 6:30 Monday morning.  The kids did great!  They were perfect little troopers getting out of bed and making it to the car when asked.  They were just so excited to ride an airplane I think and also the fact that they were awake before the sun was.

The adventures all started with the airplane ride.  While some of us caught up on some much needed sleep...



Others of us used the time to try something new. 





I can only wonder if Sam would still sleep as good as she did if she knew Noah was flying the plane.

We finally got into the resort and found our cabin.  The kids were loving the lizards and horses  - we just needed to head off toward Downtown Disney for the day.   This started off pretty good and as we were hungry we aimed straight for the T-Rex restaurant.  As Disney would have it though, right inside the gate was a store with the ever popular design your own Mickey Mouse hats.  Of special note was the hat that Sam found for herself.  She found a pink mouse ear hat that says "Disney Princess" on it.  Of course, no princess hat would be complete without a veil off the back and a jeweled tiara up front!! Sam was right in her element with this new crown! Yes, everyone but daddy got a hat here. Each of the hats matched the personality of the owner perfectly.  There just wasn't a perfect match for Mark -  but we're not giving up hope on the Mickey Mouse ears for the one who needs the sun protection the most.  We'll look again tomorrow.

We made it to the restaurant and after a little coaxing, the kids did great.  They loved the loud Dinosaurs and meteor shower here.

Legoland really showed off Dawson's creative side. He created a Lego car that raced other cars in several races and he Won every race!  Congratulations Dew!

After some misc shopping for Disney trading pins and just looking around (which the kids were quickly learning that Downtown Disney wasn't their favorite place) we headed back toward our cabin to see if our luggage had arrived and to get ready for dinner with a couple of friends that live down here.

We met Craig and Lynn and had a great conversation and watched as the kids really warmed up to each of them.  The last time we saw them, we were pregnant with Dawson but all three kids acted totally like themselves when they saw them.  Of course, it helps when the adults interact with them so easily.  (I'll spare you the Mickey ears picture Craig!) 



After dinner and a great conversation, the cast member mentioned that there were fireworks at the beach that we could go see.  We all ran out as we heard them from where we were and saw just the last few that were going off as we reached the beach.   The kids then had a blast running up and down the docks with Craig.  I was really surprised when they kept running back and forth as it was about 9:00 at night by now and they all had only taken a small "cat nap" during the day.  I had thought that they must be running on empty, but when I saw that they were running like this - I remembered all the deserts they had and understood where this energy came from.   At about this point, Dawson just stopped in the middle of a sprint and stated "I'm running out of energy."  I guess the sugar rush was now over!

Back at our room, we asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was.  Noah said it was "racing on the peer with Uncle Craig."  Dawson said "everything" and Sam said that she loved the airplane ride.  We'll have to see how they do tomorrow.   We're headed off to Animal Kingdom for a morning breakfast with Donald Duck!!   Tomorrow night is "Mickey's not so scary Holloween".