Last night, I was lying in bed counting time backwards and was surprised to discover it's already been two weeks since our weekend vacation at Disney. It was too short, but your Daddy and I both enjoyed everything we got to do with you there. We stayed at the Saratoga Springs Resort. Our room had a private porch that faced the forest-lined canal system and was located right next to one of the pools. When we came back from the parks late at night, a big, fat, brown bunny would hop lazily down the sidewalk ahead of us like he was escorting us back home. You called him a puppy.
We took you to Typhoon Lagoon the first day. They have a childrens' area just for tiny ones your age and we got there early enough to snag a spot out of the sun, under a tiki canopy to stash our stuff and call home base. You went down your first water slide and it spit you out so fast and hard that you skipped like a stone on your belly over the pebbly surface of the play area, but you got right back up and scampered off before any of us could even ask if you were ok. Daddy and I took you on a family raft ride. You spent the entire 2 minute stretch trying to climb me like a cat up a tree when chased by a dog, but at the very end, you laughed and clapped your hands so we figured you're not likely to suffer a life-long case of PTSD from the experience.
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That night, we rode the boat to downtown Disney. The banks along the way were lined with solemn rows of great white herons who watched the boat's passage nearly motionless. You pointed out the smallest ones and shouted "baby, baby" non-stop until they were far behind us. You're going through a stage of being fascinated with babies and you're actually very tender with them; human, animal and inanimate.
We ate at the Dinosaur restaurant. It was a little dicey at first since you really didn't take well to the life-sized roaring T-rex that is the first creature to greet diners at the entrance. They sat us in the ocean theme room which helped to calm you down a little, despite the mammoth animatronic octopus that was suspended from the ceiling and the simulated thunder storms that would roar through the restaurant at regular intervals, complete with flashing lights and sounds of driving rain. You ate all the cherries out of my drink. My parents used to give me theirs when I was a kid so I figure it's karmic retribution that as a mother myself now, I don't get to eat my own cherries. The next day, we visited MGM studios. The highlight for you was the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. I think they'll probably replace that soon since no one past my generation even knows it was once a popular movie, but the playground was awesome. It's regular objects found in a typical backyard built to colossal scale. There were ant tunnels to crawl through, a spider's web to climb, a water gun that shot out random jets of water, blades of grass bent into slides and other random things to climb and slide down. You and I spent a lot of time in the tunnels. You had a much easier time of it though since I had to get down on my hands and knees and crawl around just to fit and I was completely breathless from chasing you around by the time we left. While Daddy rode Star Wars countless times in a row, we went to the Beauty and the Beast musical. After waiting for an unmentionable amount of time for it to start in the stroke-inducing heat of a Florida summer, we only got through the first song before you had enough and started climbing the stairs to the exit. Personally, I was relieved because it was not what you would call Broadway worthy. We stayed long enough to see the Pixar parade at 3:00. While we waited, we tried to get you to eat, but you refused the sandwich, carrots and grapes in favor of the chocolate chip cookie and apple juice. You only got to eat half of the cookie though before it crumbled and fell onto the street where a trio of thankful finches were quick to swoop in and help themselves. You cried loudly at them "no, no" and seemed very put out with their audacity, even stomping your foot in a temper at one point.
Your Daddy and I left you with your Grandma & Grandpa Conder for a little while to go back to the park and ride the rides we couldn't take you on. While we were gone, you slept most of the day away, but were awake to greet us when we returned after midnight. After your Grandparents went to bed, we were all very sneaky, changed into our swimsuits and crept out to the pool to enjoy a late night splash under the big, full moon. You practiced jumping into our arms from the side of the pool. I floated peacefully while you and Daddy used foam pool noodles to battle one another Star Wars Style. It was the perfect end to our trip.
All my love,
Mama
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