More Vacation Days

I went outside a little while ago to plant some sunflower seeds and wouldn't you know it, that was the *exact* time that the rain decided it would *finally* like to make an appearance? We've been waiting on rain forever now and it has even been cloudy but the clouds haven't managed to squeak out more than a few measly drops and now it's a deluge. I will refrain from complaining though because I never complain about rain in the summer after the drought we had last year.

So this gives me time to sip a smoothie and talk about our vacation some more. So where was I? Oh, yes, we were leaving Lakeland and heading to the land of ubiquitous mouse ears. We got a later start than we wanted to but it has to be in the genes because we actually passed Shane and Angie on I-4 and Trav's parents, brother, sister and his brother's girlfriend were only 15 minutes behind. So we followed Shane and Angie to the Old Key West Resort and while the guys were checking in (don't you love it that "the guys" do that stuff? I really do and it's one reason I got married) the little girls decided a potty break was in order and I'm glad they did because we got to explore everything a bit. And in true Disney fashion the attention to detail was incredible. I'm pretty sure that the resort was built in the 90's though and I felt like that was pretty evident in the pickled oak cabinetry and the abundant use of peaches and greens in the room but I was probably being overly picky. As we searched around the check in area we quickly found out that they offer a complimentary boat service to Downtown Disney- so very cool! The girls and I decided that we'd be taking the boat that evening.

By the time we checked in the rest of the Johnson's had caught up with us and we all headed over to our room. It was funny but the two bedroom villa was 370 sq. ft. bigger than our house- with one less bedroom. But as you would expect, it was really nice. It wasn't incredibly luxurious but it was very comfortable and functional. And thankfully, it was roomy too. Because there were 15 of us packed into the living room. And, as per usual, it was *loud*. We don't see Trav's family often enough so when we are all together there's lots of talking and laughing and louder talking, trying to be heard over the other loud talking. I don't think we'd have it any other way. So we ordered pizza, scarfed it down and headed to the boat that would take us to Downtown Disney. Which didn't happen all that quickly because any time you have 4 small kids and a newborn baby in tow, nothing moves fast. But we made it to the boat and took the 20-ish minute boat ride to the shops. And if you liked you could take a boat from there to Pleasure Island (which I've always thought it was strange that they would name a place that. In Pinnocchio all the little rebellious boys went to Pleasure Island to drink and smoke and they turned into jack-asses- I'm just sayin') or to Disney's West Side. It would have been nice if we'd been able to go to the latter since they've got some great restaurants (Wolfgang Puck & Bongo's), Cirque du Soleil and a very large Virgin records but it just wasn't possible in the time we had and again, 15 people. So, everybody headed off and somehow we found the really large fountains that shoot up out of the ground for the girls to play in. While they were doing that, Amanda and I decided to head to the Bath store for a bath fizzie that I'd been dying to have and to get an ice cream cone for her. While we were in line at the Ghirardelli's I got a phone call from Travis who was trying to find us and then I heard "hold on, hold on!" and the line went dead. Criminy! So we set off to find Trav and the girls and to see what injury had just occured. And sadly that's the last time I saw my cellphone. I remember holding somebody that was crying, Chloe with a really big lump on her noggin and nothing else about my phone. Of course, I was so distracted that I didn't notice until we left the resort two days later that it was gone- serious bummer. My phone was in pristine condition and now I have to use Amanda's old phone that has been dropped 80+ times-sigh. We headed back to the boat just in time to make it's last run and headed back to the resort.

The next day was filled with swimming and enjoying the big waterslide that looked like a sandcastle. We all went down, including Halle who needed a little kick start (yes, I shoved her down the slide into the waiting arms of her daddy) and then I think we just chilled. I really needed to rest because we'd been moving fast forward for days but that's really hard with a room full of little ones. But we visited another resort that evening. Shane and Angie wanted to see if trading their points for a stay at Disney's Animal KingdomLodge would be worthwhile. It was pretty cool with all sorts of African wildlife roaming about a big plain but the resort itself wasn't really my style. All of the Buttons (especially very vocal Chloe) decided that it was just too dark for us. We like things lighter and brighter.

And that's all for today. This is starting to feel like it's taking as long as my actual vacation did.