Disney, Day One

Today was our first full day here at Orlando. We spent the majority of the time at the Magic Kingdom on Disney. I had a few thoughts during the day:

1. We have probably visited this attraction too many times in our lifetimes. As we were waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion, the kids and John were talking about their favorite upcoming moments in the ride. Too, we didn't really need the map. We know where pretty much everything is, and even Johannah remembered eating at Pinocchio's Haus before (and even remembered what food it serves!)

2. Glo still finds the magic in the Magic Kingdom. She remembers little from previous years, and she couldn't wait to ride the next ride or see the next show. She had a constant amazed/happy grin on her face all day. This made me think that our visit today was still a good thing.

3. Ethan is my Disney baby. Ethan grew up on the Disney songs and movies. I learned them too, singing them with him in the car. Mark never really found his groove in Disney (he loved Batman and Spiderman too much), and by the time the girls came along, the boys were watching "older" movies that the girls watched too. So watching Ariel singing "Part of My World", memories came flooding back to me of Ethan. Same with Simba and "I Just Can't Wait to be King". Ethan still loves to sing these songs. Ethan is my Disney boy.

4. I love the sun. I can't deny it. As much as I love seeing the leaves of Fall, and I love the ambiance of winter and the holiday season, I feel healthy and recharged in the sun. I almost cringed when we entered some air-conditioned ride or restaurant. Even driving home with 85 degree weather and 90% humidity, I wanted the windows down and the AC off. I like to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, and I like to sweat, and I think I spend too much of my time wrapped up in clothes and blankets. The only downside to heat is that I have to wear summer clothes which don't flatter my large figure.

5. We are a swimming family. We got home at 7:30, and I insisted on being in the apartment for Survivor at 8:00. We swam for 25 minutes, came back and watched Survivor and then headed back to the pool until 10. The kids couldn't believe it had been an hour and would have stayed another hour if I had let them. We love swimming.

6. I was reminded today why I married John. He spent the entire day speaking in an Italian accent. Not sure why. Not sure how he picked that accent. But I spent the entire day laughing. Too, he used the Italian accent as license to use the word "crap" like 300 times in the day. Mind you, if he had used that word in normal conversation, I would have hesitated to even be around him, knowing he was very upset. However, in his Italian accent, he could express any and all frustrations, and we could have a stomach-cramping laugh session at the moment.



7. Traveling in the off season is the best. The longest we waited in any line was 10 minutes, and most we just walked on. Woot!

Bis morgen...