Closing the pool

Vivian has been demanding to go swimming every day since we got back from Disney. Even before Disney, when the weather turned warm, she wanted to swim. But I hate the indoor pool - unless I'm swimming laps, it's very cold for me to wade in the water without getting a workout.

So I signed Viv up for swim lessons and yesterday was her first day. They are at 2:10pm and on the day where Sophie gets off school early. We picked Sophie up at the bus stop and headed straight for the pool.

I brought Sophie's swim stuff so she could swim around while Viv was in her lesson. I met the new swim teacher and was back and forth between keeping an eye on Sophie, and throwing toys for her to dive for, and checking on Viv's progress at swim class.

After swim class was over, the girls wanted to continue swimming, which was fine with me. It's wonderful at this point that I don't have to get in the water with them anymore. They can both swim and hold their breath.

The lifeguard came over to the baby pool where all the kids were playing and looked at something in the water. It was small and brown. uh-oh. He called his supervisor, they fished it out and confirmed it was time to close the pool! The whistles blew and everyone got out. I was glad so we could get home and get on with baths and dinner. The girls asked what was going on, and I said that a baby must have poo'd in the pool and when there is poo in the pool, they have to close the pool.

After the girls took hot showers, dried off and were dressing, I jokingly whispered in Sophie's ear:

"Did YOU poo in the pool?" fully expecting her to get a wide grin on her face and say NO Mommy!

But instead, she sheepishly and quietly said, "yes mommy. I'm sorry."

I can not describe to you the state of shock I was in. She was the last person I had expected to have pooped in the pool! But I have to admit, I was wondering why seemed to be picking her suit out of her butt crack so much. I had just bought her a brand new suit long enough for her torso so it didn't make sense she'd be picking at it.

Around me I heard conversation of the young girls on swim team, aged 10-14, asking if there were phones they could borrow. They all needed rides. I offered my phone to a sweet young girl to call her mom. How could I not?

I asked Sophie why. She said her stomach hurt. Then she said she didn't know. I suppose the real answer is because she is 6. ???

Vivi

She just told me, after I wiped her bottom:

"Mommy, I like it when you call me Vivi." with a big smile.

Disney Magic Kingdom

We woke in the dark - today we had to get to the park for "Extra Magic" hours. These are the hours the park is open only to resort guests. Only the Disney buses are allowed into the park. On Thursday, the extra magic hours began at 7am.

Instead of eating buffet breakfast at the Swan at 6:30, when they opened, we opted to grab breakfast at Magic Kingdom. The girls donned their costumes - Sophie wore her Minnie Mouse costume from Halloween, and Viv wore her Sleeping Beauty dress.

As we walked outside to the bus stop, the sky was clear and the moon was full. I wondered, "What am I doing out here in the cold and dark, going to Disney?" Alas, there were several other families at the bus stop waiting - we weren't the only crazies. The bus didn't take long to show up - we hopped on and were on our way.

About 10 minutes before 7, an announcement came on telling the crowd to move to the middle of the courtyard for prime viewing of the opening ceremony. Yes, there is an entire opening ceremony you can witness if you get to Disney in the dark. A train pulled up carrying Mickey and Goofy, music played, confetti was sprayed and the park was open.

The castle was beautifully illuminated pink and purple in the dark. We stopped to grab breakfast - the girls ate Froot Loops, and I had shredded wheat with me, grabbed some milk, and a banana. Then we continued to the back of the park, also known as FantasyLand. This is behind the castle, and Snow White's ride is there, Small World and Peter Pan's flight ride as well. We got a fast pass for Peter Pan and the machine spit out special bonus fast passes for Mickey's PhilHarmagic. It's a cartoon you watch with 3D glasses, but it is the coolest thing I ever saw! It was by far my favorite thing we did in any of the parks, except for the Toy Story video game ride.

The girls were very scared in Snow White's Scary Adventure ride. They liked Small World and Peter Pan, which we rode twice. We went to Tomorrow Land and rode the train that takes you on a tour of Tomorrow Land. We headed over to Ariel's Grotto at 8:45 - it opened at 9am. We waited in line a good 15-30 min, but it was well worth it.

We had a lot of time to kill before our lunch with Cinderella at 1:30!!! The Jungle Cruise was broken, so we couldn't do that one. We went over to ToonTown and waited in a long line to see Mickey and Minnie. The good thing about this was they show cartoons while you wait. We saw Mickey and Minnie's houses which was cute.

We found the Fairy GodMother behind Cindy's castle, and Viv asked her where the stepsisters were, to which FGM said, "They are in the parade, but they are away right now." FGM also said her favorite character was Cinderella, of course.

At Ariel's grotto, Vivian talked to Ariel like she was her best friend - telling her all about how she can swim.

After tracking down Tiana and Prince Naveen in Libertyville, we were able to get to our Royal Table reservation at 12:30 instead of 1:30, thank goodness. It was very cool dining in the castle. Vivi told Snow White she had a story book of her. They asked Jasmine about Jafar, but Jasmine told us she wasn't scared of Jafar at all.

Poor Daddy got very sick at our royal lunch, and it had been a very long day. We made our way to leave, but the parade was coming. We had to watch it - it was so cool. The songs and dancing and characters are amazing. We continued walking down Main St. and saw a very good brass band perform. There were also tap dancers and barber shop quartet performers. There were even people jumping rope!

We were almost to the entrance when a woman ran up to me, pointed in my face, and said, "I know you! I know you!" I searched her eyes for some recognition, and she sputtered out she was Allison Twigg - (Robertson). My old friend from Elem, middle and high schools! It was so awesome seeing her there - we hadn't seen each other in 20 years at least.

While we were all hugging, a disney employee came up to us and asked if we were having a magical day. I explained what had just happened, and she invited us to have private audience with a very special character. She wouldn't tell us who. I was torn, b/c Daddy was not feeling well and we were trying to get out of the park. We all looked at each other confused, but agreed. .
we followed the employees - there were 3 of them - one leading, one in the middle and one taking up the back. . They led us into the Kodak PhotoLab room or something. There was someone behind a curtain; they told the kids to say Bibbidi Boppity Boo and when they did, the curtains drew back to reveal Cinderella!

We had private audience with her - she was very gracious. Even when Vivi told her she could put the baby back into the stroller. Even when Vivi told her she could push the baby in the stroller. Even when Sophie asked her if she knew Sleeping Beauty, to which she replied SB was her best friend. Even when Viv flopped on the floor like a fish, showing her how she can swim like the mermaid, Ariel. Viv just wouldn't stop talking to her - all the while, Allison's mom is cracking up and swearing Viv is exactly like me as a child. . . oy vey. We all got pictures - it was a great time.

And then we finally got to leave. But the best part of the day? Dropping the girls off at Camp
Dolphin at 5:30 so we could have some alone time. We ate at Bluezoo, where I had the best fish I ever had in my life - Miro from Hawaii.