"This is what I dreamed about!"

exclaimed Katie. Yes, that is what Katie said as she watched the "Wishes" fireworks at Magic Kingdom last night. And Noah gave it a resounding, "This is incredible!" It was so awesome to see them enjoying everything so much!

We were refreshed when we went back to the park after our rest. We started out with the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, which Noah LOVED! Then we ended up watching the fireworks from a not so great view, but the kids 0bviously still loved it. Then we watched Mickey's Philharmagic again. It is a 3-D show with great effects and songs from some of the best movies. This is the first 3-D thing they have done before and it was so cute watching them "reach out" to try to touch the things coming at them from the screen. After that we ate at a place called Pinochio's Village Haus, which has a view of the boats leaving for "It's a small world" so Katie and Noah loved waving to all the boats while we ate. Then we rode that ride again, then we headed down to the Jungle Boat Cruise. It was okay....the kids liked it. Then Meme and Daddy rode the new Pirates of the Carribean while Mommy and the kids took a bathroom break. So, when they were done Meme and Katie went on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. It is an outdoor "flying in the air" round and round type thing. Katie LOVED it and they ended up riding three times! By then it was 11:00 and the park was getting ready to close, so we headed up to the front of the park where as we were walking by the castle there was a "Goodnight" annoucement over the loudspeakers with pretty music and special effects lights and sparkling lights over the castle. It was so sweet standing there with the kids watching the castle say good night! Perfect timing. So we picked up Mickey and Minnie balloons on our way out to top off the day. It was so much fun! I have to add that Katie and Noah were AWESOME during the day! They didn't complain except a couple of times about walking so much. I really think the break in the day helped! And they didn't have any breakdowns of crying! I was so proud of them for their first theme park experience!

So, by the time we got back to the resort, took baths, and had a snack, it was 1am before they got in the bed. They were out almost instantly and slept LATE this morning! We all did, so I am even happier that we decided to take a day in between park days to hang out and rest.

This morning we hit up the private pool! It is small, but perfect for a family our size with young children! It is only about 5 feet deep! We got the pool heat on for us so the water was PERFECT! Both Katie and Noah were paddling around and having a blast (with their arm floaties on) in no time. They didn't want to leave, but today was our designated "buying" day so we took the afternoon to go to Downtown Disney and spend our souvenier money and have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Downtown Disney was a lot of fun and they both found PLENTY to spend their money on (and then some!). I think that setting a day aside for the shopping was a good idea too because we didn't waste any of our park time fiddling around in the gift shops....

On our way back from Downtown Disney we decided to look for the resort playground. It was so cool! It is a huge castle playset and they also had swings, a seesaw, a merry-go-round, bouncy ride on things, sand...it was so much fun!

Our day of rest didn't turn out to be exactly that, but we still got to sleep in and go to bed early, which is what you DON'T do on a day you go to a park!

We are already talking about reserving this townhouse for this time next year! ha ha. We are having a blast!

Tomorrow is Disney Hollywood Studios in the morning and Epcot for the evening! Another long day! The picture above is of the family watching the fireworks! FUN TIMES!