Day 5

This was the one day that was completely unplanned. Well, maybe not completely. We did have reservations at O’hana that evening at 5:30, but that restaurant is in our hotel so it took nearly no effort to get there. At home, in my head, when I thought about this day I pictured lots of lazy naps, playing on the beach or in the pool, and maybe hitting a few shops. Well, the shops happened, but that was pretty much it.

After “sleeping in” (8:00, I think?) we ate some breakfast at Capt. Cook’s, the Polynesian’s food court. Collin and I split the famous Tonga Toast, which was really good. Then we met up with the Granger’s to head over to the Grand Floridian, another Disney hotel. We wanted to check out the huge gingerbread house in the lobby. It certainly was impressive!

Jess and I wandered through a fun soap shop. I LOVED having a friend with me on the trip!

And there’s the Gingerbread House!

We were originally going to buy the kids each a “shingle” for a snack, but after remembering that our kids all hate gingersnaps, we realized that would be a pretty dumb purchase. Especially at $6.50 each!

More playing around in the lobby

There’s Lilah and that babydoll again!

We decided to go ahead and hop on the bus to Downtown Disney from the Grand Floridian. We waited FOREVER! This was our longest wait by far for any transportation. Keeping the kids entertained was pretty difficult!

We finally made it to Downtown Disney and went to the Christmas shop first. I was in search of 3 ornaments- 1 for the family and 1 for each kid. The family one and CB’s were easy. Finding one that both Makgill and I approved of just about made me lose my religion. He wanted a pirate ornament, which was fine, but I did not want him to have one with skulls and crossbones. That just doesn’t scream Christmas to me. After MUCH debate (that seriously is a HUGE understatement) we made it out of the store with an ornament that we were both satisfied with (me maybe a little more than him. It was a Mickey pirate. Clara Beth got a “tu-tu mouse”, and the family ornament was glass mouse ears with 2007 painted on them.

We then stopped for lunch at The Earl of Sandwich. The kids split a grilled cheese and Collin and I split the “beef n bleu”. Both were great, but the best was dessert…homemade ice-cream sandwiches! Mmmmm…

Then came the BIG shopping. We went to Once Upon a Toy first, but decided not to buy there and headed to The World of Disney. This store is unreal! Anything that you could ever imagine is there, and it has mouse ears plastered all over it. We bought some stuff for the kids, coffee cups, and a few souvenirs to bring back home. You wouldn’t think that would take too long, but we probably spent 2 hours in there. Clara Beth ended up napping in her stroller again and by the end of it they both needed a place to let out some energy. So we headed for the playground outside of the Lego store. This is also where we met back up with the Grangers (we had gotten separated while shopping).

Parson showed off his new Chip and Dale

I also have to stop here and say a HUGE THANK-YOU to Christina, the wonderful girl that has been helping Collin out in the Studio. She was back home sorting through Christmas orders, delivering them, and dealing with craziness between the lab and delivery company. She went way above and beyond to help us out, and I don’t know what we would have done without her. Thank-you, Christina! It was so great to be able to leave the Studio with someone we trust so much!

By this time, the day was pretty much gone so we headed back to the hotel. Collin and Brandon were going to head out with the boys for a quick boat-ride before supper, but the boat rental place ended up being closed already. So they walked around and took a couple of pictures instead.

Part of the view from the beach outside of our rooms.

The Wedding Pavilion…Collin actually photographed a wedding there 4 years ago this weekend. I was 8 months pregnant with Makgill. The wedding was fun, but we didn’t get to enjoy much of Disney that trip!

The Grand Floridian

And the kids in the type of boat they would have rented if they had been able to. Brandon and Parson ended up renting one later in the week and said it was lots of fun. Maybe we can do it next time!

Dinner at O’hana was delicious. It was Polynesian food served family style, and all of it was great. Mak had fun dancing to Elvis music and participating in the Childrens’ activities.

This day was a lot of fun, but not as restful as we needed it to be. We definitely should have spent a lot more time at the hotel.

Tomorrow…Finally a roller coaster and a visit from friends that we hardly ever see!