Mickey Monday~The Trip of Coexistence: Day Two

If you are just joining us, last Monday we shared Day One of the Trip of Coexistence. If you haven't read it yet, feel free to click on that link so that you'll be in the know!

You don't have to read it, of course. You can be a rule breaker and we won't tell anyone. Pinkie swear!

Day two began with the lovely aroma of coffee brewing, and the proof that the Easter Bunny had, indeed, come to visit!



There was a basket for the boy who loves Milky Ways...



one for the girl who loves Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...



and one for the other boy, who just happened to be a Reese's lover, too!



After the baskets were pulled apart for closer inspection, the gang got ready to head over to the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club for Easter brunch. We were all quite excited about the idea of not only delicious breakfast items, but also the promise of crab legs and mussels. We had perused the menu online before our trip, and what we read made us drool in anticipation!

Sadly, although the buffet was amazing, there were no crab legs or mussels. There were crab cakes, though, which were quite delicious. Most importantly, there was bacon.



There were also many other things that made my mouth happy.

I didn't notice any of these things below on the kid's plates, but that's okay. They had their bacon and bagels to keep them happy!



Oh, and the best part? The dessert table. Yum!



Can't you see the excitement on her face?



All those desserts, and the thing they loved best? The little chocolate pieces that sat on top of the tidbits of tastiness!



After filling our tummies and making our taste buds happy, we headed out into the gorgeous day. Next stop? The boat to MGM Studios!

Yes, I know it's called Disney Hollywood Studios. In our home (and blog!), it will always be known as MGM Studios, though.



Once we got into the park, the kids couldn't wait to use the gift card that had been left in each of their baskets. Since all three love Vinylmations, I guess you can figure out where they headed first.



After scoring some pretty cool finds, we all decided to head over to see what the wait time was for Toy Story Mania. Yes, we were still coexisting, even when we had to make tough decisions like that!

On the way, we all stopped for the perfect photo op.



The kids also stopped for a moment of deep discussion. I believe there was still coexistence happening, but Connor appears to be thinking, "Hmmm. I think I'll stay out of this one!"



Once we saw that the wait time wasn't an hour, we were good to go. This is one attraction that we all love so much that we don't mind waiting a little bit. Plus, there is so much to look at that it never seems long at all!



I can just see one of the Red Sox boys doing this to our Yankees girl!



Chococat doesn't even mind waiting, as long as he gets to visit with Mr. Potato Head!



Chris shows a surprised Renee the gigantic state (haha!) in which he lives in.



Even the area where you wait for your ride vehicle is filled with plenty of eye candy!



There are not only books to read...



but games to play.



After a wonderful spin, our ride was over much too quickly. Why is it that the things we love the most never last very long?

Mr. Connor was in need of a snack, so we decided to walk towards the closest counter service we could find. Along the way, we found something so fantastic, I just had to document it!



I must add here that Ed scrubbed his head for 5 minutes after placing that Duffy hat on his head. One day, I will share the story of how Ed believes that Duffy the Disney Bear will steal your soul. It is quite funny, which makes that photo above the best shot ever. I continue to laugh at it every single time I see it!

Once the little snack was devoured, we decided to head over to see some Muppets. Along the way, the kids wanted to stop to do a little 'Singin' in the Rain'.



As usual, the Muppets brought some pretty huge smiles to our faces. To continue the fun, we decided to make a little detour into the gift shop. Our friend, Michele, who blogs over at GrowDammit!, is a huge Kermie fan. We had to take a photo to send to her so that she would know how much she was being missed.

The best part of this photo? Chris pretending to pick his nose! Somehow, I know she would approve of that silly behavior.



These hats? Want!



After all of the walking, waiting, and laughter of the day, we were hungry! Off to the 50's Prime Time Cafe, where Ed shows us that father really does know best.



I really have no idea why I didn't take any photos of our dinner. Perhaps, it was because we were too busy enjoying our steak with red wine sauce, which Renee declared 'quite robust'.

It also could have been our amazing waitress, Mandy, who named these three Shaggy (Chris), Slurpee (Connor), and Sassy (Renee).



Either way, there may not be many photos, but there was much laughter!

We could have hung around the park longer, but the suggestion was thrown into the air that some pool time might be fun. As parents, who were we to disagree? After a quick ride back to the resort and the changing from shorts into swimsuits, the quiet pool called their names.



As the coexisting kids swam and splashed, the coexisting parents chatted and enjoyed this beautiful view of Downtown Disney.



Ahhhh. What a beautiful night.

And what a wonderful day we had! I was very worried about how our first Easter without Mom would make us feel, but spending it with our dear friends at the place that makes us the most happy made all of the difference in the world.

And although I don't seem to have as many photos of this day, I realize now that it was because I was immersed in the moment. I just know that Mom was with us, smiling as she made sure that we were making plenty of new memories. She would want that for us.

Next up: Day Three, otherwise known as Teppan Edo day. Did Renee and Chris leave any steak for anyone else? Did the adults ever make it back for a Grey Goose Slushie? Check back next week to find out!

How my phone took a swim

Or why there wasn't much mobile blogging going on during our trip to WDW last week.

This will most definitely be a photo-less post, considering that my phone wasn't in any kind of working order during or even after the ordeal.

Let your imaginations drift away to this relaxing scene...

A nice evening spent with friends by the pool.

Sounds nice, right? Well, it started out nicely, anyway. :)

Robin, Christa, Meg, and I were sitting at a table chatting, and Miss Renee was swimming with some other vacationing little girls. I was watching them closely, especially because the sisters were fighting back and forth with one another and then screaming at their father. That last part didn't give me the warm fuzzies, but Renee seemed to be handling the situation. I didn't feel the need to step in at that moment, but I had my eye on them.

I also had both eyes glued on Renee because she isn't the strongest swimmer. She is learning to be more comfortable in the water, but she still has a healthy respect for it. If she wants to head into the deeper water, she knows that she needs to put her life vest on if Mark and I aren't in the pool with her.

No exceptions.

As I continued to oversee their interactions, I watched Renee ask if she could use one of the sister's boogie boards. At first the little girl didn't seem to want to share, but then she smiled and handed it over to Renee. After that breakthrough, they even began to share the board. Maybe the sisters weren't so terrible after all.

Nope...I couldn't have been more wrong about that. The Mom in me had a gut feeling about their sincerity towards Renee, and I should have listened more closely to my instincts.

In one of those 'I can't believe this is really happening moments', I saw the little girl pull the boogie board away from Renee. Now that I've had some time to think about it, I truly believe that Renee could have 'doggy paddled' over to the side. Sadly, panic ruled during this scenario. If I was put into the same situation at her age, I'm sure that I would have reacted in the same way.

As I began to run towards her (in what felt like slow motion), I watched her floundering in the water. The only thing I remember thinking was that I had to get to her, and that my sneakers were still on my feet.

That was it.

It didn't cross my mind that I was fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, or that I had a phone in my pocket.

My only concern was getting to Renee.

The moment I grabbed her, we both began to cry. Yup...a very scary and quite emotional moment.

As I walked out of the pool still holding Renee in my arms, Christa told me to give her the phone.

Oh...my...Goodness.

My phone was still in my pocket, and it had just played Life Guard with me!

I have to admit that I really hadn't had much experience in what to do if your phone takes a swim. It never really crossed my mind, considering the fact that I usually don't jump in the pool fully clothed. It's not something that we should do...someone designed bikinis for that years ago!

And...if it wasn't for Christa's tech knowledge, I think my phone would have been fried.

A side note...I don't think that Christa jumped into a pool fully clothed with her phone in her pocket to earn this knowledge. I'd like to think that she's just like a Girl Scout...she likes to be prepared.

;)

After following her instructions to dry out the phone overnight, the next day I took the chance and put the battery back in.

At first it didn't power up.

I sort of panicked a little right then. This was my first new phone in over four years, and I hadn't even had this phone for a year yet! I knew that if it was dead, I would have to pay full price to replace it. Eeeek!

After taking a deep breath, I figured that maybe I should try to recharge my battery. What did I have to lose?

When I saw the screen light up, I began to do the happy dance.

Please don't judge about the dance. It may have looked funny, but I probably looked more ridiculous after jumping in the pool fully clothed!

After successfully making a few calls and sending some text messages, I knew I had been very lucky.

Not only was I lucky that my phone was still functioning, but I was extremely lucky that Renee was fine. She was safe, and even after that frightening experience, she managed to face her fear head on and went back into the pool. You know the old saying...You fall off, you get right back on!

Unfortunately, although I was able to call and text, my screen and phone were severely water logged. I tried to take a photo from our balcony at Saratoga Springs, and it looked as though it was taken underwater.

I didn't post that one-LOL!

A few days later, before we were to leave for home, I decided to try again. When I sent the photo, the subject of my post questioned if the picture was 'water marked'. That was just a little 'dry humor' on my part.

Said to self...Oh my. That was a really terrible joke, wasn't it?

And Tink, being the goddess she is in sharing her photo blogging knowledge, really tried to answer the question.

Sorry, Tink! Next time I promise to warn you when I am trying to be comedic.

;)

My phone seems much better today. I didn't notice much water left in the screen during the Father's Day photos I took yesterday, so hopefully we'll be back up and running.

But sadly, there seems to be a little situation that has come to my attention after this experience. Because I was paying very close attention to the photos, I have started to notice that the quality of the photos from my phone is sort of grainy.

Hmmmm...maybe the phone taking a swim was even more terrible than I originally thought it was.

Now, I'm contemplating the idea that it would be really cool to have a phone that takes great photos.

If I take the plunge (That, again, was a really bad joke!), please remind me to take the phone out of my pocket while I am sitting by the pool, okay?