Here’s a peek into our first day at Disney, pool side!  Our resort was full of nature everywhere!  It was literally breath-taking!  We enjoyed just being outside and taking it all in; sights, smells, all of it!

The girls loved the water wheel!  It was attached to a big pole that went inside the dining room, and the energy from the water pushing the wheel spun around an entire table up in the air over the room.  It was so cool!  The girls kept wanting to go inside and then back outside to check out how it worked!

 

They were playing Disney music (of course) and had lots and lots of fun pool games and prizes for the kids!  The girls kept saying, “This is the best pool party ever!”  So cool!

Rose and a friend she made had this huge toddler-friendly pool all to themselves, surrounded by beautiful pines that reminded me of East Texas; I had no idea there were pine trees at Disney!  I guess I was just taken aback at all the nature we saw.  I just thought it would be lines and concrete and lots of people, but it was no that at all.  Taking time to enjoy the natural beauty was a huge gift; So thankful!

 

The pool was awesome!  We swam several nights when we got back to the resort.  The hot tub was hot, hot, hot (just the way I like it), and all the Disney pools are heated.  The kids were in heaven!

 

Anna Kate was so excited they had life jackets and swam all around the pool feeling confident and safe!  She has come so far in the water this year!  We’re so proud of her!

  

Rose loved walking around the stars and freezing when the music stopped.  She made it pretty far in the game too!  I love that she is starting to really get everything around her, participate and have fun!  I am getting it that she is not a baby anymore, parts of me are so excited for her, and other parts of me are so sad that she is growing up so fast.  No matter what, she will always be my sweet baby Rose.  And Noelle was just hamming it up and having a ball!  With Noelle, it’s always a party and a great time!

Our riverside neighbors put their balloons outside in the bushes for all of us to enjoy!  So thoughtful!  The pink Minnie inside the clear balloon was a hit with our girls!  Thankfully, we didn’t have to lug one around because none of the girls picked a balloon for their prize!  We let the girls each pick one special souvenir; They could pick anything they wanted.  As it turns out, each girl picked something totally different and on different days too.  More on that to come!

I did Noelle and my toes the day before we left, and when we all got our sandals on, Rara’s toes were almost the exact same color!  I love all of our Disney sandals!  If you’re not detail-oriented, you may miss this part about Disney, but see all of the little dots and holes in the pavement?  At the Dumbo ride (elephant), they had peanuts in the holes on the ground.  Walking into Ariel’s grotto, there are sea shells ever so many steps.  There’s no way you can notice all the detail and thought put into everything.  Nothing is missing.  Nothing is off.  It’s simply amazing!

Here’s the river side of our resort.  We loved eating our quick service meals at the resort dining room.  During each meal, the kids had a parade through the dining room with instruments and sang a song Disney had made up just for the resort!  *Best tip I got for dining – if you have a meal plan, get all adult entrees with your quick service meals.  The kid’s meals are smaller portions, and for quick service, they don’t differentiate between kid’s meals and adult meals.  For table service, they do, but not quick service.  Also, you get free mugs for free drinks anytime at your resort if you are on a dining plan.  So, use your mugs for drinks during quick service meals at your resort, and get water bottles as your quick service meal drink to take with you to the parks each day.  That way you aren’t using your snack credits for bottled water!  Just little tips I appreciated knowing ahead of time I wanted to pass along in case it might help.  And we shared a lot!  We would get 3 quick service meals for the 6 of us and split it up.  That was more than enough!  We ended up not having to pay any extra for food other than tips, which is a pretty penny (about $25-30 every table service meal), so plan for that!

Down at the River si-e-i-e-i-d…