If you ask Eli about his favorite part of Disney World, chances are he'd say his "evalator games." He loved the elevator at our hotel. Each day when we woke up, we asked him what he wanted to do at Disney World today. Invariably, he would grin and say he wanted to play his elevator games. Left to his own devices, I think he would have spent every waking moment of every day... pushing the button to hail the elevator, climbing aboard, pushing the button for the first floor, waiting with excited anticipation, running out of the elevator looking over the side of the landing to see how high up we were and repeating the game over and over again. Fortunately, for Daddy, Keira and I, the cleaning people set up camp on the elevator landings each day, so we could plausibly tell Eli that we were in their way and we should leave the hotel and our elevator games until, at least, after nap time.
Eli ran everywhere. I think he was just so excited to be at his beloved Disney World. On the way to the food court, or when the elevators were occupied, he also enjoyed counting speakers and sprinklers. Counting speakers and sprinklers was his favorite activity on his first and second Disney trips. In this picture you can see Eli running near our building in the hotel. Our building was the Dalmations building, that's why he's running over giant carved dog biscuits in the cement.
Eli's second favorite activity at Disney World was riding the little train at Downtown Disney. This was a favorite activity during our prior visits as well. This time, though, Eli was a big boy and rode the train by himself. This was actually a huge leap for him and made me tear up a little bit. Last time, he was excited but a little leery to ride, and definitely insisted on riding with Daddy or Mommy. Parents are only allowed to ride in the train cars, not in the engine or the caboose. Therefore, this time while on his own, Eli could ride in the engine and the caboose. And, he happily did, over and over and over and over again. We went to Downtown Disney twice, and both times were dominated by the little train.
While Eli rode the train, Scott and I took turns carrying Keira in the sling. Once again, I can't say enough good things about the sling. It was an absolute lifesaver on our trip. On average, Keira took three naps a day in the sling -- one more than she's taking at home. She was absolutely in her element on the trip. She was nestled in the sling safely next to Mommy or sometimes Daddy, usually next to the num nums, outside all day long, and she had a great perch to watch people and most importantly, flirt. She LOVES people, mind you, she has no interest in anyone holding her or even touching her. But, she loves people talking, smiling and waving at her. When we were confronted with a large crowd, as we were on most days, she would eagerly look around and wait for someone to notice her. At the Magic Kingdom, she even started waving at crowds to try to get someone's attention. Luckily for Keira, there was a cheer leading competition in town, so there were droves of ooing and ahhing teenage girls to be found. On that first day at Downtown Disney, Keira even got in a little train ride herself. She did fine on the train, but she didn't seem to care about it one way or the other, so she was promptly returned to her spot in the sling.
The second time at Downtown Disney we didn't bring the camera, and of course, Eli had the biggest smiles of all. He was enamored with the train operator that day. She was a charismatic, outgoing woman from Latin America and Eli adored her. She interacted with all the kids as they wound their way around the track. Eli just beamed at her while waiting for her to pound on the roof of his caboose, blow the whistle or wave wildly at him. He even asked Scottie and I to stop waving at him so he could concentrate on her instead. It broke my heart just a little -- my little boy is growing up.
Another distraction outside of the parks that we enjoyed last time were the buses, boats and monorails. This time, they were not as much of a hit. Generally, Eli enjoyed his time on the buses and monorails, but it's much more difficult to schlep two children and all of the requisite things. On a few of our long bus rides, Scott ended up sitting or standing away from us, as the buses were sometimes very crowded. Those trips were challenging, to say the least. Unless Keira was well-rested, well-fed and had someone to flirt with, she was not happy on the bus. And, while Eli generally self-entertained by looking around or looking at his maps, he'd get needy, especially when his sister was fussing in his ear. I did my best to pacify my unhappy campers, but Scott and I had an epiphany... If the bus is crowded -- don't get on. Both of the kids did much better with a little longer wait outside. We decided to wait for next bus. That way we could be the first ones to get on. We could sit next to each other and hopefully avoid or be better able to deal with this...
*It took me forever to finish and post this entry. We've all been sick for weeks. I think we may have all gotten two colds -- one right on top of the next. So, I've been resting or taking care of sick babies instead of blogging. Hopefully, we're all on the mend now.
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