February 8

Because the crowds were large in the Magic Kingdom yesterday we decided to go to the park we thought would be the least crowded - Hollywood Studios. The crowds were much more manageable - even for a weekend. The girls got to see the Little Mermaid Show, the Beauty and the Beast show, the Playhouse Disney Show, watched a parade, and much more. We got back to our hotel in the afternoon. Kat took a nap, so Julia and I went swimming (yes, in February!). Disney heats their pools, so the water feels pretty good. It's chilly when you get out of the water though (the temps were in the high 70s/low 80s). After nap time, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and to explore, since we'd never been there. We ate at "The Earl of Sandwich" which was really good.

We had a Character Lunch (this means you pay more money for the food, but you get to meet some of your favorite Disney characters without waiting in long lines) and got to meet JoJo, Goliath, and a couple of the Little Einsteins. The food was good and the girls had fun.

Playing on an ant in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground

Sporting her 3-D glasses

Sharing their ice cream (we didn't tell them to do this)

Julia took this one of Pongo. We stayed at the All-Star Movies resort because 1- it was cheapest, and 2 - they had a Dalmation building. Each night the girls would tell Pongo and Purdy good night on our way to the room.

Julia also took this one of a hotel employee.

Then the employee took our picture - they'll let anyone on TV!

A very tired Julia

Not-So-Funny Kat Story: Anyone who knows Kat knows she is attached to her stuffed Doggy. Well, we were walking through a store (a megastore of Disney merchandise, if you will) and when we left, we noticed she didn't have her doggy anymore. We retraced our steps, still no luck. We left the store feeling like it was a lost cause, he was gone. I decided to go back in one more time, knowing the rest of our trip would be ruined if she didn't have that *#$#$% doggy. I asked an employee for help, and he told me to go the Information Desk. I figured I could at least leave my name and phone number and they could call me if it turned up. Turns out, someone had already turned him in to the desk! It is ridiculous to say this, but you have no idea what a relief it was to get Doggy back.