When I talked to my brother earlier in the day, I told him I would call him when we got to the Poly. After taking pictures of our room, I gave him a call; they were on their way back from Downtown Disney. Since they were staying at Shades of Green, which is practically right next door to the Poly, we agreed to meet in the Great Ceremonial House. The last time I saw him was at our baby brother's wedding, back in May 2007. He had returned from Iraq at the end of March 2008, and he been in Georgia with his wife and daughters since that time. I was really looking forward to seeing him again! His wife and girls (2 & almost 5) had spent a lot of time here in Michigan while he had been gone, so we'd seen them quite a bit; not that we weren't happy to see them, too, but we mostly made the trip to Florida during this particular week just to see my brother!
The walk from Tokelau to the GCH didn’t take very long, and we walked into the lobby from the back door while my brother was walking in the main entrance. I was so excited to see him, it didn’t even cross my mind to get our picture taken together! He looked terrific, really happy and rested and relaxed. He brought me a box of chocolates from Ghiradelli, as well as the caffeine-free Pepsi I had requested. What a brother! We spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the lobby while the girls colored and watched TV in the kids’ area. I did manage to get a picture of them:
Kate really enjoyed the coloring activities, although I think she finished up someone else's picture for them.
None of us had had dinner yet, so we said good-bye, promising to meet tomorrow morning at the Magic Kingdom. We went to Captain Cook's to use our first counter service credits. They have touch-screen menus there, which I'd heard were a little tricky, but we didn't have any trouble with them. We took our food back to the room, where we ate it quickly and then settled in for bed. It had been a very long day, but we were so happy to be at Disney World! Of course, I stayed up longer than everyone else so I could get things unpacked a little. A mom's job is never done...
Memories of our journey:
The weather was drizzly and dreary when we left and beautiful when we arrived.
The best thing about our journey was curbside check-in and printing boarding passes ahead of time equals no waiting at the airport!
The worst thing about our journey was the trouble with the lift on the DME bus.
The funniest thing about our journey was when Kate said, "We're almost there, Walt!" while watching the DME video.
Memories of our room:
The first impression of our room was that it was big!
The amenities were a safe, toiletries, coffee maker, room service, queen beds, day bed, flat-screen TV, three chairs, two desks and a table.
We tried a garden view room and the result was the view was lovely; the landscaping was beautiful.
The most magical moment was seeing a room in person after seeing them online before the trip.
Memories of our first day:
The weather today was beautiful and warm.
The best thing today was our time in the UK & Canada in the World Showcase.
The worst thing today was having to miss Soarin' and Test Track.
The funniest thing today was Alice kissing Christian on the forehead.
Today we tried Mission:Space and the result was the girls loved the green side and wanted to try the orange.
The most magical moment today was meeting Mr. Hugh, having our own photopass photographer and when Alice left her queue to spend time with our family!
Up next: breakfast with royalty!