Disney: Part 1. Yes, part 1.

Whether or not toddlers should get to go to Disney is, strangely, a hotly debated topic.

"S/he won't even remember it," they say. "S/he won't get anything out of it. Why bother?" they argue. "It's too difficult," they say.

Well, they might have me on that last one. Or if Mom and Dad hate Disney, crowds, or theme parks, or have to travel a long distance at great expense, I get that too. But why the long-term memory is more important than just having fun right now, well, I don't really get that.

Here's the trick to making it work: make a list of everything you want to do at Disney with your toddler. Then, cut it in half. Then, rank them, and cut in half again. That's doable. Oh, and there will be meltdowns.

So, we started at Epcot after check-in and naptime. No real itinerary except to get some dinner and catch the fireworks before heading back to the hotel, and we were there during the Flower and Garden Festival. Nice.

Lily loved it from the start. She was in full explorer mode the whole time, and she loved the big ball. "Whoa...ball.." she said.

And then there was Monkey. She fell in love with the Minnie Mouse doll, but she thought it was a monkey. "Oooh ooh, ahh ahh," and all.
Khan's favorite part was wandering all around with Lily. Kisses.
Holding hands.
And marching.
My favorite part was Turtle Talk with Crush. (How do they do that?)
We did catch the fireworks, and Lily was in awe the whole time. I don't have any pictures because (a) I don't take good pictures of fireworks, (b) fireworks pictures all look the same, and (c) sometimes it's a good idea to put the camera down. Especially on vacation.

Lily was asleep before the bus pulled in.
The next morning, the plan was to get to the Animal Kingdom at rope drop and try to beat the crowd.

Khan didn't really want to go to the Animal Kingdom. He said that compared to Busch Gardens, it really sucks. But I've never been there, and I wanted to go. How often does he not like something? Perhaps I should've thought of that.

First, things didn't go according to plan. Lily didn't sleep well, and therefore, no one slept well. So we slept in, and we didn't beat the crowd. And it was hot. And so very, very crowded.

So, we were there, and we tried to make the most of it. We went to Dinoland. Not bad. .

After Dinoland, we just sort of wandered aimlessly, and that's not a good way to manage a crowd. We got on the train to go out to the area with the petting zoo, but we rode the train right back when we realized the best way for us to spend our time was just to get out of there.

We did find a few things we liked, though.

My favorite part was finding the baby Roseate Spoonbills. I've loved these birds since I moved here. They're so weird and pretty at the same time. The babies were born on April 8th, and I was like, "hey, me too!"

Khan's favorite part was trying to prove that the Tree of Life is just an illusion. Please, don't get him started. Please.

Pretty sure Lily's favorite part was the popcorn.

So back to the hotel for a nap and a drink, and then we were ready for the pool. Lily had a BLAST playing in the fountains.

And she had to do some Itsy Bitsy Spider, too.

No, her little life jacket wasn't for the fountains. That was because of the pool. At first, my little fish was loving the water while we carried her all around the pool, let her float on her back, and she went down the tiny slide. Ah, it was perfect family time at the pool.

Until she decided she didn't want help. Yup, she thought she could swim all on her own.

She's not even 2.

I tried to be brave and give her a little space, knowing that I was right there, Khan was right there, and she was wearing a life jacket. In the really shallow water, that wasn't so bad.

But she wanted to go underwater. Yup, too much for us. Then there was an incident that ruined the whole perfect family moment thing, and that was pretty much the end of swimming time for day 2.

Back on dry land, we got cleaned up and just hung out on our balcony and enjoyed our view. Not a bad way to finish the day.