Downtown Disney

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011

Can you believe we stayed most of the day at Downtown Disney? We did just about everything you can do there for a while, including getting a bunch more Disney pins. We didn't get so much this time in the way of souvenirs, so we got ourselves more pins than we usual, making up for a few years of not getting pins. Still, our collection is pretty huge. Nothing epic, but certainly more than enough. It's more of a casual exercise, and nothing addictive or all consuming. Above you can see Madison in the Disney pin store at Downtown Disney, just before we went back to T-Rex!

Yes, this time we walked right in again. We sat near the ice age, and got ourselves a pretty hearty lunch. Daddy ordered a Brontoburger, but felt a little guilty afterwards - is it because of appetites like mine that the brontosaurus is extinct? It was a great meal, and the next thing we did was fun too:

We built a dinosaur. You've heard of Build-a-Bear. Well, here at T-Rex, they build dinosaurs. It's a pretty big operation, where you pick the color, add the stuffing and add the heart too. Then comes the fun part: the accessories. Mommy and Madison spent a while shopping for clothes, actually trying them on - along with shoes, purses and necklaces. There were a lot of outfits for your dinosaur, but Madison found one she was happy with and carried it with her the rest of the day. Her dinosaur is registered by the way and has a birth certificate, sort of like Cabbage Patch Kids, but slightly more lizard-like. Madison's dinosaur's name is Dinah. Yes, Mommy and Daddy helped with that one. By the way, as a slight aside, it appears as if Madison likes the stegosaurus. That's the kind of dinosaur Dinah is, but additionally, Madison was quick to point out the stegosaurus at the Universe of Energy yesterday.

ANYWAY, we stopped by Cirque du Soleil again - we're about to buy tickets for Drallion soon in August, and looking forward to that. We're just waiting for a sale price though, but we will be going to this one because it has that Asian feel.

We also stopped by the House of Blues a few times. This visit, Daddy finally got himself one of those hats - and a pair of sunglasses too. Also, Mommy got Daddy a Elwood bowling shirt that reads on the back: "We're on a mission from God."

Obviously, we had to go by Ghirardelli to get another ice cream. Madison has certainly had her fill of ice cream this trip. On our way there, Madison had another face-off with Stitch:

He shoots out jets of water at unsuspecting passersby, and here Madison is, announcing to the world that he's "naughty, naughty!"

Uh-oh. She got wet. Actually, you can tell she's loving it. They have a couple water features at Downtown Disney, and on a hot day like today, we were more than happy to let Madison run around and get wet to cool off. Here's another photo of Madison having a good time today:

There were a few more things we did today - we got some books, and Mommy got to spend some time at TrenD, a shop we both love to look around in. But the greatest thing we did today was stop by and have her silhouette cut and framed.

What a beautiful thing. This is going to be a great birthday gift for both her grandmothers - and a wonderful thing to hang on our walls at home.

Anyway, it was a great day overall. We hopped on the boat - one more boat ride! This one took us across the lake and back to where we parked the car so that we could make the trip back to Baba and Nana's house. It was a quick trip, and we were all certainly exhausted. The temperature can do that to you. But before we checked out this morning, we did one thing: you see, there was a 40% discount if you reserve your next vacation before we leave. SO, guess where we're going in November?