Disney Vacation 2009 - Part 3 - Tuesday

On the way to the pool. See Dianna holding the life jacket? We could borrow these for free, but we got the dire warning that if we didn't return them by the night before check out we would charged $47 on our room bill. Umm, I think we'll manage to get them back to their home on Thursday! Our area of villas is right behind Talani; there are about 4 buildings in each little rotunda or keyhole. We are about halfway from the villas to the pool in this picture. (I hope that gives you some idea of how close we are to the pool.)



Arriving at the pool area early in the morning, this is what greets us. It's so nice to have the pool(mostly) to ourselves in the morning. By lunch time, the pool will be crowded and noisy. We love getting there so early and enjoying the privacy. The pool continues under the bridge. Do you see the giant sandcastle in the background? That's the waterslide, which empties into the far end of the pool. Behind that sandcastle is a large children's area you can't see. There is a shallow pool and a playground area just for the little ones. Jarod prefers the kiddie pool, but Dianna likes the big pool.



Getting our feet wet and getting in slowly. The pool really is nice and warm, but first thing in the morning it feels a little chilly. Dianna and Jarod like to watch Daddy swim away from them, then splash back to them.

Doesn't look like Jarod's enthusiastic about this morning's lesson. He's surprisingly gotten less adventurous as the days go on. He'd just as soon sit on the steps into the pool these days.

Oh, looks like he's getting into it a little bit more. Daddy's a good teacher, so patient and encouraging.

Dianna has gotten so good at swimming. She wears her life vest and just goes all over the place. She usually needs some help getting started, like she's a little scared each time at the very beginning. She's turning circles now and swimming backwards a little. Such a big girl!

Lifeguard Jarod. Aren't his little swim trunks the cutest? He's so adorable!

Dianna sending a message to her Daddy across the pool. Do you love it?












Off to the side of the main pool area there is a hot tub (wonderful!) and a lighthouse (which you may have seen in another post). Inside the lighthouse is a sauna. Never having been in a sauna before, I decided to check it out. This "grill" is just inside the door. The room smells, for lack of a better description, dry. Hot and dry. I always thought a sauna was moist and steamy, but I guess not. Unless it's the water on your own skin that creates the steam. (If that's the case, then saunas are kinda gross.) My overall impression was just, "Hmm. Hot and dry. How about that?"









Trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. Nope, not getting it.






We've been so busy every day. Each time we head out to wander the World, we tell the kids we're going on an adventure. And it has been an adventure! They've loved the picnic style lunches we've had each day (although I am truly tired of ham sandwiches). We have visited the Downtown Disney area and 10 different resorts. We've been rained on and we've been sweaty. We've been relaxed and we've been exhausted. It's been a wonderful vacation so far, with such variety of activity that we've hardly missed the parks at all.