From Shalisa

Ryan is currently getting our lunch at the resort food court, so I (Shalisa) decided to start a new blog post for everyone. I brought Maddie straight to the room for her nap this afternoon cause she really needs as much sleep as possible. She has a bit of a runny nose, and Ryan has been feeling a little off since yesterday. He keeps saying he's not sick...but I think both of them have tiny colds. I'm just thankful it's not me (yet).

So, last night we ate dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant which is in Epcot's Living Seas pavilion. There are giant viewing windows into their main tank...which is where Ryan took his dive on Tuesday. I was pretty excited about this restaurant. A lot of people really enjoy the food, and the atmosphere of being "under the sea" was very appealing as well as what I assumed would be fun for Maddie. I have to say though, I've been a tad disapointed in some of our dining experiences this trip. Perhaps it's just that I'm battling a 1 year old who primarily want to be seated on my lap or crawling under the table, but I think that Ryan will agree that service from restaurant CM's has been a bit lacking. Last night the server was not terrible, but nothing to write home about. She really only paused long enough at our table to comment on how much pizza Maddie ate. She was certain we had eaten it for her. (THIS is why she is on the dining plan!) Anyway. Ryan's food was pretty good. My entree was Mahi Mahi and I had been looking forward to this dish, however it was very bland. And their version of couscous is what I call fish eye pasta.

On an up note...Maddie had a blast for the second time in the pop jet pool. I was able to snap some pretty great pictures.

This morning was a nice slow start as we didn't need to be anywhere till 9, and we're moving a little slower with not feeling well. We've seen a good portion of the attractions, and I think that is helping us relax a bit more and enjoy taking things in. We headed off for Animal Kingdom. And for the very first time we didn't have to wave goodbye to the bus as it drove off without us. We decided to try for 2 shows back to back, and since Maddie likes birds we took her to "Flights of Wonder" which is a bird show. Ryan and I have never seen it either.

The show was very good, the birds very active (hawks and bultures and other birds swoop right over your head) and it was actually a pretty funny show as well. Unfortunately I think Maddie just wasn't feeling well so I don't think she enjoyed it as much as she could have. She REALLY loves birds and when they were flying about she did glance at them, but she spent the majority of the show trying to crawl into my lap when I set her down and trying to crawl out of my lap when I picked her up... she wanted to be wherever she wasn't.

After Flights of Wonder we headed over to the Finding Nemo Musical. This is a new show to Animal Kingdom since we last went, so it was another new show for Ryan and I. This time it was in an air conditioned building and we got out Maddie's sticker book, so she did quite a bit better. Once the show started Maddie was a lot more interested in paying attention than the last show. The Finding Nemo Musical is 40 minutes long so having her pay attention the whole time is a pipe dream, but she did exceptionally well and really seemed to enjoy the show.

Afterwards we decided to just head out of the park and get everyone some rest. As I said before both Ryan and Maddie are feeling a bit under the weather (it is nothing serious, I think those two just get too excited at places and don't sleep well, they need a day off). We will see if we even go back into the parks today or if we just bum around the hotel for the rest of the day.