A Fantastico Weekend!

We had a fantastico weekend at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando with Nana and Dr. Danks. We were all prepared to get our own room at this beautiful hotel then Nana called earlier this week and said, no need! They had a suite with two bathrooms and two pull-out sofas for us. What a treat. It's definitely in the top three hotels I've stayed at. It had a wonderful pool that had sand like the beach. There were several restaurants and stores on the property. Our suite was beautiful. It had nice moulding and heavy doors and just was really first class.
We arrived around 6:30 on Friday evening. We changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool to enjoy the "dive-in" movie, Jimmy Neutron. Mary Grace, Stephen, and I all enjoyed the big water slide there, too. Saturday morning, we had a wonderful breakfast at the Trattoria then rode the boat to Universal and back. The girls and Nana then took a ride in a rickshaw around the property.
Then we went back to the pool and got in a few more slides before the thunderstorm started. That was just in time for the girls to get a nap and me to get in a run. Just when it was time to get to Disney, the rain stopped but the clouds remained. The weather was perfect! We could not have asked for a better afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom. It never rained again and, since it was cloudy, didn't get hot.
This was the girls' third trip to Disney. Mary Grace was tall enough this time to enjoy some of the big kid rides. She rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. She loved them both. We also rode the jungle cruise and went through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. We saw Mickey's Philharmagic 3-D show, rode Peter Pan and the teacups, and saw Ariel, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Tinkerbell and her friends. We also stayed to watch the wonderful fireworks show. It was truly a perfect day.
On our way home this afternoon, we stopped by the mall in Jacksonville and went to Build a Bear. Momo had given the girls gift certificates for their birthdays. They really enjoyed making their own little stuffed animals. Elsie made a teddy bear that she named "Bear" and Mary Grace made a bunny that she named "Sara". Elsie got a little 4th of July outfit for her bear and Mary Grace got an Ariel costume, complete with a wig, for her bunny. What a sweet, fun place! They even kissed little hearts and put them inside their animals before they were sewn up.