So Leo and I have gone back to our room and changed and now decide to stroll a bit and take some pictures of the resort. Actually, I decide and Leo whines about wanting to see “dinosaurs.” Apparently, the one thing from the WDW DVD that stuck in his mind were the dinosaurs in AK. Where we’re not going this trip. Because it’s September in FL and it’s much too hot in that park and we can go any time when it’s cooler. All of which I explain to Leo, but he’s not buying it.
So I switch to bribery: “How about we take a boat ride?” I ask, and Leo says “Sure.” So off we go to the boat dock. We’re the only non-CM’s on the boat to POR and the captain has some fun with us, calling us “troublemakers” and such. Good times!
We get to POR and Leo is quite impressed with the marina and, especially, the water wheel, which he wants to inspect more closely.
Noticing the empty food court, I suggest we stop for an ice cream break – Leo’s totally down with that!
Afterward, we walk over to Ole’ Man Island where Leo plays on the playground for a bit before announcing he’s hungry.
It’s only 5pm and we usually eat dinner at 6. I was planning to get some stuff from the POFQ food court and eat in our room before getting to bed early. But Leo’s hungry now and Boatwright’s is right here – think we can get a table? The CM looks at me like I’m insane when I ask… because the place is empty!
We go right in and are only one of 3 tables seated in the upper section. Once we settle in, I look around and see the boat frame overhead, the pretty view out the windows, the roaring fire in the fireplace (WHAT??? It’s 98 degrees outside!), and……. DISer extraordinaire and fellow Focker GLENDAMAX!! Now, I knew she had an ADR for Boatwright’s, but it was for 5:30ish and she wasn’t even sure they’d actually be using it, so I really wasn’t expecting to find her. But she’s there with her mom, a mere four tables away from us. I make sure Leo is situated, gather up my LGMH treats
(HD AGMHPC’s attached to lime green glowy bracelets – and I had LOTS to give away this trip!) and head over to their table to say hello and introduce myself. Both Gmax and her mom are lovely and sweet as can be and I’m so glad I got to meet them!
We chatted for a few minutes – found out we’re all planning to be at Epcot’s rope drop the next morning and Epcot again the next night, so I’m sure we’ll meet again. Leo has now come over and is being all shy and I don’t want to disrupt Gmax’s dinner any further, so we take our pictures and go back to our meals.
I must pause here and state for the record what an incredibly good boy Leo was at dinner! I was very nervous about taking him to any TS establishments by myself, but he impressed me beyond belief. He did some drawing, told me some stories and ate almost all his pizza, while I enjoyed a glass of wine with my onion soup and salad. What a nice surprise!
After dinner, Leo decided he wanted to walk back instead of taking the boat. It’ll take, what, about 3 hours at his pace? Whatever. Along the way, we stop to look at the horse-drawn carriages and the POR “mansions” along the water.
Oh, and we see a rat. Smallish, and cute. In the middle of the walkway. Moving erratically. It takes a minute, but I figure out it’s clearly dying, most likely from poisoning. Ugh. Leo is all excited and wants me to take a picture of the “cute little mouse”. Sorry, I’m not up for a discussion On Death and Dying right now, so I mumble something about the mouse not liking pictures and we carefully step around it.
We finally make it back to our room and get showered and into our jammies to watch a little TV and read some books before bed. Think Leo was tired?
I set the alarm
(no Sitch wake-up call this time – I want to save that magic for our big December trip!) for 6am, read a little bit and nod off to happy dreams of all the
Limey DISers I’ll find the next day.
Next up: Epcot and our very first rope-drop experience!
Im about to climb back up the stairs when WHOOOSH out pops Leo into my awaiting arms. And hes laughing and smiling and gushing about how cool that was! 
So I send him back up the stairs, by himself this time, and we do this a couple more times, until one trip down he gets turned around backward and the slide spits him out sideways. Hes a little freaked out, but wants to go again, so I send him back up. I wait while 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 kids come down. I wait while the same 6 kids come down again. Where the heck is Leo??? 
Finally, I see a man waving to me from the top, shaking his head and pointing to Leo, whos crying hysterically. I mime to the man that Ill be right there and hike the gazillion stairs to see what happened. It takes two adults and an interpretive 7 year old, but we finally decode Leos hysterics: he wants me to put him on the slide AND be at the bottom to catch him. I explain that, as much as I want to, I cant, in fact, be in both places at the same time. But this nice man has offered to help Leo get on the slide while I wait below. We think weve got Leo on bard and I head back down the gazillion stairs and into the pool once more. I wait. And I wait. And the nice man leans out again, shaking his head. I head back up the gazillion stairs (havent we been here before?) and try reassuring Leo to no avail. Okay, then lets just climb down and well swim together for a while. Leos not having any of that. 
Just as all heck is about to break loose, a lovely woman (lets call her Mary Poppins) steps in and offers to help Leo out. Leo seems to like her and agrees readily to let her put him on the slide. Back down the gazillion stairs I go to wait. I dont wait long at all this time before I see Leo
sliding down WITH Mary Poppins! Both are smiling and laughing away and she tells me he wouldnt go down by himself, but was willing to slide with her so they did. This, of course is VERY against the rules, and I can feel the lifeguards eyes boring into our backs, but Mary and Leo are on a roll they head back up the stairs with her daughter before I know whats happening. A few minutes later, down come all three of them together. This is TOTALLY against the rules, and the lifeguard now issues a warning to all parties about the dangers of riding in tandem. I thank Mary profusely for sprinkling some much-needed pixie dust on our swim 
and Leo and I head off to dry out and contemplate our next activity. 
). Funny how they clutch onto things and won't let them go. DD's wasn't Dinosaurs - it was PPF. Now me, thinking by our last day of the trip what a GREAT mom I was that I had brought DD down here for her first Disney trip, had let her ride Goofy 10 TIMES IN A ROW and still had said kid in my possession, thought I could do no wrong. 
