Dear Kristin,

Hey girl. I'm up early here in Orlando and the folks at Disney have a packed agenda for us today. I have to admit to feeling really weird on the plane down without my kids. Families were everywhere and it did make me miss my little guys something terrible. For about five minutes, anyway.

Why does it seem like other moms have more control over their children than I do? Remember I told you the story about the last time we traveled to Orlando with the kids? Brendan had a complete FREAK OUT on the plane, to the point where the gentleman (and I am using that term graciously) and the woman he was traveling with, found it necessary to comment on the fact that at the very least, I should have brought a lollipop. "Anything would have been better than nothing!" I heard the woman say.

Truth is neither of my sons had ever had problems with their ears on an airplane before that trip. Now I know better. Anyway, sitting next to me on my flight down was a mom and her two children who I guessed to be 2 and 4. Mom sat in the middle reading a magazine while both children quietly played with play dough for like two hours. I'm not kidding. I was amazed.

OK, but on to the Mommy Blogger weekend here.

The weather is beautiful and we're staying on site at the Disney Beach Club hotel. This place is amazing. Look at my flickr pics to get a feel for the pools.

Yesterday the events started with a poolside reception followed by a stroll to Epcot where we had dinner at Tutto Italia. Michelle and Joyce from Disney have been excellent hostesses and we've been treated like the VIPs we think we are! At one point we were escorted through the crowds to an exclusive private viewing area to watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth the Epcot fireworks and laser show. Honestly, no one does fireworks like Disney. Not even the Fourth of July at Boston's Hatch shell comes close.

We received bracelets to stay for Extra Magic Hours. As you probably know, this is one of the many benefits of staying on site at a Disney property. When the park closes, you and your family get to stay until midnight (or some days they might open the parks early for families with young children). Of course, after three glasses of wine, I was ready for a snooze. I've been lucky to find your old friend from college Boston Mamas editor Christine Koh here, and we're having a lot of fun together. Maria Bailey and I have been chatting at length about blogging and what the future holds for companies trying to reach the mom market. I'll tell ya, she is one smart lady.

There are lots of other great bloggers here, many of whom I have yet to chat with at length including Kris Jackson from a nice looking site called Clever Parents. She brought her adorable little 7-month old baby Charles who I swear has not made a peep the entire time. Not even during the fireworks!

Gotta run and get ready for 7:30 breakfast meeting. Today is another packed day (when am I to lounge by the pool?) but this is business after all. They didn't bring us all down here for nothing. But today I am definitely going to wear comfortable shoes. Once again I chose fashion over function and just like our trip to NYC for BlogHer, my feet were crying by the end of the night.

More posts to come. Hope you're enjoying your weekend and I wish you were here!

Hugs,
Erin