When I left off, we were heading into World Showcase for our first taste of F&W. We were full of adrenaline and ready to eat. Our Yak and Yeti lunch had worn off and we were hungry! Luke was excited too!
As I previously mentioned, M had been to a soft opening of F&W the night before that was lightly populated, so we were hoping for the same this night. Unfortunately, we thought the festival didn't open officially until the next night (Saturday), but it was actually the day we were there (Friday). So we accidently went on opening day! We were still thinking it may not be too bad....
but we were wrong!
This is a photo my mom took of the traffic through the World Showcase.
But we went on in anyway. Since we were hoping to hit all the booths, we started at the first one we came to - the Refreshment Port. Nothing that exciting here, but in the interest of trying something from each booth, we ordered...
the Fried Shrimp with Dole Pineapple Sweet and Sour Sauce.
This was actually really good! It was fairly basic fried shrimp, but it was served hot and was delicious. I really enjoyed the pineapple sauce!
Next stop was to visit our neighbors to the North. Canada, eh? I have actually had the privilege of travelling to Canada and it is quite beautiful, just like this pavilion. This was one of the booths I was most excited about, since we had a Le Cellier reservation later in the trip. DH and I got the "Le Cellier" Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce. My parents got both the filet and the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup.
My parents really enjoyed both their items. I don't know if our filet just wasn't as good as theirs, but I just wasn't overly impressed with this. It was good, but it wasn't the magnificent thing I have heard described on the DIS. After this, I started wondering if I wanted to keep our Le Cellier reservation and if we did, did I still want to order this? (You will have wait to find out!)
Our next stop was in Ireland for the Lobster and Seafood Fisherman's Pie. Each couple got one to share.
We all agreed that this was kind of meh. Not bad, but not great either. Definitely the worst item so far.
Now here is where things kind of fell apart. If you have been reading along, you probably remember that we are going on a poor night's sleep. It is HOT with all the grills going and people crammed in like sardines. The lines are terrible. We are all hungry, and it is obvious we are not going to get full at F&W this way. Luke is starting to get crabby. And then it starts to rain!
We are getting crabby too, and everyone is getting a little snippy with each other. We had wandered close to France at this point, so we decide to get out of the rain and get something to eat at Boulangerie Patisserie. I had the brie aux pommes (brie and apple) sandwich with an apple turnover. DH had the turkey and bacon baguette (as did my mom) with the Duo au chocolat. My dad had the cheese plate and he and my mom both had the raspberry trifle for dessert. Again, only my mom took photos. (Sorry!)
Here are my parents' meals.
I went ahead and nursed Luke while everyone else ate. Then DH took him so I could eat. All the food was really good, although the apple turnover was definitely the dud of the desserts. Both the other two were much better! By the time we were all finished, the rain had stopped. With no rain and 5 full bellies, everyone was in a better mood! Yay! So we decided to stop for Photopass pictures! (And I am so glad we did, as these are my favorites from the trip.)
Since it was obvious we weren't going to be doing any more F&W that night, we decided to just head back to the resort. But on the way over the bridge near France I realized that it was getting close to time for Illuminations. I mentioned staying and watching, and everyone was agreeable to that plan!
My parents decided to just sit and wait, but Luke was only content if we were moving. So my parents found a bench, and we went to walk around a little. I had used FP+ to book us a reserved spot for Illuminations, so I told my parents we would meet them in there when it was time. DH and I had just planned to walk around, but when we got to Spaceship Earth there was no line! Unable to pass that up, we walked in and got right on the ride.
This is another ride I think is underrated! I really love this ride and always enjoy seeing our future. We actually try to make choices opposite of what we actually like to try to get different futures each time.
Once we got off the ride, they were turning off the lights for Illuminations so we rushed over to join my parents. But we couldn't find them! We looked and looked behind the building where the FP+ viewing area was supposed to be. Except that in the dark, we had gone to the wrong building! So we hurried over to the next building and found them. Illuminations had already started by the time we got there, but we were able to enjoy most of it as a family!
We didn't know how Luke would do (especially with the loud noises), but he was so interested!
This is one of my favorite memories of this trip - even thinking back on it makes my eyes well up. Just standing there with my family, watching my son enjoy his first fireworks show...it was amazing. Disney magic at its finest.
After the show we walked out of the park (actually I think I floated). My dad wanted to stop to look in a shop along the way. We wondered what was taking him such a long time. It turns out he was buying this....
which he gave to us on Christmas!
On the way out of the park we stopped for more Photopass pictures! (But I bet you already guessed that!)
Then we headed back to POR and got settled into bed for the night. But not before we gave Luke a bath!
The bathtub was just too big, so we cushioned the sink with a towel and used it instead.
Next update: Day 3 - What does it have in store for us? Where will we dine? Will we ever get to DHS? Will we brave F&W again?
I am thinking that whenever #2 comes along, a maternity leave trip might work for us too! 
Looking forward to more updates.
I do think it is easier before they are too mobile!
Glad you were able to salvage the night that was starting to go bad. Getting out of the rain and crowds and filling the bellies was a good plan. 
So sweet! Love the bath in the sink! I guess I've already forgotten how tiny they start out! Oh, also nice ornament. We saw that and some other "baby's first Christmas" ones, but it wasn't our baby's first Christmas, so we were hoping to find "baby's first trip" and had no luck. There were several adorable first Christmas ones, though, and that is one of them!
