Animal Kingdom (or as Charlie says, "Raffi Day!")

This morning, we were all up and ready to go! Everyone was SOO excited!!!

As we were buckling up, Alex says to me, "Hey, Mommy, look how cool I am!" So cool, buddy - so cool!

When we got there, we parked and jumped right on the tram and headed to the gate.

We had to make sure to get our military exchange cards turned in for tickets so we did that first. We also found out that there was a military discount for the Memory Maker, so the next thing we did was a get a refund! What a great start to the day! We headed in and one of our first stops was to get our picture taken in front of the tree of life. We were doing a "Magic" picture here and the photographer had Lucy hold her hand out . . . somehow though, the "magic" ended up on top of Alex's head! :)

Lucy found some beautiful flamingos as we were walking . . . these are actually called "lesser flamingos" but they were still just as pretty!

Our first ride was the Kilamanjaro safari and Charlie could not wait until we got there. It was our first stop, but it still didn't stop him from asking every other minute if it was time to go see the giraffes.

We got to see lots of animals, but the baby elephant and the baby giraffe they have right now were not out for the day yet. Still, we had a good view of a bunch of animals. We saw three giraffes which Charlie loved!

Our next stop was the Conservation Station and as we were walking, we passed lots of Rafikis. Lucy wanted her picture taken with one. :)

Then when we got there, we found out that we got to actually see Rafiki and get his autograph!!

We told Rafiki that Lucy was going to be playing him in her upcoming musical performance so he taught Lucy one of his poses! :)

We went out next to the "Affection Section." (Uncle Lattie, it just isn't the same without you!) Alex couldn't wait to see the Bo Bo's!! 

The animals were mostly in the roped-off area. . . I don't know if they just hadn't released them yet or if none of them were interested in being petted, but it didn't take us long to pet the few that were out. After that, we headed back on the train to go see Mickey and Minnie! 

Last time, Charlie was afraid of the giant Mickey and Minnie. . . but this time, he got right up in there!

We ate lunch at the Flame Tree Barbeque. As I said earlier, Charlie hadn't been feeling his best and after Mickey and Minnie, he really started complaining about his stomach so he and I went to the bathroom several times during lunch time! 

Alex was our official lunch trash man. There were all these giant white birds around and Alex would take these elaborate paths to avoid going near any of them. If you look closely at his face, he is watching closely to make sure none of them make any sudden moves! 

After lunch, we went into the Dinosaur Land and rode the Triceratops Spin. As if poor Charlie wasn't having enough troubles with his tummy, as we are standing in line, he starts pulling down his pants and screaming. Somehow an ant had gotten into his underwear and it must have bitten him. We got it off as quickly as possible (it was a black ant, thankfully), but he was quite traumatized. He cuddled up with his Daddy for the ride. Alex and I rode together and he thought it was the greatest thing in the world to be able to make the dinosaur go up and down!

Gramma and Pappy took the younger ones to play on the Boneyard playground and the big kids took Lucy to ride Expedition Everest. She has been so ready to ride this roller coaster and was super excited!

Here's the photo they snapped on the ride . . . the look on Lucy's face says it all!!!

She will tell you she didn't like the ride, but secretly she did. I think it was a little intense, but I imagine she will be telling everyone she sees about how she rode this roller coaster. After the roller coaster, we went to see the Finding Nemo Musical. It was fine . . . the kids loved the bubbles at the end the best.

We went and played the drums in Africa next on our way to the Lion King show. Everyone was starting to fade a little bit because the enthusiasm for drums was very short-lived.

Lucy with Everest in the background!

The Lion King show was WONDERFUL! I wish I had more pictures, but I had Alex on my lap. He was so enthralled through the show too. It was a wonderful show with dancing, acrobatics, fire, singing, beautiful costumes, props. . . . just a lot of fun!!!

Too bad Harper was too tired to enjoy it!!! :)

We headed back to the car after all our fun, got some dinner, and then did a little night swimming in the pool. Now everyone is going to sleep and gearing up for another fun and busy day - tomorrow is the Magic Kingdom!!!!

Traveling to Disney!

After school on Friday, we hit the road headed to Disney! The kids have been so excited all year!!! We stopped in Savannah for the first evening. Originally, we had planned to eat at a nicer place, but it was so busy everywhere we went, that we ended up at Steak and Shake. The kids didn't mind though - they always love the hats!

Poor old Charlie wasn't feeling well . . .he didn't even go to school on Friday because he was running a fever. He slept a lot in the car and even though you knew he was excited, he just didn't have any energy to show it.

He did think that it was pretty funny to have Raffi wear his hat!

Who knows why but it was extremely busy in Savannah that Friday night. We weren't able to get any rooms with double beds, so the kids made pallets on the floor in our king bed rooms. (Lucy slept in Gramma and Pappy's room. . .that's why I have no picture of her.) They didn't seem to mind though and slept all night long!

 

The next morning, we were ready to hit the road again so that we could get to our Disney house! Charlie was a little perkier that morning and ready to go as well.

The house was so much fun to explore and everyone loved running from room to room to check everything out. We got all of the luggage in and got everything settled and then it was time to go out in search of some dinner. Everyone had to change into shorts though before we went because it was so hot!! And you can't be in Florida without your sunglasses!

I was taking a picture of the kids and all of a sudden, Harper decided that she wanted to join as well. If you know Harper, you know this is a big deal because she usually runs away screaming when we try to take her picture.

 After dinner that evening, we came back and settled in so we would be ready for a super fun day at the Animal Kingdom!

Happy birthday Michael!

Michael's birthday was last week and we had a nice celebration. The kids gave him their presents they had picked out.

Then we tried to get a few decent pictures . . . there's always at least one being silly!

And then we went to Arigato's for dinner. Everyone was so glad that Daddy had a birthday so that we could go out to eat!! These kids sure do love Japanese steakhouses!!