Animal Kingdom

Today we hit up the Animal Kingdom - again Disney is fantastic!!

We started with the Bug's Life show and we love it every time. Aubrie jumped several times and they laughed hard!

We ran into Pooh Bear, Tigger, & Eeyore.  They were thrilled!  Everett's perma-grin when he would hug the characters & Aubrie's smile when she'd collect signatures made my day!

 

We scored another family picture in front of the Tree of Life.

Abbie took Aubrie on the safari ride.  Even though our gator on our land is probably a rougher ride, I wasn't allowed on it pregnant.  So I hung back with Maggie.

 

The big joke had been that when they are all riding all the big rides I'd get my face painted.  They all thought I was joking, but I had to carry through with my joke.  Maggie luckily joined in.  I can't even begin to start on the weird stares we were getting as two adult women fully face painted.  We didn't get the simple fairy eyes no sirree.  We went balls to the wall - Panda - Zebra style.  The looks on our families face as they exited their ride was priceless!

 

  The kids then wanted their faces painted & how could I say no?  So Aubrie got the tiger & Everett the Cheetah.

Much to the men's dismay - Mom & Abbie joined in.  Abbie got a unicorn & Mom got leopard eyes.  We were hilarious.

 

 Then we got couple's photos.  The men again were just thrilled to be by our sides.

 

It was a hilarious good time & worth every single penny.

 

Kylie's face here kills me.  As does the half stick of bamboo hanging out Maggie's chops.

 

Dad's shirt also cracks me up.  We are dead serious about our beef cattle - we don't mess around with steaks my friends.  

 

We ran into Lilo & Stitch as well.  Aubrie was thrilled, but Everett decided he didn't really like them so he opted out of the picture.  He's a crazy man.

 

Overall it was another great day topped off with a homemade meal of lasagna & bread at the condo by Abbie Jane.  It was in the 80s today - I hear at home it was pouring rain - I don't miss cold pouring rain!!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party was the best.  We got there around 6:30 at night and it was lit up and absolutely stunning.  The kids were fully decked out in costumes.

We had Snow White & Caroline was a mini-version.

And Buzz Lightyear.

The castle was gor-geous!

The kids were thrilled with Donald - Everett has his Dad's famous perma-grin.

I was even able to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride.

We got a new picture & Everett loves his Daddy.

Aubrie and Abbie were photo bombed by Maggie the brat.

Mom actually has open eyes here - I think her streak of hilarious pictures may be coming to an end - I doubt it though!

There is the mini-Snow White - she's a doll baby.

Aubrie adores her Grandma & loves that she's next door in the condo all week!

Everett was digging all the rides.

During the massive fireworks I turned around and saw this.  Then she was spinning around with her arms in the air.  Everett just had a perma grin - fireworks surrounded the park.  It was awesome.  We even had hot cocoa, cookies, and a fabulous Christmas parade.

So basically you must come to this party at some point - it's packed, and overwhelming, but oh man it's a great time!



A SeaWorld Day

I'd like to start this post with Aubrie's newest joke.

Why do seagulls fly over the sea and not they bay??

Because if they flew over the bay they would be baygulls.

Aubrie had to get a picture with this giant snowman.

Sis loved the flamingos!

Touching stingrays was a highlight of the day.  Just for the record they are soft and slimy.

Everett got seriously splashed twice and laughed so hard.  He sleeps every night with a sting ray so this was probably his favorite part of the day.

Underwater dolphin viewing was awesome.  The kids LOVED it! 

Aubrie took Dolly the dolphin with us.  Grandma Janie plays the roll of Dolly & Aubrie thinks she's hilarious.

The manatees were seriously huge.  I still can't get over the size of their pores - really it's insane.

Again underwater viewing was fantastic - the kids loved this feature.

Next we went to the dolphin show, which seriously was fantastic.  Dolphins with acrobats - you can't go wrong there.  Aubrie made me take a picture of every single "aminal" we ran into.  Her favorite phrase is "Mom get a picture get a picture or Kylie get a video get a video!".  I have to make her a personal album now full of animals.

Oh yes he's standing on that dolphins nose!  Makes me want to rethink my career!!

Caroline really enjoyed the show too!

A squirrel was a highlight of the day.  See Everett's sneaky hand to the left - 10 more seconds and that squirrel would be his.

They have a great big shark tunnel - again I took tons of shark pictures for Aubrie Grace!

She couldn't get over the sharks teeth!

Finally a new family picture!  By the way I was REALLY tired last night!

Everywhere we went Caroline would crack up.  Even some tourists took her picture - which was pretty entertaining.

Jade & Kylie took the kids on their first roller coaster ride ever.

They absolutely LOVED it!  See Kylie beside Aubrie.  Her hands were in the air.  He videoed her the entire time which is pretty amusing.  She was thrilled and then the look of panic set in and then she was back to all smiles again.  They didn't realize you could get back in line and do it again!!

The Shamu show was good, but nothing like the dolphin show!

A picture with Shamu - they were SO excited!!  It's pretty good too!!

On the way out we got a picture by a giant tree.  The decorations are just amazing down here!

After we left SeaWorld we checked into our condo and let me tell you it's oh so nice compared to the beach side hotel we had been staying out.  We have 2 real bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, two bathrooms, and ooh la la a washer & dryer.  We're living the high life now & even got groceries!

What's next?  Sunday we're doing a lazy pool day & lazy river with a bit of shopping.  Sunday night we're headed to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Extravaganza party.  It's from 7-12 with hot cocoa, fireworks, parades, character meet & greets.  We are pumped.  Stay tuned for fabulous costumes on Caroline and Aubrie put together by Grandma Janie - they are beyond words cute!!