it's a small world...

 

there are no words to describe the children's faces as we were traveling through this ride. since the lines were not long we were able to ride this many times and each time they found something new they liked. just be thankful that i don't know how to post music or you will be singing the tune all day just like we were.

magic kingdom (part 1)

how many families plan a trip to disney and save the magic kingdom until the last two days? we thought after the pace of the past few days that we would divide the magic kingdom into two sections and cover each thoroughly. it ended up being a great plan for us. below is a picture of my dad and mother-in-law along with two children.  

m1 and myself in front of cinderella's castle. she was so excited to have on her princess dress... and the sights and sounds of the day certainly did not disappoint. the children's eyes were wide open all day just taking it all in. even m2 (in a borrowed minnie mouse dress) was pointing and clapping excitedly at everything around her. such a great time! the carousel was ridden several times and enjoyed by the youngest and even the oldest. it was nice to see nana smiling and having such a great time. the passing of pops has been emotional on each of us, but to lose a husband of 45 years has been most difficult.

here is the adorable miniature minnie mouse taking a nap in the stroller. she was such a trooper going as long as she could and then crashing for a while.

family pictures are a bit more challenging the more eyes you have to face towards the camera. why is it that we have more bloopers than good photos?
here we are waiting for another parade to begin... this day alone we saw three parades! i love the picture of m1 patiently waiting. something about the bright orange hat, tennis shoes and fancy princess dress over a turtle neck that just make me chuckle. i think our little minnie is quite cute also.

our final parade of the day was the disney spectomagic parade. this day began with breakfast at the castle at 8:00 (we had to leave the resort on the shuttle at 7:20) and ended with the parade of lights at 8:00... with absolutely no breakdowns.  

"i'm going to disney world"

drew brees, you just won the super bowl, what are you doing next?

john david and his mom were pulling for new orleans... i was pulling for peyton manning and the colts. oh, well at least disney knows how to throw a parade.

an invitation from cinderella

m1 dressed like a princess this morning for our breakfast. we were invited to cinderella's royal table at her castle. so far, all meals have been outstanding but afterwards we agreed this was the best. the children had french toast with fruit; the adults had a choice of omelets or french toast with bacon and fruit. oh. my. word. the french toast was the best i had ever tasted. i would love to know what type of bread they used. all of cinderella's friends stopped by each table to speak with the children and for pictures.  m1 was captivated by the setting. the girls were given wands and the boys swords. there were wishing stars on each table and they were asked to wave their wands over the stars and make a wish... not opening your eyes until you heard bibbidy-bobbidy-boo.  m1 was absolutely precious during this moment. we still do not know her wish!

less than stellar table manners but they were happy and having a grand time. as long as this does not continue at home i am fine with it.

side note: this was the one meal we could not get nana in at such a late date. it has been full for many months now. we had the first time of the morning so jd went to the hostess and explained that we had one more with our group than planned. on the phone for weeks straight we had been told no, but when asked in person, she was allowed to join us. so we cancelled her reservation at another place and she was able to enjoy the meal with us.

animal kingdom

what is a safari adventure without a bumpy kilimanjaro safari ride? open air buses travel around "africa" as giraffes, lions, antelope, zebra and other animal roam free.

the tree of life ~ this tree has over 300 animals carved into the branches. inside the base is a cute 3-d show "it's hard to be a bug" was quite the attraction since it was inside and climate controlled. the sun peeked out for about an hour which warmed us up a bit... we will take a look at our layers of warmth in a few minutes. i loved our bug-eyed 3-d glasses, very stylish!

little man's first roller coaster was the primeval whirl. very fun ride that he rode with mommy and daddy the first time and granddaddy and daddy the second time. m1 was not tall enough, missed it by a hair. literally. although she could ride the BIG roller coaster with a steep drop, how much sense does that make. here is a picture of the three boys at the end of the coaster.

breaking news: during lunch we got a call from nana that they had safely arrived at the orlando airport and were now on the shuttle heading to the resort. yea! they would be joining us for dinner. happy news. now back to regularly scheduled fun.

while daddy and granddaddy rode the big coaster (getting a ride share pass for mommy) the children and i wandered and watched these monkeys. they were very comical and enjoyed putting on a show.

layers ~ layers ~ layers: so here we are on day three and we have been cold, colder and at times wet. each day we wore a short sleeved t-shirt, under a long sleeved t-shirt, under a sweater, under a coat. yes, we are in florida and wearing four layers. little man refused to wear his hat so mommy rocked the camo hat. hey, at least my ears were warm!

we enjoyed several shows... finding nemo the musical was absolutely spellbinding. the colors, actors, choreography were fantastic. as an added bonus the theater was heated! the festival of the lion king was also very colorful and fast paced.  m1 took all of the pictures below.  m1 and mommy were pulled from the audience to participate in the show... we had to run around the stage area shaking african instruments. quite fun! no pictures of that but daddy did capture it on video.

donald's safari breakfast

we began our animal kingdom day with breakfast inside the kingdom, at donald's safari breakfast. it was another delicious buffet with an african twist. great decor in a quaint little african style building. music, dancing and singing also set the mood! the familiar characters again stopped by each table ~ decked out in safari gear, of course. we are not sure who is taller, daddy or goofy. what do you think?

a storm a-brewin'

meanwhile, for the third weekend in a row they were calling for snow back home. nana called several times during the day to give us updates. she was getting a bit worried about making it to the airport and flying out with m2 on sunday. we could not believe snow was coming again. uncle g and auntie a (and their girls) helped nana get to the airport safely on sunday. thanks for your help! since we had already taken nana's suitcase and morgan's things with us, all she had was the stroller and a backpack. i am sure folks wondered how she was traveling so light... we would later find out that m2 was an excellent first time flier.