Orlando Day 3: Animal Kingdom

We spent our final day at Animal Kingdom, our favorite for sure.  We woke up to rain which was a bit of a downer but it kept the crowds away so ended up working out great.  After being wet for two hours or so, we went to the Nemo Show (indoors and adorable by the way!) to dry off. We came out of the theater to clear skies.  The rest of the day was lovely as we got in as much as we could before heading to the airport.  It was a fun and quick Orlando trip but we're so glad we did it!  

Getting ready to board by favorite ride - DINOSAUR!  

There we are during our second of three times riding :) 

Primeval Whirl!  I rode it once with Drew and then George did too.  David wasn't quite tall enough but he wasn't interested anyway.  

River Rapids!  

I was wearing the handy poncho for ride purposes only this time, the rain had stopped.  What a nerd! 

More ice cream while George and Drew take in a roller coaster.  Expedition Everest?  No thanks!

Our safari was excellent, maybe thanks to the weather?

David was part of the Lion King show.  Cute!  It brought on some tears from Drew who said, "I've never been in a show before and now I'm too old!"  

Drew loves a stuffed animal.  He got a leopard in order to have a best friend for Saber, his white tiger.  

En route to the airport.  Tuckered out!!  

Orlando Day 2: Magic Kingdom

The second day we were up bright and early again for a full day at Magic Kingdom.  The boys are definitely at a fun age for the rides and we had a blast doing everything together.  There was just one ride that David and I skipped, Space Mountain, but we took that time to enjoy another Mickey ice cream.  Yummo, we love those things!  We enjoyed all of the attractions but Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Buzz Lightyear were some favs.  Here's a few pics from our day!

 All those chairs and the boys sat on beanbags :)  We loved being in this gorgeous home.  George grilled out a delicious meal one night and we ordered the pizza the next.  

 It's a Small World selfie.  

 David still likes characters. Sweetie.  

 The line for Woody and Jessie was crazy!  I can't believe we waited/

 After such a long wait, I decided to jump in too!  At the time, we didn't know the more entertaining Woody and Jessie were to come that evening.  I hate to use this blog as an avenue to make fun but George and I got quite a kick out of the number of grown-ups that attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween event in costume - sans kids! Our favorite was a Woody and Jessie of about 55 years old. They were really, really into it.   

 My handsome fellas!

 Back on It's A Small World but this time it broke and we were stuck for what seemed like forever.  As much as I love that ride, it was too much!

A little shower didn't rain on our parade.  Thanks to our neighbors for offering their ponchos as we were packing.  

Quick Orlando Trip: Legoland

We took a quick and fun trip to Orlando in September.  George had to be there for work so the boys and I flew down to meet him for a three day trip.  We stayed one night at the resort where George's conference was held before moving to a crazy nice house our friend Brook set us up with.  Between the Disney parks, the hotel, and "the mansion" as the boys called it, there was too much to do in a long weekend.  We managed to squeeze it all in though by exchanging sleep for fun.  Lazy river at 7:45am?  Don't mind if we do! 

The boys really, really wanted to do Legoland on this trip so I took them there while George wrapped up his conference.  Then, we spent day two at the Magic Kingdom and day three at Animal Kingdom. Legoland is a manageable park and unlike the chaos of Disney, has low crowds.  We had such a nice day checking out Lego town, riding rides, and exchanging Lego figures with the crew.  That was a special treat that thankfully a co-worker shared with me.  Guests can bring Lego people from home and then trade with the crew.  It's neat because we saw some we've never seen before.  Who knew there was a Bart Simpson Lego?  We have one now! 

Sweet traveling buddies.  

George sent a fun vehicle to pick us up from the airport!  

Big muffins to get ready for a big day!

Lazy river first thing. That's how you get a vacation started.  

Here we go!

Vegas baby

Poor Drewby had to ride the good stuff solo - David and I were traumatized on ride #1 so weren't up for much more :)  Luckily, it was very quiet at the park that day and they let us wait for Drew right by the entrance to each ride.   

This sums it up - Drew the thrill seeker, David and me the chicken $hits.  

First night at "the mansion."  What a place!  We needed 24 friends to 

join us at that dining room table.

Who needs Disney?

Fun in the sun before a new school year

The boys and I skipped work and camp for a day at the end of July to sneak in a three day weekend before the start of school.  It was a beautiful weekend in South Carolina and we took full advantage of it.  Jillian (George's Goddaughter that so sweetly visits each summer) and her friend, Nina, were there visiting Judy before coming to our house, so we got to hang with them as well.  While Mom and I were catching up, Dad and the boys settled in on the couch for Jaws.  Yep, Jaws.  Dad said he taped it sometime back and couldn't wait to watch it with the boys.  I was leery, especially since we were there for the beach, but Drew and David were fine.  They were scared of the movie of course (Drew more than David) but for some reason didn't think they would see a shark themselves.  I'm 34 and STILL think I'm going to have a run-in with a shark every time I swim in the ocean, thanks to Jaws. Drew said that sharks likes cold water (there is a reference to the chilly water in the movie) and since the water in Myrtle Beach was quite pleasant, fortunately that meant no sharks :)  On Friday afternoon we went to the beach despite the dark clouds rolling in.  We figured the boys would enjoy running around even if just for a short while.  It ended up being a blast for boogie boards and we had tons of fun.  On Saturday we all boated at Bird Island - what a gorgeous day - and on Sunday we went to the beach for a couple of hours before heading home to pull out school clothes and make lunches! 

Enjoying our "nest" at bird island. 

Pretty Grandmas

Lovin' on Nina and Jill

At the Kindred Spirit Mailbox.  What a special place.  Visitors to Bird Island can write an entry in one of the many journals inside the mailbox.  Drew referred to the walk there as an "epic adventure."  Precious.  

CC and Drew write notes. 

Getting rough with Day Day 

David fell asleep during the 2nd running of Jaws.  

Beachin' it before heading home.

Yo Lo after a great first day of school!

David proudly shows off his BEE Folder from his new preschool.