Next Stop... Animal Kingdom with Friends!



For the second half of our trip, Paige and Seth (and their dad, Adam) joined us for some Disney fun.  We started with a fun day at Animal Kingdom.  The Safari and Lion King show were group favorites.  Mount Everest was also a blast and we did experience some passing showers in the afternoon. 

 Seth had fun on the rapid ride (he got SOAKED) but Andrew was not a fan at all.

 

While Dan, Adam, Seth and Andrew were able to take cover during this afternoon downpour, Nathan, Paige and I were caught on a ride and got SOAKED in about 2 seconds!  Where were those ponchos when we needed them?  Oh yeah, under the stroller with the other group. 

So in route to meet up at the show, I bought two safari towels to dry off and stay warm in the air conditioning.  A memorable souvenir.

 

Next.... A "Rest Day"

After two full days of amusement parks, we slowed the pace a little.  We played a round of mini-golf in the morning and then tooled around Downtown Disney in the afternoon. 

As I look back through the photos, I notice a lot of genuine smiles in a lot of photos.  The boys must have been having a really good time to allow us to take soooooo many photos!

Next stops ... MGM Studios and Epcot

We spent the morning at MGM Studios.  First stop, fast passes for Toy Story Mania (which was a really fun ride).  We also got Nathan signed up for a special event....  The Star Wars Training Academy.  He had a blast fighting Darth Vader!   

 

 

 

After just a few hours and highlights of MGM Studios, we headed over to Epcot Center for the afternoon.   We checked out a few favorite rides and enjoyed dinner in Morocco.

 

 

1st stop.... Legoland

Florida added a new theme park recently at the former site of Cypress Gardens.  We had a feeling the boys would enjoy it, so our first stop was a short road trip (about one hour) to Legoland.  The lego creations were really fun to see and the pirate water skiing show was awesome!  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the rainiest day of our trip, but we pushed through and did as much as we could in our ponchos.  As it turned out, the ponchos were a great investment.  We wore them many times throughout the week - but luckily we only experienced passing showers the rest of the week. 

 

 

 

A Look Back... Florida 2012

Last August, we spent a week in the Orlando area for vacation.  It was a wonderful trip, but as soon as we came back school started and life got really busy.  We had soooooo many great photos from our vacation that I felt too overwhelmed to even begin to blog about our trip.  But now... after nearly a year, I am ready to sort through the photos.

We started the week with a quiet day getting settled in our condo and enjoying a delicious dinner at Colombia, followed by ice cream and a stroll around Celebration. 

Pool Party Fun

A few weekends ago we celebrated Emilia's 6th birthday.  It was a beautiful, surprisingly cooler July day, but not too cool for a super fun pool party!  Andrew and Nathan had a blast splashing in the pool and playing all sorts of fun games with their friends.