Disney 12-14-12

Today was our day spent at Animal Kingdom. I love the face painting they do there, so we made it our first stop. Might as well get a full day of fun out of it. Brady choose the princess kitty and Reese choose the Rapunzel tiara.

 Reese was very reluctant about all the animals at the beginning  I think she thought they would all be roaming around the park. But after a few 'safe' viewings she was elated to be there.

 So by the time we rode through the Safari she was soaking it all in.

 Next stop; Tucker House for another character meal. This was the best food out of all the character meals we had... I suggest it to all.

 Daddy and Elli had a ball too!

 Reese loves her some 'sprinkles'...has completely forgone the cupcakes by now.

 In Dinoland's jungle gym, there was a gravel filled excavation pit. Reese spent at least an hour and half playing in there. She just couldn't get enough. She was doing somersaults and rolls, filling buckets, handing our full buckets and making sand angels.

Brady loved the parades through out the week. She would take lots of pictures with her little digital camera. Ignore the size 12 month vest she is wearing...she thought it was a good idea to sport her baby sisters jacket. 

 Lots of characters posed for Brady when they saw she had a camera. This is her shot of Pluto!

 Next stop and my favorite of the entire week was the Finding Nemo musical. The cast just did an amazing job and their puppets were captivating.

Since Animal Kingdom closes at dusk, we headed to Epcot for a quick service meal. The girls had what they call the best Chinese food ever. Reese loved the caramel ginger ice cream and Brady savored the Lychee ice cream. Silly girls.

 Then before we left the park we had to ride the Evolution ride inside the giant golf ball! Starting off at the cavemen Brady started asking questions. I started explaining how they used to not have TVs or lights or microwaves, and then Brady asked if grandma lived in a cave...

 Tomorrow Reesey Poo turns four, so who better to celebrate with then all the Princesses...

Disney 12-13-12

Someone once gave me a great piece of advice before I planned our first Disney trip: allow for a day in the middle of the trip where you don't go into the park.  A down day allows the kids to reset so they can enjoy the rest of the trip. We had planned to look at all the hotels in the Art of Animation resort; Cars, Lion King, Finding Nemo and Little Mermaid. We also wanted to swim in the beautiful pool at Finding Nemo. So basically a day spent at the hotel.

The building we were in was the Luigi and Guido building. Here are a few pictures from the entrance to the building. 

This resort left no detail unseen. It was so much fun staying there. 

 Sally, the girls personal favorite. Brady doing her crazy poses and Reese beyond excited.

 This is the 'ka-choo' pose.

 All three of the girls saluting for Sarge.

 This was the entrance of the building across from us.

 Perfect description of Reese!!!!

 Prefect description of Brady

 Excited about Doc Hudson

 We went to breakfast at the Beach Club Resort, Cape May Cafe.

 Elli was a hit again.

 Then we went back to our resort and checked out the other buildings. I still can't get over how great of a job they did on these resorts.

HAKUNA MATATA

 This is one of two family pictures we got while there. We are in front of the pool for Finding Nemo.

 So the day ended up being much colder than predicted. So we scratched the pool idea and rode all the forms of free transportation at Disney; bus, monorail and boat. We rode the bus to Epcot, got on the monorail to Magic Kingdom, rode the boat to the Grand Floridian, took the monorail to Epcot, and the bus back to our resort. PHEW!

 Took advantage of this photo op outside the park.

 In the Grand Floridian there was a three story gingerbread house, yes it was really made out of gingerbread, the smell filled the lobby.

 This is a random picture from our hotel window. Every night at 9:30 we would hear the Epcot fireworks show. This is the view we got. It looked like something was on fire ;)

Tomorrow, off to Animal Kingdom!

Disney 12-12-12

HOW COOL IS THAT DATE?!?!?! I, in my life time, will never see a triple date like that again...here's to hoping the girls do however see 01-01-01, yep that is January, 1, 2101. That would make Brady 93, Reese 92 and Elli 88!

So we spent the day at Hollywood Studios. We did not go there on our last trip so this was new and exciting for all of us. However, before we made our way there we stopped at Ohana's in the Polynesian Resort for a character breakfast.

 Then came Brady's favorite part of the character meals, the parade. I marched around with Brady and Reese while Karl sat at the table with Elli. Reese actually grabbed my leg the entire time. Brady found the perfect spot between Mickey and Pluto.

 After I got back to the table Karl tells me that Stitch was up to no good...This is what Stitch did during the parade.

Karl was somewhat frantic when Stitch grabbed the stroller because the car seat wasn't clipped in and Elli wasn't really strapped in, so it was a mishap waiting to happen. Also, afterwards Brady kept finding her plate under the table when Stitch was near because she thought he would steal her food.

 I love the happiness on all my girls faces in the picture below!

 I love this picture, because Reese had a cheering section as she blew out her candle.

Now off to Hollywood Studios:

 We got to watch a bunch of shows, so not too many action shots here. Reese loved the Beauty and Beast Broadway show even though she was scared throughout. She kept asking to go back and watch it again.

 We saw the Pixar Pals parade and look who we spotted...BOO!

 Reese was invited to dance in a Disney Channel song and Dance show...

 She showed them how it is really done

 Hollywood Studios was beautifully decorated for Christmas. I loved seeing all the lights especially since we couldn't decorate our own home with the pending move.

 The girls both choose to spend their money from Grandma tonight. Brady choose a lanyard with trading pins. Guests get to trade pins with any employee and as often as they want. Within the first night Brady had traded away the four 'boy' pins that came on her lanyard.

 Her first trade

Reese opted for the wedding Rapunzel doll. The first night (not pictured below) she slept the entire night with the doll inside her PJs with the head sticking out the neck hole. The other nights she just chose to sleep with it beside her.