Disney World- Final Day

It is time for me to finish up the DW posts.

We finally came to the last day or our trip. We packed up our rooms and took our bags to the valet area. Then we headed out on the bus one last time to Epcot.

Here are the girls and mom at the bus stop. As soon as we got to Epcot we saw that this day would be very busy. It was the Friday before President's weekend and the lines were crazy. I was glad that we would not be battling those crowds for our trip. We had only waited in one line to see characters, but as we came into Epcot I saw a sign for Tinkerbell. She is the girls' favorite right now so we had to get in line. Dad and Andy took off to go to the World Showcase and we waited to see Terrance and Tinkerbell. As we were in line we could see Vidia and Rosetta. Across the mall was Marie from Aristocats so Carly and Gigi went to say "hi" while Mr B and Joiner and I were in line.

While we were in line Joiner and I noticed all these little fairy houses. Here is a fairy boat.

Getting our books out

Finally it was time to see Tink and Terrance. Joiner was so nervous!

Say "Pixie Hollow!"

We then met Grumpa and Andy in Great Britain. To Andy's great surprise and excitement, Dad bought him a Manchester United jersey! If he hadn't been too macho, he would have put it on right then! He has always wanted one, but we just never parted with the money! He now wears it every game day.

There was a Monty Python like show outside Here is France and the Eiffel Tower

Here is Morocco

Amazingly the only character that had no line and even incited fear was Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Now we have never watched this movie because I feel like it is too scary. Carly was brave enough to get her autograph and the handler said she was in a good mood that day. Even so, Carly wouldn't look at her!

I had to get in the mix to get a picture out of Carly.

Taking a picture with my favorite, bushes in the shape of Belle and the Beast.

Mommy too

After lunch, we headed back to the resort where we would take the bus back to the airport. I fed Bennett in a bar (by accident, it was closed) and we got to the airport. I was already a little mad with myself for trying to take such a late flight (5:10) when they announced that we were delayed an hour! Here it is, 3:30, with tired kids and now we have even longer to wait.

The girls eating a snack in the terminal

Poor Bennett gave in and he is passed out with Gigi. She, of course, is in heaven!

Daddy in his new jersey!

Grumpa with the crazy girls and their new Marie kitties.

Thankfully the plane came in a little earlier than expected and we were in the air by 6pm. We were all seated together this time and Bennett started to eat right away and either ate or slept the entire time. It was a late night by the time we drove home from Charlotte, but everyone did so well! It was a trip to remember!

Disney World- Water fun

After we took our nap after our morning at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to the Pyramid water park to play. It was a little chilly out, but the water was warm in the pool.

You can say the girls were excited to go swimming, but that would be an understatement!

Dancing in the hall

There was a twisty water slide through the pyramid and I think Joiner must have shot through it 1000 times. She would shoot out of it, swim to the edge and go back for more.

This is one of the girls sailing out, look closely.

Here is the other one

I had not planned ahead enough to pack (or buy) a swimsuit for Bennett. I ended up buying a $2 swim diaper in the gift shop so that he could join us. He was so excited.

Hard to see, but he was kicking and laughing.

Carly swimming

Mr B spent most of the time swimming with Grumpa

Apparently deep in thought in the pool:)

Disney World- Animal Kingdom

This post has taken me forever to get finished. We went to Animal Kingdom on Day 4 of our adventure. Mom and I had been in 2004 on our trip, so we knew somethings that we wanted the girls to see. Also Jarrett and Miriam had just been in November for their honeymoon.

The weather was perfect in the morning. We put on our sun hats, sunscreen, and went through the gates. It has been almost a month since our trip, so I don't remember all the animals in my pictures!

This was a pretty pink bird with these beautiful splotches of color

This is the Tree of Life that is the center of the park. It is man made, but unbelievable. It has all these amazing carvings.

I knew we should do the Safari, so mom, Carly, and sleeping Bennett and I ran to the Fast Pass area to make sure we could get a space. Carly stopped to play these drums.

Different musicians would play them throughout the morning and it was really cool.

As we were walking back to meet the guys and Joiner, we noticed that the Lion King show was about to start. Jarrett loved this so we ran to get the others and got into the auditorium as it was starting. It was really awesome with great singing and props.

Bennett woke up as we were coming in and he was very interested in the noises and sights. Look how big he looks! We would joke that he must be tired of going to sleep one place and waking up in another:)

Daddy, Carly, Joiner, Gigi, and Grumpa enjoying the show

This was one of the "floats" with Pumba and Timon.

This elephant was right beside us and kept moving. Mr B was entranced! The dancing was also really great. It was almost like Cirque D'Soleil.

A fire thrower!

Dancers

After the show, we made our way over to the Safari for our ride. Here is Bennett in line.

Joiner with Grumpa on the Jeep

Gigi and Joiner

This is a great experience where they drive you around in these Jeeps to see the animals and tell little stories and fun facts. There is even a little story about an elephant who has been taken by poachers. The funny thing is that our NC zoo is so amazing that most of this we have seen before without the ride!

There are some Rhinos if you look in the middle by the tree.

Look carefully and you will see all the crocodiles lying on top of each other.

This is a Baobab tree. We read about one in a favorite book called Hug Time so it was funny to see.

So close to this animal (some kind of gazelle or something:)

We could have reached out and touched this African cow.

You know what these are:)

Check out the baby playing with her mama

Carly's favorite, the flamingos

Ostrich eggs

Mama and Daddy lion on a break on the rock

More white Rhinos. Apparently they are almost extinct and Disney is one of the few refuges for them.

This is mama ostrich watching us pass

Now her neck is really up! Yikes!

Again, really close to whatever this is!

This is that baby elephant that they got from the poachers. The girls liked this part.

Our friend Ainsley at church and our cousins, Brooks and Madelyn, all had their hair wrapped at DW. Joiner knew she wanted to do that and I said she could. We found a place at Animal Kingdom and she picked out her colors and sat patiently while the girl wrapped her hair. Carly saw the clip-in varieties with a lot of beads and decided she wanted that. Grumpa was very generous and got them each what they wanted. The lady told us that it would last 2-5 weeks if she didn't play with it. It is exactly 4 weeks today and it is still holding strong!! We are all interested to see what the hair looks like underneath.

The girls with their choices.

Joiner and Carly

Bennett needed to eat about the time that the gang was headed on a train to see a reserve part of the park. So he and I headed to the Baby Care center to hang out. After he ate, he and I headed back to the resort to nap. Since it was the last day, the others stayed at Animal Kingdom a little longer.

Mommy and Mr B saying "goodbye."

On the train

Walking somewhere

A duck that Andy thought he should capture! It is a cool park! That night we chilled at the resort and took advantage of the water park...