Friday, Nov 13th, Animal Kingdom

 I let Elli decide what she wanted to do on Friday.  She wanted to go to Animal Kingdom so off we went.

 Elli has liked this special animal, the Okapi, for quite some time.  We got to see a couple today.  We did the Safari first and hopped right on with no wait.  many of the animals were up and moving.  It was fun to see them.

 Look at this mama with her baby, 6 ft when born:)

 The male was awake but not up and moving.  He still looks so powerful.

 Mama and baby rhino.

 Micah sort of thinks zebras are cool.  He was excited to see them.

 I don't remember the name of this animal, but the horns are amazing.

 We also got to see this adorable little gorilla run after his mama.  He fell down and rubbed his elbow like he was hurt.  So cute:)  His mama walked over to him and helped him up.  at the end of the safari, we let the kids pick out a stuffed animal.  Elli chose and Okapi and Micah chose a cheetah.  He then told anyone who would listen that "Cheetahs eat goats."

 We watched the show from Africa.  The man behind Micah is from The Ivory Coast.  Elli was pretty happy to find that out and told them about Jenna and Justin moving there.

 We went to the Flights of Wonder bird show.  They asked for a volunteer and Elli started waving her arms like crazy.  They wanted someone between the ages of 8-10 who was really good at math.  (her hand went down for a moment:)  She was chosen and had to answer several math questions before the bird did.  Unfortunately, the bird was too fast and she didn't get to answer until about the fifth question.  2 + 2 = 4.  Elli got that one first and the crowd clapped like crazy! Then, the host shared the secret that every time she said the word "three" the bird said "four."  They congratulated Elli on being a good sport and gave her a certificate and a model bird.  Fun.

 This bald eagle was rescued.

 Micah was trying to feed this bird a sunflower seed.  This man kindly told him this bird likes to eat other animals:)

 Elli really wanted to meet Minnie Mouse since we hadn't seen her.  Micah as you can see was pretty excited too:)

 I love this picture.

 And this one!

 The Lion King show was a hit with these Fergusons. Micah loved these monkeys, as Elli did as well.

 The finale was great.

 Look at these serious faces clapping.  I loved watching Micah watch the shows.  He was very attentive and clapped right along with everyone.

 Elli also really wanted to see Pocahontas.  While we were waiting in line, she took a break.  On her way back in, I said to Micah, "Look who is coming."  He looked over and said, "Oh yeah!  The security guard!!!"  He was so excited to see the security guard, aka the Disney worker dressed in blue with a badge.  This man talked to Micah during our whole wait and did "magic tricks."  Micah was enthralled.

 Micah also signed a paper with his own name and wanted to show it to Pocahontas.  She was very kind to look at it.  Micah told er it was "E, F, G."  hehehe

 Pretty picture.

 Leaving Animal Kingdom and marking the end of our Disney experience.  Elli LOVED riding Everest!  We rode it twice back to back using our own and then Brent and Micah's fast passes.  I was a little dizzy but she was super happy.  We also rode the Kali river Ride twice but were given ponchos by the people in front of us.  Brent was grumping about getting wet and threatening to not ride it.  We all thought it was fun though and it was much better to not get soaked.  I shared my poncho with Elli but Brent didn't share with Micah:)  I wish I had a video of him dodging all the water!  Truly a funny thing to see.

 When we got back to our resort, the kids wanted to go swimming again.  We were also able to meet up with Kandice and Brad, the newly weds.  They came to us and had dinner.  It was fun to catch up and see them.  The kids swam a little, entertained the strangers in the hot tub while we talked, and then passed out that night. We loved our trip and enjoyed our experiences.  Look how sweet these two are.  I will say that Micah was sad he wasn't sleeping in Elli's bed when we got back home:)  Snuggle bunch.

When we were getting off the plane, Micah asked who was driving it.  The pilot stepped back over and said he flew it, then asked if Micah wanted to sit in his seat.  Fun way to end the trip.

Thursday, Nov 12, Epcot

 We met Raymonds at Akershus in Norway for breakfast with the princesses.

 The Raymonds minus Andrew, Benjamin and Malachi:)

 My little cuties.

 Micah grew to be very excited about meeting the characters, even the princesses.

 Ariel got a kick out of Micah who was telling her a story.

 Look at his sweet little wave.  He was so excited to participate in all things Disney and marched in every parade.

 All these princesses!

 Love these two.  After breakfast as we were walking with them, they were talking away like two little teenagers would, making plans to spend their day together and all kinds of other things.  Makes me smile.  Hope they can be friends forever.

 Snow White.  Even though we already had these signatures, Elli wanted them all again, in case they signed differently this time around.

 All but the twins in this one.  They came later with Paula's parents.

 This is blurry because I had to take it through the glass.  Elli and Lily designed their own ride and then put it to the test.  They had a lot of fun.

 The Japanese drums in the background kept their attention for a while.

 So sunny but they loved this fountain.

 United Kingdom had great grounds for pictures.  Micah was running around entertaining all the strangers again with stories and dancing.

 The ice cream was delicious and was very messy.  Elli gave up her cone and took the bowl I got for Micah.  So, he ended up looking like this and Elli was glad it wasn't her face:)

 They were both happy to meet these two characters.  It was so fun too.  Micah was hopping with Tigger and telling stories.  Before we left he told me ha had something to say to Tigger  he walked up and said, "I will see you with God."  Micah is at the age where he is trying to figure out what is real and what is not.  He was sure Tigger was real, but not quite sure it was an animal but he figured he would go to heaven:)

 Brent really wanted to watch the Lumberjack show outside of Canada.  It was fun and Elli really wanted her picture with the lumberjacks afterward.

We left around 6 after doing and seeing all we wanted. These two were getting a little tired.  Another fun filled day was had by all.  We went back for a later swim at the resort.  We found out quickly that there is one pool way warmer than the others.  We stayed there once we figured it out!  We also ate dinner by the pools and watched most of the movie Tomorrowland as it was movie night at the resort.  And, we had the rest of our s'mores after starting them on Saturday.

Wednesday, Nov 11, Sleeping in, Swimming, Epcot

 The kids were so tired after staying up until 1:30 am for the Christmas Party that they slept until 9:30.  They really just wanted to swim int he morning and take it easy. so we did.  Micah was enthralled with this shower and played in it for about 30 minutes:)  He was pretending and loving it.

 Elli decided to take a rest in the sun.  Looking at this picture of her makes me realize how big she is getting!

 We all did swim and play together.  The slide was a huge hit with all of us.  Elli wanted to catch Micah and then they did this over and over and over.  I love sound of their giggles while doing this even though a picture doesn't have sound. I will miss those sweet vioces one day when they are bigger.

 We didn't do much at Epcot hen we got there.  We rode Test Track, Soarin', Living with the Land, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Nemo.  we then met the Raymonds at Rose and Crown for a delicious dinner where we could watch the fireworks right on the terrace overlooking the water.  Such a cool view.  Also, we were able to leave the park calmly without the huge crowds as they had dispersed some before we got to the other side of the park.  really great night.

Micah was almost "Drunk acting he was so tired.  He was wobbling and unable to stand or sit on his own.  When Brent put him on the bed, he stayed in this one position.  We stripped him down and redressed him in pajamas while he stayed like this!  Disney really is a tiring trip:)

Tuesday O"Hanna Breakfast, Swimming, Christmas Party

 Lilo was at breakfast,

 Finally we see Mickey.

 We all wanted in on this one.

 Stitch.  Our server told us that if we didn't drink the stitch juice when he came to our table he would lick us.  Micah said, "Oh, yuck!"  Then he drank all his juice and mine.

 Pluto used to be Elli's favorite dog.  We actually had breakfast at the same time as the Raymonds but I didn't get their pictures.

 We went back to the resort and got some family pictures made.  I thought this was cute.

 They really wanted their picture in here.

 Elli insisted Brent and I do it too.

 Plying in the fountains.

 Posing:)

 They played very well in the water together.

 I loved watching these two.  Micah was doing his best to try to learn to swim and Elli was helping him.  It really was so very sweet.

 We then went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party from 4-midnight.  This picture was taken outside of Story time with Belle.  One of my favorites from our trip:)

 Elli and Micah were part of the show.

 Pictures afterward

 We got to ride the Dumbo ride.  Micah sure loved all the rides!

 Trying to get one of all four of us.

 Elli wanted a glow in the dark necklace and Micah wanted a light-up Buzz Lightyear.

 We watched Elsa light the castle.  So cool!  Micah was mimicking her moves to light it up.  It was so cute:)

 Here was Mickey in the Christmas Parade.  The kids had a front row seat but there wasn't enough room for us.

 All blurry because the floats were moving and I had to turn my flash off to see them.  But, here is Santa.

 The castle was beautiful!

 I love when they turn it into a screen for the laser show.  So incredibly imaginative.

 Elli and I waited to meet Anna and Elsa while the boys rode Peter Pan again.  Elli was excited to see them and so was I!

 They were really nice and took time with the kids which is hard to do in a long line like this.

 We rode the Carousel, saw Philharmagic, and the closed down the Mine ride during the last 30 minutes of the party.  The kids were exhausted to say the least as they didn't get to bed until 1:30.  However, it was an great night of fun and memory making.

 On our way out, we found someone to snap this picture of us.  We kept the kids awake by giving them hot chocolate and cookies:)  It was also snowing on Main St. which was super cool.  Lots of things to keep their attention.