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.