I know I know -

I haven't blogged the rest of our trip. I'll be working on that this afternoon.........

Blog comments have been opened up

I decided to open up the comments to anyone.

I will still moderate but won't limit it to Google accountholders only.

Hopefully, that will ENCOURAGE those of you who LURK, to comment or maybe even those who are followers to comment.

It's discouraging to post over and over but see no comments to what I've spent time writing or photographing.

Marina Fun ~ Pony Rides at the Resort

Today we decided to hang out at the resort for a little while in the morning. Just a more laidback approach to the day. We went down to the resort Marina and killed some time. The boys all road the Speed Raycer boats, the little ones played in the sand for the first time, the "teens" played at the waters edge after the boats and we ate an INSANELY OVERPRICED meal at the resort restaurant!! Sydney got her first "real" booboo when she fell on the deck. We had to go get band-aids from the rental office. Overall though, everyone had a blast!!!

After being sucked dry for lunch, we decided to do horseback riding. We were all sooo excited since the little ones had never ridden a horse before and us big ones wanted to too!!! We were also looking for the petting zoo on the resort (which we never found) and came across the kid sized ponies!!! OH! MY! GOODNESS! WHAT! A! FIND!! $5 a child and you lead them around the corral!! My two little ones were STINKING thrilled with this! Sydney was trying to get on Luke's with him but we kept having to stop her. It was so funny!!! They had so much fun and did REALLY well!!

We got done with the ponies and headed back up the riding stables. As we approached them, 2 ladies and a photographer with Disney Resorts PR came up and asked if we'd like to be in their magazine. UH YEAH!! They wanted us to get on the horses, hang out for some camera shots etc. We discover that we need to go check in at the office area and then come back up for saddling up/photos. Upon getting to the office, Alan found out it was $46 PER PERSON for 45 minutes!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? ARE THEY TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS? Siiiiiigh, seeing as how we weren't paying $180 to ride and be in the magazine, we headed to the bus stop for a trip to Downtown Disney instead.

Marina/Ponies --- WDW 2009

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Ok, the CROWDS WERE HORRIBLE!!! H!O!R!R!I!B!L!E! because the weather was PERFECT for being outside!!! Animal Kingdom really is the best place to be able to get close to the characters. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Baloo. The kids had a BLAST!!!

Kilamanjaro Safari was AWESOME!!! Animals were very active because it was soooooo mild out. The temp was perfect. We even saw a white Rhino RIGHT BY THE ROAD where our jeep passed by. VERY COOL!! Lots of gazelles. Saw a cheetah, a lion and a giraffe. There were a couple elephants and a sweet baby elephant in the field.

We also waited for about 30 minutes to go watch "Festival of the Lion King" and I am so glad we did!! The kids just LOOOOOOOOVED it!!! They were enthralled by the entire thing!! Afterwards, the bigger guys rode Expedition Everest and they loved it!!

And you simply cannot forget MICKEY'S JAMMIN' JUNGLE PARADE!!! God provided us with front row seats!!! Not once but twice!!! Me and the GT's watched the parade while the big guys went and rode Everest. We happened upon a FABULOUS spot...AGAIN!! As soon as the parade was over, we were heading over to the Safari to meet the big guys and as SOON as we went to the "edge of Africa" to be the beginning of the parade, they roped us in...soooo, we watched it AGAIN on the front row!!! The little ones loved it!!!

Animal Kingdom 2009

My life is complete

The Magic Kingdom is TRULY magical!! There's so much to tell but I just don't have the energy to tell it right now. I'll be blogging like mad when we come home this weekend!!

LOVE TO YOU ALL!!

Magic Kingdom

(Montage added to the bottom of this post....turn on your sound!)

Let's just start with this ..............................

I LOVE DISNEY WORLD!!!!

It was crowed and hot and crowded.......did I mention crowded? REALLY REALLY CROWDED!!! But it was FUN!!!! We walked what seemed like about 100 miles!!! It was really only about 10 I bet but when you get there at 10:30am and don't leave till 9:30pm, it seems like you walked across the US!!!!

Sydney was really too small for most everything except the trains, Blue Line and the like but I tell you what, she had a blast too!!! She did EVERYTHING she was big enough for and was just a sweetie ALL DAY!!! The kids areas were so crowded that it really was hard to wait in line for much.

My youngest son has proven what we already suspected......he is FEARLESS!!! The faster the rollercoaster, the better he liked it!! The more he wanted to ride it!!! He has a need for speed!!! He rode Goofy's Barnstormer(little kid coaster), Big Thunder Mountain, played on the climbing/sliding stuff near Town Hall in ToonTown.......he rode everything twice because we had the parent swap!! That is ONE COOL FEATURE!!!

Aaron surprised us all..........he has become pretty fearless too!!! Space Mountain, Big thunder Mountain, Barnstormer. Other rides that I'm sure I am forgetting!! He says he found his INNER DAREDEVIL!! Great, like being a teenager isn't crazy enough! :-)

The 2 cooooolest things on earth happened to us while at WDW:

On Sunday night we were riding the train back to Main Street to head out. Well, overhead comes the conductor - IF YOU'LL LOOK TO YOUR EAST....YOU CAN SEE DISCOVERY AS IT LAUNCHES!!! HOLY COW!! We saw spaceshuttle Discovery ascending .... up over the trees.....into space!! We watched until we simply couldn't see it anymore. Such an awesome experience!!! AWEEEEEEEEEEEEESOME!!!! Unfortunately, it all happened so fast we couldn't get the camera out in time. Darn it!

As we were leaving the station, we come up on the Main Street roundabout. It was almost time for the 8pm Luminations Parade. We'd never been there to see the parade so I looked at my EXHAUSTED hubby and said, Please...let's stay!! He said ok. We stop a Cast Member named Christina(Atlanta, GA) and asked where we were in relation to the route.

Well, low and behold.....the BEGINNING of the parade was literally 100 yards away and we walked up on an EMPTY spot RIGHT on the street!! It was perfect. We were dead on in front of the castle at the other end. It was spectacular. We watched the children watch the light parade in awe. Even the big kids. I really didn't think the night could get any better.....until:

I got to chatting with Cast Member Christina and our adoptions came up. The Reader's Digest version was told. Along with a few tears from both of us by the end!! Anyway, at the end of the parade, she approached us with celebration buttons. Alan and I had ones that say: "HAPPILY EVER AFTER" and then all of us got one that says: "I am celebrating our family being together". The italicized section is what was written in by Christina for our family specifically!! It was really the perfect end to the perfect day!!!

WALT DISNEY WORLD 2009

Fun in the Grand Floridian gift shop

(-: NO CAPTIONS NECESSARY!!!! :-)

CHARACTER BREAKFAST

1900 PARK FARE

THE GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT

The GT's were SOOOOO cute in their custom outfits that Miss Kristine made them!!

We got stopped EVERYWHERE!!!

I just LOVE the character breakfasts!!! Love, love, love them!! They are fun, interactive and good way top get up close and personal!! Each character made TWO stops at our table. It was way cool!!! This b'fast included:

Pooh, Tigger, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins and the Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter was BY FAR my favorite!! He was HYSTERICAL!!! During his visit to our table, there was an empty seat between AJ & Kyler. "MH" walked over to it, rolled his eyes and said...."Oh heavens, I guess I'll sit here between the teenagers even though I! DON'T! LIKE!YOU!! This age is so so, so....oh, I just don't like you!!" The boys rolled and they loved it whether they admit it or not!!! ;-)

I love Kyler's face in this picture!!!

The Mad Hatter spies Luke behind him and got all excited since he wasn't a teenager!

Look at his eyes..... crazy!!!!

Sydney wanted NOTHING, I REPEAT - NOTHING, to do with the "people" characters!! Freaked out when they were by her. However, she jumped at the chance to hang out with Pooh & Tigger. 2 of her faves, I might add!! She would get so excited every time she'd see them!

MOMMA LOOK!!!

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!


No thanks, Mary Poppins!!!

And Alice, same goes for you!! Back away slowly!!

I was calling Luke in the shot, he said this "was for girls only"!!

Luke, he was in his glory!! He loves Tigger and just beemed when he'd be around!!! Calling him over and over and over!! He was not bashful or shy but wanted to be right in the middle of the action!! :)
A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!!

And awaaaaaaaay we go.......

We were out the door at 2:30. Headed for "The Happiest Place" on earth!!! No naps for the little bits and they gladly obliged our request to sleep in the car. Instead of driving the WHOLE way today, we determined we needed to stop 1/2 way. So, after 7 hours in the car, we stopped in Albany, Georgia. Who knew we could fit that many people in one hotel "suite" comfortably!! :) We highly recommend Country Inn & Suites there!!! New hotel with GREAT staff and ammenities.

After a hotel continental breakfast we were up and on the road again around 9am. After a few potty stops, we arrived at Fort Wilderness around 2:30pm. YAY!! A couple minutes to check in and we were on our way to our cabin - 2309 Shawnee Bend. Cute little cabins that are just enough for 6 people since all we really do is sleep there! :) Definitely recommend them to anyone who wants to "rough it"....hahahahaa!!

Do you think that this really lasted????

Hahahah.....no, it didn't!

Watch out Mickey, here we come!!!!