So I named this post "Part 1" because I realized that we came back with just over 400 pictures! I am not intending to post them all, but I would like to post a good deal so I thought that it would be best to do it in spurts.
We arrived in Orlando on Saturday evening and were able to enjoy a nice meal at the timeshare. We visited, rested, and enjoyed our spacious accommodations. My parents were able to get us a 3-room suite, which turned out to be a 1-room suite connected with a 2-room suite... needless to say we had ample space (which was really nice). Also, we were fortunate to get a lake-side view. Here is Micah enjoying the porch. For some reason he really loved being out there. It was like his own personal getaway. Verity enjoyed being out there as well.
On Sunday, we had a neat time of worship at the timeshare. Later that evening we had a BIG family meal together. We somehow managed to fit 17 people in one room to eat together. Thanks, Jeremy and Kathy, for cooking and hosting! After dinner we celebrated, Feliz Dia de Padre, or at least that's what the cake said! When Jeremy and Jim went to get the cake, the person at the bakery didn't speak much English. So Jeremy got her to write the message in Spanish! Too funny! We were able to honor Papa with cake, cards, and a frame to hold pictures from the trip. It was nice to be able to celebrate Father's Day together a little early.
The next day, we all went to Animal Kingdom. There was a little glitch with our tickets (and a big glitch with the person who was at the ticket window). We got there early, only to wait for our tickets to be figured out. Here we are waiting...
...and waiting (at least the kids are still smiling!)
As you can see from the pictures, we were all decked out in construction-worker orange. It honestly was nice, because it made it easy to see everyone. We actually wore our shirts again later that week for the same reason (after we washed them of course ;-)
We did the Kilamanjaro Safari mostly together, which was actually pretty good. We got to see a fair amount of animals, and we got some great views of a couple of them.
The last picture is of a baobob tree, which kind of looks like it's upside-down. As you can see from the pictures, it was very hot that day. We were dripping with sweat just standing in line (TMI, I know).
Then we all rode a train up to a different part of the park. There was an elephant sculpture where we all stopped to take our family pictures. Here we are...
...along with Jeremy, Kathy, Kailey, and Elizabeth...
...and let's not forget Josh, Michelle, Nathanael, Tanner, Lucas, and Savannah.
While the families were taking pictures, I looked over and saw this...
That's Micah pushing Ethan in the stroller. So sweet! (We bought this stroller for the trip for Ethan in case the walking in the park got to be too much, and it was worth it's weight in gold!).
We had dinner at the Tusker House, an African buffet style restaurant (Thanks, Papa and Mom!). I don't know what everyone else thought of the place, but I had a good time. I think the best part about it at that point in the day was the air-conditioning and the free refills on drinks! Here is Verity with her cousin, Savannah, who is two months her senior.
A very cute pair!
Ethan's favorite ride was the Kali River Rapids, and thanks to the Rider Swap, he was able to ride it two times in a row. Here I am with Ethan in the raft. We were soaked! It was fun :-)
Other highlights from the day (no pics though): The Finding Nemo show (where we saw our youth pastor and his family!), seeing Mickey and Minnie in the parade (we only saw about 2 minutes of the parade, but it was the most important 2 minutes as far as we were concerned).
Overall, it was a good day, though a bit hot (but what can you expect out of Florida in the middle of summer?) Here we are at the end of the day with our stroller caravan...
... and in front of the Animal Kingdom welcome sign. I tried to get the kids to act out animals- Ethan is a bird, Micah is, well, Micah, and Verity, though she didn't act out an animal, at least managed a smile.
2 comments:
What fun! I didn't know you guys took this trip. I'll look forward to ALL of the posts in this series!
I was at Animal Kingdom during a Cast Member preview day before it opened, back when my sister worked at Disney, and LOVED IT. Glad you got there!
Great pics! Hope we can get a book together!
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