Yes, More Disney!

I am in a crazy crunch this next week to finish the year's blogging.  There are SO many things I haven't yet covered, but really want included in the year's blog book.   We'll see just how far I get!  But first off, I'm trying to finish our Disney trip.  After a long day at AK, we came back for dinner and swimming.  Our resort had a great kiddie pool area.

 Love this; you can still see Drake's face paint.

 Wednesday morning we got up and headed back to MK.  Our plan was MK, then nap, then Hollywood Studios.

 We pretty much spent the entire morning in Adventureland.  There were hardly any lines, so we just rode everything as many times as we wanted.  Eric took these two stinkers in the tree house while Eli and I got some fast passes.

 The Jungle Cruise

 These two were being silly after Pirates of the Caribbean.

 The Aladdin Magic Carpets.  Eli LOVED this one, and we rode it about 4 or 5 times in a row.  If you wonder why there are fewer pictures of him, it's because he was totally glued to me.  It was hard to get a picture of him when he was always in my arms.

 I just love this sweet smile.

 Here we are heading to Tom Sawyer's Island.

 And exploring the island

 For those curious how you take three kids in a stroller that holds two, this it the deal!  We rarely had all three in that same time, b/c no one really like to ride but Tessa.

 We bailed on our DHS plans and took a good nap.  I then called the dining reservations to see if any resort near us had some open seats for a good dinner.  And much to our surprise, they got us in at 1900 Park Fare with Cinderella and Prince Charming.  We took the boat to MK from our resort, and then hopped the monorail to The Polynesian Resort.  From there we walked to The Grand Floridian where our reservation was.

 This is Eli's "B" that he stole from Drake.  It seriously was Drakes for years, and Eli decided a few months ago that it is now his.  And he LOVED to drag it all over Disney.

 GF in the distance, from the boat.

 MK all lit up at dusk.

Dinner was comical.  The kids were starving, so as soon as we sat down, I went to the buffet to fix their plates.  Of course, that was right when all the characters came out and started rotating through the tables.  Well, my kids don't even know who Cinderella is, much less the other characters from that story.  It's just one of the many Disney movies we haven't gotten to.  They are obsessed with Mickey Mouse and his pals, but could not care less about the princesses.  So, it made for funny pictures.  They checked him out as he signed our matte, but I had to force them to take a picture with him.

 Tessa, of course, did want to give him a hug.

 Drake is thinking, "Cinderella who?  I need a drink refill!".

 Don't you love Tessa's mouth of food?  I said to say cheese, and she took me seriously, food and all.

 The step sisters were hilarious, and NEVER broke character.  They were my favorite.

 And my fav of all.

 I just loved this big boat.  It took people from the TTC to MK.  It was so pretty, but we never got the chance to ride it.

Disney- Day 2- Animal Kingdom

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early to catch the bus by 8:30.  We wanted to get to Animal Kingdom as close to the 9am opening as possible.  Drake was super pumped simply getting off the bus, as you can see below.  Their adorable Mickey safari shirts were compliments of Grandma and her snazzy sewing skills.  (I can't even sew on a button.)

The Christmas tree out front was quite impressive.  The kiddos loved all of the Christmas decorations.

After going through the gates, there were many staff members showing off little animals.  Here are the stinkers checking out a (nonpoisonous) scorpion.

We headed straight to get fast passes for the safari, and then did this trail.  We did it in 2011, and it was once again a big hit.  There are only two rides in all of AK for little kids less than 40inches, so it was really about the animals, exploring, and shows/parades.

There's a gorilla in there, can you find it?

Why everyone feels the need to cling to the same parent at one time is beyond me.

On the safari ride!

So, after the safari we were gonna see a show and then head to our lunch reservation.  Well, Drake saw the face painting tent, and was quite interested.  He's had his painted about a year ago, but only after I did.  He was cautious yet again, and said he wanted me to go first.  Tessa was also totally into it, but honesty that child fears NOTHING.  The pics of the actual painting are still on my phone, but here is the aftermath.  T was a tiger and D was a bear, and they took it SERIOUSLY.  Those two proceeded to walk through AK the rest of the day, randomly roaring at people.  Most just laughed, but some "got it" and acted scared/surprised.  I thought that was really kind and was sure to thank them, because the kids loved that.  Here is our little tiger roaring at her bear brother.

I was Rupunzel.  Drake's nose was itching:-)

A tame version of his roar.  You should have seen the facial expressions that came with it!

After lunch, Eli completely decompensated, so I strapped his tantruming self into the stroller and ignored him;-)  He passed out seconds later.  Meanwhile, the bigs wanted to see Mickey.  Note Drake is roaring at him.  Naturally.

On the way to Dinoland, Tessa joined in nap time.  I took Drake in the boneyard to play and dig, and eventually we rode some rides while Daddy rested with E and T.

Then Pooh and friends had a super short wait, so we took advantage of that.  We took one picture mat instead of three autograph books, and the kids loved it.  They took turns handing it to the characters.

This is here just to show the level of exhaustion after a day in AK.  We were watching the parade here, around 4pm.  We left right after!

Our next day was relaxation and another trip to MK!
TBC...

More of our Disney trip...MVMCP

The kiddos LOVED Disney World!  (As if it was a possibility they wouldn't!)  We left on Sunday and drove to Jacksonville and then headed to Orlando Monday morning.  We made it to Magic Kingdom by 5pm on Monday evening to get ready for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  It was a lot of fun, but would be better suited towards kids who can stay up til midnight and enjoy all the festivities.  For some reason blogger is totally jacking up the order of my pictures, so these are totally out of order from the night.  Oh well.

So I guess we'll start at the end of the night, since that's how blogger arranged the photos.  It snowed on main street as we were leaving, and it was a huge hit with D and T.  Eli was snuggled against me in the Beco carrier, and couldn't have cared less.  They tried to catch it and eat it.  Here's D "eating" his snow.

 It's SO pretty at Christmas.

 The snow coming out!

 D and T catching it!

It was so exciting to arrive and see the entrance all decked out.

 Our first views of the castle!

 This is how they felt about having their pictures taken.  Stinkers!  Grandma made them the adorable shirts for the trip!

Our first ride was Dumbo.  They tore the old one down, and built two Dumbo's side by side in the new Fantasy Land.  The kids LOVED it.

 Tess waiting her turn

 The boys were mesmerized.

 Part of the new Fantasy Land.  They have a circus tent where you can meet characters, and they even have fast passes for it--Awesome!

 The castle covered in icicle lights-Gorgeous!

Next up is Animal Kingdom