Disney Part 2

This picture proves both Steve & I were on this vacation -- seems I have the same problem as my father, in that I take most of the pictures so it is rare to see one of me during the vacation. I don't remember which child took this one (though I am sure they could tell you!) but it turned out pretty good! This was on our first day at Magic Kingdom. Now, this next picture is from our day at Animal Kingdom. The guys are looking from a bridge towards Mount Everest. The Everest Expedition ride was the only ride in our entire vacation that we didn't get to go on due to the lines. The day we were at Animal Kingdom (AK) it was incredibly hot. In fact, the area was having record-breaking heat for many of the days we were there, but this day was the worst. The way the park is structured there are many areas with very little air flow due to the barriers in place to keep the animals separated. Plus it was our third day of hard park-hitting (who knew that having fun was so exhausting!) so we all faded fast. We got to the park at noon and left at 4:00
As we walked around, though, I found myself appreciating our home state. We saw Komodo Dragons at AK, and we were able to compare them to the ones at the MN Zoo. When we saw the gorillas at AK, we thought of the gorillas at Como Zoo. When we saw dinosaur bones, we remembered the Science Museum of MN. As I watched other families ooh and ahh over the exhibits, I watched Ben & Ty view them with the background of having already been exposed to them. I realized the resources we take for granted in Minnesota are not the norm for the nation, and I felt grateful to live in an area with so many offerings for children (and adults) to learn from.

This is probably my favorite part of our day at AK -- the Lion King show. It's not quite the same caliber as the Broadway show, no incredible puppetry costumes, but the show was wonderful all the same. The 5 "monkeys" were amazing with their jumping, flipping, and general comic acrobatic routines. The songs were wonderfully familiar and brought a lump to my throat as always. Plus, it was so well air-conditioned that we actually got a little COLD while in the arena!Now on to Epcot for the next two photos ... Ty drumming in an African exhibit.
We spent two of our five "in park" days at Epcot, and still didn't see everything. The majority of our time there was spent in the front half of the park, exploring the sections devoted to the land, the planet, and space. We didn't ever get to fully see all the international areas - we got a German beer, some French bread, and our beloved Norwegian chocolate (and I got my fill of speaking Norwegian with the native workers there!) but there were entire countries that we barely glanced at. I guess there has to be something left for next time!

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Before we left, I chatted with our piano teacher about missing lessons and she shared that another of her students, from a family we know, would also be in Florida. We had no idea where they were staying, which days they would be at which parks, and in fact, it sounded like our entire vacations would really only overlap by a couple of days - but, you guessed it, we did run into each other! Walking through Epcot we suddenly heard Sharon's voice call out to us, so we quickly nabbed a nearby tourist and made her take photos of the 8 of us with both our cameras!

Their two girls are almost exactly the same ages as Ben & Ty. Sylvia is older than Ben by about 2 weeks, and Ty is older than Stephanie by a few months. Nothing that Sharon & I are about the same size, and that the two Steves are similar in height, compare the heights of the girls vs the boys. Hmm. Hopefully the boys will catch up soon!

I had this entire post done yesterday and then eBlogger ate it ... hopefully it will go through this time, and then I will continue with more stories tomorrow. Still working on getting laundry caught up, and strugling to get back into the routine of school (and I just realized with a jolt of adrenaline that we have 18 minutes to get Ben to his trombone lesson! Better sign off now!)