The Disney Adventure

Bright and early on Sunday morning, we set off on a bus from our hotel towards Animal Kingdom. Before I knew it, we were walking to our first adventure of many that would make my day great! My favorite ride would have to be Expedition Everest, a roller coaster that went through a mountain with a Yeti. I loved it so much I rode it 3 times!!! Other highlights were the morning safari where I saw my favorite animals: cheetahs and zebras on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, the Festival of the Lion King show, Finding Nemo the Musical, and It's Tough to be a Bug (even though I was scared at some parts). Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired after a long day of trekking through Africa, Asia, DinoLand USA and Discovery Island with the Tree of Life. I was hungry though, and ate a great dinner at O'hana.

Our adventure continued on Monday at Magic Kingdom. We arrived in the morning just as it was opening with characters dancing to welcome us and the thousands of people around us to the park. Our first stop was a visit with some princesses! We met Rapunzel and Tiana. Rapunzel was of course my favorite, but Tiana was wearing a beautiful dress! After that we enjoyed the classic Dumbo ride and a small roller coaster, which was so much fun I rode it twice with Mommy. We took a ride on the Disney World Railroad to Frontierland where we rode on Splash Mountain. It was super cool going down the big hill, and when we splashed at the bottom of it my face was covered with water. It felt good on a hot day! I think Mommy and Daddy have finally become to realize that I like any ride that goest fast! We rode some more rides around Frontierland and saw a few shows then took a break for lunch. Following a trip on the riverboat we caught a parade. The floats were so cool!
We took in a few rides after that including the Tea Cups which I enjoyed, then we found ourselves in Tomorrowland where we saw the Monster's Inc show. The show was funny and I especially liked the part when Daddy was chosen to participate in the show. They showed him on the big screen and said that he was like Sully from the movie Monster's Inc. After that, we took a spin on the Tomorrowland Speedway! I drove Mommy around the track (she worked the pedals and I did my best at the wheel)!

Soon after that it was time for another character meal! This time we got to see Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger! It's so fun to be eating then all of a sudden a character comes to visit your table!

While we ate dinner there was a big thunderstorm that still continued when we finished. We were supposed to see fireworks when we were done, but they were postponed and we had to wait to see them. While we waited we rode some rides, including the rocket ships that spun high in the air! I screamed with delight taking in the night sights from way up high! We waited what seemed like forever until they finally started the Wishes fireworks show. Believe me it was well worth the wait. It was so magical watching the fireworks over the castle. Plus, after the fireworks, we waited again for a second parade, the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was really late when it started and I was a bit dazed and tired as I watched the glowing, glittering floats twinkly along the street, but it was really cool. Plus we had nothing to do first thing the following morning so Mommy and Daddy let us sleep late.

We're Off to Disney!

Something amazing happened on Wednesday night. Everything was normal until after dinner, Adam discovered a huge box on our front porch. (I saw it when Daddy brought me home from Faith Formation, but I totally forgot about it because I got a cross maze that I was really excited about.) The box had my name and Adam's name on it. So, we proceeded to open it. Inside we found a bunch of wrapped boxes, and they were numbered so we would know which to open first. Each box had different things in it; one had clues in it sending us all over the house to find a backpack, another had a map in it and a picture of a hotel. Then, one of the boxes had puzzles in it - There was a mystery crossword puzzle for me to complete. When I finished the puzzle, I filled in colored boxes from the grid that revealed a secret answer. I almost knew what was happening before I even filled all of them in. The message was: WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!  On Thursday I helped Mommy get all of our stuff packed for our big trip and Friday morning we were on the road!

We didn't drive all the way to Disney the first day and instead took our time stopping off for a visit in Savannah where we saw a HUGE ship in the river. After walking around a bit (and visiting the infamous bench where Daddy proposed to Mommy) we went to dinner at the restaurant with the huge shark hanging from the ceiling! When we were finished we got back in the car and drove a bit further to a hotel where we would stay for the night. Did I mention, I LOVE staying in hotels!

The next morning we had a few hours in the car before we finally made it to Orlando and Disney World! We went through a huge gateway that said Welcome to Disney World and found our hotel. We at lunch at the Contemporary Hotel. Every few minutes the monorail train would drive through the building, right above where we were eating. When we were finished we went to the swimming pool to cool off for a bit. There was a huge water slide at the pool which was so fun to go down. Daddy joined me a couple of times! They also had poolside games that Adam and I played including a water balloon toss and a musical stars game which I won! I had fun at the pool, and just as they told us to get out of the pool because we heard thunder, our hotel room was ready and we could go upstairs, act crazy and finally get showered off from the pool.

After showering we got to take a ride on the monorail train! Following that, we had a surprise dinner at Chef Mickeys. Adam and I though that Chef Mickey was just a small figurine next to the restaurant, but little did we know that we would meet all the characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy and Mickey!!! Minnie was my favorite! It was so exciting to see them! After dinner as we walked back to our room we saw fireworks over the castle at Magic Kingdom! I had such a wonderful first day at Disney I can't even imagine what is in store for us during our trip!!!

Guests for the Weekend!

We found out a few days before Labor Day weekend that we were going to have visitors! Jeff, Anna, Ben and Baby Libby came to visit! Jeff is Mommy's cousin, so that technically makes Adam and me second cousins with Ben and Libby. We had a fun visit! On Saturday we went to the park and played with Ben and on Sunday we had perfect weather for a trip to Pullen Park. It was a fun morning there riding the rides, playing at the park and walking around the lake. When it was Libby's meal time, Anna let me feed Libby. It was so much fun!! I really liked talking, holding and watching Libby play with her toys. I had no problem letting them use my room for the weekend although I was a bit worried that my room would smell like a baby!! It didn't smell like a baby when they left, so that was good. And, because they used my room, I got to have a sleep over in Adam's room! We giggled, told stories and stayed up late. Luckily I slept well in his room and the sleep over was fun!















On Labor Day, we relaxed a bit and after lunch we had a special surprise! We drove downtown and although Adam and I kept guessing where we were going, we had no clue. The surprise was an IMAX movie! Not only that, it was The Secret Life of Pets in 3D!!! I loved the movie and couldn't get over how big the screen was and how cool it was watching the movie jump off the screen towards me! So cool! We had an excellent weekend! Now I am all ready to track out for September! Only 4 more days and I am 1/4 way done with 1st grade!