Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Night at EPCOT (Day 2)


After dinner we took the boat to Epcot for the night show. We were pretty tired and didn't feel like doing much (we would return to EPCOT). We walked around a bit, found a spot and relaxed. The weather was perfect and it felt great to just sit, watch the kids run around and wait for the show to begin. Gavin and Kyle of course headed off to seek out more thrills and rode a few rides before the show. Another wonderful show by Disney- they do like their fireworks (and we did too)!
Showing off their new light up toys they got with their drinks at dinner. Avalyn's was a Tinkerbell and Gavin's was Buzz!


Avalyn made 2 little friends while we waited for the night show. It was really sweet to watch them play together for over an hour. They didn't speak ANY English and Avalyn speaks NO Spanish, it didn't make a difference:)

The night show at EPCOT is beautiful and it was a beautiful night to watch it!

The Boardwalk

After a fun day at Animal Kingdom we headed to The Boardwalk for dinner at Kouzzina (Cat Cora's restaurant) and then we used our park hopper to enjoy the night festivities at EPCOT! The food was wonderful and the kids enjoyed running around the Boardwalk. It was a great break from the business of the parks!



Looking good in her little dress!


of course, a pose;)

Animal Kingdom 1st half of Day 2


Animal Kingdom
The first half of our second day at the parks was spent at Animal Kingdom. We had a wonderful time! Our favorite part of this park (and a must) were the Nemo and Lion King shows! They were beautifully done and so much fun for everyone. Pictures weren't allowed in the show, but there were plenty of others from our day at Animal Kingdom!


Avalyn and Pooh!

Cambria was abit disappointed that Pooh couldn't' squeak her ducky.
Gavin wasn't interested, he just wanted to see Tiger- the characters weren't his thing (accept BUZZ). Avalyn on the other hand didn't meet a character she didn't love!

Meeting Tiger

Someone's behind us! We had no clue, until I turned around to take a picture of everyone and Tiger was sneaking up behind us!




Avalyn and Grandpa

Cambria out of the stroller for a few brief seconds, she went running- there is no stopping her:)

Cambria chasing a real duck. I don't think she realized exactly what it was, who can blame her it wasn't bright yellow and squeaky;) I know if she could have got her hands on that beak, she would have realized it (I don't think the poor duck would have survived that, so all is well).

DinoLand with Daddy!




Stacia and Trevor riding the Dinosaur ride- another ride we could all enjoy!

Going on a Safari! A great way to end our journey at Animal Kingdom!


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Dreams do come true!

From the moment the surprise was realized by Avalyn she was asking to meet a Princess. She thought they were going to be right outside the Airport door, then at the resort and the moment she woke up on our first morning at Disney she was asking to meet a Princess. We stepped foot in Magic Kingdom and she asked again! I was relieved I had booked the Princess meals months ahead of time- yes, we did both (it was just Avalyn and I, so I figured why not), I wanted to make sure she met as many Princesses as possible (and we didn't have to stand in any character lines). It was well worth it and probably one of my favorite parts of the whole week!

I waited to tell her when we walked down main street (as I pointed at the castle) that we would be eating breakfast at Cinderella's Castle! We road a few rides then made our way to the castle. I surprised her with a costume and she changed right there in line. So many wonderful pictures, so I narrowed it down a bit;)
I also surprised Avalyn with a Cinderella costume to wear to her breakfast! She was thrilled with it and didn't take it off ALL day!
The magic ticket!

Ready to get Cinderella's autograph!
Okay, I didn't realize how horrible the lighting was in the area where Cinderella was. I was too busy watching the pure JOY on Avalyn's face as she waited to meet Cinderella, I wasn't thinking about camera settings. The Breakfast came with several professional pictures of Avalyn and Cinderella, so I wasn't too worried. Wish I could have captured there little conversation and interaction, but it is a very fond memory from the trip. Avalyn meeting her 1st Princess!

At our table in the castle! She thought that the Princesses were going to all sit down and eat with her, but she was just fine when she realized they had already eaten breakfast and they had to walk around and spend time with each table- for us that meant her!

Bibity Bobity Bo! With her new magic wand- as the lights twinkled all around! She was enchanted- "How did they do that?". She LOVED her breakfast, they brought her as many French Toast sticks as she wanted!

Snow White
One-on-One time with each Princess! They were so sweet and Avalyn felt like she made true friends!
Ariel
Sleeping Beauty taught her the all-important Princess skirt lift! Avalyn used it the rest of the trip:)
There were hugs from every Princess!

Belle

Leaving Cinderella's Castle! It was truly a magical time for Avalyn!
This was not only a dream of Avalyn's it was a dream of mine! Kyle took me to eat in Cinderella's castle before we got married- I don't remember meeting any Princesses, but it was a wonderful time. I always thought it would be the perfect place to take my daughter (if I ever had one)! Well, 9 years later and I was sitting in Cinderella's Castle with my precious Princess watching her face light up! Someday I hope to bring all my Princesses!

She just had to tell someone about her breakfast (everone was on a ride), so she called Mau Mau (my mom)!
We walked out of the castle and she couldn't decide what she wanted to do, until she saw the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters from Cinderella. She just had to meet them and turned out to be a very unexpected Disney moment! (There wasn't a character Avalyn didn't want to meet- she is still talking about who she didn't get to meet or who didn't wave at her during the parades.)
They were so funny! They stayed in full on character, snotty and rude- especially behind the girls' backs. We just laughed as we all watched and waited our turn.
Don't worry they weren't mean to Avalyn- probably because she's so young.
Priceless!