Home from Disney World

Micah, Amelia and I have just returned from a trip to Disney World. Matt's parents provided the trip for us and we had a wonderful time. We left the day after Thanksgiving and drove down with Darla. (Mark couldn't go on this trip.) We met Sarah in Georgia and she and her kids Judah (2 years old) and Bella (1 year old) came with us. That meant that Darla, Sarah and I were out numbered 4 to 3 with kids who all under the age of 3. We made the most of it though and had a great trip.

Our first day at the park we spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We went on an African Safari and saw a lot of animals up close and personal. I didn't get to take a lot of pictures because we had the most energetic driver that I have ever had on the Safari and I spent most of the ride trying to hold on to Amelia and Micah. About half way through the ride, I realized that Micah had fell asleep. He always does fall asleep in the car. I wonder if that says something about my driving.
Also at animal kingdom, we watched a parade and met the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Amelia's favorite part of the day was playing drums. There is a small area of drums set up that anyone is allowed to play. That is one of the things that I love about Disney.....they cater to the kids. Make the kids happy, make the parents happy, and make the parents want to bring their kids back to where they know they will have a good time. I know it works on me.

Day 2, we went to the Magic Kingdom. Here we ate with the Winnie the Pooh characters, met Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and the Disney Princesses, and closed the park down at midnight. We had a great time.

Amelia wore her Minnie Mouse dress that the Fishers gave her as an early Christmas present. She was beautiful. Sarah had Bella dressed in a Minnie Mouse dress too so they were quite a sight together.

All Amelia talked about before coming to Disney was getting see Minnie Mouse and the Princesses. After we stood line for 25 minutes to see Mickey and Minnie, she got scared and would not go anywhere near them. She then said she wanted to see the Princesses and I thought yeah right, but I took her anyway. She marched right up to Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and gave her a hug and then told her that she had wanted to come to Disney just to see her. I guess Amelia is more comfortable with a real person dressed up as a princess and not as a 5.5 foot tall mouse.

The evening was a special Mickey's Christmas Party so Darla bought all the kids matching pajamas and we had their pictures taken with Santa.

We watched a parade and saw probably the best fireworks presentation I have ever seen anywhere. We went to eat a late night snack at a dining area that was handing out free cookies, hot chocolate, and apple juice for the Christmas party. A couple of the workers took special interest in our entourage of kids and brought them out coloring books and crayons and sat down and colored with them. Amelia gave them both a hug when we left.

We rode kiddie rides until midnight. Micah is the only one that did not stay awake for the whole night.

Day 3 we spent half at Hollywood Studios and half at Epcot. I will post more pictures later.