Ryan had a conference trip to Orlando. Since we found some cheap tickets we decided to go with and make a trip out of it. Zola now has to ride in her own seat. That was pretty hard to keep her seated during take off and landing. But, any other time she sat without problem. They were so lucky to open some awesome gifts on the plane from auntie Chrissy, James and Owen. The new toys were a hit and kept them occupied.
Our first day we had beautiful weather and played at the hotel pool. We ordered pizza and waited for Nonnie and Daddy to get there.
The next day we took the shuttle to Magic Kingdom.
Then we had to take a ferry... it was quite the trek to finally get there. Here is Zola with Nonnie. We are so lucky that she was able to come and enjoy the fun with us. You can see the castle in the distance behind Zola.
It seriously looks like a fairy tale.
Overall, I was super impressed with the decor, with the friendly staff, and just the overall beauty of the place. I could have used some more six flags level rides for my entertainment... but for the kids, it was great.
Zola and Dennis got to see inside Winnie the Pooh's house... and we rode the ride.
... the teacups were one of their favorites.
... Zola seriously cried every time it was over. Luckily, we went on a day that was not busy at all. Most of the time we didn't have to wait in line.
Some of Dennis' favorite rides were: peter pan, pirates of the Caribbean, and the teacups. He tried going on thunder mountain, a roller coaster, and said immediately after, "wow, that was awesome! I will do it again when I am older." He also said, "that was going so fast that the oxygen wasn't getting to my mouth!"
Zola's favorite rides were: the teacups and its a small world. She just looked in amazement at all of the singing and dancing dolls.
We had such a great day... rain and all. We all slept well that night.
The next day we went to Animal kingdom. That was my favorite! We first rode the safari.
Zola LOVED it! She kept on pointing at the animals in amazement and saying, "look!" She would look at them and look at you again and again.
We also went to a bird show. That was really fun... and really reminded me of Grant's Farm in Saint Louis.
Dennis' absolute favorite ride at animal Kingdom was the Kali River Rapids. It was such a cold day that nobody wanted to get wet. But Dennis convinced us all to take a turn... So that he could ride it longer. We didn't get that wet with the ponchos on.
He was one happy kid.
Ryan and I really liked Everest the best. We made Nonnie do it.
She was mad afterwards but I think she liked it.
Dennis didn't like the Dinosaur ride... It ended up being really scary. In this picture, the big T rex is growling right in our faces. You can feel his breath.
Zola loves taking pictures with her plastic phone.
We had to take Ryan on the safari again after he was done with his conference because it was so cool.
We took the shuttle back to the hotel.
...showing off our muscles...
I just love my family.
The next day we went to Typhoon Lagoon, a water park, and had awesome weather... just warm enough to swim. I got to swim with sharks and sting rays. Dennis got to go on lots of different water slides and he was even tossed about in the wave pool. We had a great time. But left our camera at the hotel...
Then it was time to say good bye to Nonnie. She was so much fun to have along and really made it possible for us to enjoy Disney World even when Ryan was in conference. Thank you, Nonnie!
The kids and I spent our last day out in the sun by the pool. It sure does feel nice to walk barefoot and sweat a little. Zola was always ready to put her swimsuit on.
... a little sass...
Overall, we had a great trip... and would love to do it again. Dennis asks often when we are going back. Sorry bud, not for a LONG TIME.
Everytime Zola saw a new airplane, it was like she had never seen one before. "Airplane!" she would yell with an expression of total amazement.
