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Where in the World?
Jun. 1st, 2012 10:12 amActually we were at Epcot but only got to England…but I am getting ahead of myself.
Sunday we did go see MiB 3 again and it holds up to multiple viewings very nicely. Caroline and Shana wanted to spend more time together so we agreed that Caroline could spend another night with big sister. Meanwhile a tropical storm named Beryl was off the coast deciding where it was going to hit. We holed up at the hotel but then this was a resort hotel so we had a choice of places to eat. Again we had a pleasant evening mostly talking about the kids and various projects we had on the horizon. I read “Storm of Swords” and got to THAT scene (no spoilers please but I bet if you have read the book you know which one it was) so most of the next day was finishing up the book. And napping, I did some serious napping.
Peter picked up Caroline and brought her back to the hotel. We went to the pool until the weather chased us back in. We had a nice dinner and went to bed early because we had a surprise for Caroline.
Caroline, as long time readers and the people who have met her, is a big lover of animals. She wants to be a large cat vet when she grows up and work with endangered animals (mostly carnivores). She loves to just watch animals. So we arranged to spend a night at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge aka Jambo House with a savannah view. We drove from Jacksonville to Orlando very early to take advantage of whatever time we might have in the parks. Caroline’s eyes grew very big when she realized where she was going. By the time we got to the lobby, she was vibrating with excitement.
We lucked out that our room was ready when we got there so we checked in and got the luggage to the room. I went out to the balcony and there were gazelles and a giraffe out on the savannah. I called Caroline out to the balcony and pointed out the animals. She spent most of her time that we were in the room on the balcony watching the animals. She took her camera and got plenty of pictures but she also just sat and observed. Peter took a short nap while Caroline and I went to get breakfast and explore the rest of the lodge. I took her out to Arusha rock so she could see the whole area that the animals were in. She was enchanted by the whole thing. She impressed one of the Disney cast members who was there to provide information about the animals as to her knowledge about the animals she was seeing.
After getting breakfast sorted out, we went off to the Magic Kingdom where it promptly started to rain. Most of this visit was either in the rain or dodging raindrops but that’s OK we still had fun. While we were walking we saw a sign in Liberty Square recruiting people for Merlin’s Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. We inquired and Caroline found herself playing the game. She started reluctantly because she wasn’t sure about it but by the end of the day she was having a lot of fun as long as she wasn’t getting pushed out of the way by the adults. (I was appalled at the behavior of most of the adults playing the game but that’s a rant for another day.) I have to say thank you to the cast members who added to her card collection that day. She had a lot of fun.
We went over the Epcot hoping to see a friend’s show but the rain cancelled it. Instead Caroline had great fun coloring with Alice from Alice in Wonderland and talking about rabbits and tea and jabberwocky(ies). We caught up with our friend and had a nice chat that ended too soon. We got back to the lodge and some more friends joined us including Caroline’s best friend in Orlanda. The girls went out on the balcony and watched the animals while the adults sat in the air conditioning and caught up on various things. We had dinner at Jiko which was an amazing taste experience. It was one of those dinners that lasted a couple of hours as we conversed and ate and was quite enjoyable. We parted company and got some sleep with the sounds of the animals outside.
We went back to the Magic Kingdom so Caroline could complete her quest. She had done 5 of the 9 senarios. So we did the other 4 while riding a couple of rides along the way including Buzz Lightyear. She also saw the opening of the Magic Kingdom for the first time that she could remember. We had fun but it was time to drive home. So we did and got home in time for school on Thursday.
Now we have to unpack and all those little things that one needs to do when getting back from vacation.
It was nice to get away for a little while. It was great seeing Shana and Tim and our Disney buddies. My mother once told me that the right length for a vacation was one that left you wanting more but happy with what you did do. And this was definitely one of those vacations.
I am grateful for all the fun we had during our travels.
Sunday we did go see MiB 3 again and it holds up to multiple viewings very nicely. Caroline and Shana wanted to spend more time together so we agreed that Caroline could spend another night with big sister. Meanwhile a tropical storm named Beryl was off the coast deciding where it was going to hit. We holed up at the hotel but then this was a resort hotel so we had a choice of places to eat. Again we had a pleasant evening mostly talking about the kids and various projects we had on the horizon. I read “Storm of Swords” and got to THAT scene (no spoilers please but I bet if you have read the book you know which one it was) so most of the next day was finishing up the book. And napping, I did some serious napping.
Peter picked up Caroline and brought her back to the hotel. We went to the pool until the weather chased us back in. We had a nice dinner and went to bed early because we had a surprise for Caroline.
Caroline, as long time readers and the people who have met her, is a big lover of animals. She wants to be a large cat vet when she grows up and work with endangered animals (mostly carnivores). She loves to just watch animals. So we arranged to spend a night at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge aka Jambo House with a savannah view. We drove from Jacksonville to Orlando very early to take advantage of whatever time we might have in the parks. Caroline’s eyes grew very big when she realized where she was going. By the time we got to the lobby, she was vibrating with excitement.
We lucked out that our room was ready when we got there so we checked in and got the luggage to the room. I went out to the balcony and there were gazelles and a giraffe out on the savannah. I called Caroline out to the balcony and pointed out the animals. She spent most of her time that we were in the room on the balcony watching the animals. She took her camera and got plenty of pictures but she also just sat and observed. Peter took a short nap while Caroline and I went to get breakfast and explore the rest of the lodge. I took her out to Arusha rock so she could see the whole area that the animals were in. She was enchanted by the whole thing. She impressed one of the Disney cast members who was there to provide information about the animals as to her knowledge about the animals she was seeing.
After getting breakfast sorted out, we went off to the Magic Kingdom where it promptly started to rain. Most of this visit was either in the rain or dodging raindrops but that’s OK we still had fun. While we were walking we saw a sign in Liberty Square recruiting people for Merlin’s Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. We inquired and Caroline found herself playing the game. She started reluctantly because she wasn’t sure about it but by the end of the day she was having a lot of fun as long as she wasn’t getting pushed out of the way by the adults. (I was appalled at the behavior of most of the adults playing the game but that’s a rant for another day.) I have to say thank you to the cast members who added to her card collection that day. She had a lot of fun.
We went over the Epcot hoping to see a friend’s show but the rain cancelled it. Instead Caroline had great fun coloring with Alice from Alice in Wonderland and talking about rabbits and tea and jabberwocky(ies). We caught up with our friend and had a nice chat that ended too soon. We got back to the lodge and some more friends joined us including Caroline’s best friend in Orlanda. The girls went out on the balcony and watched the animals while the adults sat in the air conditioning and caught up on various things. We had dinner at Jiko which was an amazing taste experience. It was one of those dinners that lasted a couple of hours as we conversed and ate and was quite enjoyable. We parted company and got some sleep with the sounds of the animals outside.
We went back to the Magic Kingdom so Caroline could complete her quest. She had done 5 of the 9 senarios. So we did the other 4 while riding a couple of rides along the way including Buzz Lightyear. She also saw the opening of the Magic Kingdom for the first time that she could remember. We had fun but it was time to drive home. So we did and got home in time for school on Thursday.
Now we have to unpack and all those little things that one needs to do when getting back from vacation.
It was nice to get away for a little while. It was great seeing Shana and Tim and our Disney buddies. My mother once told me that the right length for a vacation was one that left you wanting more but happy with what you did do. And this was definitely one of those vacations.
I am grateful for all the fun we had during our travels.
