Animal Kingdom

We took the boys to Animal Kingdom on Sunday.  J and I had been a long time ago when the park first opened but could not really remember much about it except for the Tree of Life and the safari ride.  This was the boys’ first trip.  We were all looking forward to checking out the park.

Mid-January is perhaps the best time to visit Orlando theme parks.  The Christmas and holiday crowds have cleared out.  The weather is cool and comfortable.  Even though we went on the day of the Disney marathon, Animal Kingdom was still not very crowded.  I think the longest wait we had for a ride was 10 minutes.

I took a ton of photos.  Be prepared…

We began the day with a safari ride.  Most of the animals were out and about for us to see.  It was pretty amazing to see such a variety of wild animals up close.

Here’s the obligatory brothers photo.  As you can see, Wildman wasn’t exactly thrilled to take a break from his snack to pose for a picture.

We went over to the Nemo show next.  It was really cool how the actors made the animated characters come to life.  I wish my photos of the show came out.   I’m still trying to figure out how to take a decent photo without a flash.  All of mine seem to come out very blurry.

We checked out A Bug’s Life 3D show too.  It was a little too scary for Cutie Pie.  The special effects were awesome but a little too realistic for a two-year-old…  The boys thought the 3D glasses were the best thing ever!  I have to agree.  How cute are these glasses?!

The boys enjoyed touring Dinoland, USA where they dug up dinosaur fossils…

rode a dinosaur ride…

and took a photo in a dino-car!

We had some lunch and ice cream bars…

Then Cutie Pie fell fast asleep.

We took Wildman over to meet some Disney characters at Camp Mickey while Cutie Pie snoozed in the stroller.  When I asked Wildman who he wanted to meet first  he said, “Minnie!!!!”  I was a little surprised that out of all the characters he chose to see Minnie first.  I didn’t know he was such a fan!  So, that’s were we headed, the Minnie line.

We went to see Mickey next.

Cutie Pie woke up just in time to have his photo taken with one of the more obscure characters over at Rafiki’s Learning Center.

We spent the rest of the day returning to ride our favorite rides again and watching the parade.  It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday 🙂

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Paper Piecings and Late Breaking News!

I thought I’d post a few of the items I’ve been working on for various swaps and things. Paper piecing is my favored scrapbooking technique. It’s kind of like craft therapy for me. I can work out my stress or pent up energy by using my hands to make these cute creations.

I love how this turned out! Cookie Monster is my hero!

This one was made using my Cricut Mickey Mouse Cartridge:

Also from my Cricut Mickey Mouse cartridge:

Pirate boy:

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In breaking news: The newest Onescrappy baby is on the way!!!! I’m so excited for Aileen and her family!!!! Wahoooooo!

More Disney Magic

I decided to post some more highlights from our trip to Orlando.

Last Friday we visited the Magic Kingdom. Did you know that if you arrive at the front gate a little before park opening there’s a little gate opening ceremony? I had no clue but I insisted that we arrive as close to 9 AM as possible to beat the crowds. To our surprise, the Disney railroad chugged into the Main Street Station right above us. All of the characters got out and did a little dance. Then Mickey Mouse opened the gates to the park. It was awesome! Wildman loves choo-choos so it was especially exciting for him. Ahhhh, the magic of Disney! You’ve got to love it through a child’s eyes.

We were meeting our friends after their princess breakfast at Epcot. We had a couple of hours before they arrived to meet us so we got Cutie Pie a Mickey ear hat to match Wildman’s:

We had it embroidered with his name. Too cute!

Then we went to Adventureland to check out The Swiss Family Robinson tree house, The Jungle Cruise, and Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride. Here are the guys on their carpet:

We went on to ride The Pirates of the Caribbean, the Tomorrowland train thing and the Astro Orbiter rocket ship ride. We met our friends for lunch in Frontierland at the Pecos Bill restaurant.

Here are the kids enjoying Mickey ice cream bars in line at The Haunted Mansion:

Cutie Pie caught a little snooze in line:

Here are the guys on their carousel horses:

We went on to ride many more rides but I don’t have pictures from those. Here’s a parting shot of Wildman and I on Dumbo:

A good time was had by all!