Storm Damage

I went back to Albertville after the recent storms to help Dad clean up some of the mess.  Annah and Jefforey came the week prior and did most of the work.  I have just a couple of before and after shots of a tree we lost in the front yard.  

Before view from the front porch

 closeup 

 We cut up some of it for firewood.

 After we hauled it away.

It's amazing how much sunlight comes in the front yard now, just from one missing tree.  Mom and Dad were lucky this time.  No structural damage was done.  We just lost several trees.  

Disney Day 5: Back to Magic Kingdom

On our last day, we didn't get up too early.  We took our time loading the car and having breakfast at the hotel before heading over to the Magic Kingdom for one last day of rides.  We had heard a that Snow White makes an appearance at 11am outside the guest services building, so that's where we started our day.  Drew was second in line to have his picture made with his favorite princess.

 From there, we rode the train over to Frontier Land for Andrew to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 3 more times!  Here we are in the train, ready to ride.

 Between rides on the railroad, we decided to hit up Splash Mountain.  Andrew didn't want to ride it on Monday and we didn't want to leave Disney without letting him ride my favorite ride.  He LOVED it and insisted that we ride again.  Here he is waiting in line for his second time around.

We didn't get too wet!

 After Splash Mountain we were hungry and on our way to lunch these bad boys were sent to the gallows!

 Twice!

 I love the castle!

 Andrew was getting really sleepy so we thought it would be a good time to head home, but not without one last ride on Dumbo.  It was good symmetry: first ride on Monday, last one on Friday.  Here we are in a 30 minute wait!

 While in line I saw a hottie in a white shirt.  I thought, "He looks a lot like Dave Annable from Brother's and Sisters."  I took a second glance and IT WAS DAVE ANNABLE FROM BROTHER'S AND SISTER'S!!!  I started discretely jumping up and down to get Drew's attention and motioned "take a picture."  He was like, "of who?"  He figured it out and started snapping away!

 I had no clue that he and Odette, his ex-girfriend nurse costar on the show, were married in real life!  They were celebrating her birthday.

 They climbed into the Dumbo right in front of us.

 We were on the next ride and I was planning a moment to talk to him when he was getting out of his Dumbo. 

 But alas, Andrew had to go to the bathroom.  Which meant we had to get out of line while Dave was riding, RUN to the potty, and try to make it back before he left.  BUT....alas, we did not.  He disappeared into the park and I didn't see him again.  But let me tell you, seeing him totally made my day! (A little Disney FYI:  If you ever see a cast member wearing a white hat, they're escorting someone famous!)  So fun seeing famous people!  I also learned today that Brother's and Sister's has been cancelled and will not be returning to ABC...BOO!  They didn't even give the show a proper farewell!

 Here we are on the last ride of the trip.  (they let us right back on so we didn't have to wait another 30 min)

We left the park and headed to the world of Disney store at Downtown Disney to do a little shopping before FINALLY heading back to MS.  We got home at 3 am!  It was totally worth it.  We had such a great week.  Andrew had a blast and we enjoyed everything about this trip! In fact, we've already booked our next trip for September!

Disney Day 4: BLIZZARD BEACH!

Today we got to sleep in, since Andrew's surprise park opened at 10 am!  We woke him up and told him he was going to the water park, Blizzard Beach! (He LOVES the water park and has been asking when we were going back ever since we went back to Hawaii in March).  So you can imagine our surprise when he says, "I'm NOT going to the water park!"  ?!  Well, of course he went...and he LOVED it!  As a matter of fact, he loved it so much that I didn't take one single picture the whole day! :(    But you can check out the park here:
Disney's Blizzard Beach



I was so proud of him.  He was tall enough for everything except the 3 body slides and he rode everything except the racers.  I think his new favorite water rides are the tube slides. He also liked the big family raft ride.  I was so proud of our big boy.  He had such a great day and to celebrate our fun day, we all split an ice cream bucket.  Yep, I said BUCKET.  They took a sand pail and FILLED it with ice cream, oreo cookies, chocolate, caramel, and strawberry syrup.  It was topped with whipped cream and 3 cherries in the shape of a mickey head!  YUM-O!  We ate until we were stuffed and still had 1/3 of it left.  It was enough to feed a large family!


The water park closed at 5, so we went back to the hotel to shower and change clothes.  We went to the Boardwalk for dinner.  It was fun.  We ate at Cat Cora's restaurant, where I had the best Greek salad I've ever had!  We got to see some street performers AND catch a view of the fireworks from the other parks.  


I think this pretty much sums up our day:

It was another fun filled day!  Tomorrow is our last day in the park AND our travel day back to MS.  Guess where we go?  To the Magic Kingdom of Course!

Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom/Hollywood Studios

Day 3 started at Animal Kingdom.  We got up early again to get to the park when it opened.  The first thing we did was the Harabe Safari.  It was great to go first thing in the morning.  All of the animals were "fresh" and roaming around.  I was amazed at the horns on the Watusse Cattle!

 Just moments before I took this picture, this tall guy gave 2 cars in front of us a very up close and personal experience.  He all but climbed in their vehicle!  But by the time we turned the corner, he had made his way up into the bushes. 

 I love monkeys....especially cute little baby ones!

 Andrew enjoyed watching these young elephants play.

 This guy was taking a chill right by the road. 

 The Safari was a lot of fun.  I took a ton of other pictures but I won't bore you with lots of animals.  Another exciting thing about our safari ride:  We got to hear the lion ROAR!  What an intimidating sound!

Andrew liked playing the african drums.

 You can't go to Animal Kingdom without seeing the Lion King show!

 Drew and a really big fish.

 Andrew being a ham in front of the waterfall.

 After half a day at Animal Kingdom, we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  One of the first things we did was the Toy Story Mania ride.  I love all the interactive "waiting" they have at Disney.  Andrew stepped right into the game of Candy Land.   

 Mr. Potato Head's CG eyes disappeared with the flash.  

 We made it out of the ride in time to catch the Pixar "5, 4, 3, 2, FUN!" parade.  I always love to see the pixar characters roaming around!

 Lights! Motors! ACTION! show

 Andrew liked it when the cars drove on 2 wheels...just like the Duke Boys!

 Too bad we were behind the pole for the grand finale!

 While Andrew was napping, Drew and I took turns riding the Rockin' Roller Coaster.  I don't remember it giving me such a headache!  (still a great ride though)

But my favorite part of Hollywood Studios would have to have been the American Idol Experience!  When we go back in September, I'm totally trying out!

After a fun filled day, we had some time to visit other parks, so per Andrew's request, we went back to Epcot to ride Test Track!  When we were finished with rides there, we STILL had more time, so we rode the monorail (where I saw a group of teachers from ALBERTVILLE!) back to the Magic Kingdom to grab some goodies at the confectionary, and take some pictures with the princesses.  Andrew would NOT get in the pictures with us, so he used my camera and took all of the following pics:

Sleepy Beauty (I look like a dork because I'm laughing at Andrew)

 He at least talked to her and eventually gave her a high 5.

 Belle

 My favorite girl, Cinderella!

Drew was pretty disappointed that Snow White was not there with all the other princesses.  (Don't worry...we caught up with her another day.)
Officially, on our Disney Day 3, we visited all 4 parks...in ONE DAY!  Another exhausting day!  What does tomorrow hold?  It was a surprise for Andrew!  You'll have to wait and see...

Disney Day 2: Epcot

After our long day yesterday, we weren't in any hurry to make it to Epcot when they opened.  So we slept in until around 8 and got to the park around 10.  The Flower and Garden show was going on so we got to see all the neat floral creations all over the park.

 We also got to see the very cool "Tron Legacy" monorail.

 After seeing "figment" on the ride, we got to design our own figment on the computer.  Andrew named his "Just Figment."  

 Epcot brought back the Michael Jackson 3D show, Captain EO, which I never had the pleasure of seeing in the 80's.  After leaving the theater Andrew played with the jumping water. 

 We also got to experience "Bambi's Butterfly Garden."  You know how much Andrew loves Bambi, so this was pretty fun.  

 Several of the butterflies were hatching out of their cocoons while we were there. 

 Andrew's favorite flower and garden characters.

 I thought Tink looked pretty cute.

 Drew was excited to see Donald but didn't want to wait in line, so I snuck a picture of him before the next kiddo ran into view.

 My boys with a troll.

 Raffiki and Simba

 Drew's favorite princess.

 My personal favorite leading lady dancing with her prince.

 Finally...a group shot. (The rest are on our Photo Pass)

 I just loved the reflection in the water.

 Disney is gearing up for Cars 2.

 Andrew right before riding Soarin'. He looks a little scared, but he loved it.

 Drew and I have a picture that looks just like this from 2004.  Unfortunately, it's in the POD so I couldn't put it here for comparison. 

 Sunset behind the land.

 You know Mexico is my favorite!

 Fireworks time.

 Drew took this neat shot of spaceship Earth and used it for his cell phone wallpaper.  Pretty good idea!

The highlight of Andrew's day at Epcot was riding Test Track.  He LOVED it!  We have that ride on video too, but are having difficulties with the wi-fi to upload them.  (apologies) I think we rode test track 3 times!    We have another big day lined up tomorrow:  Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!