Hello, sweet readers! We are home from Walt Disney World! We truly had a great time. But let me start at the beginning...
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| Our Alligator Bayou room - photo courtesy of Mom |
Upon arrival, there was a little confusion with our room, so we spent an interesting night in Magnolia Bend. (We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, our all time favorite!) The night was filled with wet floors, winding halls, messed up names, and a room on the edge of civilization (they were scrimping to call it accessible). I won't go too much into detail, but you get the picture! We had always stayed at the lovely Alligator Bayou growing up, so thankfully we could move there the next day. There Dad claimed the beds were bigger and all our moods brighter!
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| My attempt at capturing her as we waited- isn't this the perfect pose? |
The vacation was one of the best. Cate didn't remember Disney World, so it was fun to watch her discover everything and to remember everything ourselves. At the Magic Kingdom, we went to Cinderella's Castle for breakfast with a red-headed Cindy of our own.
She was a bit emotional.. yes, that's really a look of crossness in the above photo. But don't those rosy cheeks and folded hands make her look like a little cherub?
Next up ~ Animal Kingdom!
My favorite park, it's filled with exotic animals,a great area to watch veterinarians perform operations, and interesting facts you never knew. All in the jungle of Africa or mountains of Asia!
This park has an amazing interactive parade, a thrill ride that goes backward, nature walks filled with gorillas, tigers and naked mole rats (Oh my!) and the best safari ever. My uncle went on a real safari in Africa and didn't see as many animals as we saw at Disneyworld. We had 3 rhinos nudge and sniff our truck, (I had to fight the urge to pet them - they were that close!) A mama and baby giraffe fed alongside us, and we (are you ready?)
heard a lion roar! It was breath taking. It sent chills up my spine. It made reminded me that we have one awesome God. He let out a thunderous roar once, and then sent out rough barks from the back of his throat. It sounded like he was coughing up something, and it just kept coming. My Dad believes he was telling us to stay away from his air-conditioned rock "This is MY rock. You can't have MY rock!" yes, the lions have a cooled rock to keep them up there most of the time, so we the people can see them in all their majesty.
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This is my Mom's amazing photo - for more see her blog (the blessing counter) on the link to the right. | <><><><><><>
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So, even though our vacation started out a little less magical than Mom and Dad would have hoped, we still made great memories. In fact, all that craziness at the beginning was, in my opinion, all part of the fun of vacation. There's a song by Point of Grace called "Turn up the music (how you live)". I love this song, and it reminds me not to worry about the dumb things in life, like how messy the kitchen will be after making that batch of pink cookies with your sister, but to embrace the moment and enjoy it! If I always go through life not doing things that will make the house dirty, I'll miss out on all the joys God has to offer me. If we had spent all our vacation mad about those crazy incidents of the first night, we would have truly missed out. And though it did take some time to get over it, we did, and had a great time. That's something I would like to always do, wouldn't you? Thanks for reading all this post, I know I get on my soapbox and don't step down for a time.... Until next time, my readers!
Claire
Yes, we are the silly Shraders-
and proud of it!
