Disney Day 5: Animal Kingdom and Magic at Night

Monday morning we all woke up excited to be headed to the Animal Kingdom.  At some point during the evening/morning we started to think Brody's issue was that he was probably dehydrated.  I kept the Motrin going and encouraged (or should I say forced) him to drink lots and lots of water that morning and throughout the day.  By mid-morning he was feeling much more like himself again!

This girl was rockin her Dumbo ears and so excited to be going on a safari!

We saw lots of great animals.  It wasn't exactly what I had expected but we all really enjoyed it!

Pointing out the Rhino!

They had this wonderful walking trail that had animals along the way and I absolutely loved that part!  I had never seen so many fish in one tank before!

We were all pretty in awe of it!  After that all of the adults took turns riding the Expedition Everest roller coaster!  Another benefit of the park not being busy is that I am pretty sure Rob and Bryson rode the roller coaster at least 4 times in a row in less than 15 minutes!

On our way to the Tusker House restaurant we spotted some African drums and we all had fun making a beat on them!

We had one last sit down meal left on our dining plan so Carolina had the idea of booking a character lunch at the Tusker House since the kids had been enjoying them so much.  I was so glad she did because it was the perfect break from the really hot weather and it was one of my favorite meals I ate!  And of course the kids loved the characters in their safari clothes!

This pose just never got old to them.  I love how Meg always places her hand on their tummy!

Carolina had also arranged for the boys to have Happy Birthday buttons and during lunch they got a special birthday card signed by the Mickey Mouse Characters!

 

After lunch we decided to catch the Finding Nemo show.  I wasn't sure what to expect but it was so cute and the kids loved it.  And it was very relaxing too!

Then we headed to Dino Land where the kids decided to get their faces painted.  I honestly thought Meg was alseep for a minute.  She was so still!

Pretty impressive face painting if you ask me.  Too bad it didn't old up well when mixed with sweat!

After face painting and rides we headed to the Bug's Life 3-D show.  We all loved that too!

We decided to head to the hotel to get some rest before our big evening!  At this point the kids were done (did I mention it was hot that day?) and so we got an adult only picture!  Bryson, Carolina, and Brody hit up the pool when we got back and Meg, Cooper, and Rob took naps and I started packing things up a bit!  I wanted to let Meg sleep a little longer and have some one on one time with her that evening so Carolina and the boys headed on to the Magic Kingdom a little early!

 

 I absolutely loved my time with Meg that evening and letting her pick whatever ride she wanted to do.  I was amazed at how many things we squeezed into just a couple of hours! 

I finally had to drag her away from the rides so we could meet up with everyone else and catch the Electric Parade!

 Catching daddy up on all the fun she just had!

 Carolina snagged us the perfect viewing spot and Cooper found a great spot for himself!

 I thought her arm was going to fall off.  She waved non stop!

 The parade was all I had hoped it would be and more.  Truely magical and the kids soaked up every minute of it!  One of my favorite moments of the trip!

Brody was loving it too!

These two found a great spot to watch the fireworks.  The Wishes show after the electrical parade was so neat.  The most amazing fireworks and music.  So special to watch Brody and Meg be so amazed at it all.  My favorite part of the night was after the show was over Bryson asked Brody what his would wish for and he said, "I wish that we could stay at Disney World forever and never leave.  And that we could cut in line for all the rides and that it would be free.  Can we stay here forever???".  All the planning and the money was completely worth it.  They loved Disney World so so much.  And so had I!!!