Animal Kingdom

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be MORE pictures of our trip...

Come on, ya'll know be me better than that.

Animal Kingdom was a lot of fun! Lots things to do and see as well as one of my absolute favorite rides, Expedition Everest!

I rode this fantastic ride as many times as I possibly could, and with our fastpasses and the rider swap I definitely got plenty of opportunities.
My little monkey watching the monkeys.

Sadie had a rough start to the day. Who knows why, wrong side of the bed or something like that. But to make it worse when we got there and I reached for a binki, mid freak out, I discovered that there was none to be found. I resigned myself to a day of very grumpy baby and went on a ride while Grandpa and Grams stayed with the girls. When we returned there was magically a binki. Grandpa had found the baby care area and purchased two new binks for us. What a sweet grandpa! Bless you Dad, it really helped the day be more enjoyable.

I just think this is a sweet picture.

Finding a little bit of entertainment while waiting to go on our safari.

Of we go into the wilds of Africa to see what we can see.

Are we surprised that Mya looks concerned? No. We were cheering or something like that and she wanted us to quite down and watch. Silly lady.

Cody convinced the boys to go with him on the water ride right before this, and poor Ty for some reason always seems to be the water magnet on those rides. He's a very good sport about it though. Thankfully it was warming up that afternoon so they dried pretty quickly.

I have been on this Safari a couple times before on other trips to Disney World and this time was hands down the best. There were so many animals up grazing, and very up close and personal. It was really cool!

This big fella was up pacing back and forth on his rock, he would occasionally let out a roar. It put a little spark of fear inside watching it, they are really such strong creatures and you can feel their presence that's for sure.

Mama lion was less concerned about our arrival, she was just content to nap in the warm sunshine.

We had to pause our safari for a few minutes because of this big guy and one of his buddies. They were taking their time crossing the road.

Then we got really up close and personal with a Hippo as it was doing its laps around the pool.

Camp Mickey and Minnie was Sadie's absolute favorite part of the day. You could meet all of the characters in their own little pavilions. She could see Mickey and was waving like crazy. There was not a drop of fear when it was our turn, she ran right up to them and hugged them and had a great time.

Mickey and Pluto

This was the only time we ran into Minnie, glad we got the chance to see her.

Sadie's favorite right now, 'Don-a Duck' and 'Goopy'

I love when I see the little glimpses of Mya's face and she looks so happy. Just makes me smile!

Of course we had to have a picture by the Nemo tree.

This was had was Sadie's choice. She was wandering around the gift shop and when she came upon it she grabbed it, put it on her head and then climbed up in her stroller all ready to hit the road with her new headgear. The Dale hat didn't come home with us but it did give us some pretty cute pictures.

Who wouldn't like waiting with Grandpa while everyone else rides big kid rides?
BEFORE

AFTER

MMMMmmmm good!!

The Fam. Love you guys!!!

My handsome man and I.

We stopped for a little family jam session. Mya was really getting into the groove.

A couple of her favorite guys.

That night we went to the Lion King show. It was spectacular!

We sat in the Elephant section. Cody was excited about that because that's the animal of the Ivory Coast (where he served his mission).

I love Miss Mya's face. Concerned again, that we were singing along and clapping. I tried to explain to her that we were clapping to show them that we liked what they were doing. She seemed a little more OK with it after that but still we got 'ssshhh'd' for singing too much.

Aaahh, another fabulous Disney day!

Magic Kingdom ~ The Happiest Place on Earth

You just can't beat the feeling you get when you see the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. I love feeling the excitement as you walk through the passageway and Main Street USA comes into view. I love the buildings, the flowers, the cast member costumes, it all just makes me happy.
A quick picture to begin the adventure.

Let the memories begin!

I was thrilled that there were still some Christmas decorations left when we were there. Each park had giant Christmas trees, and each one was as different as the parks.

Keetch Family Christmas card 2012?

Yes, I was one of 'those' parents. One of those parents who dress their kids up to go to a theme park, and I think it was really fun! A princess dress may have been a little harder because it's longer, Tinkerbell however was just great. Mya had fun being fussed over by all the Princesses and cast members.

Our special meet and greet with the big mouse himself.

Sadie was a bit reserved but finally warmed up to give him a high five.

And a nice little pat on the cheek.

We also got to meet several of the Princesses. Miss Mya was very excited about the entire process; getting up close and personal with some of her favorite ladies as well as getting more special signatures in her autograph book.

Cinderella and an awe struck Miss Mya.

Belle was also there to visit with us.

We were very excited to meet Ariel! She isn't always around to visit with the little 'guppies' as she called them. Sadie wasn't so sure about the Princesses. She warmed right up to the classic characters, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and the others. The Princesses and fairies however were quite concerning.

We had to wait a very long time to meet Rapunzel. They would only let small groups in at a time. We stuck it out and made it all the way in and then had a potty emergency that could not wait. What to do!? Leave grandpa in line by himself? We decided to just give up our spot. But the darling cast member remembered our little Tink and let us back in to our spot. Bless her!

We got to meet two of the fairies from Pixie Hollow, Rosebud and Vidia. We were hoping that Tinkerbell would be there but she was getting ready for the firework show.

Uncle Ty and Miss Mya

Me and my little lady in front of the Swiss Family tree house. Uncle K and I were very happy to see the original tree we know and love. We have a hard time loving the Tarzan tree in Disneyland.

Daddy and Sadie

Oh the Jungle Cruise. Sadie was having a freak out which was remedied with a protein bar.

Mya had her mouth full of corndog. She shoved her last giant bite in her mouth because the guide teased her that the tiger would jump in and try and get it from her.

Getting ready for the wildest ride in the wilderness!

Big Thunder Mountain was a great time and we rode it back to back thanks to our fast passes and the rider swap passes.

Little Miss didn't want to be strapped into the stroller so we compromised and let her help push.

We tried to pull the shoe trick for height to be able to get Miss Mya onto Splash Mountain. Sadly she was just shy of the mark. So while we were zip-a-dee-do-dah-ing Mya was hanging out with grams and grandpa. She made some new friends from Spain. They were very sweet and despite the language barrier they got along famously.

Small World was definitely the favorite of Miss Sadie. She would watch in awe as we traveled through and she would mouth the 'words' and tilt her head back and forth with the music. As we would exit the tunnel she would start saying 'Boat again!' over and over. The boys were champs and let us do 'Boat again' quite a few more times.

The girls thought the 3D glasses were great until we actually were in the rides that required them. They would pull them off and watch everything without them. We got them to leave them on for a few minutes each time but they preferred their 3D experiences fuzzy.

Love the icicles dripping off the castle.

We took Mya in the race cars and as you might expect she loved it! Daddy let her drive and they went super fast! She was so excited that she won the race and ran up to me after... ' Mommy, I went SO fast! You tried to catch me but you couldn't because I was so fast."

You know it's beed a great day full of fun when these sweet faces just can't take any more.