New Year's Eve

The boys stayed up until midnight. They were able to watch the crystal ball fall at Times Square on TV. This year marked the 100th year of the crystal ball in Times Square, and the boys were able to watch the ‘new and improved’ state-of-the art crystal ball.

Kevin's celebrates with a New Year horn Justin says that the strap of his hat hurts him Brian wears a New Year's hat After watching the ball drop, the five of us make a toast to the New Year with sparkling lemonade. The boys then went to bed, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

Brian Visit Emergency Room

Brian and Justin were playing downstairs when Brian started screaming. Kenton went downstairs and found a large cut on Brian’s forehead. The cut wouldn’t stop bleeding, so we brought him to the emergency room. Of course, by the time he was seen, the bleeding had stopped.

The emergency room doctor applied some kind of glue to the skin around the cut and pulled the cut shut with several small strips of fabric tape. She said that it would be difficult to put stitches due to Brian’s age and the location of cut, and that stitches wouldn’t guarantee not having a scar anyway. We were to keep the area of the cut dry for at least five days, and let the fabric strips fall off by themselves.

Brian says that Justin did it (gave him the cut on his head), and Justin says he didn’t. We’ll never know what happened for sure, but we’re speculating that Justin threw a toy up in the air (hopefully unintentionally) which hit Brian on the head and cut him.

"What's a kid do to?"

More Christmas Gifts

We left Florida last night and drove until morning to get home. The boys were thrilled to find more Christmas gifts left for them by Auntie Berber.

Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park

We spent our last day in Florida sleeping in. After lunch, we headed to Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, themed as a ski resort. We only took this one picture, because upon entering, we checked our things into a locker, including the camera.

The kids swam in Meltaway Bay, a one-acre pool with gentle waves and a waterfall, where water supposedly melts from Mount Gushmore. Kevin swam the longest while the rest of us lounged on beach chairs. The weather was a bit cool for swimming, but as long as the sun was shining, we were warm.

Kevin attempted the Ski Patrol Training Camp, where he had to hold onto a rope overhead and step on floating pieces of ice to get across the river. The camp closed before he was able to make it all the way across. He hopes to succeed the next time we return.

Our favorite ride was Teamboat Springs, a 1,200 foot long white-water raft ride for families. Our first time, we walked up the stairs all the way to Mt. Gushmore. Of course, Justin and Brian had to be carried up for more than half the ascent. The wait-in-line was about 30 minutes, but the ride going down was worth the exhausting stairs and wait. We rode down the rapids in a large inner tube at a pretty rapid speed, going through twists and turns. It was so fun that we wanted to do it again. We decided to take the lift to the top the next time, and next, and next.

There were so many rides that we didn’t get to try because the park closed before dusk, but just riding Teamboat Springs would’ve been worth going to the park for us. We definitely hope to come back again.

Disney's Magic Kingdom

Kevin, Justin, and I went to The Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. Our main objective was to get as many signatures of Disney characters for Justin’s autograph book as we could. Kenton stayed at the villa with Brian for the morning – he worked, while Brian slept.

The Main Street dancers welcome everyone with song and dance Justin meets Pooh and Tigger and gets their autographs. We waited in line for 40 minutes (and this was first thing in the morning). After meeting Pooh and Tigger, we decide to go on a couple of rides. Kevin gets into a Flying Dumbo Justin is all ready for his Flying Dumbo to fly Kevin and Justin in a teacup for the Mad Tea Party (spinning ride) We then walk to Mickey's Toontown Fair. After over two and a half hours of waiting in lines, Justin was able to get several Disney characters signatures. Justin poses with Goofy Justin gets double attention from Minnie and Daisy Justin gets a hug from Pluto The boys are excited to meet Mickey inside the Judges Tent Kevin and Justin pose with Mickey We take the train back to the entrance of the kingdom to go back to the villa for some lunch. After lunch, we return to The Magic Kingdom as a whole family and enjoy the rides and food. 'Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade' - Minnie and Mickey's float Brian's favorite attraction was the Indy Speedway. He is so into cars right now, and insisted on riding the racecars several times. After each ride, he would say, "Again, again." Kevin at Indy Speedway Justin rides with Daddy at Indy Speedway Kevin's favorite attraction was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. He, Justin and Daddy went on the ride several times. Brian had fallen asleep, so he and I just sat outside the ride's exit. Kevin and Justin pose with Booster Our next ride was "It's A Small World" (my favorite ride since childhood because of the music and dolls from different countries) Kevin and Justin enjoy "It's A Small World" "It's A Small World" - China "It's A Small World" - Philippines Our last ride of the day was "The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh" A scene from "The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh" We decide to call it a day and head back to the entrance. The Magic Kingdom castle is lit up, so the boys pose for a picture with Mama. Main Street is also lit up, and the boys pose with Daddy for a picture before we leave Disney's Magic Kingdom. It was a long day full of fun and laughter, and we are all looking forward to coming back for another visit.

Downtown Disney

After a full day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday, we needed to rest and relax. We spent the morning relaxing in the villa. Kevin really wanted to go swimming, so we spent a couple of hours lounging on the beach chairs while he swam. Kenton actually worked the whole time we were at the pool. We then went to the LEGO Imagination Center at Downtown Disney. The LEGO store had every type of lego available. Kevin, being the LEGO enthusiast that he is, looked at all the different lego kits and items and ended up buying an astronaut and robot set. Kevin and Justin played with legos in the outside play zone for over an hour. Brian wasn’t feeling well, but he enjoyed sliding on the small jungle gym set for a little while. After dinner, we walked around looking at the different shops. We ended up at the open air theatre enjoying the entertainment, which was a dance show. At first it was a dance contest with kids, then adults, picked from the audience. Then it became a dance party for everyone. Hundreds of people were singing and dancing along to every dance party song there ever was. It was good family fun for everyone!

Christmas At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

We spent the day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a 500-acre theme park about animal conservation. It was a great mix of a zoo, science center, and Disney park – fun, interesting, and educational.

We entered Animal Kingdom into Oasis, where we walked through large rock formations and saw animals in their habitats. Then we crossed a bridge to Discovery Island and saw the Tree of Life, a gigantic tree (14 stories tall and 50 feet wide) whose trunk has over 325 animal images hand-carved into it.

Tree Of Life Gardens – very detailed hand-carved animal images The kids encountered their first Kids’ Discovery Club, a place where kids do a learning activity and get a stamp in their guide booklet. Justin really wanted to get all the Kids' Discovery Club stamps, but we didn’t make it to all Clubs. He was able to get the stamps he was missing from the visitor center at the park entrance when we left.

Next was Camp Minnie-Mickey. We decided to come back in the evening to see the shows there. We wanted to see as many of the outside attractions as possible during daylight. We never did make it back for the shows – there's always next time.




We spent several hours in Africa. It really looked and felt like we were in a foreign land. We ate at Tusker House Restaurant, watched African dances, rode the Kilimanjaro Safaris, walked through Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, and watched Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade. The Tusker House Restaurant had a buffet set up as an open marketplace with over a dozen vendors (food stations). Each station had 5 to 7 different items – what a huge variety of delicious foods to choose from!

Justin got a few of the African dancers to sign his autograph booklet. The rhythm of the drums, the outfits, and the dances were just fascinating.










During our safari ride, we saw many African animals in their natural-looking habitats - elephants, lions, gazelles, ostriches, zebras, antelopes, hippo, mandrills, crocodiles, giraffes, flamingoes, etc. The driver/narrator announced that poachers were in the area, so we went off the path to follow their trail. Kevin wanted to really catch them.

Mandrill (think Rafiki, the old sage in Lion King) - the most colorful mammal in the world (Africa, Animal Kingdom) Boabab tree - looks like its roots are in the air (Africa, Animal Kingdom) Crocodiles – lots and lots of them (Africa, Animal Kingdom) Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade consisted of many colorful, organic, and movable animal structures operated by people dressed to match. There also were stilt walkers dressed up as animals, and of course, Disney characters riding on floats. Traditional Christmas music with African rhythms was played the whole time. This unique parade was fun to experience.

Minnie Mouse - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Chameleon - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Stilt walker dressed as a bird – Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Bird structure - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Giraffe - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Kangaroo - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade Mickey brings up the rear - Jingle Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom After Africa, we boarded the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The kids had fun petting and brushing baby goats in the Affection Section. In the front of the Conservation Station, we encountered a talking trash can that carried on conversations with passer-bys. The kids thought it was the funniest thing and began chasing it. Kevin eventually found the person in the crowd covertly talking into a headset and operating a covered joystick to make the trash can talk and move.

Inside, we met Pocahontas and Rafiki. Justin was so excited to get both of them to sign his autograph booklet. We then walked through Habitat Habit!, an outdoor discovery trail, before taking the train back to the main path.




With Pocahontas - Conservation Station, Rafiki’s Planet Watch Kevin gets a closer look - Habitat Habit!, Rafiki’s Planet Watch Our next adventure was Asia. Kenton went with Kevin and Justin to line up for the Kali River Rapids. Brian was too small for the ride, so he and I walked through Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we saw some tigers and gigantic bats. We then returned to the rapids and waited on a bridge for Kenton and the boys. Sure enough, we saw them riding the rapids in their large tube. They all got soaked, but had a fun time on the ride.

Tiger at Maharajah Jungle Trek - Asia, Animal Kingdom More tigers at Maharajah Jungle Trek - Asia, Animal Kingdom Brian at Maharajah Jungle Trek - Asia, Animal Kingdom Kevin and I felt adventurous and decided to ride Expedition Everest, a roller-coaster ride which supposedly is a train ride to the base camp of Mount Everest. The train takes a shortcut through a forbidden mountain guarded by a yeti. It was our longest wait yet (over an hour) - and while in line, we went through a yeti mini-museum before reaching the boarding area. This ride crept up to high altitudes, dropped down at neck-breaking speeds, jerked around hairpin turns, and even went backwards when the yeti appeared – definitely not for the weak. Kevin did well for a 7-year-old, although he doesn’t care to “ever go on it again, at least not at night time.”

While waiting for Kevin and me to finish Expedition Everest, Goofy and Pluto walked by Kenton, Justin, and Brian. Justin was thrilled to meet them and had them sign his autograph booklet.

Then it was on to Dinoland USA. We walked around and looked at all of the attractions - many of which the boys would’ve enjoyed if they weren’t so tired. It was 7 pm, and we had a long, exciting day – arriving around ten in the morning. We decided it was time to head back to the villa. Of course, the boys ‘had’ to get Mickey Mouse laser swords as we left the park. It was a wonderful and memorable Christmas, and we look forward to visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom again in the future.