WDW Day 4

Today was one to catch our breath.  After a leisurely morning of shopping and lunch, we met Bryan and Stephanie at the Grand Floridian where Caitlin attended the Wonderland Tea Party.  Caitlin then came back to our hotel with us where we swam, and enjoyed the waterslide.  She even experienced her first toasted marshmallow, done over a wood fire around the pool.  After dinner here, we went back to the pool and watched "The Lion King" in an outdoor theater.  Now she is sound asleep, recharging for another visit to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.

Goodnight Princess!

Love to all!

WDW Day 3

We spent most of Day 3 at the Animal Kingdom.  Starting with Donald's Safari breakfast at the Tusker House. Once again our meal was "interrupted" by Disney characters, this time in their jungle attire.

Caitlin rode the Expedition Everest coaster with Daddy and Grandpa, but didn't like it very well.  We've decided that she simply doesn't like being in the dark and all three coasters that she's ridden have been at least mostly in the dark.  But she really enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and all the unique animals that we viewed, including her favorite, the lion.

She also met Rafiki in the educational area of the park.  After her meeting, she thinks that Rafiki must mean "goofy" in Swahili (as you can see below)!

We then moved on to Epcot where we had dinner and rode the Nemo ride.  Caitlin ended the day by playing in the Bruce the Shark playground there.  What a way to end the day!

Today is our day off.  We are "lounging" this morning and will meet the Andersons at the Grand Floridian early this afternoon so Caitlin can attend the Wonderland Tea Party.  Then we are taking Caitlin for the rest of the day and will have a "Slumber Party" in our room tonight.  One thing she's been looking forward to is swimming and today will be the day.  She's probably in the pool at their hotel by now and will probably try ours out later today.  It's amazing that the two water attractions that she wanted to ride (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom) were both closed when we were there.  That was the only thing that made her sad this week :-(

Have a great day and love to all!

A Special Message for Xavier

We hope you had a fun and special birthday.  We love you!

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Bryan and Caitlin

Happy Birthday Xavier!!

Enjoy your special day, Little Man.  We'll be thinking of you from Disney World and wishing we could celebrate it with you!

Love,

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Bryan and Caitlin

Day 2 at WDW

Today was spent at the Disney Hollywood Studios park.  Caitlin was a bit disappointed that there weren't more rides there, but she had a fun day meeting more characters, doing a few rides, seeing some shows and playing at the playground.

And she is quite the dancer, as some of us have experienced.  She had fun dancing with the cast show on main street.  After a busy day at the park, we took the bus to dinner at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary resort.  But first.....

She had great fun at dinner.  Her favorites were Donald and Goofy.  She said they named Goofy right, because he is goofy!

Here's today's picture of the Anderson family at Hollywood Studios.

That's all for today.  We'll try to check in again tomorrow.

Love to all!!

PS:  The Aerosmith Rock 'n Roller Coaster is really cool.  Bryan and I rode it twice (once with Caitlin) and it was the highlight of the day for us!  Caitlin said it freaked her out, mostly because it is all in the dark......

We Made it to Disney World!

But it wasn't easy.  For the Andersons, that is.  They had to modify their flight plan and after a 15 hour day of planes, buses and automobiles, they arrived last night around 7:30.  They had to fly from Kansas City to Cleveland to Orlando, but finally get here.  Connie and I arrived just a few minutes late at about 11:00 AM, despite flying through Chicago to reach Orlando.  We couldn't have asked for more.  So, after a long day and a good night's sleep, we went to the Magic Kingdom today.  Caitlin had a great first day and was pretty awestruck by some of her experiences.  First she met some familiar characters:

Then she rode a few rides, had some lunch, saw a couple of shows and parades.

Then we went to dinner at the Grand Floridian resort and saw many of the characters from Cinderella.  Caitlin enjoyed all of them except the Evil Stepmother.  She was afraid of her and wouldn't even look at her.   She had to have extra hugs from Cinderella.......

We ended the night back at the Magic Kingdom and saw their fantastic fireworks show.  Caitlin described it as "beautiful" and we all agreed.  Here are the Andersons at the end of our first day here.

It was a great start to our vacation and tomorrow we will continue at Disney's Hollywood Studio park.  We also will have dinner at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary resort and might just have to catch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom again.  After a short Friday night and a long Saturday, followed by a full day at the park, that's all for now.

Love to all!!

Christmas @ The Dicks

Before church on Christmas eve. (oops I almost cut my head off)
Can you spot someone who is not in a festive mood?

She is much happier opening presents.

Everyone have a joyous & safe 2012.

Love,
Randy & kids