On our way back home

We sure had a great vacation, but today it was time to leave.  First though, we got a family picture of us all wearing the same shirts we bought last night!  I thought it was pretty neat and kept pointing out "we're the same!"  I insisted on holding my Ariel balloon.

At the airport, I had fun walking all around with my backpack. 

It was pretty heavy, but I wanted to wear it just like Daddy!  I did really well and didn't compain about it one bit.

I like sitting by the window, even though I let Daddy sit there a little too.  Notice the "Transfer" tag I got from the baggage check-in when we got to the airport earlier.  I liked it and wore it the whole flight.

It was a good flight back to end a great vacation!

One more trip to Blizzard Beach

We had one more water park trip left on our Disney World tickets, so we went back to Blizzard Beach again.  We really have a fun time at water parks, and I absolutely love going down the tube slides.  At Daddy's prompting, I'm even being silly and screaming as we go down the hills.  Wheee! 

I've also expanded my "troll bridge" act!  Now every time we'd get to a bridge I'd run a few steps ahead just like before, turn around and tell Mommy and Daddy "Nobody crosses over my bridge!"  But now there was a joke involved!  Sometimes they had to tell me one, sometimes I told them one, but nobody was getting past until there was a joke.  Sometimes I would tell Mommy or Daddy it was their turn to be the troll, too!

By far my favorite joke of the week is one that was on the box of crayons at a restaurant we went to the second day we were here - "What did one tomato say to the other tomato?  You go on ahead and I'll ketchup!"  What makes it even funnier for Mommy and Daddy is that I don't quite get the tomato - ketchup/catch up connection, so I use the same joke with other foods as well!  "What did one apple say to the other apple?  You go on ahead and I'll catch up!"  Or pears, or carrots, you get the idea.  I laugh every time and think it's really funny, and Mommy and Daddy get a kick out of it too.

We take a break

It has been 8 continuous days of fun at the various theme parks, and we needed a break!  So we spent the whole day today at the resort and the pool.  Mommy and I went swimming in the morning while Daddy worked on a job application for Dayton, OH that is due Monday.  In the main pool area there were 2 big pools and one Piper-sized pool that I got to play a lot in.  I had a great time "swimming" around.  Daddy came back and we all went out to lunch.  After lunch, I announced that I was tired and needed a nap!  This is pretty rare for me to do, so I must have been really tired.  I asked Daddy to cuddle with me first for a few minutes, and that's all it took for me to fall sound asleep.  I slept for at least 2 1/2 hours, so Mommy and Daddy got in a nap too!

When I woke up I watched a movie with Mommy and Daddy and then we went to dinner.  I played a little at the playground after dinner, and got to practice my Spanish with a boy my age from Venezuela!  Then it was bedtime.  It was a very calm, relaxing day, and judging by the length of my nap, I really needed it!

Sea World

Today we didn’t go to any Disney park – we went to Sea World! Sea World was offering a military special where we all got in for free. On the way there, we stopped by IHOP for breakfast, and there was a man there making balloon characters! I wanted an Ariel, and he made me one!

One of the first stops at Sea World was one of their big aquariums. I could have stayed here a long time!

We also got to see (and Daddy touched) some manta rays. I didn’t want to touch them, but I sure liked to look.

They even had a pool with little baby manta rays! We couldn’t touch these ones though.

We went to see the Shamu show, and then headed to the Shamu’s Harbor play area for kids. They had a lot of neat stuff there, including a really big rope-climbing/tunnel-crawling area that even had some tire swings. It was really high off the ground. The top net was a couple stories up! And yes, Daddy and Mommy crawled through the tunnels with me!

Daddy was having fun “helping” me get up!

“Come on Mommy!”

We then went on a Shamu roller coaster, and I went on it two times in a row!

They also had a carousel with whales and dolphins and other sea creatures.

They had great underwater viewing of dolphins and manatees!

We also saw a show with sea lions, an otter, and a walrus. It was pretty funny, especially when one of the sea lions got a little ahead of the script! Then there was a show with dogs and cats that I liked too.

It was such a busy day of running around, I fell asleep on the way to dinner at Shoney’s. I stayed asleep all through Daddy getting me out of the car, into the restaurant, laying down on his lap, and even once he moved me over to the seat (so he could get up)! He did wake me up a little later so I could eat, but I was tired!

Back to the Magic Kingdom

We wanted to see more of Minnie and Mickey and all their friends, so we headed back to the Magic Kingdom today. Right inside the entrance was a shadow of Minnie Mouse. Look at me posing!

We got another family picture in front of the castle!

The first place we headed was Splash Mountain. I knew we’d get all wet, and I was right! Then we headed right next door to Thunder Mountain. We went on it twice in a row. I love it, and am learning it’s okay to scream on a roller coaster. You can tell we’re still wet from Splash Mountain!

Wheee!

We then took a boat across the lake to Tom Sawyer’s island. We had a great time there. I was running all around, and Daddy and I got to hide from Mommy. I liked playing in the fort, escaping through the secret tunnel, and crossing all the bridges. We even stopped for a picnic lunch.

We went on the Peter Pan ride then stopped by the carousel. I named my horse “Mater” this time!

Right next to the carousel is the Dumbo ride, so Mommy and Daddy knew we weren’t going to be able to miss it. We all rode in the same car and I got to fly it again.

Daddy and I got to wear silly hats!

We went on the Tomorrowland Speedway again, and then did the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. I liked this ride so much, and the line was so short (and it’s inside and air conditioned) that we did it 3 times in a row!

I helped Mommy shoot at the "Z"s to zap the evil Zurg's battery power. Guess which score is ours and which is Daddy’s?  But we sure had fun!

Over to Goofy’s Barnstormer ride! This isn’t as big as Thunder Mountain, but it’s still a lot of fun. Daddy and I like it because you’re in an “airplane”!

I just had to try on these new shoes in the gift shop. They’re cute! Mommy’s eyes got really big when she saw the price tag, though. Not today!

It was getting late, so we headed over to Thunder Mountain again for one last ride. But I fell asleep in the stroller on the way! I was really tired, and got in a good nap. When I woke up, we were back in the center of the park and a parade was just starting. I woke up pretty fast once I saw some of my favorite characters. Then they started dancing in the street, and I got to dance with Jessie from Toy Story! It took me a while to get warmed up, but I was dancing just like her soon!

Too soon, it was over. But I got one last wave goodbye to Jessie!

We went to dinner at the Shades of Green military resort on the Disneyworld grounds. As we were leaving after dinner I tripped on the floor and went “splat”. It really hurt and I cried a lot. Daddy and Mommy gave me lots of loveys and made me feel better. But then I saw this giant Mickey statue and instantly forgot all about my boo-boos. I gave him several big hugs!

By this time it was super late, and I went to bed as soon as we got back. I slept all the way through until morning. I was tired!

Blizzard Beach

We really like water parks, so we went back to Blizzard Beach. We didn’t bother taking the camera (since it would be the same pictures as last time), but we had a whole lot of fun. I warmed up in the kids area again, where I could go on slides all by myself, and then we all went on some of the bigger slides. Once again, I loved it! Especially the one where we could all go down at the same time on the same raft.

I’ve started doing something really silly. There are a lot of bridges at the water park, and every time we cross one, I run a few steps ahead of Mommy and Daddy, turn around, and say “I want to be the troll bridge!” I take a wide stance, wave my finger back and forth, and say loudly, “Nobody goes crossing over my bridge!” Usually, Daddy will then ask, “Well, can I cross?” and I’ll answer, “Sure!” I’m not a very mean troll, but it’s a lot of fun!

Typhoon Lagoon

Since we had so much fun at the water park on Sunday, we decided to go to the other water park (Typhoon Lagoon) this time. This is the water park where I had so much fun last year at the kids’ area going down the little tube slide. Well, it was just as much fun this year, except now I could carry the tube up to the start myself. I went on this over and over again!

I had fun at the rest of the kids’ area, too. I made friends with a couple of crocodiles! I even named one of them “Piper”!

And I got in a good splash contest with Daddy. I got a few good shots in!

After that we put the camera away, and I got to go on a few more things. This water park didn’t have many big slides I could go on, but they did have one “family” slide where we all went at the same time. It was fun and we did it 3 times! I also liked playing in the wave pool with Daddy holding me up when the big waves came in. We floated for a long time on the Lazy River. I got my own Piper-sized tube and loved holding on to Daddy and Mommy’s hands. (Although sometimes it was fun when Daddy and I would try to go fast and get away from Mommy!) I also did a lap on Daddy’s lap, which was cozy too.

At the end of the day I got to see real sharks and lots of fish in the “Shark Encounter” area (we didn’t go in the water with them, but got to look through underwater portholes).

We have a great day, but decided that the other water park had more big slides I could go on, so we’ll go back to that one next time!

Hollywood Studios

Today we went to Disney’s “Hollywood Studios” park where they have a lot of neat shows to watch and fun things to do based mostly on the newer movies.

Mommy, Daddy and I at the entrance to the park under Mickey’s hat!

Mommy and Daddy asked if I’d like to go meet Woody and Buzz. Yes! While waiting to see them I got to take a ride in Buzz’s spaceship. Silly Daddy left his hand stuck out in outer space!

Mommy got strapped to the rocket that they used in Toy Story. I thought she looked pretty silly!

Another silly picture of Mommy and me in the box with “Stinky Pete”.

That’s all fun, but finally I got to see the real Woody and Buzz! I ran up and gave them big hugs and then posed for a picture. Woody even kissed Mommy’s hand!

It was hard for Daddy to pull me away from them, and I said “goodbye” at least 5 times. But then we made our way over to a stunt show with cars and motorcycles and boats. This was the show that last year we sat way at the top of the grandstands, and I insisted on going down every stair by myself - we were the last ones out! Well, fortunately for Mommy and Daddy we sat a lot closer to the front this year. And besides, now I jumped down the steps (holding Mommy and Daddy’s hands, I could do 6 stairs at a time)!

After that we headed to the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” play area. I really liked going through this spider web maze, and am getting really fast at it. I’d come running out at the end with a big smile.

And I ran right into Daddy.  Too close Daddy!

We all went on a neat ride that was a 3-D “shooting” gallery with a Toy Story theme where we got to launch pies and paintballs and things like that at all kinds of different characters. It was Daddy and I versus Mommy. Mommy may have won on points, but our accuracy was better!

We also got to see a lot of fun shows – the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s Clubhouse, and some others. It was great!

Animal Kingdom

When asked if today I wanted to go to Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, I immediately answered “Animal Kingdom”! I’ve been learning a lot about wild animals recently and was excited to go.

Here we are at the entrance!

One of the first things we did was go to the “Lion King” show. Our section of the audience got to be the giraffe section! I enjoyed pretending my arm was a long giraffe neck and making a giraffe sound. “Baaaa!” This is a really fun show and is Mommy’s favorite.

Later we went on a safari ride and a real giraffe was following us! He must have heard about my earlier performance.

Look how big a 6-year old Gorilla’s hands are!

At the petting zoo, Mommy and I got to brush a calf.

We went to the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” 3-D show, and like yesterday, I really liked wearing the glasses. I enjoyed this show so much, I didn’t want to leave. Mommy asked if we could stay in the theater for the next one (it’s a short show), and we did!

I get excited about lots of things. When I saw this big dinosaur, I just had to touch its toe. Daddy had to help me, of course.

As we were waiting for a dinosaur ride I was on Daddy’s shoulders. Without telling anyone I flopped backwards! I like scaring Mommy like this, but it doesn’t bother Daddy. We have our own tricky method of getting me back up, no problem!

As we were leaving we had a picture taken of us in front of the “tree of life”.

I was pretty tired after we left. I stayed awake until we were eating dinner. I ate some of mine, then put my head down behind Daddy’s back. He thought I was just hiding there, but soon realized I was fast asleep! Mommy and Daddy have no idea how I fell asleep in this position. I must have been really tired!

I liked the Animal Kingdom! I got to see a real owl, a lot of hippos, giraffes, gorillas, fish, and lots of other wild animals. It was great!