~ EVEN MORE VACATION MOMENTS ~

Continuing on our Disney vacation: The following day we went to Epcot and started out on as many rides as we could get on before heading to the "countries". Did I mention that we traveled with our wonderful friends, The Crazy "C" family, along with Aunt Michie? They are often mentioned here, as we have been friends for over 26 years! The "C" family have four children who are 11 yrs, 8 years and the twins are 3 years old ~ we were outnumbered by children 7 to 5 and there were moments they almost took over :)

Back row: Anthony, Alexa, Brandon

Front row: Eddie, Mia, Madison & Max

I love the way Mia stops to smell the "owers"!

I actually took this photo when I had to walk out of movie-type show,

- have I mentioned Mia is extremely active

and doesn't prefer to sit still for long?

I actually ran around some trees and bushes

to catch this father/daughter moment :)


Mia & Mommy and
"Lady & the Tramp"
(this ones for you Aunt Debbie!)

The guys favorite "thing" in Epcot

Epcot, China

Mommy and her kids!

We had been looking forward to bringing Mia to "China". We were curious to see her reaction, and if she would "recognize or feel" something while walking through. The boys were real excited and even though it was raining a bit we charged on and into ... the shops!

She was glued to this panda ~

how could daddy resist?

China Princess!

As we walked through the "China" shops, Mia did get much attention. I asked one of the women there to say something in Chinese to her, curious if she'd respond to her. I had her ask Mia "where is mama?" and Mia actually patted my leg and said "mama". Afterwards, I thought I should have had her say something else - she may just have heard the "mama" part and thought of touching me right away :)

At another counter, two younger Chinese woman asked about Mia's Chinese name. Then they proceeded to say her name and also "Dan Dan" which was her nickname at the orphanage. Mia's face was looking down at the floor (I was holding her) and when I bent down to see her reaction, she had this huge smile on her face! It was adorable and touching. We stayed in this store until it was closing time ~ oh, how I miss China!

NEXT DAY, ANIMAL KINGDOM:
We began the following morning with breakfast at The Tusker House in Animal Kingdom; which was a delicious buffet. We had many visitors, including Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy! The staff made sure all the kids saw each character, got their autograph and picture. It was run very well and a great way to start our day!

"The Traveling Circus" with Mickey

(as we affectionately call ourselves)

One of the highlights of our trip =

matching outfits for

Madison & Mia!

The boys:

Brandon, Anthony, Max, Eddie

Next day, off to Seaworld!
We enjoyed breakfast at our resort before heading off to see the sea animals. We were lucky to have gorgeous weather, in the high 70's. It rained that one day in Epcot and the rest of the week was perfect weather wise.

Eddie spots a baby duckling before breakfast comes ~

My boys love Seaworld and were so interested in the dolphins.

Here they are feeding the dolphins and watching their

every move :)

Love how she's posing , pocketbook and all!

My pretty girl!

Cool car guys!

We saw many of the shows at Seaworld, and no matter how many times I've seen them - it just doesn't matter! I loved watching the kids faces as they watch the shows - priceless!

I must admit it was tough to actually watch sometimes - all Mia wanted to do was go up and down steps or try to walk or climb. At one point, I was tired of having to walk out of shows (I know, I know she's only 2 years old....) so I tried to quiet her and put her shoes back on (she wanted them off and then she wanted to walk on the dirty concrete!) well, she threw one of her famous fits, where she screamed and kick her shoe off right into the row in front of us! The man kindly gave me back her shoe and I sarcastically handed her to hubby and told him to take her out!

So, I get to watch the rest of the show and as we are about to leave, Eddie grabs the man in front of us and hugs the back of him-thinking he's daddy (this is the same man who gave me back Mia's shoe earlier!). Poor guy, I assured him we would leave him alone the rest of the day!!

***Answers to some questions from my comments:

Shandra: No we didn't keep the trip a secret. We told the kids and counted down together. We have neighbors (who are off to Disney today) - they did keep it a secret, and when they told the kids they video taped it! Cute idea!

*When our friends mentioned going to Disney (the bunch in the above pics), we originally said "no thanks". We had just been home from China a few months and didn't think we should. However, we do own a timeshare and the more we thought about it...well, you get the idea. That's why I'm glad we have this - it "forces" us to take a family vacation :)

Ronda: No we did not meet the princesses ~ this trip! The princess breakfast was BOOKED up, and I know Mia was not ready for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I'm lucky she'll sit still for some pigtails! Luckily, I know we'll be back in 2 years (with our timeshare we go every 2 years)- she'll be 4 years old then and hopefully full of love for the princesses by then!

Andie: Thanks for coming out of "lukerdom" ! I'm actually excited for YOUR trip in Jan '09...let's see what would I recommend? Definitely that Bib. Bob. Boutique - I saw so many girls dressed in their princess attire, glitter in their hair ~ you could tell they felt so special, as a princess should! Book it early though!

We went back to Magic Kingdom on our last day and we're so glad we did. It is SO big, there are SO many rides and things to see and do for the entire family. It is magical - must see the fireworks at the castle and the parade! There is a new "Nemo" ride that was adorable!!!

*Don't let your son "talk you into" going on Space Mountain (if you're a chicken like me) - I'm sure my foot prints are embedded in my "ship's" floor!!! It was dark, scary and my stomach was in my throat. BUT, it's a memory Anthony and I will always have, laugh about and cherish. So, go ahead and do it (just don't eat beforehand!!!)

Don't miss Seaworld- it's such a nice day! We are animal lovers, so we always go to Animal Kingdom; and this was our first time at Universal Studios (there is also Universal Island of Adventures, which I think they have more for older kids). Universal Studios was FUN, we saw Spongebob, Barney, Dora - everyone really enjoyed this park!

My next post will end our vacation (you're probably tired of all this by now - but this is a scrapbook for our China Princess - so please bear with us :)