Travel & Vacation: Bippity Boppity Boutique Fairy Dust (Orlando, FL)
Brina getting her fairy dust!
At the Bippity Boppity Boutique downtown Disney you can stop by and get pixie fairy dust for free. We were at the store looking around and walking by the boutique so stopped to have the girls gets some fairy dust. They did a cute saying as the girls got the fairy dust sprinkled into their hair. The fairy dust is basically glitter. I don’t know if it was a special type of glitter or if the heat from running around in the hot sun all day, but that glitter stayed on for awhile.
Karlie getting her fairy dust!
Travel & Vacation: Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf (Orlando, FL)
Fun times playing miniature golf!
While in Orlando the girls and I got tickets to play miniature golf. The golf course was across the street from our resort so it was a short walk. We went to Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf. It was a lot of fun playing together even though we lost 3 balls. We quickly realized that we would not be playing any professional miniature golf soon with our crazy scores, but was a great time.
It was a warm day, but they had several courses with shooting water that seem to help cool it off. After playing 18 rounds of miniature golf we headed back to the hotel for lunch in the room then out to the pools to have some more fun. Thankful for some time with the kids.
Brina was the only one that didn’t loose a ball. I lost mine on the first hole in the bushes. Karlie managed to lose 2 balls throughout our adventures. The workers let us get more balls at the counter. The girls both got “hole in ones”, but I never got one (2 shots was my lowest par).
Hole 1 – each hole had a storybook with information and cute sayings on it.
It was bright and sunny that day!
Brina ready for her next hit.
This hole was in a cave. It was cool. Both girls got a hole in one on this one.
So close…. They were concerned a few times about me accidentally hitting their balls further away from the hole (a couple of times it was a valid concern).
The greenery around the course was beautiful!
Found a spot in the shade to rest for a minute.
They had some cute decorations. This elephant sprayed water when you shot the ball through the middle of the base.
Lining up for a good shot. This was harder than you think.
Travel & Vacation: Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
Festival of the Lion King
Karlie had been wanting to go to the Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom all day, but every time we passed that area we were not there at a time close to show time or we were heading for another activity. We finally got a chance to go towards the end of the day and we only had about a 15 minute wait in the stand-by line.
The girls were hoping that the show had live animals, but were pleasantly surprised by all the cool things to watch (even though there were no live animals). We got great seats only three rows from the front. If you are looking for a good show, a cool place on a hot day, and a place to sit down and be entertained this is a good spot to go. It was a really neat show.
Bringing out the giraffe!
Super tall!!!
These orange “creatures” did some amazing flips right in front of us!
The lights, smoke, and movement made it harder to capture all the cool pictures, but this was beautiful!
The girls had a fun time trying to figure out what animals all the people were dressed up as.
Singing along to the Lion King songs as we watch.
Timon from Lion King, he was hilarious!
Lots of fun music and action with this show.
The girls enjoyed this one!
Travel & Vacation: Interesting Characters at Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
Hanging out with Daisy Duck!
We met some fun Disney Characters while at Animal Kingdom. There were a few that we did not get an autograph or picture with because the line was too long or we were headed to a specific activity. We did get a few which was another fun experience while at the park. At Animal Kingdom we met and got pictures as well as autographs from Daisy Duck, Chip & Dale, and Rafiki.
Daisy Duck autographs
Chip & Dale were mischievous and fun. They tried taking a sip of gatorade from Karlie’s camelback hose, using Brina’s hand sanitizer, and other silly actions. These two were probably the girls favorite characters they met because they were so funny and the cast member helping them was very good interacting with them too.
Rafiki getting ready to give Brina a big hug!
Autographs and picture with Rafiki!
Travel & Vacation: Kids Wilderness Explorers Program at Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
Learning about the Wilderness Explorers program!
While at Animal Kingdom the girls participated in their Wilderness Explorers program. It was a great having a chance to stop at the various stations throughout Animal Kingdom, get a sticker, and learn about a variety of educational animal topics. They quickly figured out that they just needed to look out for workers wearing the Wilderness Explorer uniforms (brown, tan, and orange). They wore the orange bags with stickers. In order to get their sticker for that activity they had to participate in an activity and / or listen to a presentation.
It was fun and educational. The only thing that we had problem we had was occasionally with missed a sticker because we couldn’t find the worker. This is a wonderful program especially for kids who can read or enjoy learning about various animal educational items. You can get a Wilderness Explorer book, your first sticker, an explanation, and a Wilderness cheer.
Looking through their Wilderness Explorer books to check where we need to go next.
Learning about a variety of animal sounds!
Standing in front of the Tree of Life looking through their Wilderness Explorer packets!
Travel & Vacation: Welcome to Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
A day at Animal Kingdom with these two chickies!
The girls and I went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, FL recently while Jake was at a conference! They were very excited to check out all the animals in the park. We packed in a full day at Animal Kingdom. We arrived early and were one of the last few to leave at closing. The crazy thing is we still didn’t get to everything we wanted to do, but we definitely did a lot. It was a great day with my girls. Both girls LOVED it, but Animal Kingdom was probably Brina’s favorite place to visit (which isn’t a big surprise for those who know her).
Pretty bird….was the first comment I heard from the girls as we entered the park.
A pair of beautiful birds perched on the branch.
Having a blast!
A Wallaby eating its morning treat. At first we thought it was a kangaroo until further investigation. Must be in the same family though because there are similarities.
Karlie and Brina in front of a gorgeous waterfall in Animal Kingdom.
Starting to get more crowded. The tree in back is the “Tree of Life” and has over 300 animal figured carved into it. Very fascinating to see up close.
Hanging out in line. They were troopers even in the longer lines. We took the time to get something to eat and drink whenever we spent a decent amount of time standing in lines. Thankfully, it wasn’t the busiest season so at Animal Kingdom the longest line we waited in was the Kilimanjaro Safari for an hour in the Africa section which was well worth the wait (I will be sharing more about that safari in a later post).
Big black fish swimming right beside us.
Going through the waterfall as we head into the Tree of Life for the “It’s Tough Being a Bug” Show!
Bug Eyes!!! They are ready for the show! Such a great show and one of their favorites for the day. Wish we had time to do it again!
Africa was one of their favorite places to visit while in Animal Kingdom. It had great music, the Kilimanjaro Safari tour, Lion King, and more fun activities to do.
Musical entertainment shortly after entering the gates into the Africa section. They had people playing on and off all day. Fun upbeat music.
Karlie trying out her musical talent!
Brina going all out!
Swinging around on their jungle gym!
Another one taking a rest!
Rodrigues Fruit Bats hanging around at Animal Kingdom. Wonder what they eat….if you guessed fruit you are correct. All the ones in the section we visited were male. Did you know that their bat wings are made out of similar material that our eyelids are made out of? They were fascinating to watch!
Beautiful tiger lounging peaceful and keeping a watchful eye on the visitors.
This tiger was literally on the other side of the glass from us. It’s fur looked so soft, not sure it would have been a good idea to pet the big cat though!
Deer enjoying a rest in the shade.
Love the colors on this feathered friend.
Mesmerized by all the activity above them!
So much fun. They were on the go and soaking all the cool animal sights in throughout the day.
Mount Everest at Animal Kingdom. The mountain is the host for the Expedition Everest roller coaster. We all agreed that it was probably a little more than we wanted to do, but it was super cool to watch!
They had a blast! Waiting for the bus to take us back to the resort. Thankful for an chance to spend the day with the kids at Animal Kingdom and all the fun memories as well as activities we did that day!
