Travel & Vacation: Epcot’s Gardens (Orlando, FL)
Our wild crew at Epcot!
Our family had a blast exploring Walt Disney World’s Epcot park. It was a lot of fun seeing all the beautiful sculptures made out of greenery all over the park. Many Disney characters were represented in the gardens. It was the kids first time visiting Epcot. They loved it so much we chose to do it 2 days instead of just one. Thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my family while seeing these amazing creations.
Lady and the Trump
Mickey Mouse instead a garden of flowers.
Beautiful flower gardens at Epcot. This was taken while passing through on the monorail.
Snow White
Kiddos in front of Beauty and the Beast
Pausing for a moment! These were my two favorite characters from Beauty and the Beast
My sweet girl.
They did an amazing job making these garden sculptures come to life!
Monorail, flower gardens, and lake.
Cinderella and Prince Charming
Hanging out next to Winnie the Pooh Bear (his red balloon glowed at night).
Look out for Captain Hook
Brina liked the Frozen garden!
Karlie, of course, liked the Buzz Lightyear
Tinker Bell
Too cute!
The Frozen characters garden at night
Beautiful garden across the water from where the boat drops you off at Epcot
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!
Travel & Vacation: Parks Near Charleston We Love! (part 2)
Karlie is our water bug. She is having a blast!
One of the girls favorite places to visit is Charleston. We have enjoyed finding a lot of neat parks near Charleston. Several of the parks we found while others were recommended to us by friends and people we met along the way. It is always an adventure hanging out with the chickies at the parks. They have a blast and love getting a chance to play, splash around, and explore!
Playing in the water at the park
A soaked Brina on the run and heading straight for me!
Chatting while Brina holds back a fountain sprayer and Karlie relaxes for a few minutes on the fence
Two little monkeys climbing on the tube slide at the park
Brina loves spinning in these red cups! Makes me almost sick and dizzy just watching them!
Travel & Vacation: Parks Near Charleston We Love!
Hanging out at Mount Pleasant. Notice the huge bridge above them, the girls always enjoy coming to Waterfront Park.
Relaxing for a few minutes
Silly Sisters
If you are looking for a great spot to fish near Charleston you can go on the pier of Mt Pleasant next to Waterfront Park. The girls always enjoy seeing pictures of the fish then walking down the pier checking out all the fish the people have caught that day.
Swinging on the pier
Family Fun: Adventures With Our Cousins
Cousins hanging out at the park together!
We had an opportunity a few months ago to spend some time with Jake’s sister and her family. The girls were in school during their stay with us but we still found plenty of time to have fun. It was great having an opportunity to hang out with them and create new memories, especially since it will be quite awhile before we can get together again.
Oh MY…..your lips look different today…..Silly girls with silly mouths!
My cute little kitchen helper!
Noah helping with the “science” experiment! Loading up the ingredients into a Ziploc bag.
It’s going to blow!!!! We did an experiment with baking soda, water, and vinegar inside Ziploc bags. When we sealed the bags they bubbled up and they popped! The kids really enjoyed doing this one.
