Okay, these next few pictures are primarily for my father-in-law (even though there is a good chance he'll be either bored by them or think I don't get out enough to find such mundane things interesting. Roy, it's the thought that counts, okay!). I just kept catching myself either snapping pictures of plants or trees I thought were interesting, or telling Bruce, "Take a picture of that for your dad. Maybe he'll know what it is."
On the way to Disney, we stayed the night Friday evening in Savannah. Then we got up Saturday morning and continued our drive down to Florida. Off of the side of the interstate, there were these huge piles of tree limbs and brush. Lots of them.
And then a bit past that, a more processed pile of the stuff that had been turned to mulch.
I'm pretty sure they were getting ready to widen the road in that area, but even so, in the many miles of interstate driving I've done either between Tennessee and Oklahoma, or Tennessee and Texas, or Tennessee and the beach, I've never seen anything like this. Maybe I really should get out more!
Moving right along.
On our first day at Animal Kingdom, we went on the highly recommended Kilimanjaro Safari. You have to get on this ride early, because when we went back to do it a second time on another day, there was a 90-minute wait. In any case, it was really incredible. We saw all kinds of unusual animals, and I took tons of pictures. Really, I did. But very few turned out because I didn't check the setting on our camera beforehand. Which is why we wanted to do the safari a second time, but with Bruce at the helm of the camera. We didn't though.
Here's one that did turn out. Of a tree. It's actually in focus, because it was standing still, I assume, instead of moving like most of the animals were. I wish I could remember what the guide said about this tree, because it was really intersting at the time. But evidently not intersting enough to come to my mind now. Still, it is a cool tree. Feast your eyes on this.
And another one, of several huge termite hills. It was also obviously stationary.
Once off the safari, just walking around in Animal Kingdom, I saw this thing, full of hanging pods. I have no idea what kind of tree this is, mind you, but it's cool nonetheless.
This next tree (I'm a big fan of God's creation, okay!!) we saw while standing in line for the kids to meet Santa. Disney overlooks nothing, and, of course, Santa was there at Christmas time. I like this one because it looks like a weeping Palm tree, but with pinkish-red tips. Say it with me... "Cool."
On another day, back at Epcot, we went on Living with the Land, a boat ride through a green house and fish farm. (Is it really obvious, yet, which activities I choose and which Bruce picks?) Very neat things on this ride. Tomatoes being grown as trees, yielding more fruit. Some other plant that wasn't even in dirt, but instead was suspended from the top and rotated through a sprinkler system to maintain its moisture level. All impressive stuff. But here's my fave.
How'd they do that?
And here's proof that your children do pick up your interests.
I must explain that this is not necessarily Spencer showing a great love for the outdoors. No. But that boy is a collector. And there's no rhyme or reason in his selection of what to collect. I'm just happy to report that there was no physical altercation when we told him he would not be able to bring all those pine cones in the van for the trip home.
Clay and Spencer are two different breeds of boy. Both all male and full of testosterone. But while Spencer is full throttle, Clay understands more about cause and effect and so approaches things more cautiously. Clay has been unwilling to try certain rides at Dollywood all year, so it was no surprise that he nixed the idea of a ride on Expedition Everest. Without pause, Spencer took up the challenge and rode with Bruce. He came off all excited, so I took a turn with him. There's a yeti some where in the ride, and he told me when it was coming up. So I started making spooky noises, thinking he'd been on this before so it'd be all old hat to him. Umm, evidently his apprehension had a delayed response and my silliness scared him. He was a little shaken by the time we got off. This required some fast thinking on my part and cost me only $10. Spencer is now the proud owner of a baby yeti.
By the end of the week, Clay conquered Everest as well. (You should know better by now than to even wonder if Allison attempted it.)
After purchasing Baby Yeti (we aren't very original when it comes to naming stuffed animals in our house), we decided that each child would get one thing to remember the trip by. Spencer has his yeti. Clay quickly discovered his favorite coaster ride was Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. I think he rode that thing at least six times. And although it goes against my better judgement, he now owns a t-shirt with the coaster on it... and Aerosmith. My boy, the head banger.
Several times, Allison and I would separate from our boys while they rode the rides she was too scared to try. Most often, we'd end up shopping. Shopping is not my favorite activity. It's just one small way that the Lord has blessed Bruce. We had only a few days left on our vacation and Allison had not yet picked her souvenir. We combed through one particular store for quite a bit. No stuffed animal went unturned. I'd point out a princess sticker set, and Allison would say, "Hmm, let's just keep looking." I'd mention a sweet little necklace, and she would reply, "Hmm, let's just keep looking." I'd pick up a pink pencil case, and Allison would dismiss it with the now standard, "Hmm, let's just keep looking."
Finally, she found it. I saw a gleam in her eye that was all too reminiscent of a scene from Lord of the Rings. I know you know it! "My precious!" Allison's top pick of all that glittered at Disney? Two little stuffed mouses, one a Mickey, the other a Minnie. I know what convinced her. Their paws have magnets in them so they can hold each other's hands. Too sweet.
We ate at some great places at Disney. I can't say a bad thing about any place we ate. Other than the cost. We got the dining plan when we had our travel agent book our hotel room and purchase our tickets. If we hadn't gotten that dining plan, we'd have probably eaten only french fries the whole time we were there. Our travel agent also made reservations for us at the restaurants I chose after researching them online and getting advice from a friend whose husband works with Bruce.
One great place we ate was in a rotating restaurant in Epcot called The Garden Grill. Every few yards the scenery would be different. And characters came to the table to meet the kids. But the best part was that the kids decorated their own cupcakes for dessert. This was a huge hit with them!
And I have to include this one character shot. This particular Pluto had a runaway tongue. It kept flopping around, getting in the way of hugs from Spencer. The last one we got of him with the kids, Spencer and Allison were paying more attention to details.
Another very neat restaurant was the Whispering Canyon Cafe where we ate one morning for breakfast. We had to ride a boat to get to this one, which was at Wilderness Lodge, but getting up early and jumping from hotel to bus to park to boat to restaurant was well worth the effort. In keeping with their lodge theme, there were Lincoln Logs for the kids to play with while we waited to be seated.
When we were seated, things got even more interesting. The wait staff would yell across the room at other staff members and patrons. When someone at the table next to ours asked for ketchup, the waitress yelled, "Ketchup?! Who has the ketchup?" A family across the room raised their hands, and the waitress again yelled, "Well, bring it over here. All of it. Every bottle." So about three kids made a couple trips, taking about 15 bottles of ketchup from their table to the one next to ours. When they returned to their seats, the waitress said to the family sitting next to us, "Now, I expect you to get rid of all of those bottles before you're ready to leave or I'm charging you three bucks a bottle." Our kids' eyes were huge during the whole interchange.
For our last night, we went to see Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Ft. Wilderness, the campground at Disney. Again the wait staff was unusual. The food was served family style, on metal plates, from metal buckets, and as it arrived the waiter banged it down on our table. As our waiter served the chicken, he made some comment about wanting a breast or thigh and then asked me if his jokes were "too fowl." The highlight here was that as soon as we sat down, Clay dropped his water glass and it shattered. Not five minutes after out waiter cleaned that up, Allison spilled her totally full cup of milk. I'm sure our waiter earned every bit of his paycheck that night. The meal was a dinner show, and the show was very good. The kids laughed and enjoyed the dancing and singing. I kept telling Bruce that one of the men in the show looked like Steve Carell from The Office, which I have grudingly started to enjoy watching after Bruce became almost addicted a few months ago.
Okay, can you guess what we had for dessert? Now tell me, the guy holding the "Short" sign... doesn't that look like a Steve Carell twin to you? Click on it to get it to show up bigger on your screen. Our waiter was the guy to the left of "Steve".
I'm just about as exhausted reliving our vacation on blog as I was when we got home Saturday evening.
Not too much else comes to mind. The kids got to ride in the front of the monorail car on the way to Epcot. That was neat. We also rode on a steam boat. Here she is.
And speaking of tired. The same thing happened on this trip that happens at home when I try to get a minute to myself to recoup.
Over and out!
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