Animal Kingdom

Our first big outing in Florida was to the Animal Kingdom with the Klippel family. I am forever indebted to Jennifer for keeping me sane in Kaz while Steve made a whirlwind trip back to the States to pick up the boys. I don't know if I could have survived 9 days alone with a two-year-old in Kazakhstan without our daily phone chats about the Turner Classic Movie and Hannah Montana episode of the day (the only English-language TV we got). I owe Jennifer big-time, and if you're ever in Hilton Head, make sure to check out Drifter Excursions and tip well.

It was a joy to finally hang out with Jennifer's son Ricky - he was still in the baby house when we left Kaz, so we didn't get the chance to get acquainted properly. Ricky and Sasha share a passion for rides that go "up and down" so while the big kids were riding the Everest roller coaster, Sasha, Ricky, and I rode the flying dinosaurs on three back-to-back rides. 95 degrees and 800% humidity feel a lot better when you've got the breeze in your hair on the back of a flying dinosaur.

Here are some photographic highlights of our day:

Ricky did agree to a character visit and was ok with the giant furry monsters as long as I was holding him close. He even gave Pooh a friendly, "hi!" but his courage didn't hold out for Eyore and Tigger - one was enough.

Sasha, on the other hand, stood with her back to the fence and screamed when I attempted to introduce her to Winnie the Pooh. Here's her recreation of her face of angry terror (the original version was much louder).
Sash loved the petting zoo and I think she would have brushed goats and sheep all day if we hadn't bribed her away with ice cream
How do you stay cool in Disney World in June? Attempt 1 - Fill your misting fan with ice. We all agreed that while the fan was good, the mist-and-evaporate cooling system works a lot better in Utah.
Attempt 2 - Water rides! This one worked well - we emerged soaked and happy. That explains the 90-minute wait lines... thank goodness for Fast Pass!
Attempt 3 - Consume massive quantities of $3.50 ice cream bars. I think we all agree that this is our preferred method of staying cool in Disney World.

Our first day at Disney was a stunning success. We survived the crowds, heat, repeated rides on the Yeti rollercoaster (although riding twice back-to-back was a huge queasy mistake), and even The Revenge of the Six-Foot Pooh Bear. That's what I call a vacation.