Sunday (8/31) - After our beach outing, it was time to head to Disney World! We checked into the Old Key West resort and had a relaxing and fun afternoon. We took a water taxi to Downtown Disney where we enjoyed the sights and the shopping as well as the Rainforest Cafe. When we returned to the resort, the kids had a blast at the pool where the castle water slide sent them zooming into the water.

Monday (9/1) - Today did not begin too well because our little Princess woke up throwing up. She has been talking about Disney World for a year now, and I was quite concerned that her magical dreams would be dashed. Besides that, we had to check out of Old Key West by 11:00, and our suite at Animal Kingdom would not be ready until 4:00--5 hours in the car or out with a sick one! We went ahead and checked out, and covered our little one with beach towels. Good thing because we didn't make it far down the road. In the meantime, we called Animal Kingdom, explained our situation, and asked them to do what they could to get us in early. Audrey then wolfed down a very hearty lunch, which I tried to discourage, but she kept insisting: "I still hungry, Mommy!" So I let her pack it away, and that seemed to be what she needed because she perked up and was just fine. Animal Kingdom was, meanwhile, very accommodating and got us into our lovely apartment by 12:30. We enjoyed settling in while the kids hung out on the balcony checking out the zebras, giraffes, and gazelles grazing below us.

Tuesday (9/2) - We headed to the Magic Kingdom bright and early this morning. We are blessed to be here at the same time as some dear friends of ours from church. Their two older kids are our kids' best buddies, so we all had a splendid time at the park together. I think we rode just about every ride, and Mark and I even took turns on Space Mountain. We left around 5:30, came back for dinner, and then headed back to Magic Kingdom for the parade. We left before the fireworks to avoid fighting crowds until midnight, and when we got home, we were surprised to discover we could see the fireworks in the distance from our balcony!

Wednesday (9/3) - Today has been a lazy day. No one stirred in our apartment until about 8:45! We spent the day at the pool where even Audrey couldn't get enough of the slide (as long as we were at the bottom to catch her!). This evening we'll enjoy a spaghetti dinner here with our friends. Their kids, in fact, are here watching a movie with our kids (actually the movie is over now, so they're tearing around in circles through the living areas and out through the balcony). It's a crazy crew here right now!

This is such a fun place. The African decor makes me feel at home, and every once in awhile I even get a whiff of something that reminds me of the Cocody Market--maybe some of the souvenirs or something. We'll try one of the lodge restaurants Friday night to see how authentic their African food is!

She begged to see Tigger and Pooh, but once we FINALLY got through the line, she wouldn't let me photograph her alone, and you can see she was still a bit shy!