Divas, Zebra Domes, and Pixie Dust! A Week in an African Paradise! New TR Link Pg.145

[Charleston Princess]

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CP:

Another great update. I love the henna tatooes and the chinese mask. Plus Connor, poor Connor, shying from the mean old mama paparazzi. What a lovely trip through the world showcase.

Welcome back, Mary Ellen!!! I am very excited to read all about your trip! Make sure you let me know when you start your TR!

It was a lovely trip through the WS except for the heat (it was that Friday).

Great update - you made it all the way around!!! You guys have stamina!! Love the pictures, I may have to steal Chelsea's idea and take hat pictures of my kids, too. Are you ready for your weekend? Have a great time, and I can't wait to read all about it!

Thank you! I don't know how much stamina we really had since I practically needed a wheelchair by the end of it.

I am nowhere near ready for my weekend, so I guess I should probably do something about that.

What an amazing update Jackie!! The hat pictures of your children are just adorable and I love their pose against the temple!! WOOT!!!!

OOOH a very nice Henna tattoo I like it!!!!! Very stylish!!!!

Yes by the time you reach the end of the World Showcase your feet are hurting and you are ready for a nice rest...EPCOT is just so LARGE!!!!!

Okay girlie...I leave this afternoon!!! Take care and I'll see you next week YAY!!!!

Thank you, Jen! I can't believe we will be hanging out together in just one week!!!

I was at Connor's talk to the hand pic! Glad to see he got over it and was able to continue with the hats around the world.

Connor had definitely had it by that point.

I'm glad the kids got to finish their hat tour. You got some great pictures.

Thank you! Yes, Chelsea wanted to make sure we had completed that!

This was such a fun idea-with the hats.......like a hat safari...I think you did pretty well...you found hats everywhere with the exceptions of Japan and Italy...I think...

That's right -- we did have hat pictures from China already from earlier in the week.

I think that C & C look like the VonTrapp children from the Sound of Music in their hats in Germany...

Only without the singing ability!

Very nice hennas...

Thank you! I just love the smell of henna!

Yep-I know that look that Connor is giving you or not giving you... you aren't gonna get any more photo love out of him without a break...

He would never be able to handle real paparazzi!

Ooo-so who is the ruler of Teppan Edo?...

You shall see...

btw...don't you have a trip knocking at your back door...are you all ready?

Not even close to be ready unless you count pulling out bathing suits and the suitcases as being ready. I don't know what my problem is -- I don't think I like traveling in the middle of the week during school -- I can't seem to find the time or energy to get my act together.

Haha! Connor reminds me of how my kids get after a week on vacation with a camera in their faces!!!! Glad to see he quickly got over that and allowed more photos to be taken! You guys had some trip around the world! Way to go speedy!

Thank you! Connor was so over taking pictures.

Which side of the family do they favor?

Definitely Charles' side.

They are just as cute as they can be in all the hat pictures!

Thank you! They are my little camera hams.

Looks like a fun time. I know going inside Mexico was a good respite from the heat.

I never wanted to leave the inside of the pyramid.

I love all the hat pictures. Kudos to you all for making it through your WS Hat Trek.

Those last few countries about did me in.

Connor is too funny in his no more pictures pose.

I thought so, too!

Chelsea looks just as bright and sparkly at the end of your trek as in the beginning. Ahhh...youthful energy.

Actually she was pretty tired, but she can turn on the sparkle if a camera is around.

Hey Jackie! I apologize for my long absence from your TR, but I have just spent a very enjoyable 20 minutes or so getting caught up.

My favorite line of all the installments I just read?

Connor saying, "I don't want to freak you out, but I think I'm hallucinating." That boy cracks me up.

Loved all of the poses in the World Showcase - just awesome.

Hi, Carissa! Thank you! Connor always comes up with the best lines in the family!

I want to do a henna tattoo those look so good!! I love your contunuing tour around the WS, such awesome pictures!

The henna tattoos were a lot of fun! You should do that next week!

 

[cjackearl]

What a great stroll through the WS with your cute kiddos. Love the Chinese masks and Connor's "stop!" pose! Your henna tattoos are beautiful. They're so pretty on your upper arms. AND the conversation between the husband and wife about Universe of Energy had me in stitches. Too funny!!

 

[Native NYer]

Gotta catch up
This cold has knocked me out for the last few days.

 

[luvfigment]

That was such a great idea taking pictures in every country. The picture of Connor putting his hand up was to funny. The pictures in Mexico and Norway were my favorite. I am also glad that you showed us your Henna...it came out really good and I was wondering if we were going to see the outcome. Can't wait to see occurs at Teppan Edo.

 

[ampc3]

caught up again... can't wait to hear about Japan...

 

[ladybugmom]

All caught up!! I love all the pics from Epcot!! WS is my favorite part! Chelsea and Conner are so photogenic! I love them posing in all of the different countries--it reminds me of my girls!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a great stroll through the WS with your cute kiddos. Love the Chinese masks and Connor's "stop!" pose! Your henna tattoos are beautiful. They're so pretty on your upper arms. AND the conversation between the husband and wife about Universe of Energy had me in stitches. Too funny!!

Thank you! Wasn't that conversation a hoot? I was trying so hard not to laugh -- if you could have heard the tone of voice the wife had -- it was classic!

Gotta catch up
This cold has knocked me out for the last few days.

Are you feeling better? Nothing like the start-of-school cold after all the kids bring you their germs. Yick!

That was such a great idea taking pictures in every country. The picture of Connor putting his hand up was to funny. The pictures in Mexico and Norway were my favorite. I am also glad that you showed us your Henna...it came out really good and I was wondering if we were going to see the outcome. Can't wait to see occurs at Teppan Edo.

Thank you! We are always pleased with our henna!

Teppan Edo coming up later tonight!

caught up again... can't wait to hear about Japan...

Hi, Annette! Did you enjoy all the rain again today? When is it going to end???

 

[Charleston Princess]

All caught up!! I love all the pics from Epcot!! WS is my favorite part! Chelsea and Conner are so photogenic! I love them posing in all of the different countries--it reminds me of my girls!!

Thank you, Becky! I love that the kids are always (usually) willing to take pictures!

 

[Charleston Princess]

So, when Charles called to say he had arrived at Epcot, I told him to meet us at the Art of Disney on his right near Spaceship Earth. I wanted to look around the store at the Larry Dotson prints, and Chelsea wanted to ride Spaceship Earth. We reached The Art of Disney, and Charles was nowhere in sight. I thought this was odd since it shouldn’t have taken him longer than us to get there.

I called to find out where he was. Apparently, despite the fact that he has been coming to Disney World with me since 1995, he got mixed up and thought by Spaceship Earth I meant Mission: Space. He was in front of Mission: Space waiting on us. I told him to meet us in front of the restrooms near Mousegears since I was afraid if I told him a different rendevous point, he would get lost again.

Chelsea reiterated her desire to take a journey through the history of communication, but Charles asked, “Isn’t that the one that stops all the time?” I answered in the affirmative, and he made the excellent point that we might not have enough time before our dinner ressie at Teppan Edo. So, no SSE this trip. This seems to have been a theme -- one major ride missed at each park -- no Splash Mountain, no SSE, no Kali River Rapids -- we did manage to ride all the big ones at DHS.

We made another hot, tiring journey back to Japan -- I was so sick of walking at that point. We stopped in the department store and bought another Naruto patch for Connor -- he had lost the first one somewhere in World Showcase and was crushed. This one stayed in my bag, but at least, it was only $3.75.

We dragged ourselves up the steep stairs to Teppan Edo and collapsed onto seats to wait for our buzzer to turn blue and flash. While we were waiting, we watched two absolutely gorgeous, tall, blonde men walk by and leave. Charles raised an eyebrow at me, and I could not help myself from saying, “I had no idea we were in Norway,” and then I burst out laughing, causing Charles to burst out laughing -- we had a hard time pulling ourselves together and it was killing Chelsea that we wouldn’t tell her what we were laughing about.

When it was our turn to be seated, we were seated with a lovely family who had two darling girls. This was also their last night, were staying at the Yacht Club, and were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. The dad had a good time teasing Chelsea throughout the dinner -- Chelsea is a good sport and just laughed.

Our chef this year was F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! I have a VERY sarcastic sense of humor, and our chef was just the right blend of dry sarcasm and fun. Here is a classic example -- made even funnier by the fact that Charles had declared before the trip that if he were a country in World Showcase, he would want to be Teppan Edo. Here is that link from my pre-trip report:

If We Were World Showcase Countries...

Anyway, back to our wonderfully sarcastic chef...
Charles: When you cook the vegetables and meat, I don’t want any mushrooms (he hates them) or onions.

Chef: Yes, your Highness.

I about fell off my seat laughing and could not wait to tell MeMom who had declared Teppan Edo as Charles’ kingdom.

Chelsea was in charge of the camera during the meal.

Our awesome chef.

Chelsea’s attempt at food porn.

As we ate, Charles sighed and said, “I love the food here.” We scarfed up our food -- well, three of us did -- Connor had downed three glasses of lemonade and moaned and writhed on his chair with a stomach ache. (This is what happens when Charles sits beside him and not me.)

While we tucked into our chocolate ginger cake with gusto, the highlight of my evening occurred. Someone tapped me on my shoulder, and when I turned around, she asked, “Are you Charleston Princess?”

It was Disneyvirg -- hi, Carissa! She had recognized Chelsea and Connor from my pre-trip report and wanted to say hi! I am so glad that she did because it absolutely made my night! (I felt just like a celebrity! LOL!) It was one of my favorite stories to tell about the trip!

After Disneyvirg left, the dad of the other family said he couldn’t help but overhear our conversation, and we chatted about the DIS boards (which his wife had used for trip planning) and posting and such.

Stuffed full of delicious Teppan Edo food, we slowly wandered back to the front of the park.

We did have to stop in Morocco for Charles to use the restroom.

Good-bye beautiful Morocco! I will dream of seeing you soon!

Good-bye Spaceship Earth!

Good-bye Monorail!

Bye again Spaceship Earth!

Good-bye Spaceship Earth and Epcot Palm Tree!

Oh, look, it’s our bus!

Back at the hotel we went to the pool one last time, and I had one last pina colada. I tried to begin packing, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

UP NEXT: Our last few hours at Walt Disney World, Souvenirs, and Final Thoughts!

 

[ladybugmom]

Awww man!! I can't believe your TR is coming to an end!! Chelsea did a great job taking pics at dinner!! And how cool that you had a DISer come up to you at TE!! It sounds like your chef was fabulous!!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Charles and his love of Teppan Edo.....

Please tell him that I just found out there is a new Teppan Edo in the Magic Kingdom during MNSSHP nights....I reserved him a table <wink, wink>

 

[wigdoutdismom]

What a fun story about Charles and Teppan Edo, he did rule the country! Even more perfect was the fact that you were recognized by one of your adoring fans your royal highness Charleston Princess!
Chelsea is indeed getting closer and closer to writing her own trip reports, her food porn was great! I would love to read her spin on things!
Then we have Connor, I can just imagine him in that chair with a belly ache. Comical and sad all at the same time.......

I'm glad you got over your momentary insanity today and we able to get giddy with excitement over your trip again. It is hard to prepare with school in session isn't it? Just hang in there and before you know it you will be back to that place of happiness and leaving the real world behind!

 

[IluvXU]

Great updates... you just might be done before the trip!


I am excited for you and Charles (and a teeny bit jealous) that you are headed to the Mouse this week!


Teppan Edo is on my list... but I think I have to wait until Em and Luke get a bit bigger- Hannah would love it!

 

[winkers]

the staircase up to Teppan Edo is a killer after a long day on your feet.
If it weren't for the dignity and decorum I always display, I would have crawled up them on our last trip.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Great updates... you just might be done before the trip!


I am excited for you and Charles (and a teeny bit jealous) that you are headed to the Mouse this week!


Teppan Edo is on my list... but I think I have to wait until Em and Luke get a bit bigger- Hannah would love it!

Truth be told I'm a teeny bit jealous too!

the staircase up to Teppan Edo is a killer after a long day on your feet.
If it weren't for the dignity and decorum I always display, I would have crawled up them on our last trip.

I remember wanting to crawl up those stairs too! That was almost a year ago and at this moment it seems like yesterday we were climbing that mountain.

 

[IluvXU]

Truth be told I'm a teeny bit jealous too!

There are an awful lot of DIS Friends that have fall trips planned.... I have a long eight months to go.

 

[disney<333]

oh no your TR almost over! On the bright side in 5 days you'll be at disney world! (I won't, so sad)
The last day is always so sad I always think "24 hours from now I'll be home, depressed.."
Oh, Any ideas for a name of a birthday/holiday PTR & TR combined?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

There are an awful lot of DIS Friends that have fall trips planned.... I have a long eight months to go.

I know this missing out on all the fall fun has been a bit of a downer. Even though last year it was such a hassle getting ready amidst fall conferences and then the sub plans. I have long forgotten that pain and wish that we could go, but we can't.
I have 84 days to wait.
OK, I'll stop complaining!

 

[Disneyvirg]

Great update! Chelsea did a wonderful job with her food porn pics!

I'm so glad I didn't ruin your night. I felt kind of silly walking up to you - thankfully you're super nice! I love that it made you feel like a celebrity - because I felt like I was meeting a celeb!

Shoot! Your TR is nearly over. So sad! At least you can comfort yourself with another trip to WDW. Have a fabulous time! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Carissa

 

[TarzansKat]

Glad you had a nice meal at Teppan Edo! Sounds like so much fun.