Saturday, July 2nd.
This morning started off just like any other.
As far as I can remember. Heck, it was almost 5 months ago. Most of the minute details are lost to the fog bank in the back of my mind. I do know that Bambi took the kids swimming while Dean and I went golfing.
Unfortunately, it was not one of Disney's immaculately kept courses. It was however, a much more affordable local course in Lakeland. But the rule still applies - any day on a golf course is a good day. Especially when you get to attempt shots like this:
Those are the steps leading out of steep sand bunker. As you can see, my shot cleared the bunker, just as I had planned. It just didn't clear it by much very much. I'm sure the official USGA or PGA rules allow for some kind of relief in this situation, but where's the fun in that? Yes, I hit that ball exactly as it lied. And let's just say that I holed out from there.
Further along the course, we finally - after probably a dozen rounds of golf in Florida - I finally came across one of these guys:
OK, so he was only about 4 feet long and in the middle of a pond, but he was an aligator none the less. Maybe some day I'll come across at 12 footer sunning himself on the edge of a green, but for now I'll have to be satisfied with this fella.
After the round, we met up with Bambi and the kids for lunch (Grandma had to work again today), then headed back up I-4 to the Magic Kingdom. (I'm sure several of you were expecting another description of the van being a rust bucket of death. Sorry, I just wasn't feeling it tonight.)
Anyway, we parked and stopped for a quick picture:
Why is this picture important? Because it recreated the first picture Bambi and I took on our first trip to Disney World back in January of 2004:
Yes, I'm sentimental.
Anyway, we crossed under the train station and noticed the wait for Mickey was only 15 minutes. I did a FastPass run to Big Thunder Mountain while everyone else headed for the mouse. I didn't quite make it back in time to check out Mickey's new digs at the front of the house.
I did, however, make it back in time to see the Princesses.
I understand this is a temporary home for these ladies, but the lighting in there is
horrible. It makes it way too difficult to get good pictures. (The ones above are the Photopass pics. Ok, enough complaining. You know what happens to complainers...
Sorcerer Evan!
We finished up with the royal ladies just in time to catch the end of the parade.
We found a nice place up on the porch in front of the Town Square Theater. It was a little far back, but the bonus was that I didn't have to lift one (or both) of the kids up on my shoulder for them to see.
Since it was July, and Florida, it was naturally hot. Very hot. Meaning there was only one thing to do.
DOLE WHIPS!
But beware. As awesome as Dole Whips are, they hide a deep, dark secret. You must be careful when enjoying them. If you don't eat them, they will eat you.
Evan, however, knows those rules. And he took that monster down, saving us all!
Now, I'm sure you would expect that this being a holiday weekend, that the lines would be outrageous. Well, they were.
(I'm assuming this sign was like an odometer on your car, and actually rolled over to 100 minutes. That had to be it)
Despite the soul suckingly long wait, we braved the treehouse.
Which was nice, because it afforded us this awesome view of Pirates.
We kept heading through Adventureland, pausing for a spin on the carpets...
...and a ride on a pirate ship
Here puppy, puppy, puppy.
We continued around clockwise and came to our next attraction, another perfect way to cool off in the Florida Summer heat, Splash Mountain!
Continued next post...