Celebrating Megan's Kidneys -update 4/30, pg10

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'll just say.... WAY OFF!!!! You've gonna be shocked when its revealed.

Triceratops Spin! Everyone loves that one!

 

[praisehisname]

Fabulous updates and pics!

Next we went to Shannon's favorite attraction in all of Animal Kingdom. Any guesses?

It's Tough To Be A Bug?

 

[jillianml]

I am looking forward to reading your report!

 

[erika412]

A couple summers ago, we visited Middlepat's family in Edmonton, Alberta. One day was spent at the zoo, which is a far cry from Brookfield Zoo, but the girls still loved it. Shannon was interested in the snowy owl and on our way out, bought a stuffed animal one. She named her Lucy after the main attraction of the zoo, Lucy the Elephant.

Shannon has slept with Lucy almost every night since. The couple of nights we didn't have her (forgotten at my mom's or if Lucy was in the "bath") have resulted in tears. Shannon is a bit of a drama queen and was scared of the dark when she first got her. We told her since Lucy is an owl, she stays awake while Shannon sleeps and takes care of her. For Shannon's 6th birthday next month, she wanted a friend for Lucy, so we went with a whole owl theme. I think she is going to love it.

Getting back to Disney and the trip report... our next stop HAD to be Flights of Wonder. I took quite a few pictures during the presentation, but my two favorite ones I'm framing for her birthday. She and I went up after the show to take a closer look at the owl.

And then she wanted her picture taken with it.

Some other good pictures from the show:

Megan liked the "birdies" too, but I think Mary was a little bored at times.

Next we went on the Tiger Walk and I let Mary take my camera. These next few pictures are hers. I love how she took pictures of things I didn't notice.

Lunch is coming up in a few minutes...

 

[erika412]

We were so looking forward to our first table service restaurant. And we were really looking forward to the food at Yak and Yeti's. After checking in for our ADR, we were seated very quickly- just enough time to park the stroller.

Our waiter (can't remember his name) was great and dealt with Megan's allergy with no problems. When food was placed on the table, he even made sure it wasn't within her reach. For her, we were able to order a plain chicken breast, rice and either broccoli or carrot sticks, we can't remember. She loved it though because rice is one of her favorite foods.

For appetizers, Middlepat had Seared Ahi Tuna - Chilled, sesame-encrusted ahi tuna, wasabi aioli, and sweet chili slaw. He says it was very good and the following picture is missing an entire piece because he ate it before we could get the camera out.

I followed the recommendations here and went with the Wok-Fried Green Beans - Battered green beans with sweet Thai chili sauce. While they were very good, I'm not a huge green bean fan and should have just ordered something different. But after reading about them here, I just had to try them.

For entrees, Middlepat had Lo Mein - Lo mein noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onions and bean sprouts. Served with chicken.

and I had Crispy Honey Chicken (Picture) - Tempura chicken, broccoli, carrots and honey sauce. which was excellent.

For desset we both got the same one- kind of silly, but oh well.

Sorbet - Enjoy a taste of each flavor: mango, lemon and raspberry.

Shannon had no clue why were taking pictures of food at this point and wanted to take a picture of her dessert too-

I think she liked it.

Over all, we were very happy with Yak & Yetti and would recommend it if you like Asian (ish) food.

And just for fun, one of my more favorite pictures of Megan from the trip.

 

[burly]

We always enjoy Yak and Yeti...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It's always fun to give the kids a camera and see where it leads, isn't it? I love the pictures of Shannon eating her dessert, too!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Your pictures from Flights of Wonder are great. In all of the times we have visited the Animal Kingdom, we have never seen the show. Your pictures make me want to change up our touring plans and add it.

I used to give our son and daughter disposable cameras and let them take as many pictures as they wanted. It's neat to see their perspective.

We haven't tried Yak & Yeti because we aren't big Asian food lovers. But, again, your pictures make me want to give it a try. You really should post your food pictures over on the Disney Food Picture thread. I think somebody recently asked to see pictures of Yak & Yeti.

 

[erika412]

We always enjoy Yak and Yeti...

I think it is my favorite place in the Animal Kingdom now. I'll have more about that on my trip report recap...

It's always fun to give the kids a camera and see where it leads, isn't it? I love the pictures of Shannon eating her dessert, too!

I wish I had just given her the extra digital we have to use during the trip. I didn't think of it beforehand, but will in the future.

Your pictures from Flights of Wonder are great. In all of the times we have visited the Animal Kingdom, we have never seen the show. Your pictures make me want to change up our touring plans and add it.

I used to give our son and daughter disposable cameras and let them take as many pictures as they wanted. It's neat to see their perspective.

We haven't tried Yak & Yeti because we aren't big Asian food lovers. But, again, your pictures make me want to give it a try. You really should post your food pictures over on the Disney Food Picture thread. I think somebody recently asked to see pictures of Yak & Yeti.

Flights of Wonder was a pretty good show. It was a pleasant surprise actually. I knew Shannon would enjoy it, but aside from Mary, I think we all liked it.

You should try Y&Y at least once!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

We have a digital camera that is advertised as waterproof and can be dropped from 5 feet without damage. We'll hand it to the kids and let them take pictures and test out the durability!
I'd love to try Yak and Yeti some day - unfortunately several of my family members (read: everyone but me) don't eat Asian-ish food. Great pictures, though. Now I'm hungry.

Every night when we tuck Madison in to bed, she makes sure we but her stuffed animals on "bad dream duty". They stay away and keep the bad dreams away!

 

[erika412]

We have a digital camera that is advertised as waterproof and can be dropped from 5 feet without damage. We'll hand it to the kids and let them take pictures and test out the durability!
I'd love to try Yak and Yeti some day - unfortunately several of my family members (read: everyone but me) don't eat Asian-ish food. Great pictures, though. Now I'm hungry.

Every night when we tuck Madison in to bed, she makes sure we but her stuffed animals on "bad dream duty". They stay away and keep the bad dreams away!

I need one of those cameras!

See, that's why you need us to go in December-- we'll do Yak and Yeti with you . I'm sure Bambi could use a break from you once in a while. You can always come down to Chicago too this summer and we'll BBQ for everyone else but order Thai or Chinese for you.

That air fare deal you got slowly has Middlepat's wheels turning again on how much it would cost us.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I need one of those cameras!

See, that's why you need us to go in December-- we'll do Yak and Yeti with you . I'm sure Bambi could use a break from you once in a while. You can always come down to Chicago too this summer and we'll BBQ for everyone else but order Thai or Chinese for you.

That air fare deal you got slowly has Middlepat's wheels turning again on how much it would cost us.

Ours is an Olympus Stylus 770 SW. They don't sell them anymore. It has been replaced by their Stylus Tough product line: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital.asp?section=stylustough

Not sure if you saw the details of my airfare deal, but here they are:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36239443&postcount=396

A BBQ sounds like fun. If we do make it down, we'll be sure to leave our cheese at home.

 

[erika412]

I forgot all about Dinoland.

Whoops, I forgot that we went to Dinoland. I guess that shows you how much I enjoyed it.

The girls played some games (I have no idea what, Middlepat??). Then we went on a ride- TriceraTop Spin. I decided to sit in the front elephant, I mean magic carpet, I mean dinosaur. I thought I could take come cute pictures.

Or at least pictures of Middlepat looking like he's in the Happiest Place on Earth.

Ah, there's a smile!

I wish this picture wasn't as fuzzy- it would have been really cute!

So, here is where we decided to go back to the Poly and swim. See why I barely remembered it?

 

[erika412]

So, after thoroughly enjoying our meal (I mean going to Dinoland), we were debating about what to do next. We've seen all the shows already and even though the kids wouldn't remember them, we didn't feel like sitting through them again.

We decided to go back to the Poly and go swimming. We have never been swimming on previousr WDW trips. We are park people. We have pools here that we can go to whenever we want (uh, between Memorial Day and Labor Day of course.) Why waste precious park time in a pool?

But we decided to go and have a nice, quiet relaxing time at the pool. I was bummed because the slide was closed. Our girls are decent swimmers. They have been in lessons for a few years now. Megan is our fish though. She's only 2 and a half and jumps in, goes under water, swims to me and then swims back to the wall to get out and do it all over again. Mary and Shannon are OK swimmers. They go off the diving board at the pool and can get to the wall, but aren't going to win any swim meets any time soon.

So, we're swimming there and the older girls are off playing in the water. Middlepat and I are passing Megan back and forth. I have my eye on everyone. All of a sudden Mary jumps in, realizes she can't stand and freaks out. I'm far enough away from her that she's struggling a little bit. I go towards her as the same time a lifeguard blows her whistle and jumps in. We get to Mary at the same time. The lifeguard says "Where's your parents?" and I said "I'm right here." and that was about it.

One thing that annoyed me and I'm not sure what the joke was- is that after that the remaining lifeguards kept looking over at us and each other and laughing. I couldn't make out what they were saying so they could have easily been saying "Poor LifeguardWhateverHerNameWas, she just had to rescue another kid an hour ago, It always happens on her watch." But that isn't the vibe I got.

We decided to cut out shortly after because Mary obviously wasn't quite herself still (she wouldn't have become so upset in the pool had she been feeling 100%.) We also had dinner reservations at Ohana. My favorite!

 

[middlepat]

The girls played some games (I have no idea what, Middlepat??).

If I remember correctly it was a Dinosaur themed carnival game, but I can't be certain.

 

[erika412]

If I remember correctly it was a Dinosaur themed carnival game, but I can't be certain.

Gee, Thanks. That's helpful.
You're supposed to be my memory. You knew that getting into this.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Ah, there's a smile!

Ummm...I think that's just gas.

Gee, Thanks. That's helpful.
You're supposed to be my memory. You knew that getting into this.

Don't feel bad, Middlepat. My wife nagged me in my TR too.

We've only gone back to swim once in any of our trips. As fun and relaxing as it, it just seems like you're wasting 3 hours.

 

[erika412]

The first time we went to 'Ohana on the trip previous to this one, we didn't have that great of an experience. We were seated off in that other little room and missed the "show" aspect of it. Shannon also started to get sick there, burning up with a fever. We spent most of the dinner worrying about her and what to do. We were staying on property and didn't have a car. We knew she needed to be seen by a doctor. It all worked out thanks to the Poly staff. We saw a doctor, she got a prescription for an ear infection and was much better by the next day. We seriously do not go on any trips without one of our kids getting very sick. Going backwards-- Hawaii '10, Disney '09, Canada '08, Disney '07, Dominican Republic '06, see a trend here? We were at a care center during all those trips aside from Disney 09 and Canada 08. And yes, Megan has kidney problems, but she was never the reason. It was the other two "healthy" kids.

Anyway, I think we didn't pay any attention to what we were eating while at 'Ohana and rushed out of there. So this trip became 'Ohana attempt #2.

I loved it. The food was so good. We had a better table and Shannon really got into the show. Mary cried at a couple of times. I think the limbo and the coconut races were hard for her. She was tired and like I said, she still wasn't herself.

Megan, even with her dairy allergy, could have a lot of the food. The Chef came to our table and discussed what she could and couldn't have. He was excellent. I wish I got his name because I would have loved to write a letter once we got home. He definitely went above and beyond for her. He made a fabulous dessert for her which I'll explain in a bit, but he also brought her some jasmine rice and she was in heaven. She also loved the pork. She ate four, yes, FOUR pieces of pork from the skewers. She was piling it in so fast that Middlepat could barely keep up with cutting it for her.

Look how happy!

And the girls having fun-

So, it was time for dessert. Our Banana bread pudding came out. Delish. But the chef walked up to the table with Megan's dessert. Her eyes got so huge!

He made a skyscraper of fruit, marshmallows and rice ice cream for her with a little Hershey's chocolate sauce (which I learned that night was dairy free.)

I can't put it into words how it felt to see her enjoy that dessert. Yes, the trip was about her kidneys, but she also deals with her food allergies. Desserts are so difficult with a dairy allergy because almost everything is made with milk. She loves fruit so that is what she has most often. But here was something special, just for her that she could have. It brought tears to my eyes. And still kind of does.

'Ohana has become a very happy place for me. I want to convince Middlepat that I'd like to make it a tradition to have it as our first dinner in future trips. I think it would be a great way to start off the trip.

On the way back from dinner, we stopped in the lobby of the Poly for a picture. Megan kind of looks like the red-headed step child in that shot.

We headed back to the room and into bed for the night.

 

[erika412]

Ummm...I think that's just gas.

It does kind of seem like he's pushing *something* in that first shot now that you mention it.

 

[middlepat]

Megan, even with her dairy allergy, could have a lot of the food. The Chef came to our table and discussed what she could and couldn't have. He was excellent. I wish I got his name because I would have loved to write a letter once we got home. He definitely went above and beyond for her. He made a fabulous dessert for her which I'll explain in a bit, but he also brought her some jasmine rice and she was in heaven. She also loved the pork. She ate four, yes, FOUR pieces of pork from the skewers. She was piling it in so fast that Middlepat could barely keep up with cutting it for her.

She was getting demanding too. At one point I was trying to actually cut some food for myself and she looked and me and said "MORE!"

Look how happy!

OK it was worth it.

So, it was time for dessert. Our Banana bread pudding came out. Delish. But the chef walked up to the table with Megan's dessert. Her eyes got so huge!

He made a skyscraper of fruit, marshmallows and rice ice cream for her with a little Hershey's chocolate sauce (which I learned that night was dairy free.)

I can't put it into words how it felt to see her enjoy that dessert. Yes, the trip was about her kidneys, but she also deals with her food allergies. Desserts are so difficult with a dairy allergy because almost everything is made with milk. She loves fruit so that is what she has most often. But here was something special, just for her that she could have. It brought tears to my eyes. And still kind of does.

This was definitely one of the most special moments of our Disney trip. Megan's reaction to that dessert will forever be remembered.

'Ohana has become a very happy place for me. I want to convince Middlepat that I'd like to make it a tradition to have it as our first dinner in future trips. I think it would be a great way to start off the trip.

As an official Meataterian I'm on board!