Next stop: China.
It is an understatement, but the World Showcase is absolutely beautiful. The attention to detail. The artistry. I just love it.
The girls. Well, they always look forward to our visit to China so that they can play with the marionettes.
Madalyn naturally wanted to buy one but I convinced her that this would be a bad idea because our cats would eat the strings. But once Madalyn got it into her head that she wanted to spend some money, there was no stopping her.
Apparently Katie decided that she needed to play with a marionette as well. And I just noticed that she has yet another hat on. How did I not notice when I was there? Oh. Wait. I know. Because I was trying to convert my spender into a saver.
We walked up, past the pond and Madalyn found a booth selling umbrellas. She thought this would be the perfect fix to her sun issues. And they even wrote her name on it with Chinese characters.
To continue our journey of eating around the world, we decided to split two orders of pot stickers. And being a horrid disser I didnt take any pictures. Then again, they were probably consumed before I could even pull out my camera. That's my story. And I am sticking to it.
After leaving the restaurant, we went through the store, and then wandered around the pond where they have the Chinese zodiac symbols made out of natural materials stationed around the pond. I think these were out as part of the flower and garden festival but I am not positive. Madalyn found her sign to pose by:
Its quite apt!!
And as you can see
the umbrella really did work quite well.
Before we left China, we found a photopass guy who took a great picture of the girls and I. See! I really am on this vacation, too!
We found more cool topiaries on our way to Germany and on our way out.
These are my only pictures from this country. We did stop to share a pretzel. And take a walk through the caramel shop. Oh. It smelled so good. But we managed to not buy anything. At least not this time. Though I hear that the caramel popcorn is a must.
Next stop: Italy. This is another country that I have really not explored. I have never been in one of the shops. Usually, we just walk right by. I am not sure why. (Maybe because my kids are in a rush to get to Japan?!) But this time, we had to continue eating. But Madalyn and I were quite full. And we needed a break from the hot sun so we found a shady place to sit in the plaza (or is it a piazza??) and I gave Katie some money to get another snack.
While we were waiting, the Ziti Sisters arrived and pulled Madalyn into their routine!
She just loved it. And the Sisters were really funny. But their accents were more Greek than Italian. Katie finally joined us to watch the rest of the show while she enjoyed her cannoli.
After the sisters finished their show, we moved on to Japan. Madalyn really wanted a Kaki Gori but was too full! And the girls were both sad that Miyuki does not do shows on Saturdays. So they decided to soothe themselves with a turn through the shop. We watched some people pick pearls. Looked at every. Single. Hello. Kitty. In the store. Checked out the Pokemon. And we finally made out way to the back of the store where they have all the kimonos.
If you have girls. I am about to tell you something that you might not know. Its something that we discovered on one of our first trips and now its a must do. And that is getting dressed up. Thats right. The Japanese ladies will completely deck you out. From Kimono. To the obi around your waist. To the parasol. To even putting your hair up with a Japanese style clip. And the ever important zori (more commonly known as the Japanese flip flop!). Its very fun for the girls and fun for me because I can take pictures and its FREE!
Up next What will we eat in Japan? And what happens when my camera DIES??
that you get dressed up! How fun. For us, the hair thing was really just stuck in her hair. Here is a picture of the back of Katie's head from 2009 - and you can see what they did with her hair.
I need a girls only trip so I can do this. 
Pixiemama, I want to see pictures of you all dressed up in Japan when you get back from your girls trip!!!
My DH would probably freak out!
