Chapter 6. The Smurfs hit Epcot.
We woke up at 6:45 to get everyone ready for our first park day, parker sprang out of bed like he was rip roaring ready to go. which he was.
everyone was ready by about 7:15 and done eating. it was time for parkers first mickey suprise delivered by tinkerbell while we slept.
here is the photo i took while my dad was taking that last one.
what did he get, well he got his tube of glow sticks and a card game to play with.
you can see them a little better here.
we got outside to head to the bus stop and there was donald waiting to greet us, well not donald actually but one of his relatives waiting.
we had some bread to throw out so this lucky little fellow recieved it, parker enjoyed throwing it to him, and candi even held one out and he took it from her hands.
Parker and nan smurf walking to the bus stop just outside our camploop...
This is also the location of where i learned three important lessons later that night about 11:00ish.
And parker joined forces with nana smurf and papa smurf to cross the road.
We arrived at Epcot shortly after 8:00 and were one of the first few people in line to get in the gates...the wait went pretty fast, between parker being entertained with the brochurs and watching the monorails arrive the time flew.
They let us in and we flew to the right side of the space ship earth, i was up at the rope drop with maybe 20 other people around me...we secured our spot and had a nice CM take a picture of the 5 smurfs who were to invade epcot for the day.
we did not plan this out at all...let me explaine...candi got our clothes,(mine, parker, and hers) out for the day and we got dressed, me and candi had the matching shirts from a past trip, and she put the same color on parker for the day, it wasnt until we were all outside feeding the duck that we noticed my parents had on the same color as us.
we just let it go and thought it was pretty funny.
shortly after arrival the test track car came out and the characters all arrived.
being right up on the rope many of them started with our area first mickey came by to say hi.
then minnie showed up.
he wasnt real sure on them yet, he liked them but we had to talk him through it a little bit.
we figured that instead of sending everyone with the masses to get soarin fast passes.
hey that kinda rymes together.
anyway, me and dad just went off to get them. candi mom and parker went to wait by the character connection for us to get back. we made out way up pretty fast and around with the group and past the CM's that work at sunshine seasons and there big acme size hands.
our return time was just over an hour away for soarin.
so it was time to head back up and meet the rest of the group at character connection to get some character interaction and pictures.
those are coming up next, i dont have any more time today to add to this update, so sorry it is short, but will be back with more soon.
and sorry everyone that this took a while to type but had that vacation and have been very busy since we got back to do another update.
Coming up next, parkers reaction with the characters in epcot.
Not sure what the rub consist of that he uses but he rubs the brisket down then smokes it for 8-10 hours. He uses flavored wood chips for the smoker. (oak or hickory) Try taking it out a couple of hours before its done and wrap in aluminum foil and finish in the oven-makes it a little more tender than leaving it on the smoker the entire time. Add whatever bbq sauce you like. That with some homemade red rice, baked beans and tater salad sounds yummy right now! 
It's hard to believe how big your son has gotten! Looking forward to the next update!
