After we left the fairy garden play area, we were stopped by a CM in costume. He was some kind of nature person, bird watcher, plant mad. Not sure really what to call him but he invited us to sit down for a story that was going to be told by Mother Nature. Aubrey sat down right in front and out she came. Mother Nature was too cute except for the terrible fake southern accent. I'm talking Nicholas Cage in Connair kind of terrible. Anywho, it was cute so we decided to stick around. Brendan was too comfy in his stroller so he stayed there. Aubrey was front and center...
The story was cute but sadly I really don't remember what it was about. Nature and plants and things and how to keep the Earth clean... You know, green stuff. Aubrey actually seemed very interested and sat through the whole story. It was cute and something new to experience. It's hard to describe exactly where we were but if you're look at the entrance to the world showcase coming from Futureworld, it's to the right. You know that concret path back there? There was also a Princess and The Frog scene set up that was quite disappointing. It was literally cutouts from the movie standing in some kind of a sad little swamp setting...
I know that this was probably just for the flower and garden festival with all the cypress trees and the moss, but it was still disappointing. In fact, there was nothing going on anywhere in the parks that had to do with the movie. I was really looking forward to running into Tiana but never even did I hear her name mentioned! Maybe in December they'll have her around more. Aubrey would love to meet her, and so would I. I love that movie. Hits very close to home y'all!!!
Alright, so from there it was time to put a hurtin' on the World Showcase. The food, the fun, the drinks... we just love it there.
First we started out in Mexico. It was just about lunch time and we were craving some of those Nachos!!! Unfortunately, the outdoor quick service in Mexico is under some serious renovation so they had a temporary stand set up across the way. It was similar to the way they have stands set up during the wine and food fest for additional countries. We got a floutas plate and of course the nachos. And OF COURSE, the churros!!! OMG, yum. This was a nice little meal for us. It was so crowded and congested right there by the stand because of the construction and there was no where to sit. But we didn't want to go too far beyond Mexico to eat our food because there was shopping that needed to be done in Norway. We decided to sit at the very bottom of the temple steps back in the corner behind a bunch of strollers. It was the 4 of us out on the steps sharing our food. I know that we just had to look cute to passers by
It was cute and fun and delicious! Sorry, no pics of this moment.
Then it was onto Norway. Ok, so the very first time Jason and I went to WDW, I fell in love with the perfume that they have there in Norway - Laila
The stuff smells devine and was not totally overpriced. About $60 which by Disney standards, that ain't bad! So we splurged and I got a bottle and I have been getting one every time we go back. The last time we went was this past October. Jason and I went WITHOUT the kids on a grown up 3 night trip for the food and wine fest - our other most fav time to be there second only to the holiday season. The problem was that we only brought carry on luggage because we were only there for 3 nights and you know what that means.... no liquids can be carried on more than 3 oz <said in very snarky sarcastic voice> Freaking terrorists. Anywho, that meant I would have to skip the purchase of my beloved Laila and wait until my next trip. Well, my sister has also since fallen in love with the scent party because it smells wonderfully but mostly because she pretty much falls in love with anything I fall in love with, but that's a different story
She went with her family in November and drove so she would be able to bring us both a bottle home. Well, guess what. the creator of the scent was there pushing it and they were SOLD OUT! Crazy. What are the chances of that! She was also going to buy a third bottle for my mom. We were going to split it and give it to her for Christmas. So that idea was shot as well. I turned my mom onto it after one of our trips when she fed our dogs and took care of our house while we were away. I brought her a bottle as a thank you. ANYWAY, now that I've given you a sufficient background on the history of Laila and how its role in my family, I now get to my point. I needed to buy 3 bottles of the stuff... one for me, one for sister, and one for my mom (we now plan on giving it to her for Mother's day). At $60 a pop that was a large investment and it kind of gave me heart palpatations but I was ok. It's worth it.
After Norway, we headed next door to China. Here is Aubrey posing with a cool water dragon. She wanted to pose in front of it. It is quite impressive...
We then headed over to Germany and grabbed a beer. I heart German beer!!! Brendan was so tired. His birthday was wearing him out. So he crashed and I didn't blame him. If I had a stroller big enough, I would have probably been napping by then too...
That nap didn't really last for long though, because we then came to these...
Can I tell you, Aubrey loves to beat a drum. I actually think Brendan slept through most of this becasue I remember that we decided to go back to Germany and get in line for some bratwurst and sauerkraut. Mmmmmm, another one of our fav snacks. The line was really long and moving really slowly but because Brendan was sleeping, Aubrey and I decided to leave the boys in line and go start working on her very first kid kot fun stop. We went to the back of the German toystore and there it was. Here she is coloring her first mask...
Ta da!!!!!!
I told her to leave some of the mask blank so she could color it in at the other countries. Well, I should have let her go ahead because this was the first and last fun stop that we did
I think it lost its appeal after a while and I wasn't going to fight her on it. So when she and I were done with that, we went back out to find that not only had dad gotten through the line already with food, but Brendan was awake and he was eating my brat!!! Oh well, we're a sharing family and I did just eat all of that yummy mexican. Here are Aubrey and Daddy chowing down on theirs...
After our snack, we headed over to Italy. Nothing too exciting to report from this country except that there was another card sighting here...
It was crazy how these cards just kept magically showing up for Brendan, on his birthday no less!
It was the Cars card. If you look really closely, you can see the tire marks. Too freaking cute if I do say so myself!
So from Italy, it was time to head home back to the USA. I don't know how it's possible but I guess someone was hungry because I remember us having to go in and get some nuggets for someone. I think it was Aubrey. Guess her bratwurst wasn't enough
Anyway, while we were in there, we heard the fife and drum corp playing outside. We had seen them many times before so it was ok that we were missing it. But then, the music just kept getting louder and louder until it felt like it was right next to me. Well, guess what. It was right next to me! They come in through the restaurant and continue playing! Who knew!!!
So after our very loud and unexpectedly patriotic nugget snack, we headed out to catch our most very favorite thing in all of Epcot... The Voices of Liberty. Now, I am going to get on my soap box here as a former honor choir member and passionate singer, if you have not seen this group perform, you are missing out on a moving and spectacular show. They have shows all throughout the day and they last maybe 10 minutes. It's inside the American pavillion in the air conditioning and it very very ejoyable. We made it inside just in time. Aubrey is almost as obsessed with them as she is with DeVine. Here is a video of them. Listen for yourself. They are amazing and move me to tears every time I hear them. The soprano in particular all the way to the right. She hits these notes that give me chills beyond belief and every single time I hear her, I feel my jaw drop. She's amazing...Wait til the end to hear her big note...
I have been googling my heart out and I cannot find out what her name is. I really should know, since we stalk her. She is my hero. So I made my daughter take a picture with her...
No but really, Aubrey wanted to take pictures with them. She loves them. I think they were kind of suprised that this little girl wanted to be taking pictures with them instead of the characters. I think it meant something to them. They were suprised and happy to do it.
Here she is with our favorite alto. Chilling, beeeeeeautiful voice!!
And here she is with the second soprano who sometimes sits in for first when our girl isn't there. She can hit the notes too but just not quite as effortlessly. She's still amazing nonetheless...
And that was Voices of Liberty. A family favorite. In fact, when I was just googling her name, I found their Christmas album and downloaded it. I'm listening to it right now. I know, I'm a dork. And getting really excited for our Christmas trip!!!
Anywho, there was a great birthday suprise that happend right after this but I'm afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow. My eyes are way heavy and this beautiful Christmas music is not helping me stay awake. I think I'll be off to enjoy my visions of sugar plums. Nighty night y'all!
What a wonderful birthday you had for your son! The cake was just precious! I'm taking notes, you are giving me lots of good ideas for next year. We will be celebrating my son's birthday then too. Although, like many people do, his birthday will be celebrated a few days earlier in our week because his actual birthday will be on the Saturday we leave to go back home. That wouldn't be any fun, and it's not like he would know what day it actually is anyway. 
Another update!
I am very tall (5'10") and have tall genes in my family - my dad was 6'4"! He's going to be huge too. But he's all proportioned. He's just precious. We do run into people thinking he's older than he is and expecting more out of him. Example, he's not potty trained yet so it looks silly for what seems to be a 4 year old to still be in diapers! But oh well. That's our project for the summer
Glad you liked the update. More to come!
I looked at the CM and he saw that I was confused so he took the receiver from me and listened. "Wrong number" he said. He dialed it for us this time. Still no luck. So he then asked us to step in the back office of the lobby. I thought this was very cool because I hadn't been behind the scenes of anything at Disney. Even if this was just a 7'X7' white room with a desk and a phone, it was still behind the scenes
. But seeing as how going into this, I thought we were in trouble, I didn't think I'd be needing the camera to document our Disney incarceration. Bummer. It was really really neat and special for Brendan, but really more for me. He didn't really get it but I did and I'll make sure he "gets it" when he's a little older. 
Aubrey sure is headstrong, that's good it means she won't be easily lead astray. She a leader not a follower. Sets her mind to it and gets it done.
