Hello again fellow DISers. I'm excited to get on two day two - finally!!!
Our plan was to head out early but not rope drop early to Animal Kingdom. We all slept really well the night before and I still got up early but it wasn't anything crazy. It was so nice to not feel rushed in the mornings. We had seen the opening ceremony at AK before and frankly, it wasn't something that was going to get me out of bed an hour early. We were fine just taking our time and getting there whenever we got there. Thankfully, the bus for AK came right away. This was our Saints Tshirt day. Maybe you've heard of the. The New Orleans Saints?? You know, the superbowl champions?!?! (Sorry in advance to anyone out there from Indiana
So, we put on our black and gold and were off to AK.
Now, on our first trip with the kids, they absolutely HATED the buses. So much so that we actually took a lot of cabs that trip. This trip was totally different. They loved the bus rides! Brendan actually got more excited when we told him we were going to be riding the bus than Peter Pan
Kind of like on Christmas morning when they play with the wrapping more than the toys! Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because Aubrey created a little tradition for each bus ride. She started singing "The Wheels on the bus" over and over and over
It was so cute the first 42 times, but after that, it became a little old. It did, however, entertain whomever happened to be on the bus with us at the time. So here she is with daddy singing that wonderful little ditty. I'm pretty sure this is the "The wipers on the bus go swoosh swoosh swoosh" part...
I'm sorry. She's so freaking cute. How could this be annoying, right?! We made it to AK and started to make our way to Kilimanjaro Safari. I am a firm believer that the animals are out more in the mornings when it's still a little cool. It could be an old wive's tale, but it's still the first thing we do in AK every time nonetheless. I had told myself that I was not going to take a ton of pictures in this park. To me, it seems like everything I see there is a Kodak moment, ya know! It's just so pretty. Well, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this guy...
It's a black swan. Very beautiful! Never seen one of those before so I had to take a picture, or 20. (Seriously, I have 20 pictures of this swan) Anywho, about this time Aubrey started to remind us that she wanted her face painted. Rewind a little bit to the night before at DTD. She must have seen someone with their face painted and she asked over and over if she could get hers done. I was worried to let her because the few times I have gotten her face painted in the past, it didn't end well. She would get all excited and sit still letting the person do the painting. But as soon as they were done painting, she wanted to wipe it off! Now, this is no big deal when it's just a little $2 face paint at our church fair, but at Disney that's a different story. We're talking $20 a pop here for some of the designs! You'd think they had friggin Picaso working there!
So does anyone want to guess what you pass right by when walking to the safari??? Ding ding ding... the face painting booth. Oh and she spotted it like an eagle! We had to promise her a face paint but only after the safari. Uhhhh, gotta love Disney!
So here are Jason and the kids walking in line, about to load our bus...
I just love this ride. I really do. It's so pretty and it's always entertaining. But I do have hundreds of pictures of every animal that lives on this safari, termite mounds that the elephants use for scratching, and the pile of ostrich eggs that just happen to be in the same spot on every ride
So again, I was determined to just sit back and enjoy the ride and not take a ton of pics. So much easier said than done. I did good though, I really did! But I had to take the camera out when we came to the lions. I have only seen the male lion once but today, the female was out! Woo hoo! Hello Nala...
And Simba was there too. Ok, I know these are not their real names, but that's what we told the kids. In fact, every lion and lioness that we see are Nala and Simba. I'm sure I'm not alone on this...
Alright, so the safari was done and it was wonderful as usual. It was now time for the... dun dun dun... Face painting! I made Aubrey swear on her life that she would not complain once it was done and that we were NOT going to be wiping it off. She promised and I caved, again. Here she is with the not so friendly CM who did the painting. I mean really chick, I don't need you to do back flips or make balloon animals here but my child was obviously excatic to be getting her face painted. The least you could do is muster up a smile. And have a magical day to you too...
Even though the artist was a big ole stick in the mud, her face came out beautifully. Here she is seeing it for the first time...
And a pose for the camera, OF COURSE!!!
And yes, I do have 45 different shots of this. I think it ended up costing $15 but I'm still getting my moneys worth out of it! And here she is showing it off to her little brother. He's kind of got that "What the heck is all over your face" kind of look going on....
It really did come out great and let me tell you, whatever paint they use is truly magical. It dries like a powder and wasn't itchy at all. She NEVER even messed with it once for the rest of the day. Even when she would rub her face on our clothes, it wouldn't come off. I was paranoid about this like I was about the balloon. I kept yelling "Don't touch me with your face!" I'm sure people thought I was a horrible mother yelling that at her 4 year old but oh well
It never came off. Not a drop. Not until later that night at bath time. Then it came right off with a baby wipe. Maybe next time the whole family will get it done. I had it done once before on our "babymoon". Jason and I went to WDW and stayed a week at AKL when I was pregnant with Aubrey. It was a great trip. I remember that I rode the safari and was scared because it was pretty rough. I laid in bed that night worrying if I had made the wrong decision. Just then, I felt her kick for the very first time. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Anyway, sorry for that sidetrack. Let me see if I can scrounge up a pic of us with our faces painted.......Here we go...
Wow, that's an old one! And I'm pretty sure I weigh 400lbs in that pic! Ok, getting back on track now....
From the face painting adventure we decided to head on over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. The kids love the petting area and there are always characters back there with no lines. Here are the kids checking out the animals...
BTW, that is not a clip board that Jason is carrying around with him. Well, actually yes it is but on it is our autograph pillow cases. That's what we were having the characters sign this time around. Last time we did a photo mat and it came out so cute. Oh man, now I'm going to have to go and get a picture of that to show you...
Seriously people, stop getting me off track like this. I am trying to write a trip report here...
Here are the graphics that were on the pillow cases...
They really came out cute, but that story had a tragic ending. Something that you will just have to stay tuned for.
I am so bad about printing out pics. There are tons from this trip that I need to frame. Maybe I'll make a Disney wall. Wait, that's a great idea! I just thought of it! I'm going to make a wall in my hallway fav pics from our past trips! Thanks Tnk!!! You inspired me
I wonder if Mickey had anything to do with it
Oh well. A good time was had by all. Oh yes, that reminds me of a story... so, it was my turn to make a bar run so I left Jason to watch the kids in the pool. When I got back, Brendan was nowhere to be seen and Jason was just sitting there. Now, I should say, we did have a few cocktails but he was not drunk or anything. He's just a bit, er, absent minded sometimes
Anyway, I was like.... "Ummm, where's Brendan?" And he was like, "Crap. He was just here." And I was like, "I leave you for 5 minutes and you lose our child" and he was like, "Oh, there he is over there on the dock!" You get the drift. I was ticked can I tell you. He was safe and sound, thankfully. 
I HATE that feeling! That is part of the reason we opted out of the meal plan this time. Getting to the ADR's is just so stressful for me. Anywho, we made it there and after sprinting to the restaurant (we realized we had no idea where it was when we got there) we made it just in time. We were actually seated immediately! I should mention here that this was the first time the crowds really got to me. It was St. Patrick's Day and DTD was insane
Brendan discovered that he is terrified of fire works. He came out on the balcony, saw one little spark, and high tailed it back inside, shutting the sliding door behind him
! Did you really read my WHOLE Beach Club TR???
