Happy Birthday Avery Jean!

Happy 7th Birthday to our Boogie Bear! 7 years ago we first got to meet the person that would change our lives for ever and someone that will have an incredible positive impact on the world.  It is amazing to see how she brightens the lives of people she interacts with and what a sensitive caring person that she has become.  While I wish she could stay little forever, I can't wait to see what she becomes.  We love you so much Boogie!

Could this baby have been any more happy?!

Nope.  Happiest baby ever.

Carter couldn't ask for a better big sister.

Disney Day 6

So there is one more day at Disney.  We woke up early again and headed over to Animal Kingdom.  We didn't have any fastpasses there so we headed to the Mount Everest roller coaster first.  Turns out everyone was headed to the Avatar ride, so we got to go several times.  

 It's hard to see us, but trust me, we are on it.  Avery got to ride it 3 times (twice with me and once with Laura).  At that point she said it was her favorite, but when we got home she ended up settling on a top 6, which consisted of 4 roller coasters, the Minions ride, and the Mission Space ride.

 After the roller coaster, we headed out on Safari. 

 The lions were just sitting out ready to have their picture taken.  Carter was doing lion roar's the rest of the day.

 No one in this picture was seriously harmed during the safari, although the guy in the picture behind us did lose part of his arm trying to feed one of the lions.

 Drum break!

 Next up was the Lion King show, which both kids enjoyed.

 And the Finding Nemo show.

 They also loved the playground at Animal Kingdom with multiple slides and climbing things.  It was good for them to burn off some steam in a chaotic way.  The place was slammed with kids going crazy and parents catching their breath from pushing heavy strollers long distances.

 Avery was so cute watching out for her big brother.

If you asked Carter what his favorite part of Disney was, no matter what answer he gives, he was lying.  The handrails were his favorite part.  If you gave him a penny for every foot of handrail he touched, he would be set for life. 

 Next up was Epcot!

 The kids definitely needed a sugar boost.  The parents did too as apparently the picture taking dropped off significantly.   We did a few rides and walked around, but apparently didn't take a lot of pictures.  Epcot was really busy that evening as it is a good park to end your day at with the restaurants and the fact that they serve booze.

We had a princess dinner scheduled for Avery on the last night for being such a good sport keeping up with Carter.  She met Belle and Cinderella.  Carter was very particular on which princesses he would get his picture taken with.

 He did like Aurora though.

 Snow White was a pass for Carter, but Avery was happy to meet her.

 Ariel came by when the girls were in the bathroom, so Carter had a good time flirting with her 1 on 1.  He is telling her all about his pizza. 

 When Avery came back, he didn't want to share his princess attention, but did get a hug in at the end.

 We did a few more rides and played some games in the big Epcot ball (princess dress still on!)

 We survived!!!  The 3:30am wakeup call the next morning for the flight home was brutal, but we had so much fun with the kids that we will consider doing Disney again at a future date that is not this year.

Disney Day 5

What?  We are still at Disney?  You better believe it. although the picture taking dropped off a little bit as we didn't capture a ton of pictures on rides that we re-rode.  First up was a visit to story time with Belle.  Carter was still getting warmed up for the day, but Avery jumped straight in to participate in the storytelling as Mrs Potts.  Or Ms. Potts.  Is there a Mr. Potts? Her relationship status is unclear, so let's go with Ms. Potts.  Anyways...Avery was a great child actor.  

 Next up was some trips on the Tea Cups.  Carter was a little bit worried about what was going to go down, but fell in love with it.

Cackling at the top of his lungs.

 Even Laura and Avery got in on the fun.

 This was always a fun sight, when Carter would be reaching for something in one of the 3D movies.

 We did spend some time meeting the Princesses.  Here the kids are meeting Princess Rapunzel.  Carter is telling her all about his band-aid.

 Avery with a cute picture.  Carter refused to take a picture with his sister and Rapunzel and parlayed it into a hug.  Smart little boy.

 With Tianna.  Apparently the kids were still working on their "Look at the Camera" faces.  I bet you out of the 2000 pictures we took, 75% are unusable because they aren't looking at the camera, so that means you guys are going to get 500 pictures on this blog.

 A picture by a stranger in front of a castle of some sorts.  We would point at it and ask Carter who lives there, expecting him to say Mickey, but he usually said "CINDERELLA!"

 Our names on a "It's a small world"  Disney tracking is not creepy at all.

 Waving to Mickey and Minnie at one of the parades.

 Avery got to be front row on Space Mountain!!!  She was super excited about it...I remember being a little scared doing it when I was a kid, but she is a thrill seeker.  All that warm up at Carrowinds has paid off.

So this picture of the Country Bear Jamboree is included to tell a story.  Once they get you in the auditorium, one of the cast members tells some Dad jokes to get the crowd warmed up.  She asked the crowd, "What do you call a bear out in the rain?"  A little girl's voice said something.  The cast member said, "I heard the answer out there."  The little girl shouted out "A Drizzly Bear!"  The entire audience let out an "Awwwww, how cute!"  Yes, Avery shouted it out...Yes, she has an incredible memory....Yes, we should probably buy her education books instead of bad joke books, but it paid off in this setting.

We capped the night off by heading to Fort Wilderness to see Hoopity Doo Music Revue.  Basically it was a bunch of singing, jokes, and dancing live show that came with dinner.

The kids were into it.

 Carter crushed the food and had quite a few laughs.  (I don't think he got the jokes, but did a good job of playing along)

Playing the washboard along with the band at the end of the show.  Avery's fake smile is so bad, but they were having a lot of fun being loud.