We're on our way home now after a couple of loooong days at Disney.

Tuesday we got up early (around 6), had breakfast, and were at Animal Kingdom by 8:30. We did Expedition Everest (their big coaster) and the Safari (very cool) first, then wandered around looking at stuff.

We saw all kinds of animals on the safari - lions, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, you name it.

We packed some pb&j's for lunch and only spent money on parking and a present for our neighbors who were feeding Dash. Aud took a short nap in the afternoon in the stroller, thank goodness, and we probably stayed until 6:30 or 7:00. The big hits of the day were two shows - Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo. Although we had to wait a while for both, they were totally worth it!

Yesterday we spent 14 crazy hours at Magic Kingdom. The number of people there was insane! Hopefully that'll help me appreciate it more next time we go! We rode pretty much everything we wanted (with the assistance of the Fast Pass, a wonderful invention) except the Pirates of theCaribbean, which was closed for technical reasons every time we were close.

Conner really enjoyed Space Mountain and wanted to go on it twice; Audrey says her favorite was Nemo (from the AK) but enjoyed seeing the pretty purple castle, too.

So now we're heading north. The plan is to stop somewhere tonight that has a pool, ring in the new year quietly, and finish the trip tomorrow.

We had a super long day in the car yesterday (from 8:20 to 4:45) but the kids did great and we made it to Kissimmee without any problems. Once we checked into our hotel and wandered around a little bit, we went to Outback for dinner (courtesy of Eric's work's Christmas present). One couple actually stopped by our table on their way out to tell us what well-behaved kids we had - that was definitely nice to hear! After a quick stop at Target to get some twizzlers, bread, and pop, we headed back to the hotel for bed. Audre had a lot of trouble getting to sleep, but Conner went pretty easily.

Today after breakfast at the hotel we drove over to Downtown Disney, a collection of restaurants and shops. We had a great time wandering around! We even rode a water taxi across the lake...

The captain gave each of the kids a pirate bandana (Audrey's also had pink hearts on it).

Now the task is to figure out the best way to get to Magic Kingdom tomorrow... or is there a best way?!

We left our house yesterday morning around 1:45 (yes, that's a.m.!) to head out on our big adventure. The kids and I slept for a while, woke up for a little bit, then went back to sleep some more. Aside from getting stopped south of Louisville by an accident, i was smooth sailing. Around 8:00 (central time) we stopped for breakfast just north of Birmingham, Alabama at a Shoney's. We made it to Butch and Margie Hogue's around 11:00.

Three families of Eric's cousins came over to visit for the day. Christy (with her husband Philip, daughter Faith, 6, and son Mason, 2) just live around the corner. Joey (with husband David and daughters Caroline and Katherine, 4th and 7th grades) live about an hour away. Patti (daughter of Eric's Aunt Mary) and her husband Wayne drove in all the way from Atlanta. It was nice yo see everyone after so long and we had a nice afternoon/evening to visit.

Conner's first words this morning were "Where's my DS?". There were several floating around yesterday as all the kids played. I'm glad he could join in!