Animal Kingdon

Tuesday promised to be another beautiful day and Avery did her best to dress for it as we were off to Animal Kingdom for the day to enjoy the animals and attractions.

Immediately we headed to Kilimanjaro Safari and got in our safari truck and headed out to the African plains. 

Being on one of the first trips of the day, we saw many of the animals up close as the started their walk and foraging around their areas.

Our tour had to take a small break as we waited for the Giraffe to pass our path

One of three Ankole-Watusi that were right next to our truck

A Black Rhino enjoying an early morning meal

We spotted a coalition of three Cheetahs (yup coalition, look it up) 

Every other time we have been to the park, the lions have been hard to see, usually hiding in the shade or sun on the low rock areas.  This morning we were greeted by the King of the Jungle surveying his kingdom from up high.

Avery had a great time in this park as it is a bit more relaxed with more walking and interacting with nature as opposed to the continual in and out of the stroller as we rode rides like she had the day before.

Throughout the day, we stopped many times to help Carter obtain his remaining Wilderness Ecplorer badges which he had yet earned on past trips.  In school and at home we have been feeding his sudden interest in geography and other cultures and here his curiosity really shined.  He loved listening and learning about the subjects they were their to help the kids with, then often asked even more questions about where they were from or what their country was like.

The boys and mom headed to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  The petting zoo was a hit with the boys.

Parker didn't want to leave until he groomed every sheep or goat at the petting zoo.

We then caught a quick showing of the Festival of the Lion King then headed to another character lunch at the Tusker House restaurant.  Here they have a more African centered menu that allowed Carter to be a bit adventurous with his food.

Shakers to dance with Donald and Daisy Duck

Happy boys to see Daisy Duck

Explorer Goofy was a hit

The host of lunch, Donald Duck

And the boys' favorite, Mickie Mouse

After lunch we were back to collecting our Wilderness Explorer badges, the insect badge was an especially fun one with Carter and the nice man teaching was more than happy to go down each rabbit hole he took him.  Carter spent a good 20 minutes learning all about insects, pollinators, beetles, etc...

Meanwhile, Parker's interest started to wane a bit and he started to play animal "eye-spy" with Mom and Dad trying to find animals in the bark and roots of the Tree of Life (there are over 300).  Look close below, can you find the whale, octopus, or the ant eater?

Avery found the game very amusing

After a quick stop with Minnie and Mickey...

...we were back to exploring the park.

Carter and Parker had a blast running around and chasing each other in the Dig Site play area

Best Brothers

Then off to some rides including the whole family on Triceratops' Spin.

Crazy Drivers in the Front

We then told Parker he was old enough for another fun big boy ride, the Kali River Rapids.  He was so excited, but we knew if he got too wet he may not enjoy it, so off he and Mom went.  One with a poncho, the other brave to go without.

After Parker rode with Mom and Carter rode with Dad, all of us were mostly dry and the boys begged to go again.  Mom opted out and Dad took the boys on one more ride.  Parker was wise to don the poncho, as you can see with Carter's hair below, Dad and Carter bother caught a wave that was as tall as Carter and got soaked to the bone.

The best part, they all got off loving the ride and even thought about going again until the potential for snacks was discussed.

Who can say no to a Mickie pretzel?

One more safari ride and the animals were getting sleepy as was the Holden family.

Dusk over the savanna

Avery was riding on it, but missed the last safari

One last Wilderness badge at the drums and it was time to head home.

But not before we got a great happy family photo on the way out.

When we got to the room, we found our lovies patiently reading magazines waiting on our return... much to the thrill of the boys.

Then it was off to bed waiting on another great day ahead of us tomorrow.