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We hope this gives you a little peek into our family
life as we watch Luke and Grace learn and grow. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
Disney World - Days 4 and 5
Our destination the morning of Day 4 was Animal Kingdom. We started with a great ride on Kilamanjaro Safaris. Luke loved seeing all the animals up close, including a baby elephant.
Here we are with the Tree of Life, but other than this I don't have many pictures from the rest of our morning at Animal Kingdom because shortly after we took this picture we went on Kali River Rapids, a big raft ride that Luke was excited about because he was too short for it at Worlds of Fun last fall. Well, he did like the ride a lot, but he got soaked. I mean, soaked to the bone as he took the worst shot of all 8 people in the raft. (I might have had it pretty bad too, but I chickened out (smartened up, I think) and wore a poncho on the ride. I offered one to Luke before the ride too, but he didn't want to wear one. He enjoyed being wet while we were on the ride, but the second we got off he was miserable and whiny (not that I blamed him!). Luckily I had dry shorts, socks, and underwear packed in my bag for him, just in case. We changed him into those and wrung out his shirt the best we could. I wish I'd taken a picture of him sopping wet, but he was so miserable that I went quickly into mom mode.
Luke loved playing on this big dinosaur while Matt and I took turns riding a pretty scary dinosaur ride.
This picture isn't much, but it makes me happy. This was taken at the bus stop at our hotel. Luke had a special place there where he liked to climb and play while we waited for the bus. He was always happy and excited about where we were headed next.
After a great nap at the hotel we made our way back to Epcot again. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had fun riding some rides and enjoying more of the sites. Luke loved the butterfly garden set up for the Flower and Garden festival. There were tons of butterflies and darling topiaries and Bambi and friends.
Luke playing in the fountain in France
We saw Woody and Jessie again, and this time Bullseye was with them! We thought Luke would be OK with just seeing them from afar, but he wanted to see them again. He told me, "I haven't met Bullseye yet and I want to talk to Woody and Jessie again." Hard to argue with that. At one point while in line Luke said to me, "Mommy, I've loved Toy Story forever." Again, the time we got with these guys was well worth the 30 minute wait. Luke and Woody pounded rocks and blew it up. Then he gave Jessie a ginormous hug again and danced with her. 
Luke and the whole Round-Up gang
Disclamier: I am about to have a sappy mom moment. Watching Luke meet all of the different Toy Story characters was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was one of the main reasons begged Matt to let us take him at this age. I just knew that Luke would feel magic in seeing these guys in person and that it wouldn't last many more years. The Toy Story guys have been a part of our daily lives now for well over a year. Luke lit up when he saw them and was thrilled to meet the "real" guys during our trip. Even after long waits in line, it felt like we were the only ones there to see them. Watching Luke interact with them is something I won't soon forget. I got teary several times watching it and meeting them myself. It was as if I wanted to say thank you to them and to Pixar for the hours of play, make-believe, entertainment, and joy they have brought our family. It was truly magical.
We had a great dinner at the Coral Reef in Epcot. It was awesome to have dinner while watching the fish, sharks, and rays in the huge aquarium. Matt and I had dinner there 13 years ago when we were in DisneyWorld to celebrate our college graduation. So, we had a "moment" there thinking about how much our lives have changed over those 13 years and how incredibly lucky we are.
Thanks to a great afternoon nap, we still had some energy left, so we hopped on the monorail to do some late night rides at the Magic Kingdom. Here are Luke and Matt on the Buzz ride.
Our last morning went quickly, but we were able to enjoy some of our favorite rides. Luke measured tall enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so he rode his first big roller coaster with both of us. I took this picture while we were riding.
I love this one of Luke running through the Tiki guys that squirt water in Adventureland. He loved to stop at this area to play.
We had to get one last picture with the castle to remember our wonderful trip. Luke had a great quote that day when we told him that someday we'll have to go back and take Gracie and he said sadly, "Ohhh, so then I have to stay home with Kaki and Buckle." He was happy to hear that we meant we would all go back together. We had an amazing trip with our very special boy and we loved every minute of it!
Here we are with the Tree of Life, but other than this I don't have many pictures from the rest of our morning at Animal Kingdom because shortly after we took this picture we went on Kali River Rapids, a big raft ride that Luke was excited about because he was too short for it at Worlds of Fun last fall. Well, he did like the ride a lot, but he got soaked. I mean, soaked to the bone as he took the worst shot of all 8 people in the raft. (I might have had it pretty bad too, but I chickened out (smartened up, I think) and wore a poncho on the ride. I offered one to Luke before the ride too, but he didn't want to wear one. He enjoyed being wet while we were on the ride, but the second we got off he was miserable and whiny (not that I blamed him!). Luckily I had dry shorts, socks, and underwear packed in my bag for him, just in case. We changed him into those and wrung out his shirt the best we could. I wish I'd taken a picture of him sopping wet, but he was so miserable that I went quickly into mom mode.
Luke loved playing on this big dinosaur while Matt and I took turns riding a pretty scary dinosaur ride.
This picture isn't much, but it makes me happy. This was taken at the bus stop at our hotel. Luke had a special place there where he liked to climb and play while we waited for the bus. He was always happy and excited about where we were headed next.
After a great nap at the hotel we made our way back to Epcot again. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had fun riding some rides and enjoying more of the sites. Luke loved the butterfly garden set up for the Flower and Garden festival. There were tons of butterflies and darling topiaries and Bambi and friends.
Luke playing in the fountain in France
We saw Woody and Jessie again, and this time Bullseye was with them! We thought Luke would be OK with just seeing them from afar, but he wanted to see them again. He told me, "I haven't met Bullseye yet and I want to talk to Woody and Jessie again." Hard to argue with that. At one point while in line Luke said to me, "Mommy, I've loved Toy Story forever." Again, the time we got with these guys was well worth the 30 minute wait. Luke and Woody pounded rocks and blew it up. Then he gave Jessie a ginormous hug again and danced with her. 
Luke and the whole Round-Up gang
Disclamier: I am about to have a sappy mom moment. Watching Luke meet all of the different Toy Story characters was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was one of the main reasons begged Matt to let us take him at this age. I just knew that Luke would feel magic in seeing these guys in person and that it wouldn't last many more years. The Toy Story guys have been a part of our daily lives now for well over a year. Luke lit up when he saw them and was thrilled to meet the "real" guys during our trip. Even after long waits in line, it felt like we were the only ones there to see them. Watching Luke interact with them is something I won't soon forget. I got teary several times watching it and meeting them myself. It was as if I wanted to say thank you to them and to Pixar for the hours of play, make-believe, entertainment, and joy they have brought our family. It was truly magical.
We had a great dinner at the Coral Reef in Epcot. It was awesome to have dinner while watching the fish, sharks, and rays in the huge aquarium. Matt and I had dinner there 13 years ago when we were in DisneyWorld to celebrate our college graduation. So, we had a "moment" there thinking about how much our lives have changed over those 13 years and how incredibly lucky we are.
Thanks to a great afternoon nap, we still had some energy left, so we hopped on the monorail to do some late night rides at the Magic Kingdom. Here are Luke and Matt on the Buzz ride.
Our last morning went quickly, but we were able to enjoy some of our favorite rides. Luke measured tall enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so he rode his first big roller coaster with both of us. I took this picture while we were riding.
I love this one of Luke running through the Tiki guys that squirt water in Adventureland. He loved to stop at this area to play.
We had to get one last picture with the castle to remember our wonderful trip. Luke had a great quote that day when we told him that someday we'll have to go back and take Gracie and he said sadly, "Ohhh, so then I have to stay home with Kaki and Buckle." He was happy to hear that we meant we would all go back together. We had an amazing trip with our very special boy and we loved every minute of it!
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