Animal Kingdom

On the second day of our trip, we headed to Animal Kingdom.  Artie and I hadn't been to this park since 2005 when we went with my brother and sister.  It's such a relaxing park compared to the other three and we were glad to get back and share all the fun with the kids!

First stop at this park is always the Lion King show. No matter how many times I've seen it (I think this was the third) it is always awesome! I'm sure it's just a taste of what's on Broadway, but it's a pretty amazing show and there isn't a bad seat in the house. The kids sat still for the whole thing and since they're really into the Lion King movie right now, they loved it!

The next several pictures are from our safari. This is probably the next best thing to an actual African safari and Avery is still talking about all of the animals we got to see up close on this adventure!

Rhinos.

Ostrich eggs.

Elephants.

Termite mounds.

Giraffe-it was right next to our truck!

Hippos. Up until a few nights ago I thought these animals were so cute and harmless. Then, I watched a show about them on the Nat Geo Wild channel. Did you know that there are more human deaths per year by hippos than any other animal? I'm fairly frightened of hippos after that show, but when this picture was taken I was still naive!

Grandpa with the kiddos in front of the tree of life. This is a 14-story tree with 325 animals carved into it, it's an amazing piece of artwork.

A view of Expedition Everest. When we were last at the park in 2005, this roller coaster was being built and torturing us because we couldn't go on it. This year Artie and I made the most of being able to ride it and went on it 3 times in a row-very fun!!

My little drummer boy:)

...and girl, of course!

We had a blast at this park.  The only thing to watch out for if you're visiting Animal Kingdom is that it has shorter hours than all the other parks.  Because of this, it is absolutely jam packed in the morning hours, but relatively clears out in the afternoon.  There's also a dinosaur area in this park, but I didn't get any pictures of it:(

If you're still hanging with me, I'm half way there.  Three down and three to go of our Spencer Birthday Celebration in Florida!