The following days, we went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Magic Kingdom was super crowded, but fun to see. Overall, though, we decided Disneyland's Magic Kingdom is better. The favorite ride was the log ride, and Goosa still loved seeing the characters. That night, we saw the parade, and it was very fun to watch little faces watching the parade...magical! At Hollywood Studios, the girls loved the ride "Tower of Terror." It was pretty freaky. The big girls hit the big roller coaster, too, while Goose and I saved seats at the Beauty and the Beast show. We had a lot of fun seeing the shows and going on the rides. No doubt it wears you out, though - all the lines, crowds, and time on your feet.
That said, we still had a few good days of theme parking ahead...Universal Studios Islands of Adventure was our next stop. We switched hotels and stayed in the Universal Studios hotel so we could get an hour early admission to "Harry Potter land." Instead of the usual 9:00 opening time, when the masses rush to Harry Potter, we got in at 8:00, which made a huge difference. The first day Mark took the big girls, and I brought Suse and Goose when they woke up. We went on all the rides at the Dr. Seuss land, which was really a fun place, and then just enjoyed the park for the next two days. The following morning, I got up with everyone but Goose and went early. Suse was just an inch short for the main Harry Potter ride, so on our last morning there, Mark and Suse got granola bars at breakfast and put them in her socks. It gave her just enough height to be able to ride the Harry Potter ride! It's a pretty intense ride, but she seemed to love it...The girls loved the log ride here, too, and the Jurassic Park ride. Abby loved the green Hulk roller coaster, but Zelle and I decided it rattled our brains too much. All in all, we had a great time, but by Sunday, it was a nice break to go to Cape Canaveral, and see the NASA center there. We loved the rocket garden, and the flight simulator. We saw a really cool IMAX about the Hubble telescope, too. I love those movies!
Before we left for the beach, we also had time for "Gatorland," which was very memorable. There were pools of tiny alligators, and huge ones out in the lagoon. We saw them at feeding time, when workers there had big wheelbarrows of red meat they'd toss in to them. Some of the alligators were coming up on land to where they men feeding them were, so some peoples' job was to push them back in the water with prods...yikes. There were a few huge, albino alligators, and a cool aviary, where the girls loved feeding the birds and letting them land on their arms and heads. We saw a gator show, and the girls all got to take a picture on the back of a gator. Goosa's is pretty funny. She just hopped on the gator's back without hesitation and pulled his head back. We were cracking up.
The next day, we left for Amelia Island. We drove up the Eastern coast of Florida for about 3-4 hours to get there. It's a nice, sleepy beach town, which was perfect after all the amusement parks. The town itself is very quaint - lots of art galleries, restaurants, etc. I'd have loved more time there, but it was even better to just enjoy being at the beach together. I have never seen Nats so happy as she was at the beach those days. All the girls were loving boogie boarding, playing in the sand, and collecting the great shells there. For Amelia's birthday (or Angel Day) as we called it, I had a nice chance to go on a beach walk by myself that morning. It was a nice time to reflect, feel sad, and feel grateful. We made sand castles. We each had one and they all connected - Millie, too, of course. Later that day, we sprinkled rose petals into the water and wrote messages to Millie in the sand. We cried and hugged and missed her. That night we sang to her and had a cake the hotel made that said "Happy Angel Day, Amelia" with a 1 on it. We collected lots of shells and had lots of ideas for what to do with them - none of which we've done, but maybe soon? It was really nice to have a special way to remember Amelia this year. It was sad and hard, and yet we trust our Heavenly Father's wisdom. She is missed and loved.
epcot center
magic kingdom
after the parade...Suse's Disney souvenir
we loved the 3D shows!
at Universal Studios, running from the dinosaur :)
picking out wands at Olivander's wand shop in Harry Potter land
in front of Hogwarts, with newly chosen wands
riding a ride in Dr. Seuss land
albino alligators...yikes
at the aviary
a Goose riding a gator
at Cape Canaveral, in the rocket garden
Amelia Island
Zelle loves boogie boarding
sand castles!
burying Lu
messages to Millie
Amelia's angel day cake
a happy, exhausted group. Goose fell asleep here watching the movie...We had a wonderful trip. It was everything we hoped it would be, and all the travel was smooth and uneventful. Best of all, Natalie didn't get sick! She was overdue to get sick, and I was so worried about that for this trip, but we decided to go for it anyway. It turned out great, and we were so grateful. She was so tired without any naps for a couple of weeks, though, that she started wetting her pants all the time for about a week. It turned out just to be total fatigue :). We love these special times to see the world, be together, and make memories. Family trips are such a highlight!
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