Our Wild Life

It is World Wildlife Day and I am soaking up all the sweet memories from our recent trip to @disneysanimalkingdomthemepark.

We rocked the parks in celebration of my 50th birthday. 

Five grandchildren, daughters in love, a son, parents, two double strollers, a single stroller, coolers full of snacks and lunch, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, oh and a husband. 😂. Four generations.

We walked into the park just as Winged Encounters was starting in front of The Tree of Life.  The truth is, we were going to move right along but then one of the grandbabies stopped to watch the birds and we were hooked.  The beautiful macaws were free flying and flew right over our heads twice.  It was definitely worth the stop.

Always a hit with our troop (but can be scary for some) a 3D show of It’s Tough to be a Bug. I personally could do without the stink bug but I guess a bug is a bug even if it is stinky.

Moving toward DinoLand inevitably someone was declaring the need for a bathroom break. We had lots of those in our journey throughout the day.  Side note…if you are visiting Disney your best bet for the closest bathroom is a human that works there.  The go.disney app was not terribly reliable to keep us from the fun journey of potty accidents with 3 children three and under.

To Grammy’s (my mom’s) delight, that potty break for the others had her living her best life as she danced along with the music and moves of the Viva Gaia Street Band. 

We spun on the Triceratops and played in the boneyard.  To our surprise we found the sand pit area where the kids could “excavate” the bones of a large dinosaur. The boys were sure we were uncovering real bones from a dinosaur. We played in the boneyard but missed the sand pit on our last visit.  So be sure to cross over the bridge through the dino ribcage and enjoy the exploration.

Adelynn was captain of our Kali River Rapids boat and we all walked away soaked.  She was not very happy about that at all.

Kilimanjaro Safari had us watching and learning about exotic animals in the African savanna. Lions, tigers, elephants, wildebeest, zebras, white rhinos, black rhinos and more.  The kids yelling each time they could identify the animal on the chart in our safari truck.

We journeyed down the Na’vi River into the bioluminescent rainforest, sang through Festival of the Lion King and explored the jungle river by boat checking out the snakes and crocs.

There was so much more in between but we saved the best for last…Avatar Flight of Passage.  The sun had set and it was a juggle of tired kids; who was going to stay with the kids and who was going to ride first.  Then a quick switch off for the next two.  Even the screaming, kicking child, I was sure someone was going to call the police on me for kidnapping, was worth the time to allow all the adults ride.

We stopped for a moment on the way out at the Tree of Life and watched in awe as the lights danced across the tree trunk and branches.  

Tired feet and little people tucked into strollers headed to the parking lot after 12 hours of exploring all of the animal exhibits, attractions and entertainment we could cram into one day. That night four little people kicked their B out of bed to snuggle in by their Mimi. We put on a movie and were all soon fast asleep.

My Mimi heart was so very full of joy and gratitude for a God who saw fit to bless me with a mom and dad who love us well, a husband who adores me, his family and is always up for my crazy plans, my children and daughters in love who encourage and promote our relationships with our grandchildren and a bucket load of grandchildren that hold every key to our heart and most days our credit cards.

Thank you for allowing me to share the beauty of a small part of my 50th birthday celebration with you.  I hope it encourages you to get out there and live life to the fullest.

Much love,

Chrissy