Day Three!

On Friday, we headed to Animal Kingdom early in the morning - hoping to beat the crowds to the Kilimanjaro Safari. Well, boy did we luck out! There was no line at all - in fact, it took us a few minutes just to wind our way through the ropes for the lines that are usually there. We had a great time - I couldn't believe how many animals we saw and how much it felt like a real safari (sort of, if you ignored the hokey narration).

A termite mound.

Some African cattle.

Can you see the giraffe browsing in the palm trees - and the wildebeasts resting in the foreground?

We saw elephants, too.

and flamingos!

White rhinos

Pride Rock - the lioness is resting near the top. The male was lower down

Ostriches

After the safari we headed to watch an amazing indoor show of "Finding Nemo" - it used incredible puppets and lights - hard to describe but really beautiful.

The pictures didn't turn out well because we couldn't use the flash - but you get an idea of the colors. this was some sea coral.

After the Nemo show we met up with the Dentons again for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The kids had fun with their fancy drinks and enjoyed looking at all the animals in the restaurant.









After lunch, Roger needed to finish up some rather testy negotiations. Erin was watching him and could tell he was not happy, so she went over to him and stood behind him and rubbed his ear - this is what she calls a "Fuzzy Wuzzy" - when she is tired she rubs one of our ears and sucks her thumb. She prefers Daddy's ears when given the choice -- he says that they are recharging their batteries, and I really beliee that they are!

By this time, the girls were getting ready to hit the pool again! However, we hit the jackpot again and on the way out of the park got to visit with Baloo the Bear (from the Jungle Book) . . .

and Minnie Mouse!

After an afternoon of swimming in the pool we had some snacks and cold drinks poolside.

Late, we walked over to Epcot again for dinner. During the time that we were visiting, Epcot was celebrating the International Flower and Garden Show. Part of the show included some amazing topiaries! Here is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. . .

and Pluto

and Donald . . .

and Aladdin (from the movie with Princess Jasmine)

and Goofy. We ate dinner this night in Germany at a Biergarten - it was so much fun! This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. We were seated family style at a table with another family with two boys about the same age as our girls. All the tables were in a semi-circle around the stage where an Oompah Band performed. I was so surprised at Erin's reaction - we were all the way in the back of the restaurant but she ran all the way down to the front and ran out on stage and went crazy dancing! She LOVED it! When the music stopped, she ran all the way back up the steps to our table. Later, she dragged Roger down to dance, but then left him to go solo again. Hilarious! I was having so much fun, though, that I forgot to take pictures!




As we left dinner, the view across the lake was beautiful at sunset.


The girls didn't manage to stay up much after our arrival back at the room that night!