Disney- Day 2 (Animal Kingdom/ Rainforest Cafe)

Day 2 began with Grandaddy and Sisty at the Animal Kingdom.

The Tree of Life

 We started on the safari and saw all of the African animals.  Very cool.
(Please note Keatyn's safari themed attire.  That was intentional. :)

Then it was on to a train ride that took you to a little island and a petting zoo.

Love them...  They were so awesome to have with us.  I honestly don't know what we'd have done without them!

We had lunch in the Rainforest Cafe.  I have to say, that was the COOLEST restaurant I think I've ever seen.  The ceiling was covered in rainforest trees and vines, with monkeys and birds hanging from the limbs.  There were elephants and waterfalls, rainbows and aquariums with exotic fish everywhere you turned.  It was so loud in there, Keatyn could have screamed for days, and no one would have heard her.  A toddler's dream.

It was at that point in the day, that my head felt like this elephant tusk had been driven through it.  I realized as I was downing 2 of Sylvia's extra strength Tylentol that I hadn't had a sip of caffeine in over 36 hours.  Now, coming from a devoted sweet tea enthusiastic, this has probably only happened a hand full of times in my adult life.  I began chugging drinking my tea and although the howls of the monkeys and rumblings of the elephants were earth shatteringly loud, my headache actually began to dull. 

After lunch, Sisty and Grandaddy took Sassy back to the hotel for a nap and we hit the rides with Trace.

First up... Expedition Everest.  Now, he had ridden Barnstormer the night before at the MK, but that didn't hold a candle to this monster.  I tried to warn and prepare him.  I gave him every chance to get out of it like a man.  I had heard horror stories about this one from my friend Leslie, who had taken Jack (also 5) on it 2 months before.  She said everything was smooth sailing, until they started going backwards... in the dark.

But my brave boy insisted...

He did it!!  And did it proud.  When we asked him if he wanted to do it again, he politely said "No, thank you."  ha!  I love that kid!  His favorite part of riding any ride was watching the others go after he's gotten off.  We never left a ride when he didn't turn back and watch in amazement.

This one, we could have all done without.  The Dinosaur.  Notice the wee one in the back with his ears plugged.  Not our favorite.

The Kali River Rapids was closed because of storms in the area, so we headed back to the hotel and discovered we could have just skipped the parks and hung out at this pool all week.  Trace would have been perfectly happy. He went down these waterslides more times than I could count.  I was exhausted just watching him.

They even had a little water slide for her.
(She, could however, have done without the bucket overhead that filled with water and then dumped out on the children's heads.  She was not a fan.)

 She was completely enthralled with the refillable resort cups... which totally made up for the bucket o' water dumping on her head.

 We all slept like rocks that night amid the nightmares dreams of Everest and The Dinosaur.

Day 2.  Done!