Weekend - To Beaufort

On Saturday, we headed to Beaufort, NC to spend a few days with our friends the Teams. We arrived around 6 p.m. - just in time for dinner. Robin and Katherine had invited some church friends and Beaufort friends over, and we all had a good time and an excellent dinner.
On Sunday, we climbed aboard Robin's J-122 "TEAMWORK" for a full day of sailing. The wind was sustained at 22 knots, so we sailed with just the main reefed. Still we made a consistant 5-7 knots. We sailed out into the ocean for about 30 minutes, but the 6 foot seas made it like a roller coaster. Once one of the kids mentioned she was feeling a little queasy, we sailed back into the sound. We anchored and had lunch. Following lunch we took a dinghy to the beach and walked for awhile. We headed back to the Teams and had dinner with some more Beaufort friends.
Robin returned to Lexington on Monday, and we went with Katherine to see some of the Beaufort sights! It has been a delightful time!

Not a big fan of Hollywood Studios

Thursday we spent at Hollywood Studios....as did every Brazilian Tour Group in Florida. This park is just not able to handle the size of the crowds drawn to it. We were only able to procure two fast passes before they all were given out. Compare this to Animal Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom where we were able to get 5-6 per day. By 10 a.m. every ride had over a 70 minute wait. We were able to ride the new Toy Story Attraction and the Tower of Terror. The rest of our day was spent catching the various shows. The Indian Jones Stunt Show was excellent. We also went to one of the "American Idol Experience" shows. Quite fun.

To be honest, part of our attitude may be that this was the 5th visit to a Disney park in 6 days; but I don't really think our experience would have been that different if it had been the first park we visited. I don't believe this park will be on our agenda next time around.

Harry Potter World

The day has arrived! We have been at Universal Orlando since 8 a.m. 6 hours at Harry Potter world. Words can't describe the crowds and the heat. Even so, it is every thing the girls hoped for and more! The signature ride was outstanding. You feel as if you are in the story. The roller coasters reminded me of Top Gun at Carowinds. They were great.
What I have never seen are 30 minute waits to get into stores to spend money. There were even 15 minute waits to buy something to drink.
All in all the girls loved their experience!

Madison loves her new ears!

Harry Potter on Wednesday

We are just about ready for bed after a much needed day of rest.
Monday nearly killed us...spending almost 12 hours at EPCOT. It is such a large park, and it was a hot day. We spent Tuesday sleeping in, hanging out by the pool, and just taking it easy.
Tomorrow is the day that Madison and Kinsley have been waiting for....Universal Studios Island of Adventure and Harry Potter World. Madison has done her preparation. She reread all 7 books this summer and has visited the website so often that she is our guide for tommorrow.
Pictures and commentary to follow.

WDW - Sunday - Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom has got to be, by far, our favorite park. We all love Expedition Everest, the beautiful layout of the park, The Lion King show, and many other intangibles.


We began the day riding Expedition Everest twice...the lines were less than 20 minutes. Then we headed off to the Safari Ride. We saw the new Nemo Show and the old Lion King. Both shows are what Disney does best - great costumes, wonderful story telling, all presented perfectly.

By the end of the day we had "conquered Everest" 5 times, and concluded our visit with a wonderful meal at the Rainforest Cafe - which is a restaurant that has animatronic wildlife all around the room which come "to life" every 20 minutes. We finished the meal with the "flaming volcano" a large dessert of brownies, ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

I am sure we will be back at Animal Kingdom this week!

WDW - Saturday

Saturday saw a long 7.5 hour drive from Mt. Pleasant, SC to Kissimmee, Fl. We arrived at our time share resort at about 5:30 p.m. We settled in, got a bite to eat at Subway, and then headed to the Magic Kingdom for the evening.
We rode Space Mountain and a number of other smaller rides. The highlight was standing near the Dumbo ride when the fireworks went off all around us. It was as if we were in the middle of the show. It was spectacular.
The girls especially loved the night time electric parade. (The picture is to the right.) It was a joy to watch!
The one downside of tonight can best be described by the new name we have for "Splash Mountain." Forever more it will be known to our family as "B.O. Mountain." The water smelled as if it had been harvested off a large, overweight man after a day at Disney. I can just image the collection system somewhere deep in the bowls of Disney. Until Disney discovers chlorine and filters, I'd not recommend the ride!
After all the transportation hoops you have to jump through, we got home about 1:30 a.m.

Friday - WDW Trip

Well, we got started on Friday afternoon with our big week trip to Walt Disney World. We drove 4 and a half hours to Mt. Pleasant to spend the night with Brooke's sister Paige and family. We had a delightful quick visit with cousin's Mac and Wynn and brother in law Charlie.

The trip was uneventful, though I am still nursing a pinched sciatica nerve. This has been bothering me to one degree or another for over a month. 1800 miles to camp and back in the car probably hasn't helped. Any way we are off!