The Blackburn Family

So the weather refuses to co-operate with me! I was supposed to take Kaylee’s pictures last weekend, but it ended up being so cold and a bit rainy so we had to cancel. It was for the best because the leaves were much prettier this past weekend. I was planning to take Liam’s pictures on Saturday, but once again rain. So I took both on Sunday. The weather was supposed to be partly cloudy. I think wral had in their description, “some high clouds, but lots of blue skys”. Hmmm….. no sun all day. Yeah, clouds are actually better for pictures, but it was a bit dark for most of Liam’s.

Liam was my first attempt at photographing a moving baby. It is a bit more challenging, but I think with a bit more practice I can get it! Better light and a bit warmer temps would have helped some. It won’t be long until Kaylee is crawling so I better figure out how to occupy the movers. We took Liam’s pictures at Crowder Park in Apex and Kaylee’s at Historic Oakview Park in Raleigh.

I am trying to learn more about Elements so the processing is going a bit slow. I should be able to move through them a bit faster now, but here are my favorites so far of each.

So I noticed that each of my posts about Disney World is getting shorter than the last! I guess that is what happens when you write about your trip weeks after you get back! I was really excited about Epcot mostly because it is more of an adult park and one that I didn’t really appreciate the last time I was in Disney. We spent our first day exploring the front section called Future World. Future world has a lot of science type rides and exhibits. The back section is the World Showcase which is where we went for lunch our first day. We went to Norway to have lunch with the princesses! I was so excited to see that Belle was greeting everyone. However after walking in the heat and standing outside waiting to get in I was soaked in sweat and water form some kids water fan. So the picture is pretty bad and I refuse to post it. Don’t worry b/c the next day I ran into Belle in France and got a picture with her. She wasn’t in her yellow dress though, this was the pre-princess Belle. Anyway, the boys weren’t too excited about eating with the princesses, but I think they all got a bit excited when they came over to the table to talk to us (the young boys, not the adults although I am sure they liked the princesses too). Ariel, Snow White and Princess Aurora (better known as Sleeping Beauty) each came to our table and took a picture with Karley who was also dressed as a princess. That evening Casey and walked around the world showcase enjoying the food from the Food and Wine Festival. The best part was we could use our snack credits to try the various meals. We ended the night with the fireworks show – Illuminations.

The second day at Epcot Casey and I explored the World Showcase spending some time at each country. We also took a boat over to the Boardwalk area and then walked back. Nothing too exciting. For dinner we went Mexcio and ate under the stars and the ruins. Casey really enjoyed his steak. He still talks about it.

HERE is my Epcot Album.

We spent one day at Hollywood Studios, but we could have used another day there. There aren’t as many rides there, but there are lots of shows so you have to plan your day around them and wait for them to start. The big rollercoaster at HS is the Aerosmith Rockin’ Rollercoaster, but Karley was too short to ride. So I watched the kids and Casey, Melanie and Richard rode it. I think it was everyone’s favorite of the week. The only ones brave enough for the Tower of Terror were Karley and Casey. There was no stopping Karley! It was another very hot day and most of the shows were outdoors so there was little relief from the heat. At the end of the night we went to see the Fantasmic show which was awesome.

HERE is my Hollywood Studios album. It is a pretty small album.

The seven of us went to Animal Kingdom on the 5th and Casey and I went back on our last day for a few hours. There aren’t many indoor things to do or places to eat in Animal Kingdom so it was a pretty hot day. There are a few rides and a couple trails that you can walk to see various animals. In Asia the big ride is Expedition Everest which the rollercoaster lovers really enjoyed. Karley was the only young one that would ride it and she loved it. She actually rode it twice! I stayed behind with Cooper and Jackson. We tried to get a picture of them, but they were moving so fast their faces were blurs! My favorite ride was the Kali River Rapids. I love those kinds of rides. For some reason they don’t really make me sick.. weird. I also really enjoyed the Safari ride too and several of my pictures are from that ride.

Animal Kingdom also had two shows – Finding Nemo and The Lion King. We made it to both although we almost missed The Lion King thanks to the parade. After our day at Animal Kingdom we went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. We were planning to check out Downtown Disney, but we were all so tired so we called it a night after dinner.

Check out my Animal Kingdom pictures HERE.

I am trying to get the Disney World pictures done as quickly as possible so I think I will do a post for each park. Don’t expect a post daily! It takes a long time to go through and upload all these pictures.

So for those of you that don’t know Casey and I got back on Saturday from a week in Disney World! I started talking about going last year when I found out they were doing the free on your birthday promotion. I kept hinting about going to Casey since my birthday was on a Sunday. Well, a few months ago he mentioned to his sister Melanie that I wanted to go to Disney World and she told him they were thinking of going too. So it began. We decided to all go together and after much debate decided on the first week of October for several reasons, but the bonus was we would be there for not only my birthday, but also the twins 6th birthday! We were a bit worried it would be too hot, but it was October so the temp should be around 85….. yeah right. Try 94 with a heat index of 104. Yuck. Double Yuck. Heat wave that never went away! What luck! We had a great time, but it would have been a bit better with a little less heat and humidity.

Melanie, Richard and the kids drove down on Friday and hit Magic Kingdom first thing Saturday morning. Casey and I decided to fly down Saturday morning. We had the Magical Express pick us up and it went very smoothly. We were at Disney by 10:30 (I think, maybe 11:00). We decided to meet the others at The Wilderness Lodge which was where we had booked our first meal at Whispering Canyon. Casey and I were expecting the kids to be surprised to see us because they didn’t know we were coming, but all our conversations with Melanie on the phone had made them aware of the fact we were there! They didn’t know we were staying the whole week so they were excited to find out we didn’t make a trip to Florida to see them for one day.

After lunch we went to Magic Kingdom and it was a long day. It was our only day to catch the SpectroMagic Parade and the Fireworks shows. We were lucky enough to see Tinkerbell fly down from the castle! It was awesome.

The next day was my birthday and we went to Magic Kingdom for the day. We got up early so we could see them open the park. Casey and I went back to the room mid-day for a little nap since we were planning to stay in the park until midnight for magic hours. We met up with the others for dinner at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Boma has African and American foods so it was fun trying some new things. We also had many desserts (this would continue for the whole week). They would bring out a dessert for all three of us birthday “kids” at each meal. Hey, at Disney you celebrate your birthday every day! This is my kind of birthday. Casey and I went back to the Magic Kingdom after dinner expecting the crowds to be a bit thinner, but no such luck. I couldn’t believe how many people had little kids out at midnight! I was able to get a few night shots and we rode a few rides.

Our last day at the Magic Kingdom was on the twin’s birthday, our second to last day of the vacation. They got up early and went to the Magic Kingdom to be transformed into a priness and a pirate. We met up with them and we all went to The Polynesian for breakfast at Ohana. It was a character meal with Pluto, Mickey, Lilo and Stitch. Lots of fun and a great breakfast. Casey and I didn’t stay at Magic Kingdom too long after breakfast because we were heading to Downtown Disney for the night. We had tickets for Cirque du Soleil and dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s. I really wanted to take the balloon ride at Downtown Disney, but by the time we got out of dinner the winds had picked up too much and the ride was closed. Maybe next time!

HERE is my Magic Kingdom album. Enjoy!