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Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Disney's Animal Kingdom 2019

I don't know how it could possibly be almost a month since I went to Disney World, for the second time with Lindsey, Dave and the kids, but it has been.  This year, I went on the day that they were going to Animal Kingdom, since I had never been there before.  I drove up the night before and stayed overnight at their timeshare with them and then stayed over the next night as well.

We were out first thing in the morning before the park even opened and were ready for our day of fun!





Of course, one of the first things you see when you walk into the park, is the Tree of Life.  Pictures do NOT do this tree justice, it is breathtaking.





I took the kids and went to Starbucks and then we checked out Africa.


And the Dinoland.


Our first Fastpass was Finding Nemo the Musical.  It was amazing, and was humans dressed up as all the sea creatures.  I wasn't supposed to take pictures but of course I did, but they really didn't turn out.









The backside of the tree of life.  From this angle you can see a whale, an owl, a crab and a lot more that I can't remember.



An actual Boabab tree (tree of life) growing through a store in Africa.




Dole Whip Floats are one of my favorite things about Disney World but Animal Kingdom has one that you can get with Coconut rum. Score! So good!



Our first meet and greet, with Mickey and Minnie.


Next, we went to see "Up- A Great Bird Adventure Show". We got to see Toucans, Frasier the Crane, a beautiful bald eagle, Gabby the parrot, singing "You Are My Sunshine", and Andean Condor, a Great Horned Owl, Peacocks and chickens, Plus Russell and Dug from Up.  It is a pretty cool show for the bird lovers.













Monkey Island.  You can see a few if you look closely. 



In Asia, with a beautiful view of Everest and Expedition Everest, the ride (Ava told us it was very scary!).


Coco and I on the spinny dinosaur ride in Dinoland. This was the scariest ride I went on.


We ran into Goofy and got a picture.


And then got ice cream  These Mickey Ice Creams are my second favorite disney snack.


We saw quite a few animals throughout the day, I think this is a Yak.


The illusive tiger.


Some antelope.


In the bird sanctuary. 




Monkey Island again, different view.


Another Tree of Life angle.


Our last fast pass was "It's Tough to be a Bug" the Bug's Life show which was definitely a favorite of the day.  Not only was it in a cave and air conditioned in the mid afternoon, it was just really cool.  It's a 3D show, complete with the glasses, and while you are watching, you not only get a 3D show, you get to experience different smells like a stinkbug, wind and water and at the end, a bunch of bugs crawling under your butt.




Baloo was on my list of characters to meet and I was lucky enough to run into him on the street.


We danced with Meeko.


And Kenai.


And Timon (no Pumba sadly).


Rafiki was on my list as well, yay!


Donald!


Chip and Dale dressed as dinosaurs! Love these two.



Pluto!



More animal spotting, an Okapi.




Blue Heron and a Hippo.


Meerkeet.


The Gorilla Encounter. Yes the one gorilla is playing in a bag.




The night was coming to an end and we got reservations at the Yak and Yeti.  Such a delicious restaurant.  We got a few dishes to share, including the best Ahi Tuna Nachos ever and the best Wagyu burger I've ever had.


Our last stop was the safari.  The line for this was about two hours all day, so we waited and went on the very last tour. It is as amazing as I imagined, and in the dark we still saw a lot of animals... Lions on Pride Rocks, Elephants, zebras, crocs etc.  But I would recommend going first thing in the morning! Since it was dark I couldn't get much for pictures but the ones below are some crocs and antelope.




And the finale, as we were leaving, the tree of life show, all lit up.  We didn't stay to watch it but it looked beautiful!  

Thanks again to Dave and Lindsey for the place to stay for two nights, I always have the best time with the kids. 



Friday, May 3, 2019

Fab Friday Faves 5.3.19

Hello everyone! It's May, Yay!  Another very quick week, and man it is getting hoooottt and humid here in Florida. Summer is here.  It really was a quiet week and not really anything crazy happened.  My neighbors got to see me sprinting barefoot across their lawns when Smudge decided to chase one of her boyfriends away.  I'm still trying to get the yard summer ready, and I have so many plants that are so close to blooming.  It's the first year at the house that I have been able to have a lot of plants and it has been about 6 years since I have had a yard at all, so I am really excited.  I love that I can pretty much grow any plant on the planet here too. This weekend is Kentucky Derby and Cinco De Mayo so we will be out at some of the crazy number of events in the area.


A few months ago, I saw this hat at a local store, and fell in love but didn't buy it. This week a favorite local store of mine Tipsy Mermaid Mercantile, is having a 20% off sale on Mermaid Life apparel, so I had to go get it.  For "checking in" on Facebook I got another 10% off.  This store has the cutest stuff and they ship so check it out! 

I can't believe I forgot to post this last week, but I finally got back Smudge's DNA results!  In September of 2017 I won a contest through Basepaws for a DNA test for Smudge to find out what breeds she is and what health problems she might have. After a long wait (I couldn't complain too much, it was free and the company was just starting out) I got the results back last week and it really is quite interesting. I always assumed she would be Russian Blue, turns out she's least Russian Blue.  Also she is most closely related to a cougar, which is super cool.  Even though I had a long wait, the is company is really great and they were on Shark Tank this week and had 2 investors interested in them. Congrats! 


I went for a walk at Honeymoon Island this week (yes, I know I go there all the time, but I usually walk the beach, it's been a few months since I did the nature trail) and got some great pictures. 


I got this super cute Palm tree choker from one of my favorite companies, Pura Vida. I haven't taken it off since I got it.  Also, this filter on Snapchat is one of my favorite things too haha


 I finally started my new 1000 piece puzzle. I think I am going to be able to do this one!

Our pool is finally comfortable! yay!  It has been quite a long time since it wasn't a big shock to get in to it.  I'm so happy!


I went to a vintage furniture pop up market this morning at a Facebook friend's house in Palm Harbor and picked up this adorable stool (someone else loves it too), for my vanity area in the master bath, and this cute little shelf. 

 Update:

A couple weeks ago I did a blog on my Spring Decorating Tips, including after Easter sale buying.  These are my finds so far, from CVS, Michaels, Target, Publix and a small store in Dunedin called Mermaid's Secret Garden.


 Today I'm linking up with:



Friday, April 26, 2019

Fab Friday Faves 4.26.19

Happy last Friday in April! How is this even possible?  April wasn't even a month, it was like, a long weekend. This week, obviously flew by.  I'm not even sure what I did all, week.... yard work and some kitchen organizing, got acupuncture, got my nails done, did some post-easter sale shopping, Josh and I went to a baseball game, thats all I can think of!  No plans for the weekend, but its shaping up to be a gorgeous 80F.  Everyone have a safe and fun weekend, and enjoy spring (hoping the article I just saw on Facebook about Saskatchewan having a winter storm this weekend isn't true!)


On Tuesday, Josh and I headed down to The Trop to see the Rays play the Royals with some tickets that I won at Rays Fanfest.  While I have been in the Trop before, this was actually my first Ray's game.   It was actually a really great game, and the Rays won.






On Saturday we went to Clearwater Beach (we haven't been to Clearwater Beach forever). To another one of my favorite local events, The Pier 61 Sugar Sand Festival.  I know these pictures are amazing but seriously, the pictures don't do these amazing works of art justice. Seriously mind blowing how they create these! 


Today was nail day! Got some springy pinks, perfect to start the month of May.


I got my first "Sephora Play" beauty box this week and I love it!  Super great samples, and actually all things that I have never tried before.  For $10 a month I think I will keep this one for a while.


 I finally broke down and bought the breadbox that I have wanted for ages (it has been on my Christmas list for a looong time).  The color of course matches my kitchen and I love the vintage look, even though I have no room on my counter for it. And thanks to Jodie for getting it first and making me realize that I should just spend the $20 on Zulily and get it.

Today I'm linking up with: