Anthony's First Disney Trip!

We're going to Disney World!

Anthony has passed an important milestone in a child's life... his first trip to Disney World! We took him to the Animal Kingdom with MiMi for Mother's Day. It was a surprise for MiMi. Somehow Sheramy, Adam, Dad, and I managed to keep it a secret for a couple of months. We had MiMi convinced we were taking her to the beach for the day. I videoed Anthony saying "we're going to Disneyworld!" for her and we surprised her the night before the trip by showing her the video. As she said, it was one of the greatest surprises of her life!

We had a great time. Anthony was dazzled by everything about the Animal Kingdom, especially the big African drums! He spent two 20 minute sessions doing nothing but running from drum to drum, excitedly pounding away. He even got his own souvenior drum that MiMi bought him, luckily a lot smaller than the ones in the picture! At one point he got a drum show from two teenage boys who brought their own sticks and were there to dazzle the crowd. He continued to pound in awe, watching as they drummed. Later in the day, MiMi took him to watch a street band performance while Sheramy and I rode Everest (p.s.-- yes Sheramy got on a roller coaster. No, she didn't like it!) Apparently they just sat and watched the band for about 10 minutes, then the drummer was so impressed by Anthony's interest that he gave him his own sticks! Anthony has his own pair of "real" drummer's sticks which he calls his "d-sticks".

When we first arrived he said "WOW! Jungle!" as we passed through the gates. He couldn't have been on better behavior. The whole day he watched, participated, played, and never once got fussy or cried. We took him on the animal safari ride, and on the train. I also took him to the 3D movie "It's a Bug's Life", but unfortunately we only spent about a minute in the theater before the 3D images frightened him and we had to leave. I felt so guilty (still do actually) because the last two days he'll randomly tell me (or someone else) that the movie was "so scary" and he "doesn't like the spider". I hate to think the image of the giant spider is replaying in his head! Though I'm sure I haven't scarred him for life I hate that he had his first scary experience.

We watched the parade and left the park a few minutes before it closed. He missed his nap but stayed awake the entire day, finally falling asleep for a little bit on the way back to our cabin at Fort Wilderness. I couldn't believe how good he was! It was a very special experience taking him to Disney for the first time. We're saving the Magic Kingdom though for when he's a little older and will remember the experience. What a fantastic Mother's Day!