Our weekend got off to a nice relaxing start as Hunter got to crash with Grandma and PopPa on Friday night and Emily and I enjoyed some wings from the Nona Tap Room. A pretty healthy end to a day that started with Breakfast Burritos from the Wawa which opened down the street on Thursday. We enjoyed our dinner and I put Sawyer to bed and we relaxed with some TV and called it a night.
Saturday started out beautiful as I got up at 5:45 and went for my morning walk as the sun was rising. Today marks the 17th day in a row where I have walked over 10K steps so I didn’t want to let the streak die. I got back to the house at about 7:15 expecting Sawyer to be ready to tackle me as I came in the front door but the house was silent! I enjoyed some quiet time while the rest of the house slept which is extremely rare in this house!
When Sawyer got up he and I played Legos for a while in the family room. He is such a riot as he stacks all of his “guys” on the propeller of his helicopter. He really has an active imagination. After we wrapped up play time we decided to head out and get Emily her weekend Starbucks and also pick up some breakfast food for he and I. We grabbed the normally Trenta Iced Coffee from Starbucks, some chocolate sprinkle donuts and a breakfast sandwich and headed home.
After breakfast and hanging out it was time to take Hunter and Sawyer to their swimming lessons at the North Shore neighborhood pool. This is their third swimming lesson session for the summer and they have both gotten a lot better at swimming. Since installing a pool in a backyard the previous fall we decided that we wanted to be confident that the boys could swim in the event they fell into the pool. I took the boys to the lessons while Emily got ready to go out for the day.
After another successful lesson, we went back home, the boys changed and we headed out the door for some lunch at Toasted. Not sure if you have had the pleasure of trying this place but it is a chain down here in Florida and they specialize in grilled cheese sandwiches. Emily and I got the brisket sandwich and shared some truffle fries while the boys got the traditional grilled cheese sandwiches. Cannot say enough good things about that place!
Prior to leaving the house we installed the new car seat we purchased to put in my new car so that we could take my car on some of our weekend outings. The installation process took about 4 hours of ridiculous sweating and pulling but somehow we (Emily) got it installed. This allowed us to enjoy my new car for the first time as a family as we jammed out to tunes on our way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As we approached the park we saw some pretty frightening clouds looming over the park. Just as we got through the entrance gate the rains started coming so we ended up hanging out in our car as we waited for the storm to pass.
It was a race against time however because we had Fastpasses to Dinosaur from 2:30 – 3:30 and we were approaching 3:00. Hunter had recently “rode” Dinosaur during his time at the Animal Kingdom summer camp and was eager to ride it with us. I use quotes around rode because I am not sure if closing your eyes and screaming the whole time constitutes “riding” but at least he sat on the ride vehicle. We grabbed a stroller and speed walked back to Dinoland only to arrive at Dinosaur 2 minutes before the end of our fastpass window… but the ride was down due to technical challenges. Although we were a bit bummed I could sense the relief on Hunter’s face that he didn’t have to actually ride.
We used our new-found time to explore a bit of Dinoland and then made our way to Africa through Asia. We got to see some of the new additions to the park like the bypass through Asia, the Harambe Marketplace and the new Zuri’s Sweets (home of the recently headlined “poop” desserts). Checking out the delicious treats helped pass some of the last remaining minutes before our Kilimanjaro Safari.
We absolutely love the safari because it is truly never the same ride twice. As we made our way through the early portion of the ride we rounded the corner to the savannah and saw some dark clouds approaching. Luckily the rain held off for a bit so we could enjoy an amazing giraffe sighting with three of the new babies. It was just a matter of time until… downpour! Although the trucks are covered they do let quite a bit of water in through the sides and drips in the overhead tarp. We squashed into the middle of our row as much as we could and enjoyed the unique experience of riding the safari in the rain. I recommended it if you ever get a chance, and have a poncho! Below are just a couple of photos from the safari.
When the safari truck finally pulled into the unload zone the rain was still coming down pretty hard so we ran down the path and found a merchandise cart with an awning overhang that shielded us from the remaining rain. Emily reluctantly signed the release forms on the photo below.
As the rain eased a bit we left our cover and headed back to Dinosaur which had recently reopened. Hunter’s level of stress elevated again as the reality of riding Dinosaur was once again a possibility. The ride was open and we used our Fastpasses from before to skip the line. This was Sawyer’s first official ride over 40″ as he just recently crossed the threshold. As anticipated Hunter closed his eyes for a large portion of the ride, but less than his last outing he claimed. Sawyer was a little shell-shocked but there were no tears. 
After Hunter got his eyelids unglued we made our way toward the exit, only to be stopped by Sawyer who wanted to ride Triceratops Spin. Although this committment required putting our lives in danger due to the incoming weather we thought, “how bad could it be?” We completed the ride and booked to toward the car as the rain was falling. We wrapped up the day by heading home, getting in our pajamas and having a fun dinner of snacky foods.
Really Fun Saturday!