Day 6 - Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge

Today was a planned park-free day, so the fact that we awoke to rain, was fine by us. We had a booking with a Disney Photographer at the Wilderness Lodge in hopes of capturing some great family photos. Seeing as it isn't too often that we are all together, it was a keepsake we really wanted to have. The lodge and the grounds were beautiful, and we did get some great shots and I'm very glad that we did it. Even if we had to bribe Riley to hang in there by promising a pin for her Princess Lapel and a lolipop. It did take quite a bit of time to get all of the pictures, not so much fun for little ones really, but they did a great job. Here are some the results of the photo shoot.














After the photo shoot we went to the Whispering Canyon Restaurant for breakfast. What a great place!! Fantastic food, hilarious waiting staff and great activities for the kids. The best is when you order a large coke they bring it out to you in like a litre mason jar, and I hear if you order a small you will get like a shot glass. They had a big table set up at the front of the restaurant where the kids can play with Lincon Logs, so Papa took them up there for a while. They stopped everything mid breakfast for a Pony Race. All the children in the restaurant all got up, picked out a wooden broom horse and raced around the periphery of the restaurant. Riley so looked up to her cousins and was always so excited to be doing what they are doing. Jon Owen pulled into an early lead, bets were high, so there was a bit of excitement on the home stretch. So cute.




While the big kids were off playing, the little ones had some snuggle time, before cuddling in for a little nap. And as promised, the lollipops came out.



When we arrived back at Animal Kingdom lodge there were plenty of things to do. Just as you enter into the lobby there are large bronze medalions on the floor where all of the children were squatting around making art rubbings, so Riley and Lauren joined in and made a few. Then it was down to the Boma Restaurant for cookie decorating, before going out to the daily activity - Animal Picture Frame decorating.
Riley was in her glory. She must have sat their for an entire hour colouring in every last milimetre of her jaguar frame. Emily worked on a hippo. Since it was raining, the resort opened up the arcade, free of charge, all the games you could play, so we spent a good chunk of time in there as well. It was a really great family day. By this point the cousins were completely bonded. They all shared so many special moments together. It was so nice to see how much they all loved each other. In the beginning Riley was attached to Lauren, then she had a special fondness for Jon Owen, racing in the hallway and playing with their toys in the living room. By the end she was getting all of the snuggles from Hudson. Emily was smitten by Hudson right from the beginning and that really did change any. My girls just wanted to hug and kiss him all of the time. The best was watching them at the end of the day, all lined up together on the couch watching their movies as content as could be. Enjoy the pictures of our fun day just hanging out.