Happy New Year! 2014 Edition

We gathered all of our bestest friends again this year for our annual New Year's Eve party to ring in 2014! We had friends and siblings coming in from hours away, and it is always so special to have everyone in one place. It's also a blast to see our friends from different parts of our lives starting to become friends themselves. Oh, and there were fun party hats. Can't forget about those.

Cheers to 2014!

Epcot and Magic Kingdom 2013

I absolutely LOVE going to Disney World around Christmas time. Their decorations, parades, music, etc. just make it extra special. My only complaint is that we never stay long enough to see everything! I always say that is the curse of knowing Disney so well. I know what I'm missing when we only stay three or four days.
Because of our time constraint, we spent about a half day at every park. Luckily, we scheduled our dinner reservations and park visits around the parks that were open the latest. We stayed in Epcot on Friday night until 1:00AM. Yep, we are serious about our Disney visits. :)

Jake and my favorite stop in Epcot is Morocco.
I just want to decorate our house with everything we see.

I would say Epcot is my favorite park, but I get the most excited about the Magic Kingdom. There is just something about Cinderella's Castle that makes me the ten year old version of myself that wants nothing more than to meet Ariel, ya know?

They thought they would be SOOO funny and dress the same.

Kels being a History teacher nerd and channeling her inner tea party rebel.

Ah, the castle at night during Christmas. Just like a big 'ol icicle. Magical.

Until next time, Disney!

Animal Kingdom 2013

Jake's favorite of all the Disney Parks is Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately, he came down with the flu to morning we were scheduled to go. :( However! He rallied in the afternoon and was able to take in most of his favorite attractions at the park.
A "must see" every year is Kilimanjaro Safari, which is a beautiful wild life preserve at the edge of the park. We were lucky enough that even the lions were out for us to see.
We ended the day at Tusker House for a great African buffet. We really liked the variety of food, and I could see us eating there during future visits. It ended up being a great day!