Have I mentioned our trip to Disney?

I have? Oh. Well, this will be my last post about it. Promise. I just had so darned much fun.

First, the food. Oh, the food! (It's weird that the first thing I'm mentioning is food, isn't it?) I think I told you in my first Disney blog about all our desserts. Let's just say it's a good thing we had to do so much, so VERY much, walking.

One of my favorite meals was at the restaurant Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. What's cool about this place is that there are giraffes and zebras and wildebeests and many other animals that come right up to the lodge. When the kids got bored waiting for our food, we just went outside and looked at the animals.
And here's the good thing about your 10-year-old being considered an 'adult' by the money-grubbing Disney machine: he gets to order off of the adult menu. Which is cool if your 10-year-old is an adventurous eater. Which mine happens to be. So he will have a big smile on his face when his entree of Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce, Beef Short Ribs, and Five-Grain Pilaf arrives at the table.I enjoyed the Grilled Pork Chop glazed with Ginger and Pickled Lime Sauce served with Warm Potato and Spinach Salad.I also relished my dessert of Orange-Sesame Cake with Passion Fruit Kulfi. Mmm-mmm!And that is why food is up high on my list of highlights. It could have been so much worse. (Anyone eaten at Sea World?)

Now, on to the fun stuff! If one day you find yourself and your brood at Disney's Hollywood Studios and you notice 3 men dressed up like the green (and I mean GREEN) army men from Toy Story furtively moving about the place, follow them. You won't be sorry. My husband spied them as we were leaving our encounter with Prince Caspian (of Narnia), and thankfully he followed them. When they began 'recruiting' kids, we shoved our boy front and center. (The girl would have none of that, to be sure.) We have snippets of their schtick on video, but I wish I had the whole thing. Hysterical!

If your kid is into Star Wars, then definitely do the Star Wars: Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios. It is great fun for the kids and grown-ups alike. Kids get trained in the Jedi arts (or, mainly, the art of fighting with a plastic lightsaber) and even get to battle Darth Vader (or Darth Maul) one-on-one. Be warned, though - if your kid scares easy, this might not be for him/her. One little tyke had to be escorted off the stage and another girl was in tears while fighting Darth Maul (that guy was scary! He completely stayed in character). Looking back, I'm glad my daughter bailed out before the thing even started. I thought my 10-year-old was a tad too old for this make-believe, but he totally got into it. And at the end of the show, each kid gets a certificate. Very cool!

The other thing we really enjoyed doing together (also at Hollywood Studios) was a 'class' where you could learn to draw Disney characters. If your kids like to draw, this is a definite stop for you. We loved it! And you get to bring home your handiwork as a keepsake. You never know what character you will get to draw. We did it twice and got to draw Goofy and Donald Duck.At the end, our "teacher" asked if anyone wanted to share their pictures with the whole class. My son raised his hand and she displayed his Donald Duck on the big screen up front. She then asked if anyone else wanted to share. This is when my occasionally timid daughter shot up her hand, and in the picture below she can be seen rising from her seat, sketch in hand, steely determination written on her Minnie-Mouse-ears-framed face, making sure her picture would be chosen for all to see.
And it was. I told you she was awesome.