epcot: touring the world part I

i did not intend to spend all of may blogging about disney, but the month has definitely gotten away from me! epcot was by far our most visited park on this trip. we spent practically a whole day visiting the countries, which was truly enjoyable. the kids received paper charms for their masks in each country, as well as a stamp on their masks. we had fun taking our time around the lake, peeking into little shops, soaking up the international culture (disney-style), and even meeting a few princesses along the way! we were also at epcot during the flower and garden festival, which meant that the park was filled with beautiful flowers and creative topiaries! i could not stop taking pictures of these botanical creations! (which will be obvious if you end up reading this whole post...)

so this is a long one... but it's so fun. hope you've got some comfy shoes... we're going on a walk!

francewe started in france in hopes to see sleeping beauty and belle again... and we did! we didn't mind waiting on the princesses in such beautiful surroundings....


i got a kick out of these perfume topiaries!


more topiaries... aren't these beautiful!? here's princess aurora dancing with prince philip.


belle and the beast


the kids loved these topiaries from beauty and the beast... but i don't know why they put lips on chip! he does not look right. :(


we passed up marie at first because sleeping beauty was coming out behind her.. but we came back around to show marie a little love.


i love these of caroline with belle and aurora...



moroccothe market shops in morocco were full of colorful gifts...





ethan and caroline had fun with these moroccan spinning drums.


i hope you don't get tired of these topiaries! i loved aladdin's magic carpet of flowers. :)


our main goal in morocco was to meet princess jasmine. brian and ethan perused the shops while caroline and i stood in line... and when jasmine and aladdin came out, i was so glad my 4 year old son (and husband!) were not there to see jasmine!! let's just say that i think we know what jasmine asked the genie for.


japan

when we arrived in japan, we discovered that it was "children's day"! the kids were invited to color a japanese flag and fish kite.


ethan was so proud of his flag. :)


the japanese store was huge!



the children were intrigued by watching their names be written in japanese.


ethan and caroline look pretty miserable outside the japanese gate with their names... they were! the sun was right in their eyes! :)


americait was good to go "home" to america for a little while! we were privileged to hear an a cappella group sing patriotic songs in the rotunda of the american adventure building. beautiful. absolutely beautiful. and can you believe that the fife and drum corp played and sang "God bless america"?! we were pleasantly surprised. we also enjoyed the american adventure show-- ethan recognized several of the famous americans, and caroline caught a quick nap at the end of the show.


some all-american disney topiaries



italythis was another beautiful country to visit!



the lady and the tramp topiary was one of my favorites. don't you just love lady's hair!?


we were so glad to find our frozen drink stand in italy. caroline ventured out this day and ordered strawberry instead of lemonade. :)


germanywhat says germany like a bunch of beer steins?! :) haha.


the kids loved playing soccer in the courtyard in germany. this was a great chance for them to just relax and play for a little while.


brian and ethan found this man blowing glass, and they were totally entertained watching him for awhile. in this picture, i think the man was frustrated because he broke one...


aren't these glass ornaments neat!? there were several little kids playing way too closely to them, and i was getting pretty nervous that one was about to break.


while the boys watched the glass blower man, caroline and i waited to see snow white.


no, not the grass snow white, the real one! :) well, the real fake one, right!?


as soon as snow white came out, her handler found an unattended cooler, which was a major security issue. (i had to joke, "you can't trust those dwarves... there's probably a conspiracy against snow white...") he moved our line across the way, and it was hilarious to watch 40 sets of parents and little girls try to stay in line while crossing the road. the handler got our line juuuust right, only to realize that snow white was standing directly in the sun. he knew that the pictures would not turn out, so he moved us again. we went back across the road and down a ways in front of.... the brewhouse! i had to laugh. caroline was next in line when we were moved this last time, and her tired legs were having trouble keeping up with snow white on the way to the brewhouse... so there was a sizeable gap between us and snow white. once snow white made her appearance in the courtyard of germany, all these mothers and girls started shrieking and wanted to see snow white. nevermind the dozens and dozens of people behind us! i'm afraid i had to be a little frank with one english family that was about to cut in front of us. but i was nice enough to show them where the back of the line was. :) well, after all this hoopla, i am happy to say that snow white was a great snow white. she had the voice and facial expressions down perfectly! she was our favorite princess to meet on this trip!

the kids also loved the miniature city and train set at germany... i have no idea why i have no pictures of that! :( after leaving germany, we stopped at the outpost for the kids to do a little drumming...


and i think the outpost is a good place to stop for tonite--we're halfway around the lake now! we'll pick back up with china tomorrow... go rest your legs.