girls' weekend: animal kingdom

Day Two of our Girls' Weekend started bright and early at Animal Kingdom!  We arrived almost an hour before Extra Magic Hours started and joined hordes of people (presumably to run to Flight of Passage) in line.  We were let in half an hour early in order to check in for our Pre-Park Opening breakfast (well, it was PPO before EMH was added!).  We stopped to admire the Tree of Life and Harambe Market on our way into the park.

We were the first table of the day seated at Tusker House!  The buffet area is set up like an open-air African market and the attention to detail is exquisite.  The hostess explained the different areas of the buffet (cereals, pastries, frittatas, Mickey waffles, carving station, etc) before taking us to our table.

Tusker House is a character meal and we got to hang out with Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Daisy over the course of our breakfast, and the food was fabulous, too!!  We'll definitely be adding Tusker House to our regular rotation of Disney dining.

After breakfast, we were within our FP+ window for Kilimanjaro Safari, so we headed that way.  Both of us have done this ride many times but agreed that our safari driver, Roberto, was one of the best and it was an awesome experience!!  We saw Augustus, the baby hippo AND Stella, the baby elephant!!

The giraffes were hanging out right by the road today!

We spent the afternoon exploring Animal Kingdom (and seeing Abigail at Dinosaur!) before ending up in Pandora for a late lunch at Satu'li Canteen and a ride on Flight of Passage-- so thankful we could book 60 days out because the line was LONG!  Such a fun day at Animal Kingdom!

girls' weekend: epcot

The daughter of one of our great friends from church is working at Walt Disney World as part of the College Program this spring so her mom and went down for the weekend to see her and enjoy the parks sans kids!  We stayed at Shades of Green in order to get the on-property perks-- like booking FP+ 60 days out!  After checking in at the hotel, we headed to EPCOT, took advantage of the Passholder line, and were reunited with Abigail!

We made our way around the Flower and Garden food booths for a late lunch: Fried Cauliflower from Taste of Marrakesh, Cold Brew coffee from Joffrey's, and the Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer and the Tropical Freeze from La Isla Fresca

Flower and Garden Festival is such a great time to be at EPCOT with all of the beautiful topiaries!

- Test Track fun -

We booked a last-minute 8pm reservation for Tokyo Dining and when we got there, we requested a window table so that we could watch Illuminations at 9pm.  We were seated one row back from the window (there are very few actual window tables) and had a phenomenal view of the show!

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spring at carowinds

We love having season passes to Carowinds since it means that we can go often-- especially in the spring and fall when the weather is nice!

Everyone's favorite ride in Camp Snoopy: Pig Pen's Mud Buggies!

FINALLY a coaster that Ellie is tall enough to ride!

- the horsies -

Lexie wanted to go on this headache inducing ride over and over and over, and went until she ran out of people to ride with.

- the Albaeck sweethearts -

On our way home from Carowinds, we stopped at Ninety's to try their over-the-top milkshakes-- and they were delicious!!

spring break mini vacay: cape fear cruisin' and one tree hill

On the last day of our mini vacay, we walked down the Wilmington Riverwalk from our hotel towards downtown, stopping to look at both the US Coast Guard Cutter Diligence VI and the Battleship USS North Carolina.

- the Albaeck sweethearts and the Cape Fear River -

As diehard One Tree Hill fans (the adults, not the kids!), we made sure to check out the "Naley" bench at the Riverwalk.

We did a river cruise aboard the Capt. J. N. Maffitt and learned about the history of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River as well as their importance today.

Continuing through Wilmington on food, we had a delicious lunch at Beer Barrio before heading back to the hotel to pick up the van.

On our way out of town we did a quick One Tree Hill driving tour.

Top: Clothes Over Bros storefront, Peyton Sawyer's house, Brooke Davis' house

Bottom: Lucas Scott's house, Haley James' house

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spring break mini vacay: kure, carolina and wrightsville beaches

We started the day at the NC Aquarium- Fort Fisher, about a half hour south of our hotel in Wilmington.

The kids love checking out the alligator exhibit-- especially seeing Luna, the albino alligator!

Fun at the aquarium!

We walked around outside the aquarium for a bit-- the kids thought the giant frogs were fun to "ride" and we spotted a family of seven (!!) turtles on a log.

On our way back north, we stopped at Carolina Beach for donuts from the legendary Britt's Donut Shop-- we actually planned out our days according to the Britt's opening schedule so that we could make sure to have their delicious, hot from the fryer donuts!  And they did not disappoint-- so make sure to go if you're ever in CB!!  And since we were there, we stopped at the Fudgeboat for some fudge to go!

- We spent the afternoon playing at Wrightsville Beach -

- Sweet Ellie -

Nick found a little crab and he and Ellie had a blast playing with it for awhile.

These kids could spend hours at the beach-- and they did!  They played and played and played... until it got too windy and cold and we headed back to Wilmington for dinner (pizza!) and bed.

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spring break mini vacay: hockey and easter

Thanks to the generosity of WWP, we were able to attend a Carolina Hurricanes game in Raleigh!  Since the game was a couple of hours away and ended late at night, we opted to stay in a hotel nearby for the night.

Which meant that we celebrated Easter in a hotel room-- a first for us!!  Luckily, the Easter Bunny knew where to find us and the kids woke up to full Easter baskets and eggs to hunt for.

- Checking out their baskets -

Looking for Easter eggs!

Since we were staying in the Raleigh area, we attended the Easter service at the beautiful Duke University Chapel.

How we kept Ellie entertained before church!

We stopped for a quick lunch at Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ on our way to the BEACH!

- the Albaeck sweethearts -

We spent Easter evening wandering around Wrightsville Beach and wrapped it up with a delicious dinner at Tower 7.

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carowinds opening weekend

After taking a year off, we got season passes to Carowinds again this year, and everyone was excited to go for opening weekend.  We saw Snoopy and stopped for a quick picture and then made a beeline for Panda Express for lunch-- the kids really missed it!

So excited to see Snoopy!!

The kids area was completely transformed into Camp Snoopy and opened this year with six new rides!  We braved the cold (it was only about 40º outside!) and enjoyed a nearly empty Camp Snoopy which allowed the kids to ride things over and over and over!

The Flying Ace Balloon Race has always been one of Ellie's favorite rides!

The park was so empty that Ellie had a private ride on Charlie Brown's Wind Up!

Beagle Scout Acres was a new addition this year and the kids (big and little!) absolutely loved it!  They ran around exploring while the adults relaxed-- too bad there's not a Starbucks nearby!!

Another new addition, PigPen's Mud Buggies, turned into the favorite new ride of the day and the kids rode it many times!

Ellie wanted to go on the Kite Eating Tree and convinced the big kids to ride with her!

We love Camp Snoopy!!

- PEANUTS Trailblazers -

Since the big kids were such good sports in Camp Snoopy, we waited while they rode Afterburn nearly ten times in a row!

As a special treat (for using the potty at Carowinds!), Ellie got her face painted.  She sat patiently while the guy took his time getting it just right for her and she was so excited to see the finished result!

- Ellie (4) and Lexie (10) -

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