Memorial Day Weekend at Walt Disney World

Taking advantage of our Florida resident status, we headed up to Orlando once again to have some fun at Walt Disney World. It rained on and off that day but it was worth it! Here is Samantha--ready to start the day with Mickey Mouse's countdown to the opening of the Magic Kingdom.







"It's a small world after all...." Samantha went on this one at least 4 times that day. She probably wishes she could join those children!



Samantha's 1st driving lesson.



Finally, we were able to meet Mickey and Minnie on this trip!



We stayed at one of the Walt Disney World Resort Hotels this time and saved some gas by riding the shuttle to the theme parks. Here we are returning to the Magic Kingdom after our nap! Napping is good. We're happy!



A dinner buffet at the Crystal Palace..."Buffet with character." We met Pooh and his friends here.









Samantha loves the riding the carousel...



This flying Dumbo ride is also among her favorites.



We spent the next day at Animal Kingdom. This is the "Tree of Life"--the center of the park. Can you see the animals carvings in the tree?



This time, Samantha is giving the driving lesson.


In the background there is the Expedition Everest mountain roller coaster that Daddy got to ride twice!



Check out the Komodo dragon!



This was right before the 3D show, "It's tough being a bug" starring Flik from "Bug's Life." Note to self: when the program says, "Some scenes may be frightening for young children" then maybe we should ride the carousel again. (It was definitely a little scary for Samantha)....



Luckily, she forgot all about it because we were able to meet some more Disney friends....




....and get good seats for the parade.





Samantha called this ride "dinosaur Dumbo." I guess Disney ran out of ideas for rides....but anyway, Samantha enjoyed this one (three times!).



Just like Diego, Samantha is sporting binoculars....the perfect souvenir for her from Animal Kingdom.





Breakfast with Minnie and friends....





Downtown Disney...outside the Legoland store.

A Very Happy Mother's Day

May has been a fun month with some more visitors. Only two more months till the big move to Maryland though so we're trying to get in as much Miami fun as possible.

Here we are, ready for another fun weekend...I forget where we went that day...





There was an International festival on the "Art of Storytelling" at the Miami Main Public Library so Samantha met a few "friends" here and saw some shows (including Taiko drummers, different kinds of dances, a puppet show featuring 9-feet tall puppets--sorry no pictures of those).





We thought this was cute...here is Samantha just chillin', watching TV (look at her legs crossed like a "grown-up"), and eating her rice cake.





Cau Jr visited us this month so we came to pick him from the Mandarin Oriental hotel after his High Leverage Finance conference (my translation--"big money conference"). He caught a glimpse of Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer while we were in the lobby but Samantha and I were in the restroom so we missed the celebrity sighting. Serves us right for potty training her early....just kidding!





This Mother's Day was extra special for me because it was also my birthday. Good for Michael--one gift for two occasions eh? We were lucky to have Nai Nai join us for that week too!