Christmas with Frank, Joyce, Laura & the Boys

We spent Christmas Day with Frank, Joyce, Laura, Aron and Austin.

Joyce always make sure no one goes home hungry or presentless.

Aron and Austin took awhile opening their mountain of gifts.

For a few more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Disney's Hollywood Studios & Osborne Family Lights

It was a chilly morning as we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios with Trina and Delbert.

Each American Idol Experience pits three contestants against each other for a chance to appear in the daily finals.

Each contestant gets pointers following their performance just like on the real show.

The daily winners of The American Idol Experience receive a "Golden Ticket" which entitles them to move to the front of the line at auditions around the country.

Next up was the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom stunt show.

The water tower at Disney's Hollywood Studios is cleverly disguised as a mouse.

On the Backstage Tour, visitors get to see props from many famous movies and the plane Walt Disney flew in to scout out the land for Walt Disney World.

Trina and Delbert enjoyed their turn at Aerosmith's Rock n Roller Coaster.

The Wicked Witch of the West proclaims her warning "I'll get you, my pretty...and your little dog too!"

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights first came to Disney's Hollywood Studios in 1995.

After a brief absence in 2005, the lights took over The Streets of America in 2006.

The display includes over four million individual lights.

Frosty looks on from the safety of his telephone booth.

Snow flutters down to the ground as music fills the air.

The Osborne Lights can be viewed annually from the second week of November until just after the New Year.

Catch the lights in action in this video.
For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Myakka River State Park, Sarasota, Florida

Today we visited Myakka River State Park near Sarasota, Florida.

The Boylston Nature Trail leads followers to Myakka's Canopy Walkway.

The trail is an easy 40 minutes roundtrip.

The canopy tower rises about 80 feet above the forest floor. Be prepared for a climb.

If you have vertigo, don't look down.

A canopy walkway is a bridge between and in the canopy of a forest. It provides a view of the goings on in the trees' upper reaches.

Only three people were allowed on this walkway at a time.

Climbing further up the tower, we could see the walkway below.
We were also rewarded with a panoramic view of the rest of Myakka River State Park.

This sign shows just how rare canopy walkways are worldwide.
Next it was time for a Myakka Wildlife Tour on the longest air boat in the world, according to our captain.

Marlon holds up the line of passengers for his picture.
The new gift shop was built on stilts after the previous building was flooded in recent history.
This bird has to spread its wing to dry them in order to be able to fly.
What are you looking at?

Come on over and have a bite.

After the tour it was time for some lunch.

Marlon always likes lunch.

Our friend decided Doritos are the bomb.

Always savor your cookies.

Looking for the leftovers.

The boardwalk to Myakka's Birdwalk.

On the way home, we stopped at a beachside park and watched some parasailing.

This park had a whole slew of squirrels who were VERY accustomed to being fed by their fellow humans.

We scoured the beach for seashells by the sea shore.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...

Magic Kingdom's Electrical Parade

Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade ended its run at California Adventure in April 2010 and moved here to Florida, where it is currently in an "open ended" run.

The Electrical Parade has run off and on at Disneyland since 1972.

Cinderella's coach has not yet turned into a pumpkin!

Watch out for Captain Hook!

Pete's Dragon, Elliott, disappears and reappears during the parade.

Here's a short video of the parade.

Since 2003, the Magic Kingdom has featured the fireworks show, Wishes.

Here a few pictures.




Cinderella's Castle changes colors all night for Christmas. Here it is decked out in blue lights...

and icicles too.

Main Street was hopping.

For more pictures, click here .

To be continued...