Sammy & Ilna - "As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." – Winnie the Pooh. Love you both
REAL McRollers & Readers - Thank you for the AMAZING response to the Disney marathon.
Sharing the Magic
Kaitlyn sat between the kids, across from Steve and Catherine, waiting on Kamekona to bring out their food. She'd volunteered at the library that morning and since Steve and Catherine were taking the kids to the library, they offered to drive her home and stopped for dinner on the way.
She listened intently as DJ and Angie told her more about the Animal Kingdom. "And we got you the 'Love, Conserve, Protect' shirt cause it's got all the animals on it and you love animals more than anybody," DJ told her about the khaki, camp-style shirt with Disney's Animal Kingdom on the pocker and the words and images on the back. She'd immediately donned it over her tank top as soon as they gifted it to her.
"It's so perfect," she smiled brightly, "thank you all so much. It matches the hat from Uncle Danny, Aunt Gabby and Grace, and Grace got me a conservation station bracelet," she held out her wrist. "She told me the cost went to helping animals."
"It's perfect for you, beautiful and helping a great cause," Catherine said, sincerely.
"And thank you for Midnight's present, the Mickey shapes are so cute and you even found them in green," she said of the little plush cat toys she'd put in her backpack.
"We looked for ones in his favorite color," DJ said with a smile. "Even the stores there are cool. They have big, carved wooden animal statues in some of them."
"We seed all da animals, da gorillas, tigers, da baby giraffe… and all da elephants dey were so fun!" Angie clapped at the memory.
"It was awesome," DJ agreed. "The tour about the elephants was great. We got so close and we saw them have their lunch and when the vet tech lady gave them a bath she used a huge special broom," he held out his hands to demonstrate, "they love it cause it feels like they're scratching their backs. Show Kaitlyn the pictures, Mommy."
Catherine passed over her phone. "There's about five thousand in there," she chuckled.
"Grace is making a slideshow," DJ informed her as she scrolled. "With music."
"Wif DizzyWorld music!" Angie said as she leaned onto Kaitlyn's arm to watch her scroll. When she reached the animal photos, the four year old pointed out each elephant and smiled while explaining about them.
"And our tour lady was named Denise and she's from Zimbabwe! That's in Africa. She was so smart, she knew all about the elephants," DJ said
"How close did you get?" Kaitlin asked, her eyes bright with the thought of interacting with the pachyderms on the backstage tour.
"About 80 feet," Steve answered, and Angie nodded. "So close and dey's so pretty. The mommy elephant hugs the babies with her trunk!" She used an arm to demonstrate, hugging Kaitlyn.
"And the whole herd protects the babies," the smiling teen said.
"Yes! It's like a family of people, all the aunties come around and help and the grandma elephant's in charge." DJ told her.
"Animals are so smart," Kaitlyn agreed, "What else did you learn on the tour?"
"Animal Kingdom grows all these willow and banana plants, and special elephant grass right there and elephants can eat a thousand pounds a day!" He still looked as amazed as when the vet tech had told them at the park.
"Elephants like watermelon!" Angie added. "Daddy said Mommy ate all the watermelon before I got borned."
"That's right," Kaitlyn giggled. "Your shaower had all those great watermelon recipes."
Catherine grinned. "The elephants respond to a sound cue to go from the exhibit spaces to the night housing, so the caregivers maintain the exhibits and the animals are safe," she said. "All the animals are checked every day for health issues."
"They all have names, too," DJ said.
"Oh that's good, they should all have names and get special attention and nutritious food."
"Denise told us the elephants lift their feet up on a bench to get their nails checked every night, isn't that cool?"
"They find the watermelon and veggies in a game," Angie supplied, pointing to the image of an elephant drawing a melon from a pool of water.
"Melons and coconuts are in the pools and they hide vegetables to provide mental stimulation,' Steve clarified with a grin.
"That's so important, that the animals don't get bored because it makes them sad," Kaitlyn told the kids as she scrolled through the last of the elephant images. "I'm happy they're all so well cared for and that you got to see the elephants up close."
Kaitlyn kissed the little girl's head as she finished and passed the phone back to Catherine. "We had a lot of fun here with Grandma Ang."
"Thank you for the visits and calls," Catherine smiled. "She loved it all and we appreciate it, sweetheart."
"It really was fun, and Carrie and John are hysterical. She showed us that gift basket," she booped Angie's nose. "That was a big hit, I know."
"It was so good," DJ nodded. "We got in the room for dinner after the Magic Kingdom that night and there was this huge basket of all these desserts, right, Angie?"
"Dere were so many and all of dem were very yummy."
"I shouldn't have been surprised," Steve shrugged, "but that was a lot of dessert."
"All in shimmery blue tulle and ribbons with a note, "From your other fairy godmother and Uncle John, too," but I knew it was Carrie before I ever saw the tag,' Catherine smiled.
"Go big or go home, she said when she told us," Kaitlayn laughed. "How long did the five pound Mickey head rice krispie treat last?"
"Ten days because we rationed it," Steve smirked.
"Aunt Mary said if we ate all that we'd be flying around the room like Peter Pan from so much sugar," DJ laughed. I can't wait to see Aunt Carrie and Uncle John and give them the souvenirs we brought them.
"Shhh," Angie held up a finger. "It's a surprise."
Kaitlyn's grin morphed to a full on smile when Kamekona approached with their food. "You look awesome," she told him, eliciting his signature smile and gesture to his headwear after placing the food on the table.
"You wearin' you' Mickey ears, Kame!" Angie clapped.
"Of course, I am." He turned to show his name is gold thread. "I been gettin' compliments since you gave me them, kieki." He gestured to the cupcake truck. "An' Esther is wearing her Mary Poppins shirt."
"Awww, because she's the perfect nanny like Mary Poppins," Kaitlyn said. "It's so nice all the presents everyone brought back to share. And super generous."
DJ smiled as she gave him a one armed hug. "Know what Grandma said?" Kaitlyn shook her head and he continued, "Bringing souvenirs for our family and friends is sharing the magic."
#End. Thanks for reading!
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