Happy Birthday Todd!

We had a busy weekend since it was both Todd's birthday and Memorial Day weekend. Friday night we went to a Clippers game to celebrate Todd's birthday. They handed out baseballs to the kids and Doug and Greg were so happy.

The boys are getting better about watching games - and by better I mean they were able to sit for the first 3 innings. Then I took the boys to "wander around" so Todd can watch the game. They are big fans of inflatable jumping things.
Saturday (Todd's actual b-day) Doug & Todd had a t-ball game, which was fun. Then we decided to head down to IKEA for some furniture for our den. We wanted to get it organized by the time school starts in the fall. (It will take us all summer). The boys grew weary of the shopping. At one point Doug looked at me and said "mommy, is shopping boring to you?". Nope. Here they are early on in the shopping testing out a couch we had no intention of buying.
Sunday after church and naps we headed to the pool (it was hot!). Then today was the parade, which Doug & Todd were in, and Greg & I went to show our support and to catch candy. We've all been enjoying the candy. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Greg!

The night before Greg's birthday, he said to me "I'm going to be 3 and you can't believe it". True enough, but maybe I say that too much. Anyway, we celebrated Greg's 3rd birthday and this year he was very excited about having a day where he was the one opening presents. (His birthday comes after his brother and cousin in the calendar year and he was ready for his turn). So early that morning we opened a few presents. If you're around us much, bet you're shocked he got one of these:

But we had to keep moving because he shared his big day with his brother's first t-ball game of the season, and since Dad is head coach, they had to be there early. It was very fun to watch them play and Todd did a great job as coach. Greg didn't mind going to the game since Gma and Gpa N were there too! And Greg will be playing t-ball too - his games start in a couple weeks.
Then back to the house for the arrival of Gma and Gpa H, a backyard ball game and some lunch. Naps were an absolute must for both boys (very little argument from them - they were tired!) As soon as they woke up, Andy, Barbara, Charlie and baby Mark arrived. So Greg got to open presents, we played, had a candy hunt in the backyard, ate, worked on a foam finger craft and played some more. It was a very fun day and we were so thankful the weather was nice and we could play outside. Greg, how old are you?
Happy Birthday Greg!

Last Day

We began our last day with another character breakfast. We were pros at the buffets and seeing the characters by this point.

Then we headed back to MK. The Buzz costumes we bought the day before ran small, so we needed to make an exchange, and Todd wisely suggested we go do that first. So we headed back to tomorrowland and went to the stand where we bought the costumes. They were very nice about it and let us get a bigger size. But they did not have Todd's size in the shirt he wanted, but thought one of the stores on main street would. We decided to check on our way to the hotel at nap time. So we re-rode some of our favorite rides and then headed to ToonTown, where Greg rode his very first rollercoaster (a kiddie one). They both liked it, in fact Doug rode it twice. Then we explored Minnie and Mickey's houses, Chip & Dales playground and spent a good bit of time at Donald's boat.

They really liked this area, and while we were there it wasn't super busy, which was nice. They decided NOT to wait in line to see either princesses or fairies, but rather spent more time playing. We all thought that was a good choice. Then we were on to the Snow White ride. Back in the day, this scared their Aunt Susan, so we weren't exactly sure what they would think, but turns out they weren't scared at all.

Then we headed to the castle to grab a spot for the Mickey Storytime, and found out we were just in time for the parade! Todd went to get some lunch, and the boys and I stayed and watched the parade - and joined the party when they asked us to come on the street and dance. We conga-ed and shook our tail-feathers and had a blast. In all this craziness too, one of the handlers help lead Chip (he was the character in our section) over to a boy in a wheelchair (with probable CP) and NO one else tried to weasel in on that moment. It was a welcome sign because so much of the time that place is full of people who don't seem to care much about making the experience better for each other. But in that moment, all of us in the "Chip section" cared about making that experience all about that little boy.

Then we headed to look for that shirt for Todd. No luck at the store. Now he was really starting to wish he had just bought it at HS when he first saw it. So we came up with the plan that he would ask if our hotel could just have one sent over (no) so the next plan was for him to ride the bus back and go get it. So I put the boys down for naps, and he went and got his shirt.

The boys were still sleeping when he got back and so I went and hung out on the pool until they woke up, and then they joined me. After swimming a while, we headed back to MK. We explored a section we hadn't been in yet, and rode the Pirate ride, which rather than scaring them, gave them a bit of a bug for pirate gear. They used some of their money to get a few pirate items, and I even snagged a funny hat to wear when we play pirates.

Our final event was the fireworks show, which we enjoyed, although the boys think the "boom booms" (as G calls them) are a little loud.

Day 4

After all the bus and monorail riding, we were so happy to be able to walk to the Magic Kingdom. It was not a far walk at all, and much faster than riding the transportation system. And even though Doug hated being in the stroller, it made us glad we had it. (We did tell him that was the last stroller he had to ride in).

This was probably the most chaotic morning we had at Disney. We headed over to grab fastpasses and ride the very popular kid rides and whew - it was busy. We did manage to ride a number of rides and see a few characters (including Peter Pan!) and then headed over for our lunch reservations with a certain friend:
As we were trying to make our way across the park to get to our lunch spot, we had our first run-in with the very loud, very colorful parade. We had to keep moving so we didn't get to see much at this point, just had our first experience with the "song". Think really loud party/cheerleading music. I loved it and danced along. Todd just made fun of it (but even I had to admit it was a little loud). After our fun (and very yummy) lunch we headed back into the madness to ride the Pooh ride (very cute - one of their favorites) and then went on a massive quest for costumes (something both boys really wanted). We could not find boy costumes other than pirate stuff, and at this point they didn't want that. So we ended up getting them those ear hats for now, and said we would keep looking. We started back for the hotel for naps, but I stopped in a store to get the ear hats monogrammed and what do you know - it was the parade again. This time Doug wanted to watch it:
But Greg had fallen asleep in the stroller, so he didn't see this round. We then walked back and by the time we made it back Greg was awake, so we headed to the pool. Todd and I also reviewed our guidebook and found a good dinner spot, so we loaded the boys back in the stroller and walked back to the park. This time we headed to tomorrowland and hit the jackpot in terms of things our boys like. We rode the buzz lightyear ride (they loved it) the car ride (Greg laughed so hard) and found Buzz Lightyear costumes. We also saw a t-shirt Todd wanted, but they didn't have his size (more on that later). So it was a very successful first day at MK and we still had one more day to go....

Day 3

I just love this picture. The boys really loved all the "daddy time". Here we're headed to Animal Kingdom, without the stroller. We were curious how they would do without it (and didn't want to deal with it on the bus).

We had breakfast with some characters on safari then headed over for our own safari through the land of Africa. It was a large jeep-type bus that went over bumps and through water in search of (real) animals. The driver also had a story line about poachers trying to get a baby elephant and they might need our help. At the end of the ride he tells us he needs to speed up and "skip the rest of the safari" to help catch the poachers. We then see the (not real) baby elephant rescued and are thanked for saving the day. I cannot tell you how much Doug got into this story. He asked me about it the rest of the day. He still thinks we helped rescue an elephant. Then we went to get more character autographs and had fun meeting some of them in a low-key, not super crowded area. Then on to the Lion King show, which we all enjoyed. After lunch we made it over to the dinosaur area and played for a long time at the slides and boneyard (like a large sandbox) where they could dig for dinosaur bones. Greg wanted to ride a dinosaur version of dumbo so he and I headed over there, and Todd stayed with Doug who wanted to keep digging.
Then back to the hotel for naps, and some swimming. After swimming and their first experience in a hot tub, we headed over to EPCOT to ride Spaceship Earth and watch Illuminations. Here they are playing a game after our ride.

The Rest of Day 2

We made our way via the bus system to see the "big golf ball" as Greg calls it. We headed over to Soarin' - the very popular newer ride (so popular all the fastpasses were gone). It has a height restriction, and Greg wasn't quite tall enough. So Doug and Todd got in line for Soarin and Greg & I headed over to ride a different ride. Then Greg & I got a snack, and I tried to convince G to fall asleep in the stroller. He was worried he would miss Nemo but I promised him we would not ride it until he woke up. I pushed the stroller around the fountains a few times, and he was out. Doug & Todd got off the ride shortly after that and had a blast on Soarin.

Since Greg was asleep and Doug was still going strong, we headed over to get a fastpass for Test Track (another ride Greg was too small for), got Doug a popsicle and then we walked the whole way around the lake to check out all the countries. Doug liked the pit stop in Germany where he got a huge pretzel (and he ate the whole thing). We didn't spend a ton of time looking in the buildings, mostly we just wandered around and kept an eye out for characters (we spotted Alice in Wonderland and heard rumors of Belle and Jasmine coming, but Doug decided not to wait in line for them). Then we headed back over to Test Track and Doug played in the fountains until it was time to ride. About this time Greg woke up and played in the fountains while T&D went on the ride. Then, as promised, we headed over to Nemo which was a very fun ride that both boys really liked. And then we went in for Turtle Talk with Crush. Very, very cute show (Crush is a turtle from Finding Nemo and he is computer animated in some way that he can interact with the audience). They let small children sit on the floor up front, but both Doug and Greg wanted to sit with us. We lucked out and snagged a spot in the front row anyway, so they could both see very well. And then Crush comes out and talks for a bit and really is funny, and then he takes questions from the audience. And guess who raises his hand....yep. Doug. I quietly said to him - Crush might not be able to see you since you're not on the floor (as a gentle way to help him deal with not being picked) and don't you know he was on the floor so fast, with his arm still raised. Can you believe that Crush called on the boy in the back with the white shirt on? Here's what I can remember of the conversation:

Crush: What is your name?

Doug: Doug (quietly)

Crush: I'm sorry, what was it?

Doug: DOUG

Crush: right Doug, sorry dude, I need to clean out my ears or something. what's your question for me?

Doug: Where are your kids?

Crush: oh you know, at school or at camp, they're out doing their thing. Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Doug: a brother

Crush: is he older or younger

Doug: younger

Crush: you have to be sure to take care of him if you're the older brother

Doug nodded

And he was soooo happy he got to talk to Crush.

Then we had a very nice seafood dinner and decided we were all ready to head back to the hotel. We got to ride the monorail, which we were all very excited about. The boys because it was the monorail and Todd & I because it wasn't a bus.

Day 2 Part 1

Before we had kids and did some traveling, Todd & I joked that we could explore nonstop and sleep when we got home. If you'd like to hear our most impressive example, we'll tell you about the time we explored all of Paris and Versailles in 3 days. So I had big plans for how we were going to see all 4 parks at Disney in 4 1/2 days. And it required a marathon day on Tuesday. The boys were all for it. We got up early for breakfast with some Playhouse Disney characters, which was easily our favorite character meal. It wasn't busy, the characters danced with the kids, and it was our first time eating mickey mouse waffles. Here's Leo when he came to see us:

Then we spent time getting character signatures for the boys' autograph books and rode one of our favorite rides (Toy Story Mania). Then we explored the park a little and made our way to some very special friends. I wish we had video of this instead of just still pictures because the boys wouldn't smile because they were too busy making the car sounds with McQueen. Vrrrooom:
After lunch we got a chance to see some of our very favorite friends:
The boys each had some money they could spend, and they made their first purchase (Doug got a stuffed pluto and Greg got a Buzz phone). We reviewed the map and made sure we did everything we were interested in doing and then headed back to the buses to ride to our next adventure.....

Day 1 Recap

We're home and we had so much fun. I have to give each day it's own post because we did so much - we really went nonstop. So day 1 we began our adventure at the airport, which the boys were very excited about. In fact, they loved the shuttle ride from the parking lot to the airport (no seat belts). And they loved having their own suitcases:

We then had a nice flight to FL, rode the bus to our hotel, and then hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studios. We saw our first character....Handy Manny:
Then Doug wanted to watch the Playhouse Disney show, and we were lucky enough to find a spot right as it was starting. Doug liked to remind us that it was his idea. After dinner, we all learned how to draw Mickey, which was very fun and Doug was so cute when he went up to the teacher and asked if his looked like Mickey (of course, the teacher said it did!). Greg had fun scribbling. We were all tired, so we headed back to the hotel. We were very happy with our hotel. Greg especially liked the very large sinks:

to be continued...

Mascot Chase 2010

Today was the mascot chase (for Doug and Greg) and the 1/2 marathon (me). The mascot chase is so much fun and the boys loved it. Last year Greg was a little scared of the mascots, but this year he liked giving them high 5's. It was warm and not raining for the kid's run. Here the boys chat with Iggy the Eagle:

And Doug gives the Polar Bear from the zoo a big hug. He was very excited about the polar bear because "he was really soft"
And Brutus was there! I love this one of Greg - he is really in awe of Brutus!
The only snag (for me) this year, was they moved the kids run to farther away from the starting line of the 1/2. So as soon as they boys were done running, I had to hustle over to line up. But I made it with a few minutes to spare. It started raining around mile 4 (I think) and drizzled or was a light rain the rest of the run. It was okay though because it was warm. The kids thought it was great that I actually would dump water on myself even in the rain.