DisneyWorld

Two weeks before Christmas the four of us packed up and drove to Orlando for our first family vacation to DisneyWorld. We were gone five nights and enjoyed every, well, almost every, minute of it. Considering all we did in a short period of time the boys did amazingly well which made for a great vacation. We headed out on Friday afternoon, stopped for lunch and dinner and made it to our condo around 10pm I think. On Saturday morning we hung out at the condo, played on the playground, ate lunch and napped. We discovered what a climber Joshua can be at the playground-only 11 months old and already has no fear.
When we got up we headed out to Magic Kingdom. Nicholas was very excited to see Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. That's all he talked about for the longest time. We headed straight to the back of the park where we rode on Dumbo, Pluto's roller coaster and met up with Minnie and Mickey Mouse. Nicholas really wanted to see them, but once we got in to take our pictures he got all shy and wouldn't go near them. When he did he had his head held down and wouldn't even smile. We ended up getting in the picture with him and did catch a smile, but it was just funny the way he was acting. He then didn't want to leave. Strange boy.

Sunday we headed to Animal Kingdom. We walked through the jungle, took a safari ride and watched the Nemo show. The kids loved it all and us too. It was so much fun to see the excitement and amazement on their faces. Joshua even clapped during the show once we got him settled down in our laps that is. Nicholas was excited to see Dory, Nemo and Marlin and enjoyed seeing live animals. His favorite was the hippos, although we caught him sleeping. Oh well.

After naps and dinner we went to Downtown Disney. We got some dessert from the Ghiradelli store and Nicholas rode on the train and carousel a few times. We then headed to the Lego store where Burt and Nicholas built a car to race and Joshua crawled around trying to find the smallest pieces he could of course. I was able to divert him to the larger pieces though which was good. He was just happy to be out of the stroller moving about I think.

Monday we headed back to Magic Kingdom. We rode some of the same rides and some new ones. Burt and Nicholas headed to the cars and tea cups while Joshua ate his breakfast. Then we went to see Minnie and Mickey again. The boys still weren't interested in taking pictures really. We tried though. We rode some more rides, ate lunch and then went to take naps.
After naps we returned to Magic Kingdom and headed to the other side of the park where Nicholas danced to some music in the tiki pole thingies (he would have stayed their forever too), rode the Jungle Ride, Its a Small World (both boys loved it, although Burt didn't want to go, but how can you not?), and something else I can't remember now. Then we went to have dinner where we found a place with cool music and not a lot of people so we were able to enjoy our meal while the boys ran around the tables near us. It was very relaxing. Then we headed outside to watch the fireworks. Everyone enjoyed watching them. It was a long evening, but well worth it. We all konked out once we got back to our condo.
Tuesday morning it was very warm in Florida, go figure. We decided we would head to the pool and spend the morning playing in the water and going around the lazy river. It was so much fun and felt like a real vacation at that point. The boys loved being outside in the pool and we enjoyed ourselves too. It definitely wore them out that's for sure.
After we ate lunch they went down for naps and when we tried to get them up to go to MGM for the evening they were so passed out we could hardly wake them up. In hindsight we should have let them sleep more and just hung out at the pool again, but we got them up and headed to MGM.

We visited Disney's Playhouse which the boys loved. It is interactive which is great. They both really got into it. We also watched the 3-D Kermit Show and saw the musical Christmas light show, plus saw Mater and Lightening McQueen. Nicholas played with the "big scary robot" outside of Star Wars and they almost made it on that ride, but he just missed being tall enough. It was a short evening, but we made the most of it. We headed home and got ready to leave the next day.
The ride home went a little smoother since we left earlier and only had to stop for lunch and a short potty break. We made it home in time for dinner which was nice. The vacation was so much fun. Nicholas probably had the most fun riding on the train, bus and tram. Everytime we saw them he got all excited and never wanted to get off once we were on. And the only souvenier he wanted was a big lollipop. That was fine by us, although we did buy him a shirt too. Oh to be a child again. Joshua enjoyed himself too, as far as we could tell and Burt and I had a great time hanging out as a family for a week. Hopefully we will be able to do it again soon. It was definitely well worth the trip. DisneyWorld is fun for anyone at any age.

It was one of those evenings....

when you want to go look outside to see if it is a full moon. One crazy thing after another happened this evening that made me wonder if someone was watching me.

First, Nicholas was scaling the living room window and somehow broke off our safety attachment for the blind cords. Not a huge deal really, but that was just the beginning.

When I was making dinner Burt arrived home with some groceries. He had opened the pantry door and when he returned he found Joshua sitting on the floor with a sleeve of crackers, eating like a mad man. You would have thought he was starving.

After dinner we had a little reprieve until bathtime. As I was filling the tub up Joshua walked in ready as always. I started undressing him and by the time I was getting to his diaper he was trying to climb in himself. I stopped him, but then for one brief instant he ended up getting through my hands and was heading over the side head first. Thankfully I caught him before he hit the water, but I about had a heart attack. This action prompted Burt to move the crib to the lowest level. He certainly is our little daredevil and climber. Oh, I forgot to mention that before he got into the tub he peed on the carpet since I had to actually change his diaper since he had a surprise in it for me when I took it off. Nice.

Once the boys got out of the tub they both ran into the living room. As I was drying off Joshua I looked over for a second and saw that Nicholas had peed on the carpet, however, what was more disturbing is what I saw when I looked over at him. He was actually holding on and peeing on the tv cabinet. I have never seen him do this and I was in shock I think. Burt ran in after I yelled at him to stop. When I told him what he was doing he had to hold back his laughter when telling Nicholas that is not okay. Boys, goodness gracious. I am sure this is only the beginning of interesting things that will be happening. What a night is all I have to say.

Joshua's Bday Party

Saturday we held a small party for Joshua with our best friends the Hemphill's and our friends the Fureigh's. Brandon and Brittny made a special trip up with their kids which meant a lot to us. It was so much fun to have all the kids play together, a little loud at times, but fun nonetheless.

While the pizza was cooking the kids played outside for a little bit. Joshua tried his hand at swinging a bat while trying to walk. This didn't work out too well for him, but he didn't mind. We then ate lunch. Rylie wasn't too sure about sitting with the boys, but she hung in there.

Then came the cake. Joshua just stared at the cake while we sang. He wasn't sure what to think. When we placed the cake in front of him he stuck his hands in it and just kept kneading it. He had no desire to try it so Burt and I gave him a little taste. He still didn't care much about eating it, but he finally did and eventually got it all over him. Isn't that the fun of a smash cake, first birthday!?!? I think so anyway. He would have been just as happy playing in it all day long I think. Nicholas was quite the opposite. He could have eaten the whole cake if we let him.

After cake we gave Joshua a quick bath while the kids played and I cleaned up a little bit. We then opened presents. All the kids wanted to help Joshua of course. We tried our best to keep them back, but that didn't work out too well. At least he did get to rip parts of it. After all that excitement it was time for naps! We said goodbye to the Fureigh's and then put the rest of the kids down.

Brandon, Brittny, Burt and myself played a little Wii, relaxed and just caught up a bit without kids interupting us which was nice. Once the kids got up the guys took the boys outside for a scooter/bike ride and us girls hung out inside with the little ones.

Sophie trying to give Joshua a kiss.

Why don't we just hold hands?

After dinner we introduced the Hemphill's to "pillow island". Everyone seemed to enjoy this invention.

Then we watched the kids open their Christmas gifts, gave them baths and then said goodnight to our good friends. We were so blessed to be able to spend the entire day together. We don't get to do it as often as we would like, so when we do we take advantage of every minute. Nicholas is still asking when he gets to play with Christopher again. One day maybe we will live in the same town again. We will see. Until then, we look forward to Sophie's bday when we will get to see them again.

Happy Birthday Joshua!