Disney World Day 2

We started our second day at Disney World at the Magic Kingdom.  Our friend Geoff, self-described Disney guru, gave us some great tips for the park and suggestions on how to maximize our days there.  We arrived just after 9 and were glad to see Pluto standing in Town Square.  He was the one character that Mark had been talking about meeting all week long.  So we waited just a few minutes to take our picture with him.  

Then we headed over to Toontown.  Geoff had suggested that we meet Mickey first thing in the morning because the hours are limited and the line can get really long.  It actually didn't take us too long and we got to meet both Mickey and Minnie.  Both kids were star-struck.  It was so cute!  And thanks to the Disney Photo Pass photographer I think we have our Christmas Card photo.  We are actually all smiling with our eyes open looking at the camera.  Amazing!  

Pretend you haven't seen this when you get your Christmas card in December!

We stayed around Toontown for a while and let the kids play in the play area.  Mark also rode his favorite ride, The Barnstormer.  It's a small roller coaster for kids.  He and Tim rode together and they both loved it.  I say this is his favorite, but if you ask him he might say the parking lot tram.  I just pretend that he doesn't say that.  :)  

That pretty much took all of our morning so we headed back toward the front to grab our lunch.  I'd seen a nice spot just below main street with some picnic tables so we ate there.  It wasn't crowded at all and there were lots of ducks.  Mark had a blast feeding them some leftover pieces of sandwich we had.  

After lunch we headed over to Tomorrow Land.  We rode The Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and Mark really thought it was funny.  That's one of his favorite movies anyway, so he enjoyed seeing the characters again.  And he saw the rocket ship ride and immediately wanted to ride them.  So we got in line to ride those.  He was also very impressed that you got to ride in an elevator to get up to the ride.  (I know what you are thinking.  The parking lot tram and an elevator?  Skip Disney World and take that kid to the mall!)  

We needed a bit of a pick me up at this point, so we headed over to Fantasy Land and had some ice cream.  This time Luke got his first popsicle.  He wasn't sure about the cold texture at first, but soon decided he loved it.  Mark and I got in line to ride Dumbo while Tim and Luke finished their snack.  

We rode a few more rides in Fantasy Land, including the ever-popular "it's a small world."  The boys were mesmerized by the music and figures.  They both really loved it and the whole "riding in a boat" thing.  It was a pretty big hit.  We also rode the Winnie the Pooh ride which they both loved.  After getting off the ride we saw Pooh and Tigger and what appeared to be a relatively short line to meet them.  (Appearances can be deceiving.)  We stood in line (in the sun) for an hour before finally getting up there to meet them.  At one point Mark is laying on the ground playing with his car while we wait.  As gross as it was, I gave up trying to keep him standing.  We did finally meet them and the boys loved it, so I guess the wait was worth it.  

It was a little after 4:00 at this point and the boys are definitely starting to fade so we head to a hot dog place for dinner.  We all got hot dogs and relaxed for a while watching part of the "Celebrate You" Street Party.  (Don't ask Tim about that one.  He told Mark there was nothing to celebrate about the depraved human nature.)  :)  We decided that we better head back home to get two tired little boys in bed for another day of Disney World.  

We did stop on the way out to let Mark try his hand at hula-hooping.  I think we still have some work to do on that though...

Disney World Day 1

I always said I would never spend the money to go to Disney World when my kids were too young to remember the trip.  But the Salute to Military program they are doing this year is too good to pass up.  Tim got in for free and our tickets were $99 for 5 days.  We decided to split the trip up and do 2 days now and 3 days later this year.  So, we headed to Orlando on Thursday morning and decided to spend the afternoon at Downtown Disney.  It's not actually part of the park, but has themed restaurants, lots of shopping and some fun things for kids.  Plus, there's no charge for parking or entry to the area. 

One of the highlights of Downtown Disney is the LEGO store.  There are all kinds of specialty Legos and Duplos you can purchase.  Plus there are great areas to build with them and even a small playground to climb on.  They boys loved spending time there.

Mark loved racing his Lego car

There is a train that Tim took both boys on.  They had a blast riding it together.

I will write more of our Disney tips and lessons learned later in the week, but we were very glad we decided to pack our lunch.  It allowed us to splurge and get treats at the Ghiradelli Ice Cream Shop.  Poor Luke!  At least he doesn't know what he's missing.  He did get some jelly beans while we ate our ice cream.  (Thanks Mamaw!)

There are lots of character statues to see at Downtown Disney.  Mark loved getting his picture made in front of them all.

The last thing we did was riding the Merry-go-round.  Mark has decided that he loves it as much as riding any train, which is rather surprising if you know him!

After that we headed back up to Winter Park.  We decided to save a little money and spend time with Tori and James by staying with them for this visit.  They live about 40 minutes from the park, but it was worth the drive to get to visit with them and stay in their cute place.  Thanks guys!

Man, are we tired!

We had a fantastic time at Disney World this week.  I will be editing our hundreds of photo in the next few days and posting the details of our visit.  But after walking all over the Magic Kingdom for 2 long days, we are exhausted.  On our way out of the park on day 1, Mark said it best, "Mommy, can I just lay here on the ground until I feel better?"  Ummm... no.  And that's kinda gross.  

Easter Fun!

We had a great Easter weekend with Tim's parents.  G.G. and Papa came on Saturday afternoon and Mark was so excited to show them how to dye eggs.  We also got to go to one of our favorite local seafood restaurants and the park nearby.  Sunday we went to church together then came home and put the boys down for their naps.  We had a great lunch and followed up naptime with a little Easter basket action and some egg hunting.  It was a great weekend!

Dyeing eggs

Our results

Sliding with G.G.

Swinging

Walking with Daddy (Isn't this picture precious?)

As usual, my children were very cooperative for picture taking

The boys each got a truck for their sandbox, a book, some candy and some stuffed animals

Ouch!

This is what your toe looks like when your 3 year old stops suddenly in front of you and you stump your toe on his foot.  I'm pretty sure it's broken.  And I'm also pretty sure that isn't going to work out well for me walking all over Disney World in two days.  Any advice on what to do for a broken toe?  (Other than whining pitifully to your husband.  I have that one down well!)  

"Quiet" Water Play

I've heard this term but it means nothing to me.  First of all, with two little boys there is no such thing as quiet as long as they are awake.  I've come to terms with that.  My house is and will continue to be noisy as long as they live here.  And there is certainly no chance of them being quiet while playing with water.  So, was I dumb enough to try to get them to have some "quiet water play"?  No, I was dumb enough to let them play for 30 minutes without checking on them while hearing only hysterical laughing.  

Together playtime with the two of them usually involves a great deal of screaming and toy snatching so when I could hear them laughing I thought to myself, "Wow.  They must really be growing up.  How nice that they aren't fighting."  What I should have been thinking was, "Wait a second!  They aren't fighting so they must be conspiring against me!"  But no, I continued to clean the kitchen and prepare dinner in my blissful ignorance - for 30 minutes.  A lot can happen in 30 minutes, believe me.

I had gated off the hallway and left both of their doors open so that they could go back and forth and play in either room.  They usually play well this way.  I closed the doors to the bathroom and the guest bedroom so that Luke couldn't get into either one.  Mark has never really been interested in playing in them, so no big deal.  Uh, yeah.  Until yesterday.  

From best I can determine, Mark opened the bathroom door and started playing in the sink.  He probably spilled some water and Luke laughed.  He did it again to make Luke laugh - again.  This continued until the entire bathroom floor was covered in water and both boys were soaked.  I think they mainly got soaked from trying to walk on the slippery bathroom floor and falling into the puddles of water.  There was also hand soap involved in some way because there was a lot gone from the pump and a little on the counter.  I asked Mark if he played with the soap a little too.  He said, "No, Mommy, I played with it a lot."   Gotta love honesty.  

And, as any good blogger, I grabbed my camera instead a towel.  I figured the boys and the floor were already wet.  What's a few more minutes?  I might as well get some good proof!  

Uh oh!  We've been caught!

Mark falls and Luke starts back into the bathroom...

Luke falls over...

Mark tries to walk toward Luke and they both fall into each other...

Mark gets sidetracked from dressing...

Can you see how soaked Luke's pants are?

Decorating Easter Cookies

Before Mimi left we decided that she and Mark Garrett would enjoy decorating cookies together.  Anything involving icing and cookies is a winner for Mark, so he was all in.  I used his vinyl placemats under cookie racks to put the cookies on and it worked great.  I put the icing in squeeze bottles for them, but next time I'll thin it out a bit more.  It was pretty stiff and difficult to squeeze.  Mark definitely had trouble getting his to flow out.  But they both really enjoyed it and I have to admit, it was hardly messy at all.  I would definitely let him decorate cookies again with me.  

Eating them was an even bigger hit than decorating them!