Disney--Day 3 at Animal Kingdom

We went to Animal Kingdom and had so much fun! Afterwards we went and took naps...We had dinner with friends in the evening, but the pictures are still on my cell phone, so I that is my next project! I have about 100 pics on my cell phone and I have to figure out how to get them on my computer without emailing them to myself one at a time.

Just one task of about one hundred these days...

I guess this is what you get when you ask an old lady to take your picture when she can't zoom in. OK, that was mean, but oh well.

My two handsome guys waiting in line for the bus...

Meeting Mickey Mouse!!

Hunter was super excited to meet him. I'm glad he's not shy after we wait in line for so long to have 30 seconds saying HI to Mickey! Giving hugs...
And high-fives
They had this "boneyard" area where kids can dig up bones and play in this sand. On the Disney DVD they advertise it as a way for parents to relax and get a break while the kids play, so of course we had to hit that up. The nice part was there was one entrance so your kid can't get out or lost. Good thing b/c I was off with Jack and Nick was on his phone checking email (no surprise)...and then in an instant Hunter was gone. I PANICKED. I was beyond mad. I ran to the entrance to make sure he couldn't get out and Nick searched for Hunter. We found him quickly, but my heart was racing and I was not happy with my husband for ignoring our kid to check email. I had seen a sign earlier for "Lost Kids" and I was thinking...I'd never let that happen!!

The boys had a lot of fun here

Helping to teach Jack to put sand in the bucket, not eat the shovel.

This silly boy did not want his picture with mommy :(

The best part of Animal Kingdom (in my opinion) was the safari thing they have. We headed straight there and you get on these trucks for a 20 minute ride through the "safari". We saw tons of animals and besides Jack not wanting to be confined to his seat, it was really fun.

Hunter loved seeing the alligators (or "al-i-day-gers" as he calls them). Look carefully...there were at least 10 lying there...

Our truck went through a lot of water and they really make it a cool experience. We saw alligators, lions, gorillas, ostriches, hippos, and at this point, I can't even remember what else! It was really neat.

Pictures from our visit with Grandpa Ron coming tomorrow hopefully!

Maybe the worst weekend ever?

Well, I was hoping to have a nice relaxing weekend to recover from our Disney trip. We were going to have my family over to celebrate Gigi's birthday on Saturday night, but otherwise take it easy. That's not how it turned out! I woke up at 1am on Friday morning throwing up...I got a nasty flu bug. I was awake the entire night after 1am. I must have thrown up over 15 times before I went to bed Friday night, amongst other things (TMI). Nick left for work Friday morning and Julie (our nanny) came over to watch the kids while I stayed in my room the whole day. Nick texted me at 10am saying he was throwing up at his meeting and was headed home. Needless to say by 1pm on Friday we were both in bed taking turns throwing up. My mother-in-law came Friday when the nanny left b/c there was no way we could be alone with the kids in our condition. I was feeling a little better Friday evening and Jack only wanted me to hold him, so it was a little rough. I'm thankful my mother-in-law was there to help with Hunter especially. I didn't sleep well Friday night. Saturday was a LONG day...I was weak and had no energy. I lost 6 pounds on Friday--Yikes!! I was happy about that, but it was not worth how horrible I felt. Saturday night at midnight I heard Hunter running down the hall crying and throwing up. He was throwing up red V8 juice all over the hall carpet...and then into our bathroom on the wall and floor. While we got that cleaned up, a bucket situated in Hunter's room, and Nick was going to sleep on the floor in his room, Jack woke up crying hysterically. He had a fever and did not go back to sleep the rest of the night for more than one hour. Nick and I took turns laying on the floor of Hunter's room (he threw up several more times) and dealing with Jack. By 6:30am on Sunday we were all downstairs watching movies with less than 2 hours of sleep. Hunter thank goodness was feeling better and didn't have it as bad as Nick and I did. Jack had a fever all day and was pretty fussy. My back is KILLING me from sleeping on the floor in Hunter's room, holding Jack so much, and just being in bed so much on Friday. Last night I couldn't sleep b/c of the loud thunderstorm and Jack was up again for about 1 1/2 hours. He has been waking up at midnight crying and won't go back to sleep. I am feeling very sleep deprived and CRABBY. I am a mommy who needs her sleep and I feel like I have a newborn again. I have had headaches and feel almost delirious from lack of sleep. It's going to be a long week. Please say a prayer that everyone feels better soon and sleeps tonight!! Hunter was very quiet this morning, but said he wanted to go to school. Jack was sleeping when I left, so hopefully getting some much needed catch up sleep.

More updates on Disney soon :)

Day 2--Even more pictures than yesterday!

We went to Magic Kingdom again...and it was raining. Nothing like paying $30 for ponchos for two hours of use. Jack did not like wearing his. Fortunately, it stopped raining pretty early on and the lines were very short, so we got to ride a lot of rides quickly. We rode the Toy Story ride two times with NO line, so that was fun for Hunter.

Sporting his Disney poncho.
Not a happy guy...we were waiting in line for the tea-cup ride here.

Riding the Aladdin magic carpet ride.

Daddy & Hunter getting ready to take off...
We walked through this HUGE tree house...

We rode the train from the back of the park to the front on our way out.

Toy Story ride...You shoot these guns at Zurg targets. I was WAY better than Nick. He was proud of his 22,000 score until he found out mine was 120,000!!! Yay mommy!!

It was an amazing ride with some cool technology.

Hard to tell with my camera in the dark, but you could spin your car around with a joystick, shoot your gun thing and all the details were so neat.
On the bus heading back to the hotel...Jack was not a fan of the bus rides, especially when it was crowded and we had to hold him.
After naps we headed Nick's company cocktail hour at the pool. We had some snacks, drinks, and Hunter met some girls of course. Sydney's (on the left) dad and Nick know each other and she played soccer with him at the beach, took him to the playground, and he really liked her! We ate dinner with them a few nights later and Hunter asked about her all day long.
Waiting in line to get his face painted at the pool.

Spiderman face painting.

Hanging out with Sydney and Ashley...

We went to dinner with a wholesaler and his wife/two girls. They have a 4 year old and 14 month old, so it was fun for the kids!

Hunter and I were late to dinner b/c the face painting took longer than I'd anticipated, but it worked out ok.

Jack and Lilly...she was nice enough to share her puffs, so Jack was happy!
Hunter wanted to sleep in his Spiderman face, but I had to wash it off and not ruin the sheets...although I ruined several washcloths!

Lots more to come :-)

Disney Day 1--lots of pictures!!

I was wrong yesterday when I said 600 pictures. There were 900 on my camera and at least another 150 on my phone. I deleted a lot of them, but I can't believe how many there were!These are from my camera...Our first full day at Disneyworld. We met Nick's client at Epcot b/c she got us in for free. We took the tram to Magic Kingdom and stayed there for several hours. Went back to the room for naps and then headed to the pool. We had dinner with Pluto and Goofy as well. It was hard to sort through so many pictures, but here are the highlights from our first day!

First day at the entrance of Epcot.

At Magic Kingdom...walking towards the Disney Castle.

Such a cutie--hanging out waiting for the tram to take us to Magic Kingdom.

Hunter LOVES Buzz Lightyear, so we waited in line at least 30 minutes to meet him. I'm glad Hunter is not shy! He told Buzz, "Toy Story 3 is my favorite movie!!"

Jack is not so sure what to think. He's at the max weight for the Baby Bjorn, but it was nice to carry him in it on and off. We rode the Toy Story ride and it was so much fun. It's an awesome ride and well worth the wait. We won't talk about the two times we were in line and almost to the front when Hunter said he had to go to the bathroom---grrrr.

Meeting Pinocchio...more hugs! Jack and I were in the bathroom, so we missed this one.

This was our first ride (I think). The Dumbo ride...You can see Nick and Hunter two elephants behind Jack and I. I was so happy that Jack was able to ride anything we wanted to ride. I didn't think it would happen that way, but it was great! He even slept through a few rides--Peter Pan was kind of scary, but he was out cold the entire time. There were a few rides I thought he would have been scared on, but he wasn't at all...brave kids!

Riding the carousal at Magic Kingdom. I just love the smile! I rode on a horse with Jack. Hunter and Nick had their own :)

Back at the pool after naps. Hunter did really well this day, but the last day he wouldn't get off the step. We are signing up for swimming lessons very soon!
Practicing kicking and the doggie paddle with daddy.

We had dinner with the Disney Characters this night. Hunter waiting for Goofy to make his way to our table. The buffet was $30 each...crazy! However, since Hunter didn't eat anything they didn't end up charging us for him.
I love Jack's expression...waiting for Goofy to come to our table.

He is just looking like "What is that!?!?" He did not take his eyes off of him. Hunter and Goofy! He was so happy once Goofy finally made it to our table.
Hunter told Goofy how much he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Goofy thought that was funny.

Once again...making the same face as Pluto was making our way to the table.

Giving Pluto a hugJack had the death grip on me and was not sure what to think about Pluto!

Back from Disneyworld!

Well, we finally made it home from Florida late this afternoon. Our flight was delayed today and spending 4+ hours at the FL airport was not fun. The plane ride ended up being fine b/c Jack slept the whole way home. We had a blast and I think I took about 600 pictures...I know, I'm crazy! We had dinner with the Disney characters, went on tons of rides, played in the pool, went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios, drove to Vero Beach to see my grandpa Ron and Erika, and more. We are exhausted, but it was a great experience for the kids. On the way home today the flight attendant thought Hunter was cute, so she invited him up to meet the pilot and sit in the cockpit before we took off. I got some great pics of him in the pilot's seat with the captain's hat on--so fun! Hope to organize photos soon, but for now I'm doing tons of laundry and going to watch the season finale of The Bachelor before I go to bed :)

Mardi Gras Party

Saturday night we took the kids to the Mardi Gras party at our church. They were having a taco bar, ice cream bar, parade for kids, magic show, etc. My parents came, along with Gigi. We got lots of snow, so we didn't stay too long. Hunter had fun wearing his mask and beads :)

We leave tomorrow for Disneyworld, so I may be MIA for a while. I hope to put some pictures up while we're down there, but we'll see...I might be too tired!! I'm dreading the flight and sleeping situation, but hope the kids will be so tired from all the excitement that they'll just crash. I convinced Nick to get adjoining rooms, so that will help a little too--I hope. I am so excited to see the expressions on Hunter's face when we finally see the Disney castle :-)

Two videos--Cookie monster imitation and dancing!

Click HERE to view this video of Hunter showing you how the cookie monster eats cookies. He was watching a movie in the car b/c we'd stopped at the grocery store after church so this was keeping kids entertained while Nick shopped...

I love how Jack "dances" when something comes on the radio or tv. Hunter likes this show called Little Einsteins and Jack LOVES the theme song...Click HERE to see them both "dancing".

Have a great weekend...we are going to have a busy, but fun weekend!! Then we leave for Disneyworld on Tuesday morning--can't wait!!!!!

Getting creative...and random conversations

I was looking for indoor things to do last week while Hunter was on winter break and came across this easy thing...put shaving cream in a baking sheet with some toys and let him play. It was fun and entertained him for quite some time! I soaked the toys afterwards, but they still smell like shaving cream. Oh well.

Today I signed Hunter up to play soccer. I'm really excited for him and I hope he likes it! It starts on March 26th, every Saturday for 8 weeks, so we'll see how it goes. Nick wants to take him, but Jack and I might tag along just to check it out too :) I can't wait to see him in his little jersey!

Here are some funny things Hunter has said lately--and there are too many for me to remember, but I have to document this.

1) Driving to school on Monday I told him that when he got home we were having someone over to measure to repair the window. Hunter proceeded to ask 20 questions. What is his name? Is he a boy? Is he tall? Does he have kids? Are they boys or girls? What are their names? Does he have legs? Does he have a face? I was laughing hysterically. Yes honey, he has legs and a face.

2) One evening last week while Nick was gone he must have asked me 10 times, "Mommy, are you crazy?" I wonder if Nick is telling him these things when I'm not around. I just said, "Yes, sometimes. So are you."

3) Yesterday when I got home Julie (our nanny) said he was perfect all day. So this morning I said, "Lets have another great day and be a really good boy! That makes me so happy." He said, "I don't want to go to time-out b/c it's not fun". I said, "Ok, well be nice to Jack, no naughty words, no hitting and you'll be all good". He said, "Can I kick?". I said "No". He said, "Can I kick my big blue ball, if it's not at Jack?". I responded with, "Yes, I suppose, but please don't break anything." You can just see he's testing me to see what he can and can not do!

4) He tells me daily how he can't wait till we go to Disneyworld. He wants to give Buzz Lightyear a hug, meet Mickey mouse, go on huge roller coasters, see fireworks, go on water slides, and "scream his head off" on the rides. Only 6 more days!!!

Have a great day!