Day 3 - Magic Kingdom (Pre-Nap)

I am choosing to remember the happy times at Magic Kingdom.  And, completely gloss over the part about Emma waking up at midnight the night before with a tummy ache that caused her to vomit all over my bed, me, the carpet, our bathroom.  That I had to walk down the hall to call housekeeping because our phone was unplugged.  That a nice and quiet lady had to come up with fresh sheets and lysol to clean our bathroom.  That all the hulabaloo did not wake Noah between the hours of 12-2, but something else randomly did around 4AM.  So, Daddy and Noah tried to keep it down, so the girls could keep sleeping.  All of the above caused us to be an extremely tired and grumpy family with the magic of Disney dwindling.  We forged ahead anyway and got down to the business of the day.   

 

First ride on the monorail.

 

 

First order of business.  Haircuts for Noah...

 

 

And, Daddy.

 

 

In case anyone is interested, one of the best haircuts Noah has ever had!  Disney is magical, I tell ya!  Emma is loving those stickers!

 

 

Emma sees the castle!

 

 

Family picture.

 

 

Emma's inagural ride on It's a Small World.  She loved it and pointed out all the animals throughout the ride.  First one... goat.

 

 

Taking a peek at the new Fantasyland.

 

 

Noah jamming at the Move It, Shake It parade.

 

 

Chip (or Dale) stopping by to say "Hi!" to Emma. 

 

 

WTH was that?!?

 

 

Waving bye to all the floats.

 

 

Lunch at Crystal Palace (aka the meal that the exhaustion finally set in)

 

 

Emma still not interested. 

 

 

Heading home for naps.

Day 2 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

 

We headed over to Hollywood Studios for our second day at Disney. 

 

 

After the first viewing of Disney Jr. Live and a quick spin on Toy Story Mania, it was time for lunch with Disney Jr.

 

 

Special Agent Oso.

 

 

It's seriously only day two, and can you see Noah's looking like "hey, I think I see someone in there."

 

 

$10 balloon.  Check.

 

 

Running off some steam in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area... where Daddy may or may not have lost sight of Noah for about 5 minutes.  It was pretty crowded, and Noah is pretty fast. 

 

 

Noah loved the Pixar Pals parade.

 

 

Emma learned that stroller naps were necessary to survive.

Day 1 - Animal Kingdom

 

We started our trip at Animal Kingdom.  Autograph book in hand... here we go!

 

 

Family photo op.

 

 

Time to go on a safari!

 

 

Noah loved the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride.

 

 

Tusker House.  Donald's Safari Lunch.

 

 

We found out very quickly who loved the characters.

 

 

And, who didn't.

 

 

Primeval Whirl.  Noah's first roller coaster with Daddy.

 

 

Noah loved the parade.

 

 

Emma would have loved a nap.

 

 

Home sweet home. 

 

 

Day one...  It's a wrap!

Meeting the Super Villains

Taking a break from 6+ loads of laundry to get a quick peek at our Disney pictures.  Lots of great moments on our Disney vacation.  We spent our last day in Orlando at Universal Studios.  Dr. Seuss was on the agenda along with Marvel Super Heroes.  Noah met the super villains first.  First off, they talked and second, they were kind of mean... and scary.  Noah was not phased at all to say the least.  He waited his turn, walked right up, and asked, "can you sign my book?"

 

Even when matched with the somewhat intimidating and a tiny bit scary Green Goblin.  Daddy (and Momma) (and let's not even get started on Emma) was not sure what to expect. 

Green Goblin: "What did you say, little boy?"

 

Noah: "Can you sign my book, please?"

 

 

And, the quite large and equally frightening, Dr. Doom.  Was Noah afraid?  Goodness, no.  He walked right up to these Super Villains, handed over his Mickey Mouse autograph book, and posed for pictures. 

 

 

Sweetest boy ever!

Smack Talking

Noah has started to do a bit of back talking. We have had multiple conversations about not using ugly words. I guess it's part of the territory that comes with age 5. And, if I had any doubt that I have a sweet little boy on my hands, his choice of sass has removed all doubt. Here are just a few things he's told me recently when I corrected him.

"Mom, I will cast a spell on you."

He usually chooses his words based on whatever he is doing or in this instance has in his hand.
"Mom, I will paint you with this paintbrush until you are happy."

"You stop that Mom, or I'll pound you."

Ok... not sweet, but I can go ahead and thank Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Feast for that one. It is definitely out of the rotation for more reasons than one. Those Peanuts characters are mean to each other.

And, my personal favorite... "Mom, I'll take this paper and fan you until you're cold."

LOL at the Lake

We had such a fun day at Mr. Eddie's lake last weekend.  The weather was gorgeous, and it was just a little slice of heaven for Noah, what with all the sticks.  Emma had fun too and made a few new baby friends.  I took over camera duty, and I have a ton of great pics and a full blog post in the making, but this picture had me cracking up laughing last night.  We attempted to get an updated grandkid picture with Baby Taylor included.  Well, it all started off as an epic fail since Morgan had just taken off in the paddle boat.  We forged ahead anyway, and this is one of the best outtakes.  I love Seth's face, and the fact that he is holding a squirmy Emma, so he can't stop Noah from poking him in the face. 

All Lit Up

So, here's the story. I always wanted a Santa tree. But, for some reason I started collecting angel ornaments in college. It may have a little something to do with Greek life, but moving on.  I always just stuck with the collection. But, the year we moved to Miami, I left all the Christmas decor behind. When Christmas rolled around that year and it was determined we would be staying in Florida, I insisted on a tree. And, it was the perfect opportunity to go Santa. Fast forward four Christmases to now, and here is the evolved Santa tree.

 

 

With a very mobile Emma and a bit of travel on the horizon, I didn't feel the need to go all out with the decorations this year. So, I decided to stick with just our Santa tree, stockings and a door wreath. And, after hitting HEB late Wednesday for a pre-Turkey Day run, I passed the Home Depot. I checked the clock and at 10 minutes to 10:00 PM, I swung into the parking lot to procure an artificial. Nothing like coming in hot six minutes before closing. Well, I walked out of the store at 10:08 PM with a tree. Mission accomplished.

Daddy's first honey-do on Thanksgiving Day was moving the tree from the car to the house. Once inside, a quick and easy numbered assembly, and just like that... Voila. Let there be light.

I chose a 12 feet tree. Considering we have 12 foot ceiling, it barely fit fit perfectly.

Noah was super excited to get started. And, he was a really good, albeit jumpy, helper.  After assembly and the lights were on, he said, "Mom, where are the Oreos for the Christmas tree?" It took me a bit to realize he was talking about ornaments. Ha.

 

Here's the jumpy!

I love a real tree, but I must confess. Pulling something pretty out of a box with the lights already on. Our house was filled with the Christmas spirit in less time than it took Emma to take a nap. Here's what she thought when she woke up. 

 

And, then she tried to climb the ladder.

 

 

Daddy, Noah and I talked a bit about our favorite ornaments on the tree. Noah's favorite was the boot, which happened to be the first ornaments he pulled out the box. Daddy and I share a favorite. Our Mr. & Mrs. Claus kissing fish. I gave them to us on our very first Christmas as a married couple.

(Insert really cute, first Christmas picture - circa early 2000 taken in our NOLA apartment with my non-digital cameras self-timer - as soon as I find it upstairs in my extensive filing cabinet of to be scrapbooked pictures.  PS - I don't scrapbook anymore.)