Archive for March, 2010

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

You know those posts when people go on and on about their vacations and seem to post every. single. picture?  Annoying, isn’t it?  Well, this is one of those posts.  Sorry.  You can scroll through and miss the commentary without hurting my feelings.  Promise.

 

Two weeks ago Robby and I took Ayla and Noah to Disney!  It may seem a bit unusual but Robby had time off during the week he had to take and I wasn’t up to anything so we decided to take the kids and knew they would have a blast sharing the experience with each other.  Boy, were we in for a few surprises!  But overall, we had a blast!

The night we arrived we had dinner with the characters in our hotel.  Ayla wasn’t totally sure about them, probably because of their size.  So long as dad was in the middle though she was pretty agreeable.

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Noah wasn’t interested – SHOCKER – but when I asked him to do it for Walter so he could see how much fun we were having he agreed.  Please excuse his shorts.  Unfortunately he’s only growing taller and is in the same shorts from two birthdays back.  They’ll be Daisy Dukes next summer.

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The desserts at the restaurant (in the Swan Hotel) were ridiculous!  We got a little bit of everything to try and one thing was better than the next.  I wish we had a before photo, I’m sure it would have been much more appetizing than the aftermath of half eaten treats.

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The next morning we were planning to go to the Magic Kingdom.  Unfortunately an all day rain storm had the same agenda.  It rained ALL DAY.  Luckily it didn’t slow us down.  In fact, besides the ponchos, the park was fantastic.  There was no one there and there were no lines!  Score!

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After this photo we went to breakfast.  On the way back from breakfast, Noah walked into a wall.  The wall won and he had a bloody nose for the rest of the day.  Excuse the leftovers in the rest of the photos.  Yes, he’s fine.  I think he must get his clumsiness from his father. :)

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The kids were anxious to get on the monorail!

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Once we got in the park we immediately bought the classic Mickey poncho.  Somehow Noah’s was HUGE.  I still don’t know if they gave him the kid size!

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To dodge the rain we went to the Country Bear Jamboree.  This was a first for Noah and I think maybe me too.

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Exciting stuff.

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We had to hit up It’s A Small World, I think that’s a given!

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It still amazes me how mesmorized the kids are by this ride!

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And then, believe it or not, WE WENT ON DUMBO.  That’s shocking for a few reasons.  1) I haven’t been on Dumbo since I was Noah’s age.  2) I don’t go on rides that go in circles.  I almost had Noah talked out of it but I eventually gave in.  3) The line for Dumbo is usually crazy long.

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In my efforts to get out of it we ended up behind Robby and Ayla but at least we kind of got to take a photo of them!

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At Mickey and Minnie’s house the kids touched everything.  Here they are making popcorn.

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And here we are waiting to see Mickey and Minnie.  Wet but thankfully, it wasn’t cold!

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I can’t quite remember how I bribed Noah into this.  It wasn’t his favortie thing of the day – clearly – but he did it!  I was shocked and proud!  Ayla wanted nothing to do with them.

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But she did want to see the Princesses… which Noah wanted nothing to do with.

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Ayla was quite the talker with these beauties.  We really got a laugh when she told Cinderella that Noah was shy, told Belle that he was her Prince and they were married, and then told Sleeping Beauty he was her brother.  Maybe you had to be there but we were hysterical!

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The Princess and the Frog are a new addition to the lineup and they were quite a pair!  They were dead ringers for the characters in the movie and they had such great personalities. 

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Then we rode the bumper cars.  I haven’t been on this for a very long time too!  See the reasons up at the Dumbo portion of the trip…

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And Noah met Buzz Lightyear.  He kept telling me how excited Daddy would be when he told him they met!

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And Robby’s favorite ride… The Carousel of Progress.  I’m pretty sure this was my first time on this.

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Afterwards we had dinner at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom.  Another first and we loved it!

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Ayla wasn’t so sure about seeing these characters but if Noah can do it – anyone can!

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Afterwards we went to see the fireworks…

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The kids were way ready!  They had snacks, light up necklaces…. but there were no fireworks.  We were misinformed and therefore an hour early.  Again with the lying fibbing, we were able to escape to the car, unharmed by the crowd or the kids.  Fireworks will have to be another time.  Robby and I were beat! 

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I’m not sure who enjoyed this trip more – the kids or the grown ups!  I would do it again, rain and all, in a heartbeat.  There’s nothing like experiencing Disney through the eyes of a child!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Happy St. Patty’s Day!  The fantastic holiday where we all pretend to be Irish and over indulge on corned beef!  Today is also a special day for our cousin, Kim Jensen, and friend Robby Friedman ~ Happy Birthday to you both!

I wanted to share these fun photos with you!  We bought a hat as a prop for a baby but never found the right time or kid to put it on.  Noah decided it was a toy and we had fun watching him try to squeeze it on his massive head.

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Aunt Raven even got in on the action!

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May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night! ~Irish Blessing

The many faces of Kate!

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Sweet, sweet Kate.  The daughter that wasn’t going to be girly.  The one who wasn’t going to own anything pink… 

The one who has a pink, PINK nursery, a boat load of dresses, and just as many shoes.  Yeah, that Kate. 

Despite my original efforts to hold back she has become a GIRL.  A girl with a love for accessories, specifically eyewear.  I have never known a little person to love eyewear so much.  And I do say eyewear, because it’s not just for glasses anymore!

The Original Kate – cute, fun, happy

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And sometimes serious… when food is involved.

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The flower child/Elton John Kate – funny, cute, and cool

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Aquatics Kate – her first love of eyewear, Noah’s swimming goggles (she wears these around the house a lot!)

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Diva Kate – there is nothing cooler than sunglasses with flowers!

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and last but not least, Terminator Kate

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She’ll be back…

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

This is a total brag post.  We are gushing with pride over our three year old superhero!  Anyone who knows Noah knows that he is absolutely obsessed with fire and everything fire related.  Obsessed.  I figure he’ll either grow up to be a fire fighter (over my dead body) or a pyromaniac (ummm, yea, no).  Anyway, yesterday at school they held a routine fire drill.  The school takes the youngest kids (Kate’s class) out of the building prior to the alarm sounding so they don’t freak out.  After the alarm was pulled Noah’s class lined up and started to exit their room.  Noah ran to the front of the line and grabbed his teacher’s pants.  She said his eyes were welling with tears and he was in a panic.  She asked what was wrong and he said they needed to go get Kate!  They needed to tell her their was a fire and she needed to come with him outside.  He was frantic!  Of course when you’re three a fire drill and the real thing is a line that’s a little blurry.  She told him that Kate was already outside but that wasn’t good enough.  He needed to see her, he needed to know she was ok!  So Miss Molly spotted Kate in her pink jacket (with her back turned) and told Noah that Kate was right there (outside) and she was ok.  Still, he wasn’t convinced.  Miss Molly had to promise that it was Kate and as soon as they were able to step out of line he ran over to be sure. 

Three different teachers told me this story when I went to pick them up in the afternoon.  I was very proud, very surprised, and very choked up.  I love how much he loves her, even though – on occasion – he loves to torment her.  He also got to choose something from the treasure chest at school as a special treat.  Of course we couldn’t help but reward him too!  Every once in a while when your kid seems positively rotten and you’re at your wit’s end it’s important to hold on for one more day.  They do come around, they will wow you, and for at least one more day they’re safe from HRS.  We love you Noah Schmoah!

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