Professor Hacker's Mini Golf

Not sure if I am ever going to catch up on the blog and I have started going completely out of order. Oh well - better late than never I guess.

Back on August 3rd during our family trip to OBX, Grandma and Papa agreed to watch Dylan and all of the big kids headed out to play some mini golf. Ryan had seen the mini golf when we passed it and had been asking for days when we could go. After a delicious pulled pork dinner made by Erika and Richie, we headed out and amazingly, didn't have to wait too long to play.

After we each picked out our balls (Ryan of course picked green, his favorite color), we boarded the train to the top of the hill and got ready to "tee off".

We let Ryan pick which course he wanted to play and he chose:

Ryan was terrific - Jay kept encouraging him while he waited to take practice swings

Clearly, we need to work on his form, haha. Ryan really tried hard to do well though and was super patient when it wasn't his turn. He even got a hole in one on the 4th hole and while everyone else was excited, Ryan was disappointed because "i got to only hit it one time and everyone else got to hit it more times" lol. I thought that after a few holes, he would get bored and be bratty for the rest of the time, but he had a great time, loved playing and cried when he didn't get his ball back after the 18th hole. Jay had thought Ryan might lose his ball sometime during the adventure so he had stashed a few in his pocket and Ryan was thrilled with his "prize" for playing so well. I think that a fun time was had by all and I am hoping we will get to have a rematch next summer!

**Update - 2 months later, Ryan still remembers what color ball everyone has and declares that after him, Michael is the champion. - haha, sure**

Walking to school...

or running and riding

this picture just makes me laugh

First day of school

Yesterday was Meet the Teacher day for Ryan's official start of school - Pre-K at P.S. 40. I really didn't think I would cry but I came pretty close. Jay and I both went with Ryan and he was so excited - when he woke up that morning, he declared that he needed to make a picture for his new teacher and that it would be "the best picture she ever seen".

I had to go to work before the meeting so Jay got Ryan ready and I met them in front of the school. Ryan was jumping up and down when I got there and he couldn't wait to go in - as soon as he saw me, he said "Come in mommy, let me show you my school"

We were a little bit early for our scheduled time so we waited in the cafeteria until it was our turn. Off of the cafeteria is an entrance to the play yard and when Ryan saw that, he said "This new school is awesome" and even declared it better than NY Kids Club. We told him we wanted to take some pictures at his new big boy school and he decided to pose for us.

Maybe we should go with the no pose look next time. Ever since they had a professional photographer come to his old school, he has been posing like this - he doesn't seem to get that if you are not leaning on a desk or something, you don't need to pose your elbow -lol.

Finally, it was our turn. As soon as Ryan walked in the room, the teacher introduced herself, Ryan handed over his picture and said "I also brought you some presents - some markers, crayons, and all kinds of things children might need in school" (We brought some school supplies to donate to the class - Erika suggested it and it was a great idea. I am probably going to need all the brownie points I can get.) He then started exploring the classroom before turning around and declaring "Mommy and daddy, you can go back to work now, I will stay here".

He spent about 20 minutes exploring everything they had in the classroom and at one point, while playing in the play kitchen said to everyone " 'Scuse me guys, I am making some lunch so anyone want a sandwich or something?" haha. I was very proud when he could find his name on the class list and that he was not shy at all in meeting the teacher and her aide. He was very disappointed to leave, so much so that when I tried to take one last picture, he threw himself in to the door and when everyone turned said "Mommy, why did you throw me in to the door like that? I am not going with you" Yep, definitely glad I brought the gifts for the teacher.

School is going to be great for Ryan and I know that he is going to have so much fun learning, making new friends, and being a big boy. The time has gone too fast for me though and I am finding it so hard to believe he is old enough to go to real school. The first day is Monday and he can't wait!!

Brushing my teeth

Ever since we went to the dentist a few weeks ago, one of the boys has been obsessed with brushing his teeth. It isn't Ryan....

Dylan LOVES to brush his teeth - if he sees someone in the bathroom brushing there teeth or hears someone say "Brush", he will run as fast as he can to the bathroom, will climb the bench and will start banging on the sink and trying to reach his toothbrush.

As you can see, he even stands on his tiptoes so he can wet his toothbrush himself.

I have to say - he does have very white and shiny teeth. Keep up the good work Dylan!! You even inspired Ryan to brush his teeth today.

Our Disney Vacation - Day 1 and 2

from May 8
Considering I took almost 600 pictures on our Disney trip in April, it has taken me a while to figure out where to start. I guess the best way is to just go day by day, picking the best pictures and putting the full album at the end. Get ready for picture overload because I think that they are all great!!

On Saturday, April 24th, Omi, Poppy, Jay, the boys and I all headed down to Orlando for the boys' first trip to Disneyworld!! Our flight was at 8:30 in the morning and we had to wake up the boys in order to head to the airport in time and for the first time ever, Ryan said "I don't want to get up now, I am too sleepy" - he jumped right out of bed though when we told him we needed to go to the airport to catch our plane to Disney!!! Dylan slept most of the flight and Ryan spent his time watching a movie, eating snacks and playing with the boy sitting behind him. After a quick lunch after we picked up the rental car, we headed to our hotel, the Sheraton Vistana Villages, which was absolutely amazing!!!

After getting settled for a bit, we decided to check out the pool and the boys just dove right in, literally. I am not sure why, but both Ryan and Dylan were under the impression that they could swim, which they can't. Dylan wanted no part of his tube and didn't want us touching him either - from the start, he tried kicking his feet and moving his arms. Ryan on the other hand, would keep yelling "mommy, daddy - swim faster. I am jumping in now" and would just jump.

After a few hours at the pool, we went out for a quick bite to eat, made a trip to the supermarket (since our unit had a full kitchen) and tried to make it an early night since we had a bright and early breakfast with.....

Donald Duck and his Safari friends at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.
The breakfast was fantastic - the food was delicious especially the passion fruit juice and Mickey waffles, the atmosphere was entertaining and Ryan loved meeting the characters
Dylan, not so much....

A friend of mine went to Disney a few weeks before us and got Ryan an autograph book which he had all of the characters sign and he even got to dance around with Daisy during the kids parade.

As soon as we finished breakfast, it was time to find some rides!! Because the breakfast started before the park even opened, we were able to get on 2 of the most popular rides at the park, Dinosaur and the Kilimanjaro Safari with no wait. (The other big ride there is a roller coaster called Expedition Everest but Ryan was not tall enough so we didn't go on it) First up was the safari - Ryan kept telling Dylan "Dillie, look over here" but I don't think Dylan cared that much.

Next up was Dinosaur. The premise of the ride is that riders are on an expedition back in time to capture an Iguanodon and bring him back to present day. Well, the ride started off good - we all boarded the expedition car (minus Jay and Dylan) and headed off

Ryan was in the front row corner which we soon learned was the scariest seat in the car. As the rover bounced through the dark and very loud "jungle", I could feel Ryan's leg starting to shake and I told him that it was all just pretend but he definitely wasn't buying it. Long story short, at the very end of what was a pretty scary ride, a T-Rex comes out of the jungle and basically roared right in Ryan's face. I never heard him scream so loud and it took 3 days to get him to go on any ride inside of a building (he would only go on rides that he could see first) This is him showing Daddy how he screamed on the ride.

Ryan's favorite ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids. While we were waiting on line, he kept jumping up and down, laughing and saying "we are going to get so drippy. mommy, you are going to be so splashy" haha.

The park was open until 6 pm and we originally thought that we wouldn't stay all day. There was a ton to do though, from going on rides, meeting characters and watching the parade.

Even Dylan warmed up to the characters as the day went on.

On the way out, there was time for one last show, It's tough to be a Bug. It is a 3D movie and the kids were so cute in their glasses. Ryan unfortunately was still a bit traumatized by the dinosaur ride so he and I had to leave in the middle because he kept thinking a dinosaur was going to come out.

Because Ryan took a pretty good nap in the stroller, Jay and I decided to take him for a few hours to Magic Kingdom since it was open until 11. We thought that he would feel special getting to stay up late and Jay and I were excited to be able to spend a little time focusing just on him. Omi and Poppy took Dylan back to the hotel and we headed over to the monorail station. As soon as we parked our car, the skies opened up and it started pouring, thundering and lightening. Ryan said he wanted to wait, so we played games in the car for a bit and after about 30 minutes, the rain slowed down to a light drizzle. We put on our ponchos and headed to the monorail. I think Ryan would have been content to ride the monorail all night but was very excited when we got in to the Magic Kingdom and saw Cinderella's Castle and the race cars.

We didn't stay for long but Ryan was so excited that we still had 6 more days of vacation and many more rides and parks to see. On tomorrows agenda: Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) and Epcot.