Disney Day 4

From April 27th, 2010
After our first two jam-packed days at Disney, we decided to take a day off - Uncle Matt was coming down in the afternoon and we wanted to just hang out and enjoy the hotel a bit.   After some breakfast, we all headed to the playground for a little while.  No other kids were there so the boys found a shovel and pail and took turns playing in the sand and climbing the jungle gym.

Dylan was really most interested in playing in the sand and when I say playing, I really mean eating.  Every time I turned around, he was trying to eat a handful.  Gross.

After a while, it started to get pretty hot so we all got changed and headed to the pool.  While there, a member of the hotel staff mentioned that there was a pirate ship pool so we headed over there instead - Ryan stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw it and stood there with his mouth wide open for at least a minute before he took off in a full sprint and jumped in the water. I have to admit, even I thought that it was pretty cool. (that is Ryan coming out of the porthole)

Dylan still wasn't walking (of course he started the week we got home), but he had plenty of fun spraying Ryan with the cannons and even went down the water slide a few times with Jay and I - he LOVED it!

We stayed at the pirate pool for a few hours and I wish that we had more time during the vacation to visit it again because it really was a ton of fun.  Nobody wanted to leave but it was time to head back to the other side of the resort because we planned on having a bbq for lunch.   We found a grill and a picnic area so we set up and lunch was being cooked when Uncle Matt arrived.

After a good lunch and a feeding of the ducks, we all headed over to the main pool and while Dylan played in the kiddie area, Matt and Ryan were busy playing "Throw Me", a game I am pretty sure Ryan would have played until Matt's arms fell off.

He kept screaming "higher higher, again again" and was cracking up laughing.  I could not believe how high he was going sometimes and he really did a great job going under the water and holding his breath. 

That night, we headed to Downtown Disney and once again, I felt like there was just not enough time to enjoy everything.  There were so many stores to go in, things to do, sidewalk entertainment etc. that I think we stayed until closing.   We had dinner at TREX, a dinosaur-themed restaurant that had a huge T-Rex display, simulated geysers, woolly mammoths and even an aquarium.

After dinner, we headed over to the Build-a-dino store (like Build-a-Bear) and Ryan got to make his own friend to take home.  He decided on a Spinosaurus which he called Rex and got him all ready.  First step was to pick out the heart.

After picking out the heart, you are supposed to make a wish and give the heart a kiss before putting it inside the dinosaur.  I have no idea what Ryan wished for but he was wishing super hard, that is clear!

Ryan loved his dinosaur and even insisted that Dylan get one too which he picked out for him.  He carried the thing in its box all over Downtown Disney and to this day, the dino still has the distinction of being one of Ryan's "Bed Friends"  I don't think that I have seen Dylan's friend since that night.

One of the favorite stops at Downtown Disney for all of the boys though was the Ridemakerz store.  In addition to having 8 showcars which the older guys were drooling over, there was an area where you could pick out your own parts to build a car to take home.  When we realized that once you get all of the cool parts for the car, the cars are about $80 each so we decided to skip getting one and again, sat for a while in the sample area making our own models.  Not sure if you can guess who, but one member of our group decided to take the role of the engineer and pretty much told the rest of us exactly how to make our cars.

Another fun but exhausting day - next up, Sea World and Uncle Brian joins us.

Disney Hollywood Studios and Epcot - Disney Day 3

From April 26th

Jay and I braved the parks alone today and took the boys to Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) in the morning and Epcot in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, there were not too many rides for the kids at MGM but there were a lot of characters for the kids to meet and that was good enough for them.  (Jay wanted to take Ryan on the Tower of Terror but after the experience with Dinosaur, I said no)

While Dylan was sleeping, we ran in to Chip and Dale who Ryan never saw before, but he ran right up to them yelling for me to bring his autograph book and started showing them his dance moves - I wish I had video because it was adorable!

The boys were most excited about the Toy Story section of the park though and our favorite ride of the day was the Toy Story Mania - both Ryan and Dylan could go on it and both laughed the entire time - Jay and I laughed too at the sight of the two of them in their 3D glasses.

Another section of Hollywood Studios is the set area and Ryan would have loved the park even if this was they only section.  He begged not to leave and definitely one of the highlights of his day was running through the hydrant spray. 

To get some relief from the hot sun, we decided to find something inside and it just so happened that the Playhouse Disney live show was about to begin - I was so proud of Ryan when he got up and danced along with the group.  Dylan slept the whole time and I think Jay may have taken a little snooze too.  We got to meet JoJo and Goliath while we were there, a show Ryan loved at the time but which has since been cancelled.

By 3:30pm, we had seen almost everything age appropriate for the kids and they were pretty wiped out so we headed for the exit and debated going back to the hotel.  On our way out, we realized the Block Party Parade was starting so we decided to stay for a little bit longer and got a great spot for the kids to watch and even participate!

 By the time we got to the monorail at the exit, they boys were asleep so we decided to head over to Epcot instead so they could keep sleeping in the stroller.   I have to admit, this was one of my favorite parts of the day.   Jay and I spent the 3 hours the kids slept walking around the different countries and enjoying the day - no lines, no agenda, and plenty of cold beer and good places to enjoy them.  We found a nice bench and just hung out.

By the time the kids woke up, we had determined the would most like The Seas with Nemo and we were right - Ryan started screaming as soon as he saw Nemo and climbed up a huge rock to go touch them.  Inside, they got to climb inside the mouth of "Brucie" the shark as Ryan calls him.

We stayed once again until the park closed so the boys could see the fireworks show. The show at Epcot is called Illuminations and it has fireworks, lasers and a watershow featuring boots and a huge globe that changes throughout the show.  Ryan sat on Jay's shoulders and for the duration of the show said as loud as possible "OH.MY.GOODNESS - look at that planet! This is AMAZIN!! These fireworks are AMAZIN". As we were leaving, a woman come up to me and said "That show was so much better because he was here" I held Dylan the whole show and I was so shocked how much he loved it - he kept laughing and pointing at the sky. It was SO much better watching him and Ryan enjoy the fireworks and than the show itself but every time Dylan would catch me looking at him, he would push my face the other way, almost as if he was saying "look over there, you are not watching the show".

Omi and Poppy came to pick us up after the show and we met them at the Boardwalk where we had some ice cream before heading back to the hotel - i think that all of us were asleep with in minutes of getting back.  Another fun day at Disney for sure!

Updated April 29, 2011: Looking at these pictures again really makes me want to go again.  Now that Dylan is a bit older and talking, it would be so much fun.  anyone interested????

My valentine's day present

Jay did something very sweet for my for Valentine's Day.  I did a special photo shoot with the boys because he knows how much I love pictures and that I am always trying to get a good one of the boys together.   I love the pictures and really appreciate that Jay did this for me! 

 Pretty sure this is where Ryan figured out how to get in to the chocolates - let's just say a "few" were missing by the time I came home.

(on a side note, I don't think I have a picture in the past year in which one of the boys doesn't have a scratch or bruise on their face)