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)

Monkey Joes - North Carolina Day 2 and 3

Sunday was another beautiful day - super warm, sunny and a great day to spend outside.  We headed out for breakfast at the Farmer's Market and then went for a walk though the stalls.  I loved it and while I am pretty sure I didn't eat as many samples as someone else did when she went (can you guess who?), I probably came pretty close.  We ended up buying some fudge (ate almost all of it by myself), some local jelly, fresh lemonade and a delicious local peach/mango salsa which I planned to eat as soon as we got home from North Carolina (unfortunately I was a dope and tried to carry it home in my carry-on so it wouldn't get smashed and it got confiscated for having too much liquid).  After the Farmers market, we went to the flea market and started to head back home when Ryan reminded us that we were going to go to Monkey Joes, a place he knew nothing about other than that Erika's kindergarten kids like to go there.   We decided to drop Jay and Richie off at home and Erika and I took the boys.

In case you can't tell by the picture, Monkey Joe's is basically an indoor collection of bounce houses, slides and mazes: In other words, paradise for my boys.  They could not get their shoes off fast enough and Ryan kept telling Dylan "follow me, follow me, I will show you what to do"  haha.

What first caught my eye was how high some of the slides went and wondered how Dylan would be able to do them.  I don't know how high the ceiling went in the building but the highest slide hit it and you can see that in the background of some of the pictures. 

Ryan did a great job navigating all of the ladders and climbing hills but Dylan was a little intimidated at first I think and some were pretty hard for him.  Erika and I both took turns helping Dylan through the mazes etc.  but soon enough, Dylan was wanting to do it himself.

 

I know Erika will agree with me when I say we got quite a workout and so did the boys.  They were dripping by the end and so were we.

There were a couple of birthday parties that day and Monkey Joe was on site to help those kids celebrate.  I think Ryan and Dylan thought that he was there for them though (especially Dylan) and they followed him around holding his hand.  

The kids didn't put too much of a fight when we left, I think probably because they were exhausted.  Guess they had a great time though because when we were going to bed, Ryan asked "Can we go to Monkey Joes again tomorrow?"  Guess we need to add Monkey Joes to the Must Do in NC list too.

(for full enjoyment, you should click on the pictures and enlarge them - some of the faces on the kids are hilarious and you will be better able to see what a fun time they had)

After Monkey Joes, we went back to Erika and Richie's house.  It was still light out so we hung out first on their porch, and then moved to the back yard so the kids could play and the adults could relax.

Erika and Richie: Thank you so much for a fantastic weekend.  You came up with such fun things for us to do and we can't wait to visit you again.   We love you so much and miss you already!