Dr. Kim, The Dentist

from April 15, 2011

As I previously mentioned, Dylan loves brushing his teeth.  Every morning, he literally begs to brush his teeth: "Mommy please please brush teef?".  He really doesn't brush them for more than 10 seconds - he smiles, stares at his teeth, and just sucks the water off the toothbrush.   Since Ryan was due for his next cleaning at the dentist, we decided to make an appointment for Dylan too.   It was decided that Dylan would go first and as soon as he saw the room, he hopped up on the chair.

Dr. Kim, like she did with Ryan, showed Dylan all of her tools and he was mesmerized.  She also brought out a big, stuffed alligator with teeth and asked Dylan to help her brush the alligators teeth and help her count them.   He happily said ok, grabbed the toothbrush and got to brushing. 

Once they were done doing everything to the alligator, it was Dylan's turn.  The doctor turned on an episode of Dora the Explorer on a tv in the ceiling to get him to lay back and distract him, but Dylan was amazingly cooperative and totally interested in what the dentist was doing.  To start, the dentist told him to open his mouth, which he did as wide as can be and said "aaaaahhhh"

Dylan did a fantastic job!!! He looked adorable in the chair and was very patient - he didn't try to get down at all , did everything the dentist asked and didn't even try to bite her, lol.  His teeth look great, he has no cavities and aside from having teeth that are close together (which is not a problem except they are hard to floss), they are perfect. 

Ryan went second and also did a great job - no cavities and nice, clean, healthy gums.

At one point, I thought that Ryan might fall asleep.  He tucked his arms behind his head like he does at night, and didn't move or make a peep.  Finally, I said "Ryan are you ok"  and he said "Yes, just watching tv and relaxing" lol

I am so glad that the boys like going to the dentist and have had positive experiences so far.  Our next visit is in six months.

Disney Trip - Day 5: Sea World

from April 28, 2010

We decided to take a break from the craziness of the Disney parks for the day and spent day 5 of our trip at Sea World.  As soon as we got through the gates, we were greeted by Shamu and neither of the boys wanted any part of him. 

When we first got to the park, it was not that crowded and all of the adult rides were right near the entrance - since there were no lines, Omi and Poppy watched the boys while Jay, Matt and I went on the roller coasters.  One of the rides called Manta was one of my favorite roller coasters I have ever been on - we rode in the front and you lie face-down (totally horizontal) and you basically fly through the ride although at one point you end up flat on your back.   It was pretty cool and unlike any coaster I had ever been on.

After walking around for a bit and checking out some of the exhibits, we realized that the Shamu show was about to start - one of us was not that interested.

Ryan was very disappointed that he did not get splashed during the show and I think the rest of us liked the dolphin show better.    After taking a break in the shade and some lunch, it was time for the kids to have some fun so we headed over to Happy Harbor, were Ryan finally got to go on his first coaster of the day, the Shamu Express.   He got to pick who he wanted to go with him and he picked Uncle Matt (who had a very hard time fitting his legs in to the seat meant for kids) and even picked sitting in the last row.

He absolutely loved the ride and I think he went on it three times in a row before we had to pry him out of the seat.    Next up was the Flying Fiddler,  which basically went up in the air and then did a free fall, bounce up and down thing.  Ryan looked so small on the ride, especially in between Jay and Matt but he loved it and laughed the whole time.  I think he cried every time he had to get off a ride all day.

While Ryan was on the rides, Dylan made a new friend and then headed over to the sand area under the pirates nets. 
 

Both boys played in the sand box and Ryan climbed in the nets for quite a while but while up in the nets, Ryan spotter the Squishy Fish  teacup ride and we headed over there.   Ryan was a pretty good helper in trying to spin the car but Dylan put his arms up and let the ladies do all the hard work.   We went on a few times at Ryan's insistence and by the end, I think both Omi and I thought we were going to be sick!

After all of that spinning, we needed a break and went to the arcade area to try and win a stuffed Shamu souvenir.  Now, I am a pretty competitive person, but wow - there was some serious game play between these five to try and win the first prize!!

While I love Ryan's technique, he was not ssuccessful at the "ring on the bottle game" and neither was anyone else (which is probably a good thing since the prizes here were about five feet long and I have no idea how we would have gotten it home).

Next up was Racing Shamus and finally we had the first winner of the day.

We played the games for a pretty long time and then decided to call it a day (it was almost 6 by the time we left i think). 

Uncle Brian came that night and we headed back to Downtown Disney to check out some things that we did not check out the night before - we didn't make it to far though.  Omi and I hit up the Christmas shop and the boys spent almost all of their time at the Lego store where they had a huge area to play and make your own cars - Ryan was super focused and although his car was not that fast (and didn't go straight), he had a blast.   He would have stayed all night, but we headed back on the early side so we could rest up for our early breakfast the next day at Magic Kingdom.

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.