My Favorite Beach Memories

These are the pictures from the beach that I like the best. The water was so cold but we adjusted to it quickly. The best thing about the weather being so cool was that I didn't have to get in a bathing-suit:) Next to Magic Kingdom, this was hands-down my best day on vacation. The water was beautiful. Jack was having a blast. He loved the sand and water more than I could have imagined. It was precious watching him play so hard at the beach. We even let him for-go his nap and hung out at the beach until 3:30. He was wiped out that night but it was worth it. Sam really enjoyed that it wasn't hot. I picked a ton of shells and took a million pictures, it was just the perfect day.

The water was so blue.

Sam and Jack burying their feet.

Jack has sand all over his face here.

Jack and Sam's creation

Taking a very short sit-down.

My favorite picture by far. It just shows how happy Jack was that day. Sums up the day perfectly!

Getting some pregnancy pictures.

Hollywood Studios - Character Mania!

Day two was spent at Hollywood Studios. There weren't as many rides that Jack could ride at this park. Most of the day was spent making sure we saw all of Jack's favorite Pixar movie characters (and the chipmunks). After arriving at the park, Sam and Jack rode Toy Story Mania and then we went and got in line to see Jack's hero, Lightning McQueen. He was definitely the top priority. Luigi's garage was where Mater and Lightning were spotted. They had a garage door down when we arrived. The Cars soundtrack started playing and they lifted the garage door slowly, it was so exciting.


Approaching...
















They were revving their engines and honking their horns, their eyes moved around. Mater's radiator moved around. It was so cool. Jack can't keep his eyes off of Lightning.

Still staring at Lightning McQueen.

Getting up close here.

Posing with Mater.

He probably could have hung out at Luigi's garage all day. He just sat here watching Mater and Lightning and all the other kids taking pictures with them. Total fascination.

After the Cars sighting, we went over to see Buzz and Woody. Here Jack is coming to me, not-so-sure about these guys.

Okay, we're warming up now.

Monsters, Inc. is Jack's new movie obsession, so Sully and Mike were must-sees. I was really taken by how big Sully was, how on earth he could move around in that suit. Jack was quite speechless when he saw them, but still did a little side-step up for the picture.

There was no line for pics with the Chipmunks so we jumped right in there.

We also saw the Playhouse Disney, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show but my camera died during the show and all we have is dancing footage of Jack with our camcorder. We saw Handy Manny, The Little Einsteins, Mickey and friends and My Friends Tigger and Pooh during the show. Jack made friends with all the kids around us.

Magic Kingdom Part 2!

After heading to the hotel (All-Star Sports Resort) for a nap, we went back to Magic Kingdom for the evening. We had a character meal and the Mickey very Merry Christmas Party and parade. We were quite tired despite taking a nap. Before our Winnie the Pooh character meal, we road the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Our character meal was at Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and friends. As soon as the meal was over, we had to dash to get set for the parade. There was no room right on the street and it was freezing. I bought a blanket for Jack and Mickey gloves for myself. I think everyone who came to visit the WDW parks came to the Christmas party and parade. It was insanely crowded. The parade was great and Jack really enjoyed it.

Sam and Jack waiting for the Buzz Lightyear ride.

At Crystal Palace for our Winnie the Pooh meal.

Tigger, Sam and Jack





















Sam, Jack and Eyeore.



I love this picture of Piglet and Jack. He looks so shy and at least he's posing without Sam or myself. I know we took several pictures of Winnie the Pooh and Jack but they didn't show up in the developed pictures. Oh well.

Sam and Jack all bundled, waiting on the parade to start. The castle in the background was decorated to look like it was covered in ice.

These are the parade shots that turned out the best. It was dark and crowded (have I mentioned how cold it was?)
The Beast from "Beauty and the Beast".

Toy Soldiers. And bless the one in the middle, he had just fell down and ate the pavement. He recovered nicely, but you know the other guys gave him a hard time later. I felt sorry for him.

Jack was very excited to see Mickey Mouse, but I think that Santa Claus was actually a bigger hit.

Jack was really tired after the parade and we decided against staying for the fireworks. Thankfully, we caught the first monorail back to the parking lot. What a stroke of luck. Our first day a complete success. Sam is now completely sold on all the fuss about Disney!

Magic Kingdom Part 1

Welcome to our Walt Disney World pictures. We had a wonderful vacation and I just can't begin to put into words the memories that were made. We went to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood studios and Animal Kingdom. I think Magic Kingdom had more options for Jack's age than the other parks. We were high on adrenaline and energy; hitting our first day hard. Here are photos from the first half of our day at Magic Kingdom. The only thing that would have made our Disney vacation any better would have been warmer temperatures. It was freezing out of the direct sun.

Cinderella's Castle

Jack watching Donald Duck, waiting to get his picture with him.

Jack side-stepped up to Donald just before this picture, it was so cute. But, he wouldn't stand with him alone.

No, Sam isn't riding Dumbo alone, Jack is likely bent down fooling around with the controls.

Just before heading in to Mickey's Philharmagic movie in 3D. Jack did not like this at all. It was really loud and he jumped and grabbed me several times from the objects "leaping" out of the screen. Bless him.

Riding, It's a Small World. The look on his face when we entered the ride was priceless. The first of many priceless looks on his face.

This is Rafiki from "The Lion King". Jack did his side-step up to him, but again wouldn't stand alone with him. Rafiki mocked Jack and did a little side-step himself.

Oh did we ever want to ride The Mad Tea Party over and over and over... just like the Dumbo ride .

Of all the souvenirs that Jack could have chosen to take from Magic Kingdom, he chose a Mickey balloon. They were $10! I will have to say, it's like plastic and still standing tall in our living room today. It's held up nicely. Here we are posing on Main Street with the $10 balloon.

People were so nice. We had many offers from people to take our picture so that we could all three be in the photo. We must of had, "first time Disney-ers" written all over us.

M - I- C - K - E - Y . . . . M - O - U - S - E !!!

Can you guess where we're going?

Tomorrow, we're leaving for Disney World. Jack's first vacation, our first family vacation. Three days of Disney and three days at the beach. I'll be back in a week with lots of blog postings I'm sure.

Jack can't wait to see: Mickey and friends, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Sully and Mike (monsters, Inc.), Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Nemo and Dory.

The Next Eddie Van Halen?

This is just the best picture. Jack loves music and that just thrills Sam to death.

A different day of playing tunes.

Rockin' out while Sam is in the fort. Sam spends more time in the fort than Jack does :)

Wiggly Party!

Here is a cute video of Jack dancing (and singing a little bit) to "wiggly party".

Music to my ears

I constantly tell Jack that I love him. Sometimes I wonder if it's an abnormal amount. Today at lunch, he looked so grown up eating his chicken nuggets with his new big-boy haircut. He was so excited to tell me about school. I kept telling him I loved him and did my usual, "how much does mommy love you?". Just because I like to hear him say, "for never and ever". So, I thought he may be looking a little annoyed and I asked, "do you get tired of mommy telling you how much she loves you? Or do you like it?" He said, "I like it mommy, I like it. Yep, I like it."

My sweetheart.

Having Lunch with Daddy

Last week Jack and I went to have lunch with Sam at work. It's been a year since we've done lunch with him at work. Jack had a blast. Not surprising, he was a social butterfly - talking to every person that would listen to him. Sam's co-workers were very welcoming, especially Mary, Sam's classmate (his same year).

Jack showing off his Happy Meal toy.

Can you tell Sam is thrilled to have Jack at work with him?

Oops! Jack took a tumble in the hallway.

This is Mary. She was so sweet to Jack, even trying to get him to eat one of her yogurts.

On our way out, Jack had to touch the fountain water. On the way home he said, "Mommy, I want to swim in that fountain."

Another Weekend in Lexington

Jack and I took a quick trip to Lexington (about 48 hours total) to visit. Jennifer and the girls were going to be in for her 20-year class reunion. I had the privilege of having the girls all to myself Saturday night while she was having fun at the reunion. Here are shots of the girls with Jack after their showers, watching Cars. You can clearly see that Jack is loving this time with Madison and Lauren.