Drew's Favorite Christmas Song

I wanted to quickly share Drew's favorite Christmas song for this year:

Elise Noddy Nod
Elise Noddy Nod
Elise Noddy Nod
Elise Noddy Nod
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my hea-a-art

That's Feliz Navidad for those of you who speak Spanish and not toddler-ese! And he sings it with such joy and spirit - it's great!!

Fun Times with Daddy...

Sunday after church the boys (all three of them!) had a big time playing together. It was fun for Mommy just to sit back and take pictures!

Awww...brotherly love!

Superman! And his sidekick, of course!

Christmas Thomas chugging through the tunnels...

Allen decided he needed the tunnel more...

What? I didn't touch the tree...I promise!

Updates...

Allen seems to be getting better, although his temp is still around 101.5 without Tylenol. I'm hopeful that the morning will bring a fresh start! Drew was exhausted after school today and took a 3 1/2 hour nap. It made for a cranky and late evening, but I think he needed the rest. I am holding my breath and hoping he does not come down with a fever as well!

Patrick called today and the preschool in Scottsdale where we really want Drew to attend has a very unusual opening in January. So Drew will be able to start school there the Tuesday after we arrive! We are so excited. We really feel it is the right place for him and the fact that they have an opening is amazing. The only problem is that he needs to be completely potty trained. That should be interesting to accomplish over the next 4 weeks! We're so close...yet so far away...

I hosted a very fun Girls' Night Out at my house on Tuesday night for our Sunday School class. We did a cookie swap and I came away with 6+ dozen cookies! Needless to say, I don't need that many cookies in my house! I was able to take a big tray to a friend today to brighten her holiday and it was so nice to see all the variety in one place and to know it was going to someones family who will enjoy it all! I have also eaten cookies for many meals over the past 2 days. I'm in desperate need of a well-rounded meal at this point!

Saturday is the Christmas celebration with my dad's side of the family. Everyone is coming down from southwest Virginia/northeast Tennessee to have lunch and play at my parent's house. I think there are 37 planning to be there. It should be chaos but fun! The kids draw names and do a gift exchange so it will be Drew and Allen's first Christmas presents of the season. I'm excited to see how they react!

Patrick is in Scottsdale for an extra day this week and it sure does make a difference! Drew really misses him and is ready for him to be home. So am I!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is Grandma's birthday and I forgot to have the boys call her. Some daughter-in-law I am! Sorry Grandma! I'll have them call tomorrow.
Regardless, Happy Birthday! We hope you had a great day!

Sick Boy...Again...

Allen is sick again, only this time we don't know why. When I picked him up from preschool yesterday he had a fever of 102.5. It went up to 103.5 during the night - sleep did not come easy for him and we were up most of the night. It has been at least 103 all day and goes down to 101 with Tylenol but goes right back up when it wears off. We went to the pediatrician and they did blood and urine tests and nothing came back "remarkable" so it is assumed to be a virus. For now I just treat the fever and if it is still high on Friday we go back in.
Of course, Patrick is in Scottsdale this week and not home until late Friday night since he doesn't travel next week. It's times like this that having Daddy at home comes in handy. Mommy is exhausted!

The Mother Letter Project

I stumbled upon this page today and the concept is pretty amazing. There is a man who, when his family decided to spend NO money on each other for Christmas this year, came up with the idea of compiling letters of encouragements from mothers to mothers to give to his wife. The project has exploded and you can be involved. You write an anonymous letter and send it to the e-mail address provided and he will add it to the group. You can also receive a final copy of all the letters if you want it for yourself. It's a really cool idea and I know there are a lot of mothers out there who could add some great letters!
The Mother Letter Project

Nativity Pageant

Tonight, Drew and I went to the Nativity Pageant downtown with Nana, Grandaddy, Uncle Mike, Aunt Celeste, Jay and Amelia. (Allen stayed home with our wonderful babysitter...I'm not sure what I'm going to do without her in Arizona!) It was fabulous, as usual. The kids had a special treat before it started as Mike and I took them "backstage" to visit some of the animals. They were able to pet the sheep and feed apples to Buster the donkey. Drew was VERY excited to meet Buster and spent most of the pageant looking for him and baby Jesus. I'm sure Jesus is excited to know he ranks up there with the donkey!
The cutest comment from Drew tonight was when Isaiah walked out and started talking to the villagers...
"Is that Santa Claus? I think that is Santa!"
When the spiritual and secular worlds of Christmas collide...

Overheard...

Tonight, Drew was playing with his nativity and we overheard this...
"Mary, Mary! You're going to have a baby and his name is Jesus!"

Precious! At least he's retaining some of what the holiday is really about, even if it is just bits and pieces of the story!

It's (finally) beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Today we finally finished decorating our Christmas tree. We put it up over a week ago and it has had 6 ornaments on it since then, the 6 that didn't get put away last year or were purchased this year. So today I decided it was going to be decorated no matter what! I was able to get most of the ornaments hung during the boys' naps and then Drew helped me do the lower, unbreakable ones. It turned out pretty nice...we'll just see how long it takes for Allen to undecorate it or pull it over on his head!
Oh, and Drew is completely distressed that we don't have a star on top of our tree! Oops!

The Christmas Express!

Saturday morning we took Drew and Allen on the Three Rivers Rambler Christmas Express. It was a surprise to Drew, but he figured it out pretty quickly...as soon as we saw the train tracks he started talking about it and by the time he saw the train he said "What if that is my special surprise? Is that my special surprise?!" Can't slip one past that kid...
We enjoyed cookies and treats with hot chocolate while we rode along the river. They stopped the train and read a story to the kids that was quite cute - The Christmas Lantern. Santa boarded the train and stopped by each family to take photos and hand out little gifts. Both boys really enjoyed it, though Allen really just wanted to sleep!

Listening to The Christmas Lantern

Santa and the boys

Daddy and his boys...aren't they cute?!

Impromptu Nativity

Thursday morning was the Impromptu Nativity at church. Drew was a shepherd this year, his first year to participate. It was unbelievably cute and he did such a good job! It was nice to sit back and enjoy it and not have to participate ourselves, unlike last year!
Here are some photos of the adorable kids...

Before it started...his "I don't want to do this" face!

Drew and his friend Gray ("my best friend Gray")

Amelia and Drew

Amelia - the Wise Princess

Happy (early) Birthday Grandma!

On Friday, Grandma and Grandpa came back through town on their way home to Colorado for the holidays. They had spent a week in Gatlinburg with Janet's sister and her husband, enjoying the lights and winter in the Smokies while trying to recover from all the nasty colds and viruses we passed around during Thanksgiving. We were glad to get to spend a couple of hours with them again and had a lunch at home followed by birthday cupcakes for Grandma. Her birthday is next week, but it's the closest we have been to her anywhere near her birthday so we thought a celebration was in order! Drew was very excited to get to sing to her and eat his own cupcake!
(Mommy failed to take pictures...I think Dave got some so maybe he'll share!)
Have a very Happy Birthday Grandma! We'll see you in Arizona soon!

Allen Update

We finally heard today that Allen's test results were normal. So now we wait and see if he continues the strange eye thing and then proceed from there. If it keeps happening, we'll probably see an ophthalmologist next to determine if it could be related to the eye muscles. Hopefully it was just a passing phase and no other doctor visits will be needed!
We had a great dinner tonight at Nana and Grandaddy's with Uncle Mike, Aunt Celeste, Jay and Amelia. The kids played together so well which is always a happy thing for the adults! Drew loves being with his cousins...I'm not sure he grasps what "moving to Scottsdale" means when it comes to nights like this. I know that few kids live so close to their cousins, but it will definitely be a change for him!

Allen's Test

The EEG went well today. Allen was very cooperative and it made things go quickly and smoothly. Our neuro tech said he was the easiest one-year old he had ever tested! He slept when he was supposed to so the sleep deprivation we did Tuesday night worked. It worked on Mommy and Daddy too...we were so tired! We won't know anything for a day or so and the waiting game is no fun.

Here is our little man all "wrapped up." They wrapped his head with gauze so he wouldn't mess with the leads. It was the only part he didn't like but he calmed down pretty quickly! He does look so sad though!

Sick boy and other news...

Allen has pneumonia. Yep - he's following in his brother's footsteps! At least it's "walking pneumonia" so he's being treated with antibiotics. I'm so looking forward to Arizona and dry weather! Hopefully these boys' lungs will do better there! In other medical news, Allen is having an EEG done on Wednesday morning. He's been doing a weird thing where he rolls his eyes back in his head and they twitch. So we're checking to see if it could be seizure related. Hopefully the EEG will come back clean and we'll be off to the eye doctor to check for eye muscle problems instead!
Today I broke Allen's favorite toy...a small blue Easter egg with pink flowers on it. I'm serious. It's the only toy in the house he went back to repeatedly and would play with for any amount of time. I stepped on it and it broke...right into my foot. I was so happy! Hopefully he won't notice it's missing.
Drew is 75% potty trained these days and doing great at what he has mastered. He tells you when he needs to pee or goes by himself and tells you after. He goes for hours without needing to go (better than Mommy can do!) and seems to be pretty set in that category. The other task has not been mastered AT ALL although I'm hoping the promise of a poopoo party will help!
Daddy travels to Scottsdale next week for his last work trip before we move. Drew is so excited and keeps telling me "next week is Daddy's last trip!" The packers/movers come January 5-7 and will deliver in AZ the 12th. Patrick will drive out with Maddie during that time, fly back to meet me then we will fly out with the boys on the 17th. It seems much more real now that the date is finalized!
Christmas is coming and we're not quite ready. The tree is up but not decorated, the house remains in chaos from Thanksgiving. We added 4 adults and 1 child to our home for the holiday...more on that fun later!
I've decided to post recent info first and work on going back to all the huge stuff I've failed to mention over the past few months. A girl's gotta start somewhere!

My Excuse...

So, I feel like I have an excuse for not updating the blog with ANY of the major events in the past 2 months. I mean, I'm so behind! Allen started WALKING 2 weeks ago and not even a mention on here. Well, here is my excuse...



That's our house in Arizona. I have spent every free moment for weeks doing searches online, working with our realtor in Arizona, conversing with Patrick when he is working there to tell him which houses to go see...it's just been a lot of stress! It is not in my personality to pick a house from 1700 miles away without even going in it. But it's done - we made them an offer yesterday and they accepted today. We are just renting, but when you are signing a 24 month lease it feels like much more! We are scheduled to move in January...at least we can enjoy the weather there for a few months before it gets too hot!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Patrick's 33rd birthday. We had a low key family day - Drew visited the dermatologist, Patrick got his hair cut, we ran to a furniture store to buy Drew a new big boy bed (to be delivered Tuesday!), enjoyed lots of play time, dined on homemade lasagna and pound cake...it was a good day! I managed a few cute photos of the boys with their daddy that I'll try and get downloaded...sometime...
Tomorrow the boys are going to Nana and Grandaddy's house while we have 24 hours of "no responsibility". We are going to the new Bond movie and then heading to the Dancing Bear Lodge. It's a place we've both wanted to visit for a while and this is our chance to get away. We figure that once we get to Arizona our alone times will be few and far between!

I've Been Tagged...

I've been tagged by Ashley to do the following:
1. Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer
2. Choose the 4th picture (I had to choose the 4th folder again...)
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

This is from our trip to Hilton Head this past June. Allen was "reading" in the big chair in our condo and was just too cute not to capture! You can see my mom's reflection in the mirror taking the picture. (Photos of those taking photos make me laugh!)

I tag...

Allie
Janet L.
Janet M.
Brandi

Coming Soon...

Here are all the blog posts I owe you (and me!)...
Family camping trip
Allen's first birthday
Dollywood
Pumpkin patch & carving
Scottsdale trip
Drew's third birthday
General updates on our crazy lives!

I'm really putting this on here more for myself...reminders of what all I haven't recorded over the last few weeks!

Halloween...updated...

This year for Halloween we had a skunk and Tow'Mater in our family. On Saturday, October 25, we went to Boo at the Zoo with Jeremy, Lora and Elizabeth (Cinderella). Drew had a blast trick-or-treating around the zoo and running around with Elizabeth. Allen rode in the wagon and walked some, getting some goodies in his pumpkin along the way but primarily just looking really cute.





On Sunday we went to the harvest festival at church. Allen wore his skunk costume again but Drew decided he could not go down the big slide dressed as 'Mater (very smart deduction, I thought). Drew was very active - he ran the obstacle course more times than I can count, climbed the climbing wall twice (with Daddy's help, but he was really good!), played some games...basically never sat down! Allen watched the puppet show, went down on slide with Daddy, sat and ate lots of food...basically enjoyed himself as best he could!
(Grandaddy has all the photos from this night...I'll try to get some!)

On Halloween we went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Celeste's house for their neighborhood party and trick-or-treating with Jay (Anakin Skywalker) and Amelia (Super Girl). Nana, Grandaddy, Mama G and Pop were there along with Jay's friend Eli and his parents. The kids enjoyed the block party (though the firetruck didn't make it...we heard it pass with the siren on) and were then ready to hit the houses. A few of us went out with the kids to trick-or-treat while the rest of the adults stayed back to enjoy homemade chili and answer the doorbell. Drew loved the idea of Halloween - running from house to house, ringing the doorbell, getting stuff in his pumpkin...but he didn't really care about the candy and hasn't asked about it since! Allen wasn't too excited about the whole adventure and was ready to go back to the house and just have dinner! All in all it was a successful and tiring night!

Another week...

...another 7 days without posting. Seriously, I just can't get my act together! I think it's the fact that I have so much in my brain and so little time to type it all out. I'm forgetting things though...I have to get it all down!
For now, we are all in Arizona house hunting. Actually, Patrick is working, I am house hunting, and Drew and Allen are having fun at the park, swimming, eating and just playing with Nana.

Blog Slacker...

I have been a serious blog slacker as of late. Sorry. There is no real excuse other than being very busy, having my husband home for 12 days straight (where you might think that would open up all sorts of free time to complete many tasks it instead ate up all my free time and then some...I am so behind!), house hunting 1800 miles away, trying to keep the boys safe, fed and happy...well...it's just been a lot! I have thousands of photos to post from the past few weeks and so much information I want to get down "on paper" that I just need to sit down and start it. After I get some much needed sleep tonight, that is...

We're back!

Sorry for the hiatus...I'm so behind on so much of life right now! But I'm trying to get some stuff posted to catch up. Three very busy weeks leave a lot to write about, so here we go!
We had a wonderful visit with Grandma. She was here September 24-October 6. She kept very busy with the boys, giving Mommy some much needed relief and time off! We went camping, took her to Dollywood, enjoyed a visit by Auntie Maggie and baby Elizabeth, and celebrated at Allen’s birthday party. I think she had a good time…although I think she needed the break by the time she left!

Grandma's Coming!

The boys are so excited...well, Drew is excited and Allen will be soon...Grandma arrives tomorrow for almost 2 weeks! Mommy is excited too...the more, the merrier at our house! Any help I can get is welcome!
We are headed to Cherokee National Forest on Thursday for our annual family camping trip. I'm sure it will be interesting this year with Allen crawling everywhere and into everything! We'll just have to see how it goes! It has to be better than last year...35 weeks pregnant and in the woods was just no fun! But we don't have Grandma and Grandpa's awesome camper this year. We are renting one...and I'm making Grandma drive! Patrick won't be able to join us until Saturday morning and I'm not driving an RV! Lucky for me she has experience! Look for photos of our adventures next week!!

Here's the Disney dish...

Ok...so I am finally getting the photos uploaded along with my details from our trip. Now, if you have read anything on here before, you know I can get a little long winded and detailed about things. I look at it as my chance to remember what happens and what we do since my memory just really isn't the best. So, you have the choice to read it all or just enjoy the slide shows!
They are in "blog order" so scroll down to start at the beginning. And if the slide show stops, just click on the x in the upper right side to start it back up!

Disney...Day 6...Our Last Day...

Going into Saturday, we didn't really have a plan. Mommy woke up early, showered and packed most of our stuff. Daddy finally got up and got ready and then Drew was up around 8:15. We asked him where he would like to go that day and he chose Magic Kingdom. I know...you are shocked! So we arrived not long after it opened at 9:00 and took our usual route...train to Goofy's roller coaster. Well, turns out that Mickey's Toontown doesn't open until 10:00...it would have been nice to know that before we got on the train! So we were stuck. We either had to take the super secret path to Tomorrowland and then cut through to Fantasyland, or wait it out. Well, a lot of other families were waiting and Drew started playing on the playground with some other kids. We saw a family picked to be the "first Mickey family of the day". They got to tour Mickey's house with Mickey and Minnie and a photographer in tow, then got private time with them in the Judge's Tent. Patrick and I just rolled our eyes...our luck...someone right next to us gets picked for something cool! They ended up opening everything at about 9:45 so Drew got to be the first one on Goofy's roller coaster that day. He was pretty excited about it and we got to sit in the front seat which he thought was cool...he got to "drive"! Next, Drew wanted to see Mickey one last time so we went back to his house and had some quick pictures with Mickey and Minnie. We walked to Fantasyland where Drew and Mommy rode the teacups (Daddy's a chicken) and Drew figured out how to make it spin! He loved it! Next he wanted to do the Pooh ride again so we stood in a short line and hopped on. When we got off, there was a little back up at the exit. Turned out a member of the Dream Team was handing out Dream Fastpasses. We were so excited! Until we remembered that we had about 100 minutes left before we had to leave the park to get back to the hotel to pack and leave. Seriously?! The one time we finally get something cool during the "Year of a Million Dreams" event we don't even have time to use it?! (Keep in mind this was the 3rd time in 18 months we had been to Disney...the 12th day total we had been in a park over those trips...and the first time we got ANYTHING!) Oh well...such is life! We decided to make the best of it. We still wanted to let Drew pick the rides and his next choice was the carousel...not a Fastpass ride, but ok. Mommy rode with Drew while Daddy searched for a smoothie for Mommy. His next choice was Dumbo but we trumped him...the line was crazy long and we just didn't have much time left. So we went to Buzz Lightyear (where the FP guy didn't make us pull our tags) and then child swapped at Space Mountain (again, no tags pulled). By that point Mommy was stressed and Drew was getting irritated. So we decided to let him pick again...Goofy's coaster it is! One last ride (everyone has to ride this time!) then onto the train to say goodbye to Disney! On our way out, Patrick stopped a Dream Team member and gave our Fastpasses back for her to redistribute since we hadn't officially used them. Hopefully she made some couple's day!

We made it back to our hotel in time to quickly pack the rest of our stuff and be out before our 1:00 late check out. We ate a quick lunch at the food court, did some last minute shopping in the store (we had 5 snack credits left to spend!) and headed to the airport. We were all a little sad to go, but exhausted and ready to be home. Our flights were uneventful. Drew did great on both legs. He colored, watched college football, and did some shopping in the Sky Mall magazine. He never fell asleep (Mommy did!) until we got loaded in the car at our airport. It didn't take 5 minutes for him to be out and he slept the whole way home and didn't even wake up when Daddy carried him up to bed. Nana and Grandaddy were waiting for us...they had Allen all bathed and asleep which was great. Our state of tiredness meant a peacefully sleeping baby was exactly what we wanted to see! We were able to sneak in for kisses and were thankful that he slept through the night!

All in all it was a great trip. We learned a lot and have decided that our next trip will probably be in December 2011. Drew will be 6, Allen will be 4. While I feel a little guilty waiting that long to take Allen for his first time, I'm never going with a 2 (almost 3) year old again. There are still too many tantrums, too much difficulty communicating with each other, too much time needed for naps, too many food issues...just too much. And Drew's a pretty easy kid! So we'll take a little break from Disney World for now. Unless Patrick and I go on our own some time...

Disney...Day 5...

Friday morning we went to Hollywood Studios to try and get quickly on the Toy Story ride again and hopefully get to see Lightning McQueen up close. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...they don't always turn out for the best! We were in the parking lot at 8:55 (park opened at 9:00) and, by using our AAA Diamond parking, we knew we could park close and just walk in. Well, they had all special parking blocked off and routed us to the back of the lot with no explanation. We had to wait (in the rain) for the next tram and finally made it through the gates by 9:20. By the time I made it to Toy Story to get a Fastpass, we pulled a 10:35 time. Oh well...we'll just walk around, have breakfast and then be done. We went to the HISTK playground again and Drew was able to do 2 things before the skies opened and it started pouring. We found some shelter, ate a snack, put on our rain coats and hightailed it to the Muppets 3D movie. Since Drew had enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic, we thought we could convince him to watch this one. It worked out ok and we were able to spend 20 minutes in a nice dry place. After that was finished we went to see Lightning McQueen. Well, the rain had delayed his appearance and the line was forever long so we opted for Woody and Buzz instead (their line is indoors). Daddy went to get some breakfast and Drew and Mommy waited...for 30 minutes. Drew was a champ and was so patient. He didn't want to leave until we saw them so we waited. It worked out well and we were able to get straight on the Toy Story ride immediately after. Since the rain was so questionable, we thought we would go back to the hotel, do some packing, rest and see what happened. Drew would have nothing of it and demanded to go back to Magic Kingdom. So off we went!

We rode the train in the rain, got off at Mickey's, rode Goofy's roller coaster, and then had to duck into the big store to avoid the rain. We let Drew shop some and he picked out a small, dye cast monorail. Thinking that was a perfect toy to play with on such a rainy day, Daddy bought it, found a place to sit down, and opened the box...only to find that the monorail was attached to the box by SCREWS! Yep, not twist ties, not plastic clips...good, old fashioned philips head screws. You have got to be kidding... Of course, the store didn't have a screw driver so we convinced Drew that we would open it at the hotel. We were all starving so we got back on the train, rode to the front and went to Tony's Town Square for lunch. It was pretty good...over priced for what you get but when you have the Dining Plan for free it doesn't really matter! After our spaghetti and awesome desserts, we decided to go back to the hotel for naps. Daddy told Drew that if he went to sleep, he would get the monorail out. Well, the bribe worked and Drew napped hard. Patrick went to the front desk, found a screwdriver and got it out. When Drew woke up he didn't say a word. He just walked over to our bed and looked up at Patrick. We realized what he was doing...he had remembered Daddy's promise and was making sure he made good on it!

Since all the parks closed early for one reason or another (except Epcot), we went back to Downtown Disney for the night. Dinner was at Planet Hollywood (too loud, overpriced, slow service...oh well!) and then we walked to the shops. Drew and Daddy stopped back at the Lego store for more car racing and Mommy did some shopping for Jay's birthday. We then went to the train for Drew to ride again, this time in the engine. After that we went to the good toy store for Mommy to get some new Disney pieces for Mr. Potato Head (if you haven't stuffed a box at Once Upon a Toy, you haven't shopped for Potato Head pieces!) while Daddy and Drew found some cool trains and lots of Lightning McQueen stuff. Drew was really good about leaving it all in the store, although we did pick up a LM for his birthday. We went back to the hotel where we all crashed hard...our last day was upon us!

Disney...Day 3 & 4...

Wednesday we got a late start so we had breakfast in our room and then headed to Hollywood Studios (which I kept calling MGM!). We hit Playhouse Disney Live on Stage first thing and Drew enjoyed it, though he didn't get as in to it as I thought he would. We had Fastpasses for the new Toy Story ride but they were over 2 hours out so we killed time by riding the Back Lot Tour and walking around some. I was surprised that Drew didn't want to see any of the characters...there are Playhouse Disney people plus all the Pixar friends but he didn't want anything to do with them. The only one he was really interested in was Lightning McQueen, but we got to the line too late twice and didn't get to "meet" him. We tried the Muppet 3D movie but Drew would have nothing of it so we left. We ate lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet and spent some time in the air conditioning playing arcade games. We then played on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground (still neat, but some of the stuff is lost on today's kids...a roll of film? What's that?!) to burn more energy and then finally got to ride Toy Story Mania. It was absolutely awesome! I would have ridden it again but the 45 minute wait kept me away! Daddy then got to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster while Drew enjoyed his first Itzakadoozie before we left for the hotel for some naps. The evening was great with a boat ride to Downtown Disney, dinner, riding the little train and carousel, shopping, playing at the Lego store (for at least 30 minutes!) and ice cream at Ghirardelli (Mommy's favorite stop at DD!). Drew really enjoyed himself and snuggled on my lap on the boat ride back to our hotel. It was nice.

Thursday we headed to Epcot and had an awesome day. It was the longest we stayed at any park for a continuous time and Drew did great. We rode Finding Nemo, talked to Crush and looked at all the fish. Next we rode the boat ride at the Land and then had lunch at the Garden Grill with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. That was an unscheduled stop and was a hit! Journey Into Imagination was next and Drew really liked Figment...he has quite the appeal to kids I guess! We decided to tour the World and headed to Mexico for the new Donald boat ride. It's pretty funny...still pretty much like it was before, just with Donald and those other birds thrown in for comic relief! Drew enjoyed dancing to the mariachi band there...he's my music man! Since we were doing well with boat rides, we hit Maelstrom at Norway and he liked that too...although he was quite tentative about it! We continued our World tour, bypassing China and headed for the trains at Germany. Of course, most of them were broken or derailed, but there were a couple for Drew to watch. When we finally tore him away from there, we quickly went around to the UK. We visited the toy store where we ran into Pooh and Tigger (no, Pooh did not run away from me this time...if you need that story, I can fill you in later...and Patrick and my brother have it on video somewhere!). Drew also found Thomas in the toy store and was thrilled that he was at Disney too! On the way out, we decided to ride Spaceship Earth since it was the only thing there we had not ridden that was Drew friendly. They have changed it too since I rode it last and it was pretty cool. You get to make a video postcard at the end of the ride with your own futuristic story and they use your face on the characters. Drew thought it was pretty cool and laughed at his little guy. We went back to the hotel for naps, but it wasn't meant to be. We had pretty much missed the nap window and Drew was not going to sleep...he rested quietly but never really closed his eyes. So we offered him another night at Magic Kingdom if he wanted to get up. Of course, he said yes so off we went. We started on the train (do you see a pattern?) and this time got off in Frontierland so we could on some new rides. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, the carousel, Dumbo, Peter Pan and watched Mickey's Philharmagic. We decided to get out of there before the parade and made it back for an early bath and bed. We had experimented with skipping a formal dinner and just letting Drew snack along the way. I thought it worked pretty well until I brought my dinner in while he was getting ready for bed and he ate half of it! Oh well...live and learn!

Disney...Day 1 & 2

We arrived at the Orlando airport at 8:15 Monday morning...30 minutes early! We were able to get our car and check into the hotel by 9:30, get unpacked, and we were at the Magic Kingdom by 10:30! All Drew wanted to do was ride the train and see Mickey. We accomplished both those things right away, as well as seeing Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. Drew loved them all...except Goofy. He was a little tentative around him, though I can't blame him...he's huge! We had lunch at the Crystal Palace with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger...all a big hit! Drew really got into the autograph thing and he had so much fun in the little parade around the restaurant. After riding the Goofy roller coaster, we took the train again and headed back to the hotel for a nap. Drew was so tired that it took him forever to go to sleep, but then I think he could have slept all night! That night we went back to MK and rode Dumbo, the carousel, Winnie the Pooh and the race cars. We decided to skip the fireworks and went back for some sleep (and to watch the Vols lose...boo!).

Tuesday morning we were up early (Drew woke us up!) so we headed to Animal Kingdom. This was a change in plans so we did some dining rearranging and had breakfast at Tusker House with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey. I think he has a crush on Daisy! We rode the safari and then the train to the Conservation Station and then decided that the pool was calling our names. Drew was not as into AK as I thought he would be (he usually loves animals and zoos) and we decided not to push it. I think it was just too hot for Drew and he was still pretty pooped from Monday. Swimming and lunch at the hotel was followed by showers and naps...for all! At night we returned to Magic Kingdom for more rides (the train of course, Goofy's coaster, Pooh, the carousel), the night parade and fireworks. It was so crowded for the parade, but we fought for space and Drew really enjoyed it. Mommy got to ride Space Mountain and Daddy and Drew had a special treat when the fireworks started while they were high above Tomorrowland on the Astro Orbiter! Very cool...Oh, and we got to sit up front in the monorail on our way into the park. Drew liked it, although his reaction was not as strong as we thought it would be. The driver gave him a set of monorail collector cards which he looked through immediately. He didn't want to ride up there again the rest of the trip. I don't know if it scared him or if he just had a "been there, done that" attitude about it. Who knows?!

Our lives...

Here are some photos of the past few days...maybe these will keep you satisfied until I can get my act together!

Flowers from Patrick..."Just Because"

Here Maddie!

Mischievous little guy...

Enjoying Maddie's bed in the office

"Take my picture too Mommy!"