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!"

Welcome Catherine!

My good friend Lora had her baby girl yesterday. Catherine Grace arrived last night around 7:30 weighing 8 lbs and measuring 19 3/4 inches. Mom and baby are doing great and big sister Elizabeth is excited and proud!
Congratulations Lora, Jeremy and Elizabeth! We are so happy for your family!

I keep forgetting...

Drew has a new saying that his Uncle Jim will appreciate. He keeps telling me that things are "brilliant"! For example, Monday night he said "This bath is brilliant Mommy! Really great!" He picked it up from Jakers the other day and has been cracking me up with it!
Speaking of...they have taken Jakers off our PBS Kids lineup. Augh! I have about 7 episodes on our DVR, but come on! That is Drew's favorite show, hands down! And it's entertaining for parents too. You can have some good laughs with that one. What's a mom to do?!

I'm working on it!

I'm working on sorting through the 450+ photos from Disney to get some loaded on here...I hope to have things up in the next couple of days. If you are lucky, I may even get some video loaded!
And yes, Allen's 11 month "birthday" was on Monday and yes, I did not post anything! Yes, I'm a total slacker mom right now...just trying to get back into the swing of things!