Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I'm ready to go...

Part of the joy of coming home is unpacking. Tyler and Jackson decided that they wanted to go back to Mickey's house, so he packed himself in the suitcase. I warned him to be careful- I might ship him off to Papa and Gigi's.
Jackson has started to cruise around and stand really well. He is into his little walk behind toy. We just have to watch him on the tile floor- that toy will just shoot out from under him if he pushes too hard!

How big is Jackson? SOOOO BIG!!!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Disney- Friday

Friday the weather was almost "back to normal".  We still had to wear an extra layer in the morning and at night, but it was at least 25-30 degrees warmer than it was on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tyler mapping out our route for the day.  We pretty much let him do whatever he wanted and go where ever he wanted to go and just have fun exploring and being a kid.  We just had to make him stop once in a while to eat and sometimes redirect his attention after we had ridden a ride one too many times in a row. 

Back to the Toy Story ride.
Locked up!  
I'm not quite sure what he was doing here, but it made for a funny picture.
Running over the Barrel Bridge on Tom Sawyer's Island.
Back to the Toy Story ride- again.
And our last night of fireworks.  We were smart this time and watched them for the end of Main Street so we would have an easy exit.  Until next time... 

Disney- Thursday

The weather was much nicer today- as you can tell by Rich's shorts.  Still cold in the morning and at night, but nice during the day with the sun out.   
This is an airplane roller coaster in Toonland that Tyler loves to ride.  He comes running down the ramp ready to go again!  For us, that is the best part about going to Disney- seeing his face just light up and him getting so excited.  

Jackson can go on most of the rides that Tyler is able to go on right now- except the airplane.  So he just hangs out with one of us and waits.
In Tomorrowland, they have a little tram/ train that goes along the 2nd floor of some of the buildings.  Tyler wanted to go on it over and over.  He has these rides memorized- it is funny to hear him talk about what is coming up next.
Jack liked to ride the train also. 
This the the Buzz Lightyear ride from Toy Story.  This was the first time we rode this ride, and we rode it over, and over, and over...  It is interactive so Tyler could shoot the laser gun and turn the car around in circles.  I am glad that he wanted to ride with Rich on this one!  Jackson couldn't reach the trigger on the laser gun, but he could reach the joystick used to turn the car around, so he liked that.  And he liked all the flashing lights.

Buzz Lightyear was the only character that Tyler has been willing to go up to.  I think he just wanted to push the buttons that he had on his costume.  Can you guess what his new favorite movie is now?
We had to run back to the hotel room so that Rich could put some jeans and a sweater on so we could go back to the park for more rides and fireworks!  You can see by our outfits that it got really cold again.  It was so cold that Tyler actually asked to put his hat on- and he hates wearing a hat!
On the train/ tram again.

This is the ride that I now dislike more than the Tea Cups.  It is on the 2nd story of one of the buildings and just goes around and around really fast.  The view was great, but I do not think I will be going on this one with Tyler again anytime soon.
And at last, the fireworks.  Tyler is showing the fireworks to Jack.  He would take him by the hand and say "look JackJack- see the fireworks?" and then point them out to him.  It was really cute.  He is such a good brother.

Magic Kingdom- Wednesday

We woke up Wednesday and took our time getting ready in the morning because it was COLD!!!  We were in no rush to get out in the freezing temperatures.  So, the boys got their baths and here is Ty getting ready for the big day at "Mickey's House".

AAhh, the Tea Cups.  But Tyler did discover a ride which I dislike even more than the Tea Cups- more on that later!
Both boys passed out in their strollers so we bundled them up, set them in the sun in front of Cinderella's Castle and people watched for a while.  That was interesting!
Jackson really loves to go on all the rides.  He watches everything going on and has started pointing and going "ooooohhhh" when he sees something he likes and gets so excited.

These steering wheels are right as you get off the Jungle Cruise.  Because we have ridden this thing, no lie, at least 20 times, Tyler has it memorized.  So after we get off, he likes to go over and reenact the cruise for us.  I will try to get it on video next time.  He is a hoot.  Jackson is happy just being down and free to climb and play.
We left Disney early because it was just too cold for the rides once the sun started going down.  And we headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner, stores (The Lego Store had the outdoor play area closed because of the cold- bummer), and then the best part- Ghiradelli Ice Cream and Milkshakes.  Yyyuuummmmmmm...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Animal Kingdom

On Tuesday,  we headed to Animal Kingdom.  The weather took a turn and it got really cold, really fast.  You can always tell when it gets below about 50 degrees because Rich will have on pants and/or long sleeves (sometimes anyway).  And the boys were bundled up in 3 layers of shirts and sweaters and then vests and jackets on top of that.
There are the Huey, Duey, and Louie statues that are in one of the hotel courtyards.  Tyler didn't really want to go near them last time, but was a little more adventurous this time.  He is funny like that. He wants nothing to do with the characters at Disney, but he will go on any and every ride without a moment of hesitation.   Jack had fun with the life-size ducks also.

Tyler sticking his head inside of the jaws of a hippo.
Looking through a "tell-scope"
This is on the animal safari ride.  Tyler is funny when he sees a big animal like a crocodile he will wave his hand and say "shoo, shoo".  I just hope that if he even happens upon one in real life, he doesn't do that and expect it to go away!
Look closely at Tyler's face in this picture.  It is classic.  Typical 3 year old meltdown when we make him do something he doesn't want to do.  Can you see this Nicole?  I will try to get it on video next time for you. ;)

Can you guess what is going to happen next....

This was funny.  They had a trash can that moved around and talked. Tyler wanted to go see it because I think he thought it was like "Wall-E".  But he went up to it and it started talking to him and following him and freaked him out.  He did not like it, but we thought it was pretty funny. 
They also had an animal petting area.  Tyler loved it, but Jack is not too sure yet what to think.
And, of course, we had to play the drums.
They have an area in Dinoland that has little overpriced carnival type games.  So we let Tyler play one and even though he didn't win, he had fun.
This is the play area at Dinoland. They have a huge slides and climbing areas and imitation fossils in the rocks.  Jack had fun standing up and holding on and walking around them.
Over the dinosaur bridge is the fossil dig.  Last time we were here, Jackson didn't want anything to do with the little pebbles that covered the bones.  He wouldn't even put his feet down for a while!  He did much better this time and enjoyed playing in it a little more.

Especially helping Daddy cover up Tyler!  I went to change Tyler's diaper after this and when I went to lay him down,  tons of pebbles poured out of his coat pockets!
Animal Kingdom is the first of the parks to close because they take the animals in at night.  The last thing that we did was watch the Nemo musical.  Jackson made it through about the first 5 minutes and Tyler made through about the first half.   Poor little guys!  They were pooped out!