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!

Epcot

As an early birthday present for the boys, we headed to Disney for the week.  We left Monday and after a few stops for groceries and such, we got to the Disney All Star Sports Hotel, dropped off our bags, and hopped the bus to Epcot.  I have actually never been to Epcot.  When we went to Disney when we were little, they were still building it.  So this was my first time as well!

Jackson looks like he is either very confused or really mad.

When we were at Animal Kingdom last time, we saw Nemo the musical and Tyler loved it.  So he was excited to see the Nemo figures at Epcot.

I think he cut in front of 2 other kids in line to crawl up into the shark, but at least I got a picture!

Nightime at Epcot.

Godzilla

Jackson has several nicknames.  One of his latest is Godzilla or King Kong.  He loves to crawl over and sit right in the middle of Tyler's train tracks and tear it apart.  Needless to say, Tyler does not like it very much, but as you can see form Jack's grin, he is is having a ball!

We have recently discovered a farmer's market/flea market not far form the house.  They have great local fruits and vegetables for dirt cheap.   Notice the boys in both pictures- we always have to check the strollers for stolen fruit before we leave.  

This past weekend we took Tyler to a kids workshop at Lowe's.  They made little time capsules.  Tyler had fun putting it together and hammering in the nails.  He could have cared less about the finished product- he is all about the process.

This is his little friend, Kaylee.  Tyler was not interested in getting his picture taken, he just wanted to finish his project!

We love the beach

We went to our beach at Anna Maria Island again this week.  Jackson loves to crawl all over the playground now and is dying to keep up with the big boys.  But he is also content to hang with his brother and try to get his lunch.

"Me?  I would never steal anything form my brother- I am an angel".

"hehehehehe"

"Look Tyler- I think I see a dog over there"

"No, Jack!  TyTy's food"

Quiet evening at home

When we get the chance, we like to take a walk before or after dinner at night.  The weather has been wonderful here lately, so we have been able to go out a lot.  Our neighborhood is one big circle with our street going down the center, with a horseshoe shaped lake surrounding it.  We walk up our street to the loop and then down to the playground.  Ty likes to ride some, walk some.  Jack doesn't have a choice!

This is the path that leads to the playground.  Just to the left of the path is another pond/lake, and to the right is the Manatee River.  We have not seen the alligator at our lake lately, but we see him down here often. 

You can just see him in the center of the picture on the edge of the bank.   This one is small- maybe around 4 1/2 feet long.  You can also see the dirt that is disturbed behind him.  This is from the wild boar that roam the neighborhood.   You can hear them snorting at night and they tear up the grass rooting for grub.  We also have armadillo, bald eagles, lots of hawks and hundreds of other birds I can't even begin to name, and I actually saw a panther run across the road in front of our neighborhood a few months ago.  I was not sure what type of cat it was until I talked to a wildlife rescue worker at a festival we went to.   Apparently she said that there is one that lives in the area and that it is rare to see it, so I was lucky.  Well, at least I am lucky at something!

This is our playground.  We always have to check it for wasps nests and spiders before we play- the joys of living in a "natural" area.

Tyler likes to ride on our shoulders.  He also likes to steal Rich's hat.

And use Rich's head as a drum. Tyler had fun and I thought it was funny- I am not so sure if Rich did.

Grandpa Tyler.  Whenever we ask him to pull up his pants- he really pulls them up!  What a ham!

Clearwater

This past weekend we headed about an hour North to Clearwater.  My friends from UGA, Heather and Paul live there.  We stopped by their house first and then headed to the beach! 

Poor Paul.  He was such a trooper.  He put up with Tyler chasing him around and throwing sand on him.  Thanks, Paul!  Heather and Paul have no children of their own and if we keep coming up with our kids, I don't know if they ever will!  ;)  They are great birth control!

Dad is used to getting pelted with sand balls.  Tyler has a good little arm.  Check out the guy behind Tyler- nice bathing suit!  I am trying to convince Rich to get one like it- but I am not having much luck.

Jackson is just sitting back with Heather watching his crazy brother.

They have a huge playground at the main beach in Clearwater.  The boys had a lot of fun.

After the beach, we went back to Paul and Heather's house.  They only live about 10-15 minutes from the beach- how lucky.

This is Taj, their 17 or 18 year old cat.  Tyler went right to him and he was so nice.

Here we are playing the Wii.  They have a beautiful house.  Heather is also an art teacher, so she has great taste.

 Thanks for having us over, guys!  We had a great time.