February 2012

This was a short, great month! We had a SUPER trip to Disney World and had a little bit of February on either side! The biggest other thing that happened this month was that Colin potty trained! It was really early (he turns 2 next month), but he was ready. He kept taking off his diaper before going pee and then going on the carpet! SO - we did the same Three Day Potty Training that we used with Daniel and he did super well! Congrats to Colin and to Mom & Dad who now have a diaper-free home! Here are some shots from the non-Disney part of our month. Enjoy!

Colin Pulling Up His Pants

Colin went through a phase of pulling up his pants legs as high as he could.

He also pulled up his sleeves, even trying to pull up short sleeves!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Daniel Loves You!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Colin Loves You!

Colin Naming People

We were looking at Disney pictures and Colin was naming all the people in them. Thought it was cute and wanted to get it on video.

Colin in Big Boy Underpants!

Potty training begins!

Pirates!

Daniel Using Cadence as a Pillow

Colin Sleeping in the Shopping Cart

Poor little baby was sick and had just taken a dose of antibiotics at the doctors before I went to the store. He fell asleep in the cart car.

Daniel "Napping" on the Shelf

Daniel made himself a "bed."

Colin Sleeping

I just thought it was funny how his little feet were grasping the bed rails. :)

Disney - Day 5 & 6 - Downtown Disney & Magic Kingdom

On Day 5, the extended family headed for home and we headed to Downtown Disney for a day of "rest." We checked out all the awesome Lego statues and played with the Legos at the Lego store. Then the boys rode a cute little train. We also visited the toy store where you can buy all the Disney Mr. Potato Head parts. You buy the container and pay one price for all the pieces you can fit inside. We stuffed (or actually the worker stuffed) tons of parts into the container for us and they are awesome. Sorry - no pics of those. I'll have to try to get some of the toys. We took the afternoon off and relaxed at the house.

The next day, our last day at Disney, we headed back to The Magic Kingdom. We rode the race cars, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, and all the other favorites again. We also ate the super yummy hot dogs!!! A really fun thing was letting the boys explore on Tom Sawyer's Island - great pics too! We thought it would take us all day to see the things we wanted to do, but it was so uncrowded we were done not too long after lunch. So we took a break at the house and then went back to Epcot that evening. We did Turtle Talk with Crush again and Allan did the Mission to Mars. Then we walked around the worlds just enjoying the evening. It was a great evening to a great trip!

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Disney - Day 4 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

For our last full day with all the family we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We went straight to Toy Story Mania. The line area was enjoyable with lots of picture opportunities and the ride was AMAZING! We only waited about 20 minutes, but the line was well over an hour when we got done riding. CRAZY! Then we went over to ride the Rock 'N Roller Coaster and pull fast passes to ride again later in the day. Allan, myself, Aunt Jennifer & Grandma Sharon all rode. Aunt Jennifer was scared and it showed on her face in the picture that they take of the ride. Check it out! Next two brave souls, Allan & Grandma Sharon, rode the Hollywood Tower of Terror while the kids decorated paper CDs with stickers. Nice of Disney to provide a kid activity in an area of two big grown-up rides. Next we watched Disney Junior - Live on Stage, which was a great combo of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstein's and Jake & the Neverland Pirates. The kids loved it! Outside the show, we met Jake and Handy Manny for autographs and photos. After lunch, we walked around the studio sets and spent some time at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. This was a really fun place for the kids and they were just the right ages to really enjoy it! Tons of great photos from this area too. Then we headed over to The Great Movie Ride, meeting some Green Army Men from Toy Story on the way. Daniel and Aidan checked out Mickey Mouse's square on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and we enjoyed the ride. Then the kids had a snack, while a few of us headed back to the Rock 'N Roller coaster to cash in on our fast passes - twice.  After that we headed home for a nap and dinner before heading back to the Magic Kingdom for our last evening all together at the park. We re-rode some of the rides we did on Day 1, including Aladdin's Magic Carpets (Aidan's favorite ride), and rode a couple new ones, like the Haunted Mansion. Before heading out the park, we got some final group pictures. It was a great trip and we were glad to be able to share it with everyone! Enjoy the pictures!

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Disney - Day 3 - Epcot

We spent a really LONG day at Epcot with no break! We first went straight to The Seas with Nemo and rode the Nemo ride. We spent some time looking at the aquariums and displays and watched Turtle Talk with Crush, which was AMAZING! Then we swapped off with the kids while the adults rode Soarin' at The Land Pavilion. While the second group was riding Soarin', Allan, Melissa & Aunt Jennifer took the kids to the Imagination Pavilion for the Journey into Imagination ride and interactive exhibits. Then we went back to The Land Pavilion for a yummy lunch. After lunch we rode the Living with the Land boat ride. Next we headed across into the Worlds section of Epcot. We started out in Canada, where some watched the 360 movie and the boys colored their cardboard Duffy the Bear - the Epcot bear. You take the Duffy to each country in Epcot and get a stamp for the country. It was really neat because in Morocco, China & Japan they wrote the boy's names in the country's language! Then we went through England, visiting with Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh & Tigger too! Daniel was super cute with the Winnie the Pooh because he just kept staring at him and huggin him for several minutes. Next we went on to France, Morocco, Japan, America and Italy. We stopped in Germany for the boys to watch the miniature train display - a favorite! Onward through China, to Norway and the Maelstrom ride, and finally to Mexico and the Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. After visiting the world, we visited with Mickey Mouse and friends at the Epcot character greeting area. We saw Mickey & Minnie, Donald Duck, Pluto & Goofy for autographs and pictures. Last we rode the Spaceship Earth before heading out for the day. Enjoy the pictures!

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Disney - Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

On Day 2 we headed out to Disney's Animal Kingdom. After wandering through The Oasis, past the Tree of Life, we went on the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition. The boys liked the truck ride and seeing all the neat animals. Since the weather was not too hot, a lot of animals were out and about. Then we went through the exhibits, checking out the fish and the gorillas. After an early lunch, we split up and Allan & Grandma Sharon (the brave ones) went to ride Expedition Everest. The rest of us went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek seeing more animals and the amazing tigers. Then we headed over to the Dinosaur themed area where we met up with Allan & Grandma Sharon. We split up again: Mimi & Granddad took the older boys on TriceraTop Spin (think Dumbo with dinosaurs); Allan, Melissa, Grandma Sharon & Aunt Jennifer went to ride DINOSAUR and Grandpa Joe watched over a sleeping Colin. After meeting back up, the boys played in the Boneyard, the dinosaur themed play area and dino dig site. Then  we headed back to the house for some rest and pool time. That evening was Super Bowl Sunday. Allan, Mimi & Granddad stayed at the house to watch the game while Melissa, Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Joe and the boys went back to the Magic Kingdom for some more fun. We rode the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (boys loved this) and the Astro Orbiter. That was the worst ride for the adults! I think the boys liked it though. The best part was that the fireworks were going while we were on the ride, so it was neat to be up in the air while the fireworks show was going. Great day two - enjoy the pictures!

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Disney - Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

Today was our first day at the Disney World parks and we visited the Magic Kingdom. We had quite a crew with me, Allan, Daniel, Colin plus my parents (Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Joe), Allan's parents (Mimi & Granddad), Aunt Jennifer and Cousin Aidan. We started the day out riding the Monorail in from the parking area, which all the boys loved and thought was a "real" ride. All week that remained Daniel's favorite ride! We went straight into FantasyLand and rode Peter Pan. We would have riden Dumbo first, BUT it was closed for the FantasyLand expansion - boo! Poor little Aidan was scared of the Peter Pan ride (in his defense it is very dark in there), so next we went on It's A Small World - a nice, slow, safe, bright ride. He hid his eyes at first, but about half-way through started looking around. So we rode it again (no wait time) so that he could get comfortable with riding rides. Next we went on the Carousel and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups. After the Tea Cups, we saw Alice and the White Rabbit so we stopped and got autographs. Alice gave Colin a big bright lipstick kiss on the cheek! Next we watched Mickey's Philharmonic 3D Movie, which was a lot of fun! We headed on over to Frontierland to ride the big railroad and rode all the way around the park. Then we got autographs and hugs from Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. It was really cute to see the boys interacting with the characters and giving good hugs. Poor Colin slept through it in Grandpa Joe's arms and slept all the way through lunch! After lunch we went to AdventureLand and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. After that, we decided to head back to the house for a little afternoon siesta. As we were leaving the park, the afternoon parade was about to begin so we ran into Town Square and saw Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse with no wait! We got autographs and got a group picture. Then we headed back to the house for naps, dinner and pirate sword-fighting. That evening we went back for a few more rides and the fireworks. We rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets (Aidan's favorite ride) and went into Liberty Square for a great, very uncrowded view of the fireworks. While we were waiting for the fireworks to start, one of the street sweepers drew a very good Mickey Mouse using water and his broom - neat. The fireworks show was really good. After fireworks we rode the Jungle Cruise and Winnie the Pooh. We had gotten FastPasses for Winnie the Pooh earlier in the day and never used them, so we used them then. Of course the line area had great little interactive play things that we then didn't get to play with since we didn't wait! Before leaving the park we got the boys Mickey Mouse ears. We had a great first day! The only thing missing was the light parade, which was on hiatus while we were there (sigh). Enjoy the pictures from Magic Kingdom!

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