Hollywood Studios

The Saturday of our trip was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, so we decided to start the day off at the resort pool. I don't have any pictures of our time there, but it's so fun to be able to swim in January. I'm not sure I'd want to live in Florida year-round, but I can definitely see myself loving spending winters there! We spent some time at the closest pool to our room (I think the resort itself has five or more pools) then headed over to the lazy river. After that we went over to a second lazy river.

Before we knew it, it was already almost one o'clock so we headed back up to the room to get ready to go to Hollywood Studios. We knew there wasn't going to be a ton for Brennan to do at Hollywood Studios, so that's why we decided to head there in the afternoon and not make a full day of it.

To be honest, when we first arrived I thought it was going to be a terrible day. It was hot and crowded. We found the line to meet Buzz and Woody and it was a little over 30-mintues long and Brennan started whining that he didn't want to wait, so we moved on. We did see a green army man from Toy Story, so Brennan had to get his picture with him. We went to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground next. My parents stayed with Bryce in the stroller and I took Brennan in. It didn't go so well. He was being super clingy and whiny. I went down a slide with him and then he did decide to go down alone, but when he did he hit his head and started crying. I felt like crying and leaving.

Thankfully the day turned around after that.

We went and found Pizza Planet because I thought Brennan would like eating there. It was more of a dive than I expected, but Brennan loves an arcade (even a ghetto one), so he was happy. The food was decent and Bryce ate well too. After eating we walked a little and saw Phineas and Ferb. Brennan has never watched that show and didn't know who they were, but was all excited to meet them. He just loves any character. There was basically no line, so we met them. Bryce loved them too. Mater and Lightning McQueen were just around the corner, so we met them next.

After that we went back to check on the line for Buzz and Woody, it was just a little shorter than before and I asked the cast members where we could meet Mike and Sully from Monster's Inc. They told me where, but said those characters leave for the day in about 15 minutes so we needed to head there before meeting Buzz and Woody. I loved Mike and Sully. I really like both Monster movies and I think they're both so cute.

Then we did finally decide to wait in the line for Buzz and Woody. It moved pretty fast and there are lots of little places setup throughout the line to stop and take pictures. The Buzz and Woody pictures are some of my favorites from the entire trip!

Next, we went to the Disney Jr. Live show. I really liked it. You sit on the floor and it only has one live actor with the rest puppets, but it's super cute. I swear I got teary-eyed during the show because Brennan was so happy. I love watching him interact and smiling and clapping along. Bryce sat right with us on the floor and was loving it as well. Thankfully there were a few couches to sit on, so my parents were happy too.

The whole afternoon we had been trying to convince Brennan to stay for the fireworks show. He was adamantly against it and it was close to start time after the Disney Jr. show. I took him quickly to go meet Mickey from Fantasia and then he decided to go to the Fantasmic show even though Brennan was crying that he didn't want to. I'm glad we did. We got there almost at start time so we were ushered in with a huge crowd and had to walk to the far end of the amphitheater. It ended up being perfect because we went to the very top of the theater and our bleachers had backs on them unlike the rest. The show is pretty neat. Video is projected onto walls of water. There are just a very small amount of fireworks, so Brennan even enjoyed it. They do show lots of images of Disney villains and Brennan still talks about how he didn't like the "bad people", but overall it was a pretty show and I'm glad we stayed.

When it was over, we sat in our seats for a long time waiting for the crowd to go down. When we did leave, it started raining as soon as we got out of the amphitheater. At first it was a few drops, then it started pouring. We got Brennan in the stroller so he stayed pretty dry. I had Bryce in the Ergo because he was almost asleep, but once the rain really started coming down, he stayed awake. We thought about stopping under an awning or something and waiting it out, but decided to just keep on walking. It stopped raining just before we made it to our car, but we were soaked. It was a pretty funny ending to our day.

We didn't ride a single ride, but we met some of my favorite characters that day. I don't know if I'd go back to Hollywood Studios again with the boys being so young, but I am glad we go to experience during this trip. 

Disney - Mini-Golfing and Magic Kingdom

Sheesh! It's taken me forever to finish writing this post!

We arrived in Orlando Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, it was a little rainy. Once the boys woke up and had some breakfast, we all went for a walk around the resort lake. It was sprinkling when we started walking, but cleared up before we were done. While walking we decided we would pick a place to go mini-golfing. Brennan LOVES mini-golfing. We went during our family vacation to Myrtle Beach in 2012 and he's been talking about it ever since.

We had a brochure about a place where you could golf and eat at Cici's Pizza for $11.99 total and that sounded good to everyone, so we headed there. It started springing on us again on the 18th hole, but it was a fun, easy-going way to start off our vacation. The boys actually got to take a nap that day and we just had a low-key evening at the resort too. We went to a special balcony on the 17th floor at 9pm to watch the Epcot fireworks show, but for some reason Brennan decided he was scared of them and stayed inside. Then it was bedtime for everyone!

Friday we headed to Magic Kingdom. This was my dad's very first time ever going to Disney. My mom hadn't been in 30 years. I told them we had to start with Magic Kingdom. It's the best for kids in my opinion. We headed there around 8:30am so we could get a pretty early start to our day. We had to get our Park-hopper passes upon arriving at the Ticket and Transportation Center because I just had little paper vouchers from the military I had bought in CT. There was no line though, so it went super fast. We rode the monorail to Magic Kingdom and began our day. 

We were pretty lucky because when we first walked into the park, Minnie Mouse was standing right there for a meet and greet. I had done a lot more research this time on where to meet specific characters and hadn't expected to see her right away. She's Brennan's favorite so he was super excited and wanted to jump into line right away. I wasn't sure what Bryce's reaction to the characters would be, but he wasn't afraid at all.

Brennan wanted to walk through the castle, so we headed that way. Our first stop was Mickey's Philharmagic. We had never done this in our previous trips and I really wanted to do it this time. Total Mommy fail. Brennan hated it! He has seen one other 3D movie and it scared him a little, but this one totally freaked him out. In his defense the movie was ridiculously loud. He ended up sitting on my Mom's lap since I had Bryce in mine and was ok watching without his glasses on. 

After that traumatic experience we rode It's a Small World. I know it's not an exciting ride, but it's one of my favorites. Brennan was happy again, so that was good. 

We then went and grabbed Fast Passes for the Little Mermaid ride. We had done that ride on our last trip, but this was my first time using a Fast Pass. They are amazing! We had about 35 minutes or so until we could ride, so we headed over to the Dumbo ride. Bryce had fallen asleep in the stroller at this point and once we got to that area, Brennan remembered you could meet Minnie inside the circus area. My parents stayed with sleeping Bryce and Brennan and I went inside to first meet Goofy and Donald and then got back into the other line to meet Daisy and Minnie.

For whatever reason when Brennan woke up Friday morning he started saying he wanted to sing his ABCs to Minnie. He forgot to sing them to the Minnie at the front of Magic Kingdom, but he remembered while waiting in line to meeting this Minnie. After he hugged her, he started singing and everyone waiting in line thought it was the cutest thing ever. They all clapped for him when he was done. It was one of the highlights of the trip for sure!

Once he was done singing, we walked out and there was a clown juggling. He stopped Brennan and asked if he could juggle. When Brennan said, "No" he told him he'd teach him a different trick. He got Brennan to balance the spinning plate on his finger...

...while standing on one foot. It was pretty cute.

We still had a few minutes before we could go ride The Little Mermaid, so GaGa and Brennan rode the Dumbo ride together. The wait was only 5 minutes, so they didn't even play at the inside playground area. As soon as they were done, he asked to ride it again with me. Bryce was awake at this point so he rode with us too!

We then headed to The Little Mermaid ride. Using a Fast Pass was amazing. It's a very simple ride, but I really like it. After that we headed to the Teacups. We hadn't ridden that ride before and Brennan was so excited. This was him waiting in line. My mom and I rode with him and while waiting I noticed there was a barely any line for Pooh and Tigger so we headed over there next.

My parents were getting hungry by this point, so we headed into Tomorrowland and ate at the Starlight Cafe. On our previous visits to Disney, Kyle and I have always just brought sandwiches for Brennan to eat and snacked during the day. Brennan wasn't too happy at first about stopping and having to sit down for lunch, but it ended up being a nice little break. We were able to find a table and our food was ready quickly and tasted really good. 

I don't have a ton of pictures from Tomorrowland. Kyle and I had never taken Brennan into that section of Magic Kingdom before, but it was cute. We got Fast Passes for the Buzz Lightyear ride and then went into the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I thought that show was really cute. They pick people from the audience to be a part of the show and my dad was selected as Mike Wazowski. We also rode the People Mover ride. It had some parts that were in the dark that Brennan didn't care for, but it was a nice relaxing sit down ride. I knew I wanted to meet Stitch in Tomorrowland even though we'd be seeing him at breakfast on Monday, so we got in that super short line next. Then it was off to the Buzz Lightyear ride, which wasn't that great. We ended our time in Tomorrowland by doing the Carousel of Progress. I can vividly remember doing that on a trip to Disney with my grandparents when I was 9. Brennan LOVED it. I'm not sure why since I'd consider it more of an adult thing, but he really did. Again it was a relaxing time to just sit and watch (and let my dad get a short nap!)

We headed towards Adventureland next. We stopped and waited in line to meet Merida from Brave on our way, but the line didn't move hardly an inch for the longest time, then she took a 20 minute break, so we decided it wasn't worth it. In Adventureland, Brennan and I rode Aladdin's Magic Carpet while my parents got us Fast Passes for the Jungle Cruise. We walked around a little bit waiting for our turn. The Jungle Cruise was cute. The tour guide had all these crazy puns during the boat ride.

We were pretty much done at that point. I would've loved to have stayed for the fireworks, but we started heading back for the entrance. Brennan decided he did want to go into the Theater and meet Mickey so I took him in there really quickly. It was cute because this Mickey actually talks.

We ended our day by riding the Main St, USA Railroad completely around the park and took the monorail back to the ticketing and transportation center. We were there from 9am-6pm I think. It was such a fun day and the boys were so well behaved. I seriously can't wait to go back again!

Tot School - 12.5 Months

We had a sitter on Thursday night while Kyle and I were at worship team practice for church and when we got home she said, "This was the first time Bryce really played and interacted with me." It was neat to hear that in the half hour or so that he was awake with the babysitter, she could see how much interactive he's becoming.

He's getting ever so close to walking and can crawl super fast, so I was really impressed with how long some of these activities held his interest this week; meaning he sat still for an extending period of time. None of these toys are brand new, but some of them are new for Bryce to explore or I added a new element to change something old up a bit. I hope you enjoy a peek into our week!

When Brennan was Bryce's age, he loved putting things into things. I cut an opening in the top of an empty Puffs container and gave Bryce the Dominoes and he was entertained for a long time. He's gone back to this activity almost every single day.

This big box of Mega Blocks has been in the coat closet for over a year now I think, so I brought it out and both boys enjoyed playing with them this week. Bryce is really good at pulling blocks apart and was able to get a few together. Playing with them also gives me a chance to talk to him about colors and numbers because we will count the "bumps" on each block.

I like this little wooden blocks more than the boys do I think. They are just really beautiful blocks and so sturdy. I pointed out letters to Bryce and he had fun knocking over the towers I built. Brennan helped me put them in ABC order.

This kid got his seventh tooth this week and is a drooling mess. But I gosh I love him.

We did some reading this week too. My mom ordered each a boy a magazine subscription from Highlights. Bryce gets the "Hello" books and Brennan gets a "High Five" magazine each month.

This push toy has gotten lots of use this week. Brennan didn't walk until he was 19 months old and I'm actually shocked Bryce isn't walking yet, but I think he's getting pretty close.

"Mom, I'm stuck!"

Melissa and Doug make some of my absolute favorite toys. A friend of ours had this cookie set and I had to get it for Brennan a few months back. I pulled it out for Bryce this week and he really liked it. He was pretty good at putting the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Pulling the cookies back off is good fine motor practice because that velcro is pretty sticky. Once I showed him the tube the cookies are stored in, he was all about putting them back in there. I love the sequence of shots showing him trying to get the cookie in and then having success. 

Here are just a few shots of big brother. He asked to bring his golfing toy upstairs this week, so we've been playing a lot. This kid LOVES mini-golf! He's got pretty good form too.

And here are a few pictures of us playing "Crazy Bones". He got this game when he and Daddy had to stop by Honda one day. They are so sweet to kids there and he won this from the claw machine. It has the same premise as Beer Pong I guess in that you try to bounce the little plastic pieces into a box (or in our case bowls). If you look closely at the first two shots, there are pieces bouncing up in the air. The first one is hard to see because it's black and blends in with the bottom of the couch. The 2nd one is orange and it's just barely off the floor, but you can see its shadow. We save games like this one for after Bryce is napping since they have such small pieces.

You can always check out Carisa's blog for more great Tot School ideas!

Disney - Flying With Two Boys

I know it's been a few weeks since we went to Disney, but I wanted to go ahead and blog about our trip so I can remember lots of the details. This was Brennan's third trip there and Bryce's first and it was just as magical as our first two trips were. It is truly one of my favorite places to visit. The cheap tickets we can get through the military only increases my love of the destination.

This first post is going to be pretty boring, but I do want to remember what it was like flying with my boys at this age, so bear with me.

Unfortunately on this trip, Kyle wasn't able to come because of his busy schedule at work. It was my first time flying alone with both boys and it went well. Thankfully Kyle was able to drive us to the airport and help me get to the ticket counter. I was able to pack in one suitcase for all three of us (that's pretty impressive if you ask me)! But along with the one suitcase I had to check two car seats and our double stroller in its storage bag. I also threw an extra duffle bag into the stroller bag because the suitcase was pretty full and I figured I'd need a little extra space for the return trip.

There wasn't a single person in line at security that day, so it was super fast and easy to get that done. I'm all about getting through security as quickly as possible. I only wear slip on shoes, don't carry any liquids (I just get the boys some drinks once we get through security), and don't carry anything I have to remove from my carryon. It's so much better now that kids don't have to take their shoes off. We got to the airport a little earlier than necessary because of Kyle needing to get back to work, so we had some time to just walk around, check out the small arcade, and play the iPad. I think the craziest part of being alone with both kids at an airport has to be the trips to the bathroom. It's quite a feat to help Brennan get his underwear and pants back up and go pee myself all while Bryce is in the Ergo. I'm so thankful he still likes being in that thing!

I think flying with little kids is always stressful, even when they are well-behaved. Brennan is a great flyer and did awesome on the flight down. Bryce cried pretty hard at the beginning of the flight, but I knew he was tired and just rocked him until he fell asleep. He slept for about 45 minutes and then was much happier when he woke up. Brennan was content the whole time with snacks and the iPad. He gets super excited when the plane is about to land and kept talking about "the bumpies" for the last 20 minutes of the flight.

We arrived in Orlando right on time around 6pm, made a "quick" stop at the bathroom, and then headed to baggage claim to meet my parents. My parents had an earlier flight from Kentucky and had already gone to the resort to check us in and returned to the airport to pick up the boys and me. My parents had parked in a parking garage, so they got a skycap to help us to the rental minivan. The suitcase, both car seats, and the stroller made it safely, so it was a good start to our vacation.

Once we got to the minivan, I might've had a little bit of a meltdown. I thought I would be able to quickly install the two car seats, but the van's LATCH system wasn't there. It was supposed to be there, but only 1 of the 6 anchors were actually present. It was very difficult installing the seats using the van's seat belts, but I finally got them in. Bryce was screaming the entire time and I was just plain tired from 12 months of not sleeping through the night and just having flown with two small children.

Bonnet Creek is about 25 minutes or so from the airport, so it's a pretty quick drive. I had hoped to put Bryce down to bed pretty quick after we got to the room, but my mom had forgotten to ask for a pack-n-play when she checked in and it took FOREVER for the staff to deliver one to the room. We went a little gift shop in the resort that sold milk and got some milk for the boys so Brennan could have some chocolate milk and Bryce could have a bottle. Both boys were finally in bed a little before 10pm and my dad and I headed out to the Super WalMart to stock up on groceries for the week.

Bryce waiting patiently for our flight.

Part of the gorgeous resort!

Another shot from our room on the 18th floor.