The Great Outdoors

Today we had a reprieve from the rain so we took advantage of it while we could. Also, a few updates from the homefront. We have a nest... with eggs! A dove has made a little home on our arbor in the backyard and laid two eggs. Hopefully we can get some pictures when the little eggs hatch. The kids love being lifted up to check out the nest and look at the eggs. This is a picture from a rare moment when the mama wasn't sitting in the nest.

I think I mentioned the garden in one of the last posts (maybe?) but we have a blueberry bush as well.
I'm not a blueberry expert, and in fact I've never seen a blueberry bush before owning this one, but I think we have some blueberries coming in!

The kids showing off the garden. Kudos to daddy for getting the rabbit fencing up.
Almost three weeks ago we planted some spinach seeds and now we have 8 of these coming up. Spinach!

Right next to the spinach we also have 16 onions growing. We just planted some romaine lettuce and carrots a few days ago, so hopefully we will have more coming up soon.

And on the other end of the garden we have our strawberry patch. We can't pick them until July since it's the first year, but Jonah is SO excited.

Then I convinced the kids to let me take a few pictures of them. What cuties!!

Love these kids!

The final day! We decided to spend it at the Magic Kingdom, since that seemed like the kids favorite and had the most for them to do.

Once again, we rode Dumbo first to avoid the lines, but this time, Abby got a spin!

Of course, she loved it.

Jonah turned it up a notch, riding on Splash Mountain, his most daring ride to date. He looks a little nervous here.

But he wanted to go twice. First with daddy, then with mommy.

Then we went on the "Magic Blankey" ride, (aka Magic Carpet) once again.

We were also able to catch the noon parade. Here, Jonah is waving to Mickey and Abby is in my lap.

I think Mickey was pointing back at him.

There were many other floats, but it ended with Pluto and Donald.

And the last night, we were able to have dinner with Pooh and friends. Here's Jonah ready to get autographs. We didn't get a picture of him with Eeyore, but you can see him in the background.

Piglet

Tigger, who is second in Abby's eyes only to Minnie. Jonah also thought he was great.

Anxiously awaiting meeting Pooh.

Pooh was also loved by them both. What a great way to end the trip!
One last look at the castle on the way out.

What a wonderful trip! Jonah asks often "what time is it in Disney World? Maybe we can go back someday." We are so thankful for such a great experience.

WDW Day 3

Day 3 was COLD (think 50s with wind) so there aren't many pictures. We still hit it hard though and ate a long-awaited dinner at Mickey's Cafe. Of everything at Disney, Jonah was most looking forward to eating lunch with Mickey. Even though we had just met the characters the day before, Jonah was still excited to see his friends again. And, if you are wondering, the signatures matched up. Both Minnies signed with hearts over the i's and a xoxo at the end. These Disney folks are smart.

Meeting Goofy. Brian does a pretty decent Goofy impression.

And a less decent impression of Mickey's face.
Meeting the big man on campus, once again. No mention of Jonah's awesome soccer shirt. I'm sure he had forgotten.

Abby was extra excited to meet the characters this time.

You can sort of see it in the background, but this picture is to go with one of Jonah's best lines of the trip. "Look, Mickey, a monorail!!"

Good old Donald.

Abby attempting to touch Minnie's nose. She kept watching her the whole time at the restaurant, saying her first attempt at Minnie over and over.

For dinner the entire clan (all 20 of us) went to dinner at Hollywood Studios 50's Diner in honor of my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. The watress was nice enough to make them napkin hats.

And Great Grandpa got one too for being a tattle tale. He told the waitress that Brandon had his elbows on the table, and while that is breaking a rule, he still shouldn't be a tattle tale. We all had to shake our finger at him and say "shame shame". I think he liked it, because he was doing tattle tales the rest of the meal.

One day left...

Deliriously Funny

You know when you hit the point of tired that everything is hilariously funny? That was the kids the majority of the trip in Disney. Right when you thought they were ready to crash, this is how they were acting. :)

WDW Day 2

Day 2 was just as action packed and we ended up hitting the other two parks and meet up with some of Brian's cousins in the meantime. Since Abby decided we should get up at 4:45 am, we made it bright and early to the Animal Kingdom and spent the morning there.

One of the highlights of the Animal Kingdom was the Safari. The kids loved it and it was fun to see the animals up close and personal.

The kids were more interested in looking at each other than the camera in this picture, unfortunately.
Checking out the elephants with Abby.

Proud daddy.

A "hidden Mickey" in the island.

Now, meeting the real Mickey. Jonah loved getting all the autographs of the characters and was especially excited to meet Mickey. Mickey liked Jonah's soccer shirt and seemed pretty excited to meet him too.

Abby, on the other hand, was very excited about meeting Minnie. So much so, that she would freak out when she saw a Minnie doll or character, so maybe Daddy got her one to bring home. :)

Donald, but no Daisy.

And Goofy.

Next, we went to a Lion King show, which was the kids first taste of any real live theater performance and they were entranced.

Watching from Grandpa's lap.

Brian's cousins, The Pratts, ended up being in Disney World the same week we were and we were so excited to meet up Monday morning. Grace, Abby, and Jonah in the dinosaur playground of 1000 kids. Sometimes we even knew where all of ours were. :)

Jonah hitched a ride with Kate in the stroller. They shared some cheezits and wrestling tips as well (or so we think).

The one and only time Abby napped in her stroller while on vacation. :) What a sweet girl.

Caroline showing Jonah around the walk through jungle.

Jonah and Bella just look up to trouble. I need a repeat picture of these two every 5 years I think and I'm guessing the expressions will be similar.

After Animal Kingdom and naps, we headed to Hollywood Studios for the evening. We were able to see Playhouse Disney Live! and the kids were once again mesmorized.

Handy Manny was a highlight.

We don't have any more pictures from Hollywood Studios, but I have to mention that Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids while Mommy (dragged) convinced afraid-of-heights Daddy to go on the Tower of Terror. This is the equivalent of the Demon Drop for all of you OH folks. Daddy's verdict: better than the Demon drop and worth the potential other "droppings" he thought might occur.... We'll leave it at that.

More pictures (and videos) coming!