The rest of the Florida story

So what else did we do besides swim and go to Disney World while we were in Orlando?  Lots and lots of relaxing!  We have never been the type of people who jam every moment full of activities, so we purposely planned to have plenty of time to just relax, enjoy being outside without our winter coats and hats on.  We took a few walks to the park down the street and the lake around the corner, and went miniature golfing twice.  Zach had never been, so my parents and I took him one afternoon while Charlie napped (Charlie & a golf club does not sound like a good combination).  We had a great time, but I was still surprised when we asked Zach a couple days later if he wanted to go to a go-kart place, but instead he chose to go mini-golfing again.  I guess he liked it!

^ Check out Zach practicing his casting in the pool!  :)

And now, for your entertainment, click on the link below to see my dad's take on our vacation:

Grandpa's movie trailer

The Magic Kingdom

On Tuesday we set off on our Disney adventure.  I started the day a bit crabby, since in the morning there was fog limiting our view and an ominous prediction of rain.  We had planned to go to the Magic Kingdom either Monday or Tuesday, and when the weather forecast appeared better for Tuesday, we spent Monday miniature golfing and hanging out by the pool.  And it was a beautiful sunny day, with no rain until dark.  So our decision to wait until Tuesday to visit WDW seemed like a bad one.

As it turned out, it was a fantastic decision.  Gray skies keep the crowds away, and while I felt a mist at one point, it never actually rained on us.  So while I'd prefer to see beautiful blue skies in my pictures, I'd much rather walk right on to rides, which is what we were able to do much of the time.

One of the first rides we went on was the Buzz Lightyear ride.  It was perfect for both boys - Zach loved shooting the evil Zurg and accumulating points, and Charlie loved pulling the lever that spun the car around.  And as you can hopefully see in the picture below... Grandma and Grandpa took the challenge very seriously!  (Yeah, I did take a picture of the screen; like I'm going to pay $15 for a picture of my parents on a ride, even when it's as hilarious as this one.)

Zach also got a kick out of racing (Charlie, unfortunately, had to sit that one out - he would have loved it).  But we can't help but wonder why they haven't changed those generic race cars into Lightning McQueen and the rest of the gang - then both boys would REALLY have been excited!

The attendant on the People Mover was quite the comedian; Charlie enjoyed the sights.

We checked out the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse:

It hasn't changed since I was a little girl, but it's a classic for a reason - It's a Small World!  The darkness lead to blurry pictures, but I loved trying to capture the wonder on Charlie's face.

And, of course, the castle.  Zach isn't exactly into princesses, but even he was disappointed to find out we couldn't go inside.  :)

The afternoon parade was short but relatively entertaining.  We didn't have a great spot; our plan to get their early didn't quite work out!

And the teacups, of course!  The big guys begged off, citing weak stomaches, so Grandma and I got to take the boys.  Wheee!!!

We went on many, many more rides than are pictured here.  In fact, I think we only missed one ride we had intended to go on - Peter Pan's Flying Adventure.  Zach even went on Space Mountain!!!!  For some reason he was determined to do so, and I couldn't convince him otherwise.  It scared the $@#% out of him, and for the rest of the day he got nervous any time there was darkness on a ride (which happens a lot, surprisingly), but he doesn't seem to have any lingering effects.  :)

If you go to WDW, our advice is to absolutely skip the Lilo and Stitch "ride."  Terrible.

If you ask, Zach will tell you his favorite was the Monster's Inc. comedy show.  Which cracks me up, because we did our best to talk him out of going to it, but it turned out he really did love it. 

We made it the whole day, even stayed for the fabled fireworks.  I'm not sure who was more tired, the four of us adults or the kids!  It was quite the day.

Splash!

As I prepared for our trip to Orlando, I kept reading comments from parents that when they took their kids to a Disney park, all they'd hear from their kids is that they wanted to go back to the hotel and play in the pool.  Not surprising, I know.  But it did cement our belief that we should make sure we had plenty of pool time in our agenda.  And we did; it was difficult to get all three of my boys out of the pool at the house we rented!

Charlie loved the little kiddie pool that was attached to the regular pool; he spent a lot of time dumping water from bucket to bucket to bucket.  Over and over again.  That is, when he wasn't trying to just walk straight into the big pool; this boy does not have a sense of danger around water!  That also meant he loved it when Scott jumped into the water holding him, or threw him up in the air, or did just about anything else.  He's a little fish, like his brother and dad.

Zach got to practice his swimming skills, and after a day or so remembered he's not afraid to jump in the water on his own.  He and Scott invented all sorts of games to play in the pool, since the homeowners were kind enough to leave a variety of balls along with the swim noodles, buckets, and floaties.  Dodgeball, basketball, baseball (swim noodles make decent bats), football, tag, racing, and, of course, all the games that involve Scott throwing Zach across the pool!

Yes, I did get in the pool, once, for about 30 minutes.  Mostly I enjoyed lounging in the sun, watching my boys' antics and reading a book.  The perfect vacation for all of us!

Up next... the Magic Kingdom!

Happy Friday

Charlie wishes you a great weekend!

About a 5 year old boy

Our boy had yet another birthday celebration!  My parents would have preferred to come up on his actual birthday weekend for the festivities, but instead they once again did us a big favor by coming up the weekend after.  You see, we needed them to watch the boys for us so we could curl in a bonspiel that is incredibly fun and always right around Zach's birthday.  So while we had a great time on the ice, Zach and Charlie had a blast with Grandma & Grandpa for three straight days.

I can't tell you much about that celebration, since I wasn't there for much of it, so instead I thought I'd take the opportunity to catch you up on all Zach's latest stories and funny quirks.  There are a few, let me see what I can remember!

The last couple months have felt like the end of an era around our house.  For years, since he was about 2.5 years old, Zach has been all about cars, with a capital C and regular old cars.  And the other day, he told me Charlie could have all his cars!!!  He does still occasionally play with them, but he has definitely moved on, and yes, it appears anything Super Mario Brothers is his new obsession.

The other change that I didn't expect this soon is the desertion of good 'ol cowbungadee.  I'm a little sad about this one... he's been toting that little blue cow with the yellow stars around since he was a baby.  I knew he wouldn't go to his first sleepover with him, but I also didn't think there would suddenly come a day when he was just unceremoniously replaced.  First he was replaced by the plush round reindeer he got for Christmas from a friend of ours, whom he called "meatball."  But now, he's cuddling at night with a stuffed Yoshi.  If you're not familiar, you can probably guess - it's a Mario character.

Zach loves the show Phineas and Ferb.  But it makes me laugh that he can watch that show, with its humor that I suspect often goes right over his head (and makes us laugh), and then watch Max & Ruby, a show that is a bit like nails on a chalkboard for most adults!  He wobbles back and forth between being a "big kid" and a little one, I guess!

This story is an old one, but it illustrates Zach's disdain for anything that is considered for girls.  His class at preschool this year is much more divided; the only girl he seems to play with is one that is willing to join in the chase games outside.  Anyway, while we were shopping for the little Xmas gift for a girl in his class (he was randomly assigned her name), I asked him if he knew what she liked to play with, if he had noticed what she liked to do at school.  He told me she liked ponies.  I said something about her liking My Little Ponies, and he said:  "I don't know, ponies are pretty much just like dolls" in the most disgust-filled voice possible.

On the other hand, Zach is starting to pick up that most boys don't like the color pink (it's still his second favorite color, behind gold).  I was pretty proud of him when he told me that none of the other boys in his class ever picked the pink choice (I don't remember what they choose...?) when they are the helper at school, they always pick the white one.  But he was still going to choose the pink one.  Stay strong buddy!

As the NFL playoffs approached, Scott asked Zach if he wanted to create a fantasy football team and play against him.  Zach was concerned he wouldn't know who to pick, so Scott told him he'd write out all the players (not meaning "write out" literally... who writes things with a pen anymore?).  Zach said - Ok, but don't write it in cursive - I can't read that!!!

A couple of Zach quotes:
Mom, do you know what I like best about winter?  I get to drink lots of hot chocolate and play lots of Wii.  And you know I love both of those things!

Dad, remember how you have to be a certain amount of high before you can watch a movie on the airplane?  (this was apropos of nothing, and it took Scott quite a while to figure out what he was talking about... different kind of high)

This is perhaps my favorite Zach story in quite a while.  While we were in Montana over Christmas, Zach was outside with his cousins and his uncle Ian.  Bryn, his 9 y-o cousin, told her dad she wanted to talk to him privately.  Zach was confused by this, so Ian told him that sometimes Bryn just needed to tell him some private things.  Zach nodded his head, and said in a very knowing voice, "oh, she needs to talk about penises."