March's Random Ramblings

• We were at Burger King eating lunch and Abby had chocolate milk to drink, she was messing around an ended up spilling her milk all over me. After I received a very genuine apology, she looked down at her lap and said, "well, at least none of it spilled on me!"
  
• We were getting ready to go over to Sam and Brian's for dinner when Abby informed me that she wanted to play with Nolan in the dark when we got to his house!
• Abby had something stuck in her teeth and when she got it out she looked at it and asked me what it was. I was driving so I said I didn't know since I couldn't see it and then she said, "it's ok, it's just part of my brain!" I sure hope not!!
• I told Abby that Daddy was going out with his friends one night and she said, "But, I'm his friend too!"
• Abby was talking about making a snowman someday. She told me she was going to need a carrot for the nose and she was also going to make him some "snowy balls".
  
• While we were at Disney Abby was constantly singing, "It's a BIG world after all"!
• Abby likes to be woken up in the morning. She will call "Mommy, come wake me up" from her bed. The she lays down and pretends she is still asleep.
  

Disney Day 4

On Day 4 of Disney trip we were joined by Andrew's dad Peter, my mom Nancy and my brother and sister Mikey and Ana. We woke up early and went to Hollywood Studios. I was a bit worried about the logistics of being at an amusement park with such a large group, but things couldn't have worked out better. We all had a great time and we were able to break off and do our own thing as needed, and yes that meant that Andrew and I were able to enjoy some of the scarier rides. Our favorite "big kid" ride was the tower of terror, we rode it a few times. Our favorite family friendly ride was the Toy Story ride, its a 3-D arcade style ride and I believe I got the highest score and that was with Olivia in the front carrier with me! I'm not bragging though ;-)

Grampa Pete with Olivia in the front carrier

Olivia and I watching The Beauty and the Beast live show. Abby was a bit scared of the Beast but she ended up loving, as did Olivia!

Where to next?? Let me check the map.

Grammy Susan, Grampa Pete, Myself and Olivia during our lunch break

Abby met JoJo and Goliath...

...and June and Quincy...

...and Daisy and Minne Mouse...

While we had a good time at Hollywood Studios, it wasn't our favorite park and we in fact ran out of things that we wanted to do there. So....we took advantage of our park hopper pass and took a bus over to Epcot. We enjoyed a few rides, saw a few characters, ate dinner and watched the fireworks. Then, we made the trek home after a long, but very fun day!

Abby outside of Epcot

Grammy, Grampa and Olivia

The bus ride back to Hollywood Studios

Disney Day 3

Day 3 was a day of rest for us. We decided to take a day off from the parks and in the mean time Andrew's dad Peter flew in as well as my Mom and my brother Mikey, and my sister Ana. They all arrived too late at night for us to see them but we enjoyed our day all the same. We started the day with a nice breakfast out followed by a much anticipated trip to one of the many souvenirs shops around the house we were staying in. Andrew and Abby took a dip in the pool and the hot tub and Susan, myself, and Olivia made a trip to the grocery store. Before we knew it we were going to bed gearing up for another day at Disney...next up: Hollywood Studios with the whole clan!!

Abby, Daddy and Minnie catching up on some much needed rest

Abby and Olivia

Olivia started rolling over from back to front while we were there!!

Abby and Daddy in the pool

Olivia enjoying some sun

A dip in the hot tub

Disney Day 2

Our second day at Disney we went to Animal Kingdom. I heard mixed reviews regarding this park, but we ended up really enjoying it. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Magic Kingdom, there were a lot fewer people there and it was a much more "natural" looking park. Don't get me wrong, Magic Kingdom was definitely my favorite but this was a nice change.

We got an early start on the day and it was a bit chilly in the morning but turned out to be a gorgeous day. We went on safari and saw tons of animals, my favorite was the baby elephant. Abby loved the safari and going on "adventures" searching for animals with Daddy through out the park. Her absolute favorite was the dinosaur playground digging exhibit. There was a huge area filled with gravel and dinosaur bones for the kids to uncover. She also enjoyed the parade she got to see with Grammy and Olivia while Mommy and Daddy rode some big kid rides, and of course meeting the characters and having them sign her autograph book.

This was the "tree lady", it was really cool.

Here she is blending in with the background. It was fun to watch her and see peoples reactions to her when they didn't know she was there.

Abby in the bamboo

Grammy and Abby on the triceratops dino ride

The Dinosaur Playground

Daddy enjoyed the slides too!

Abby digging for dinosaur bones

Abby, Olivia and Susan before the "Grammy adventure"

Rafiki

Terk

Who's missing??

Goofy

Safari Minnie

Donald Duck

Disney Day 1

Ok, bear with me, I have a TON of pictures from Disney. I am going to try to limit the amount of pictures I post but we had such a wonderful time and took so many pictures I am thinking these will be some long posts!

The first couple of days was just our family and Susan and later in the week Peter, my mom, Ana and Mikey (my brother and sister) joined us. Anyway, the first day of our Disney trip we hit the big guns and went to The Magic Kingdom. The first couple of days were chilly. As you can see we were bundled up in our coats but it wasn't unbearable and it was definitely better than sweltering heat.

Abby was in complete awe as we walked into Disney World. She was absolutely beside herself with excitement when she spotted the princess castle for the first time. It brought tears to my eyes (the first of many over the course of the week) and I just knew it was going to be a truly magical, wonderful vacation. We spent the day exploring, riding the rides, getting character autographs, laughing, and making memories that will last a lifetime.

Abby on the ferry boat on the way over to Magic Kingdom

Abby pointing out the castle to us as we walked in. She was soooo excited!

Myself and Olivia

Family picture in front of the castle

Abby and the Fairy Godmother

Abby and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland

Daddy and Abby on the Dumbo ride. She loved riding the rides and after every ride she would look at us and say, "I want to ride that one again!!" We had to keep reminding her that there were tons of other fun rides to check out!

Daddy and Abby on the carousel, Olivia and I were able to ride as well...standing up.

Mommy and Abby on the Teacups

WHEEEE!!!

Olivia and Daddy on Minnie Mouse's porch

In front of Minnie's fireplace

Minnie's sewing room

There was a place in Toon Town where you could do a meet and greet with some of the Disney Princesses. It was probably one of the longest lines we waited in all week (still only about 30-40 minutes), but it was worth every minute of the wait. Again, my eyes welled up with tears as Abby entered the room with Cinderella, Belle, and Princess Aurora. She was so excited and you could just see the joy in her eyes. It is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

Here is Abby with Cinderella

Abby and Belle

Abby and Princess Aurora

Prince Daddy and Princess Aurora.
She was really funny and would get talking to the people in line, it was very cute!

Abby in her Princess Minnie ears

Abby and her matching Minnie Mouse