Winter Vacation '09 -Part 1

We are back home from our 8 day vacation to Florida (extended 1 day due to snow). We started with 3 nights at Disney World, and then drove to Key Largo to spend 4 nights at the Ocean Reef Club with Grannie and Poppy. We had SO much fun. The weather was wonderful, the only exception being that it was a little cool in Orlando for the first 2 days...but we could deal with that. Drew was great on both flights. On the way there, he was entertained by watching Thomas on the portable dvd player. However, on the way home we didn't realize that it hadn't charged and we were left to fend with out it. We made it through eventhough he must have asked for it a million times.

We stayed at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, which we thought was really cool. It was supposed to have a Northwest feel to it - and it certainly did. Drew loved the fountain in the lobby, and just about every fountain we passed. He loved throwing change in, and wiped us out of all of ours whenever we came across one. I just hope I don't find pennies in my toilet now!

We kept Drew on a fairly regular schedule since he had a cold and couldn't really handle missing naps or very late nights. We initially thought we would try and push the sleep schedule, but once he got sick, we decided to make sure he had plenty of rest. Sleeping at the hotel in a Pack-n-Play, surprisingly, wasn't an issue for him. He did join us in bed on a couple occasions, but that was really just due to him waking up and seeing us in the same room. We had a king size bed, so we didn't mind a bit (honestly, I liked "nuggling" with him).

I am going to have to break up the posts over a few installments. I took over 300 pictures and it is hard to narrow them down. We regret not bringing the 'good' camera, because we have a lot of blurry shots and they aren't all great quality. I will try and post most of the good ones.

Our hotel pool. We never made it in there, but it looked nice! Day 1 - Lunch at the hotel.

This little guy showed up at our window. Unfortunately Drew was napping at the time.

Day 1 - post nap, we took the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom. Drew loved all of the "school bus" rides!

The only real family photo we got at DisneyWhenever we drive past water at home, Drew looks for "duckies". Obviously, the duckies haven't been there the past few months, so we have been telling him that we would see them in Florida. When he talked about the trip he would say "Go Florida..see duckies!" We knew that there HAD to be ducks there...and there were...right when we got in the park. In fact, mallard ducks were quite frisky inside the Magic Kingdom. The stalked all of the food areas like seagulls - we had to watch Drew closely to make sure he wasn't feeding them!

First ride - Small World

Waiting in Line! Actually, we were pretty lucky and the lines weren't bad at all.

Dumbo

The parade was early on our first night (7pm), but Drew was getting antsy while waiting for it to start. After about 15 minutes of trying to battle pushy people crowding the street (and 3 minutes before it started), Drew hit the end of his rope so we called it a night. We made our way down "Mainstreet USA" and at the end, right before the exit, was the start of the parade and far less crowds. We were happy our waiting wasn't for nothing because Drew loved it and when he saw Mickey for the first time he was so excited!

It looks like I only made it through one day - scary, because it was really only a half-day because this is the day we flew in. I want to share as many photos as I can, and be sure to write as much as I can for our own memories..so if it is too much info, feel free to just scan the photos of the next few posts. At this rate, it looks like there may have to be 8 of them!

Needless to say, we are sad to leave Florida, but very happy to be home. Lucy is very happy we are home too! Drew missed his trains very badly and it was the first thing he went to when we walked in the door. He then proceeded to pull out almost every toy and play with it for a few minutes.

Stay tuned for some more posts over the next few days.

The Best Part!

It is hard to choose the best part of our trip to Disney, but Andy and I both agree that this moment was hard to top.
We are still in Florida, currently in Key Largo with Grannie and Poppy. Since there seems to be a snowstorm hitting MA on Weds, we decided not to risk any delays with a 2 year old, and changed our flight to Thursday. I know, poor us...it is supposed to be 82 here on Weds!!

Keeping Busy

Monday - Playdoh. I bought a big bucket of playdoh tools and doh....way too much of a good thing! Tuesday - After gymnastics, lots of stickerbook playing and a nap, watercolors.
Spending some time on the computer - someone now looks even more like his daddy!Stopping to smell the flowers. Dad says he looks like me when he makes this face...nice, huh? Well, I think it is precious.

Wednesday - not sure yet, but I am thinking we should carve out some time to go buy thermals...it is going to be bitter cold the next few days! I think the weather forecast actually said "miserable".

Is it Spring Yet?!?

We are really starting to feel cooped up around here. We are looking forward to spring already!

We have had quite a bit of snow and ice lately and that has kept me from venturing too far from home. We have had a few weeks off from classes, but luckily they start up again next week. We signed up for gymnastics again as well as a new class called "Craft and Coffee" (or something like that)..this is a class that is half "Sticky Fingers" (the art class we were in) and the other half is the kids on their own with the instructors in the next room. This is where the coffee comes in - the parents get to sit around and chat for 30 minutes sans kiddos. I was questioning how Drew would do, especially with me just in the next room, but I heard that there are trains so we are ALL SET!

We are working really hard on getting Drew's "big boy room" ready for Feb. He is so excited! He picked out his own sheets (with cars, of course) and wants to get a look at the progress whenever he can. Andy is putting up all new trim and then we have to paint, so it is taking a little while to get it done. Whenever he hears the saw running or the hammer banging he talks about his "big boy ROOMS" ...I'm not so sure why he makes it plural, I think he plans on claiming both rooms for himself. His furniture was delivered a few weeks ago, and when he asked to go on the bed, I told him that we would have to wait and call Grampy to get the mattress. He nagged me the rest of the day to call. Every time I picked up the phone he said "GRAMPY?" I just hope this excitement continues when he realizes that he will actually be sleeping in the bed.

I am beginning to count the days until we leave for our vacation. Grannie and Poppy are renting in Key Largo again and we are going to stay with them for a few days, but before we go there we are going to take Drew to Disney for 3 days. We thought it would be nice to have a little "only child" get away before the baby comes. He may not remember the trip, but we will - and I am sure he will have LOTS of fun!

I really don't have too many pictures to post. The only shots I have of the past few weeks were after nap time and Drew is looking, well, a little disheveled. But here is a sample anyway:

Christmas '08

The Christmas celebration began at Bill & Beth's house for Christmas Eve dinner. This was the beginnning of the spoilings..
Uncle Bill, Auntie Beth, Nick, Ian and Margaret (all soccer fans by the way) got Drew a kick-butt soccer uniform and his first pair of Sambas. Drew couldn't wait to get them on!

Drew also got his gifts from Grannie and Poppy. Here he is opening a new Thomas piece (Cranky Crane). He wouldn't let go of his gifts when it was time to go. The poor kid thought we were taking them away. He had to keep a very close eye on his loot as it was loaded into the car.
When we got home we hung our stockings by the chimney with care. We also left some cookies and egg nog for the big guy. Drew requested some Christmas books and then he was off to sleep.


Drew had a very exciting morning. He loved opening presents, but he wanted his time to take everything out of the box and play with it. I didn't think we would make it to church because it took him so long to get through everything. As much as we tried not to spoil him, he wound up very, very spoiled. I guess a kid doesn't really know the difference between TJMaxx discounted toys and full-price toys. He also has a big family who were very, very generous. He got so many new Thomas pieces and he is obsessed with them. All he wants to do is stay home and play with his new toys.


Lucy got a visit from Santa Paws

Drew enjoying one of his new toys...a remote control car. We got him a cheapo because we figured he would beat it up. He actually got the idea of using the remote control pretty quickly. He doesn't control it very well, but I thought he was pretty clever for picking up on it.
The Christmas celebration at our house started with a brunch with my mom, Laura and JR.
Drew just barely made it through the next round of opening gifts. He was so exhausted! He took a nap while we prepared for our next meal. My dad and Cindy joined us for a beef tenderloin dinner and then even more gifts! Drew got the Thomas Roundhouse and just loves it!
Although it looks like all Drew got was Thomas, he did also get lots of books, puzzles, trucks and so on....

We went to visit Andy's sisters and their families in CT on Friday and Drew had a blast. Of course his cousins had some very cool stuff for him to play with and they spoiled him with gifts as well.

We are headed to my grandparents tomorrow for even more celebrating! I am sure Drew will be more than happy to see what is in store for him there.
We had a wonderful Christmas! It was so much fun watching Drew enjoy the holiday. I am already looking forward to next Christmas when we will have double the excitement!

A Look Back

Some photos of Christmas 2007 (because I can't wait for this one!).

Flying Saucer

We are trying to make the best of all of this snow. It has pretty much been going non-stop since Friday afternoon. I think we have probably gotten over 1.5'. We got Drew a new sled and he had such a good time on it. We got a saucer, thinking that he and Andy would be doing it together - but Drew wanted to try it on his own. He had so much more fun by himself..I guess dad was slowing it down for him. Our yard is completely flat, but Grannie and Poppy have a perfect Drew-sized hill.

"I can't get up!....Ralphie!"