Fall Photos

We had professional (non-mall) pictures taken for the first time this year, and I think they turned out great!  Our neighbor recommended the photographer that she's always gone to for their newborn and family pictures.  I'm going to go ahead and post them here now, but expect to be using them again on my Christmas card in December.

Of course that last one is my favorite.  A mommy and her little boy is a very special bond.

Raking Leaves

Everyone except me raked leaves yesterday:  Ryan and Will used rakes (while Rachel tried to attack the rake) for some afternoon exercise.  Then Jason used the leaf blower to push them to the street.  I just hung out inside making food for everyone to enjoy after they worked up a big appetite!

Morton Arboretum

Saturday was a great day!  Kansas State won in convincing fashion over West Virginia on Saturday evening, and we got to spend the afternoon enjoying the sunshine at local gem, the Morton Arboretum.  We went last year this time, as well.  Check out last year's pictures.

The arboretum was decked out for fall with beautiful leaves (one of the top 10 places in the U.S. according to an article I read) as well as cute displays and plantings like the one below.  There may or may not have been (ok, there was) a promise of an M&M covered caramel apple to get this cute picture below. 

First stop, the Children's Garden and the frog water feature.  This was also a favorite last year.  Jason and I couldn't find the discs to stand on to make the frog spit; they were just going continuously. 

I had really been looking forward to seeing Will play on the slides in the Children's Garden since he loved them last year.  But, they were roped off and closed.  Not sure why.  However, he was adventuresome and climbed on these rocks that he found.  My only little billy goat - or a Willy goat, I guess!  This was great practice for playing in the big treehouses.

I eventually climbed the rocks, as well, and got this picture of the fall colors.  As a side note, I got an iphone last week and am thrilled with the pictures versus my old Blackberry!  Of course I love using my phone instead of a "real" camera since I can email them directly to myself or send them straight to Facebook.  One more efficiency for this overworked mom!

After playing in the Children's Garden and having the coveted caramel apple snack, we rode the Acorn Express tram - a narrated 30 minute ride through the park to see the various species of trees and learn about their conservation goals.  It was getting a little chilly by our 4 p.m. departure, but the leaves were absolutely beautiful.

Pumpkins and Cookies

It's been tough getting back to real life after Disney World!  Luckily I finished up one more busy season at work, so I'm home actually home in the evenings and on the weekend.   I'm not very impressed with one carryover from Disney: Will's newfound love of all things Cars, Toy Story, and Thomas the Train has taken a commercial spin thanks to Disney.  Every day he tells me one more thing he wants when we go to the "Cars store" or the "train store." 

We are also to blame in this since we bought him several new toys just prior to vacation as rewards for finally mastering his #2 in the toilet!  (Buzz Lightyear is well worth the price of no poopy diapers or Pull-ups!!!)  

We're trying to underplan our weekends as we phase back into real life.  On Saturday we didn't change out of pajamas the entire day.   We did sleep in late, make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and also play with PlayDoh. 

Our neighbor planted pumpkins in our joint garden this summer and gave Will two of them. Last night we had fun painting them.  The plastic picnic table is new (to us).  A different neighbor offered it to us in exchange for leftover sandbox sand, so it was a great swap! 

Disney World: EPCOT and Magic Kingdom at Night

After our fun-filled day at Magic Kingdom on Friday, we returned home to get cleaned up for dinner.  Will went to the Sandcastle Club for "hotel preschool" and we walked over to EPCOT to meet Jason's colleague and his wife for an Eat to the Beat concert featuring Night Ranger and drinks - all part of the Food and Wine Festival. We later walked back to our hotel for a delicious steak dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

On Saturday evening after cleaning up from our sweaty day at Animal Kingdom, we went to EPCOT again.  This time to eat in Mexico.  Will wore the shirt we bought for him in Cabo San Lucas on our babymoon in January 2009.  It was a little snug, so it was likely the first and last time he will wear it.

After dinner we rode the Monorail to Magic Kingdom for evening hours.  We got there around 9:30 and left when the park closed at 11.   Jason and I each rode Space Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad, and Will and I rode the Astro Orbiter.  It was my first ride since we were rained out the afternoon before.  As you can see, it was still his favorite!

We meant to watch the Electric Parade but the Astro Orbiter took longer than we thought.  I did see part of it from the air on my flight with Will.  It looked cool, and I'll like to see it sometime.

I took this picture of Cinderella's castle with my phone, since we didn't bring the camera the last night. I should be able to switch it out with a better one from Jason's camera once he sends me one.  He got a really cool one with the castle reflecting off of the moat.

Disney World: Animal Kingdom

After a few false starts on Saturday morning, we finally all made it to Animal Kingdom around 9 a.m.  Jason headed to Africa to get a Fast Pass for Kilimanjaro Safaris while Will and I hid in the shade putting on sunscreen. It was already hot!  The centerpiece of Animal Kingdom is the Tree of Life. 

We saw a lot of animals on our safari:  giraffes, black rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, birds, wildebeast, elephants, white rhinos, and ostrich just to name a few.  We also saw some animal that had a giraffe's rear end but the nose and mouth of a giraffe. In the background of the photo below you can see another jeep touring to get a look at the vehicles we rode in.

Giant crocodiles sunning themselves

This real tree looks like the tree of life

In addition to our safari we did the following:

• Africa
• Pangani Forest Exploration Trail (gorillas and hippos)
• Camp Minnie-Mickey
• Festival of the Lion King show
• Lunch at Pizzafari
• Asia
• Maharajah Jungle Trek (tigers, giant bats, Komodo dragon)
• Flights of Wonder (a very cleverly scripted bird show - Jason and I loved it)
• Expedition Everest roller coaster

Before the long hike up through Asia back to Everest

We rode Everest using Fast Pass

Jason and I both wanted to ride Expedition Everest, since it is commonly referred to as the best ride in Disney.  We had Fast Passes for 2:45-3:45 but when we went back to ride, it was closed for technical difficulties.  After much discussion and some waiting in the air-conditioned gift shop, we decided to wait it out until 3:30.  At 3:20 we started waiting in the sun.  At 3:27 I suggested leaving but Jason said we should wait until the half hour in case they had that as a programmed time to restart.  Sure enough, at 3:30 on the dot, the ride reopened.  I rode, then Jason rode, then I rode again.  He went back for his second ride but the line was getting too long so we left the park.

We were so drained from the heat and our power-packed Friday at Magic Kingdom that we were taking it slow on Saturday.  We never even made it to the DinoLand or Rafiki's Planet Watch sections of the park.  We left around 4 when the Jungle Jam Parade was happening, so we saw most of it as we wound our way out.  Will loved waving at all the characters but he didn't want to touch any of them.   I also learned that he loves to dance, and he frequently asked his Daddy to dance with him to the music!  Jason said he's been doing that for a few months; I've just never been lucky enough to see it until now. :-)

Disney World: Magic Kingdom

One of Jason's work associates is a Disney Cast Member (yes, even the guy who runs the lights and controls system is called a cast member), and he was so very gracious to meet us at the parks both days to let us in as his guests.

After arriving on Thursday afternoon and having a pool day and then dinner on the Boardwalk at Cat Cora's, we got up early on Friday to be there for the Magic Kingdom opening show.  

Decorated for fall and Halloween

Cast members arrived on the train

After rope drop, we beelined to Tomorrowland to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride.  We were second in line, and when we finished Will said he wanted to ride again.  There was still no line so we went again!  We could now leave happy.  But we also did the following:

• Tomorrowland Speedway (twice)
• Astro Orbiter
• Space Mountain (adults only - using FastPast and Rider Swap - while the other parent did the racecars (Lisa) or rocketship (Jason))
• Dumbo
• Goofy's Barnstormer (twice)
• Lunch at Cosmic Ray's
• Peter Pan
• Carousel
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Dreams parade while eating ice cream (Will and Lisa)
• Big Thunder Railroad (Jason)
• Attempt to ride Astro Orbiter but get rained out (Will and Lisa)
• Splash Mountain and get stuck for 30 minutes in a rain storm (Jason)

Astro Orbiter with Daddy
This was Will's favorite ride



Dumbo ended up being a long wait but we can say we did it!



Dumbo now has an indoor play area where moms get pagers and kids run around

Lesson learned:  ice cream CONES are terrible ideas for kids
Although he looks asleep here, he's just sizing up that cone for the first bite

We met up at the gates at 4:30 wet and exhausted and happy (and asleep in the stroller if we're talking about Will. . . .).  

Disney World: Yacht Club

We had a whirlwind four days at Walt Disney World.  I had a work conference that would have me in Orlando for a few days, so we tacked on a family vacation in advance. Not only is Disney World a huge draw, the airplane ride was exciting for Will.  He flew several times his first year of life, but none (that I remember) since he was a year old.  So, this was the first time as far as he knew. 

New Buzz Lightyear toy made getting up at 4:45 a.m. more tolerable

Will told me multiple times leading up to the trip that he wanted the window seat

We stayed at The Yacht Club.  It was the perfect hotel for us:  centrally located at Disney next to the Boardwalk and Epcot; one of the best pools on property; a fantastic kids club for evening baby-sitting; and a delicious steakhouse for a baby-sitting worthy event!

Will brought some extra beach toys and donated them so he'd have room to take new souvenirs home

Day one and four were both pool days with days two (Magic Kingdom) and three (Animal Kingdom) being park days.  I'll do separate posts on each of those.  Another highlight of the Yacht Club was the Flying Jig Slide.  You can see the covered "launch" platfrom from the middle of the mast and the tube slide heading down into the trees. Will LOVED it and kept wanting to go again and again.

I must say that we had a fabulous time.  I never understood all the hype about Disney, but I must admit there is something pretty magical about it all - especially when you're seeing it through the eyes of a 3 year old. :-)

Lightning McQueen Bike

Will is thrilled with his new Lightning McQueen bicycle.  These pictures are from the first ride.   He'll probably wear the thing out before winter. 

Inspecting the attached bag.
Obviously you're supposed to pack Cars cars to go on your bike ride!

This doesn't seem too hard.

Struggling with momentum.
He didn't realize moving his feet backwards applied the breaks!