Vacation Day 3 - Epcot and the Main Street Electrical Light Parade

Orlando, Fl - Today we headed straight for Epcot or as Ryan calls it, Mickey's golf ball.  Once we arrived, we immediately met Stitch and Daisy.  We headed straight onto Spaceship Earth.  This is the ride inside the golf ball. 

After finishing up with the ride, we went to visit Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy again.  Ryan got all of the autographs and had a picture with each.

Then we were off to see Nemo and Crush.  We rode through a cool Nemo ride in a clam shell and then sat and had a chat with Crush.  He is totally awesome dude.

By this time, the World Showcase had opened.  There are 11 countries represented and you can get a stamp in each.  The countries include Canada, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, the USA, Mexico, China and Norway.  Ryan, Daddy and Grammy got fish and chips in the UK...Mommy just had chips.  Here we also met Alice (she gave Ryan a big kiss on the cheek and left her lipstick behind), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Belle and Marie from "Aristcats".  There were neat street performances and an amazing attention to detail.

After finishing up, we headed back home to clean up and get ready for the Mainstreet Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom.  We got there 45 minutes early and claimed our spot along Main Street.  The floats passed us by with thousands of lights and cool characters.  We saw all the usual Disney characters and the princess, as well as Peter Pan and Pinnochio.  Pinnochio even teased Ryan about sucking his thumb.

What a day and we are headed out to do it all over again tomorrow.

Vacation Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

Orlando, FL - What a fun day at our first Disney park.  We started out early (after a breakfast in) to see Animal Kingdom.  The landscape was beautiful, very tropical and green with a sprinkling of colorful flowers.  When we activated our tickets, they gave us buttons for our first visit and a button for Mommy because it is her birthday week.  (If you ever want anyone to wish you a Happy Birthday, wear that in a Disney park all day and every Disney employee will recognize your special day...I mean all of them). 

We headed straight to the back of the park and took the Kilimanjaro Safari.  There we saw birds, elephants, giraffes, lions and hippos.  The animals were so close, even a giraffe was right outside of our truck.  It was an awesome experience.

After the safari, Ryan met his first character.  We found Terk from Lion King.  He was the first to sign Ryan's autograph book.  Ryan also met Baloo and the King Louie from Jungle Book.  We also watched the Finding Nemo show.  It was a half hour version of the movie done with live action characters and puppets on sticks.  It was really cool.

After Daddy rode Exhibition Everest and eating lunch, we headed to DinoLand.  A first stop was to meet Goofy and Pluto.  They were very lovable and were also excited for Mommy's birthday.  Ryan and Mommy got in line to ride the little dinosaurs and then it started raining...and it poured and poured...and poured.  We had to buy a towel because Ryan's stroller got soaking wet and we hung out in a rides covered waiting area for 30+ minutes waiting for the rain to clear out, and it did.

Once the sun came out, it was time for the parade.  The parade was full of beautiful floats and other things that were like animals.  We also saw lots of Disney characters drive by.  Goofy, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse and Mickey each had their own car.  Many that walked past came up and said hello to Ryan.  Even several wished Mommy a Happy Birthday while parading by.

We finished the day in Camp Mickey and Minnie.  Ryan had a chance to FINALLY meet Mickey Mouse.  He was excited to get his autograph.  He also met Goofy (again) and Donald Duck and then met Thumper and Pocahontas. 

We arrived back to our condo for a night of relaxation and lasagna.  Ryan ran around like a crazy man and then took a bath in the biggest tub he has ever been in.  We are excited to venture out again tomorrow.

Vacation Day 1 - Welcome to Orlando

Orlando, Fl - Ryan flew to Orlando today (with Mommy, Daddy and Grammy) to go to Mickey's house.  He was good on the plane, watching DVDs, reading books and playing with toys.  Once we arrived, we checked into our condo and rested for a bit.  In the evening we headed out to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping.  We finished up the evening with dinner at Cracker Barrell.  Ryan had a hamburger, ate the meat only, then licked A-1 off of his fingers when he was finished.

Wordless Wednesday (Video)

Wordless Wednesday

When Ryan Takes a Picture

Woodbridge - Ryan is very interested in using the camera and taking pictures himself.  Here is a sample of what he sees when snapping photos.

Labor Day at the Playground

Woodbridge - Mommy, Daddy and Ryan took Ryan's bike to the playground.  It was a fun way to end a nice long weekend. 

 

Coloring Family

Alexandria - This month Ryan has started learning about family at school.  They kicked it off by coloring pictures of families.  Here is Mommy, Daddy and Ryan.

Wordless Wednesday

Earthquake and Hurricane

Woodbridge - In one week Ryan experienced two major natural phenomenons, an earthquake and hurricane.  The earthquake on Tuesday measured 5.8 on the Richter Scale.  It hit just before 2:00 in the afternoon.  That just happened to be nap-time at school for Ryan.  He slept through the whole thing.  We even had a pretty big aftershock on Wednesday night, which he slept through again.

On Saturday, Ryan experienced his first hurricane.  Hurricane Irene came ashore as a category 1 storm on Friday night.  By late Saturday morning she arrived to our area.  We received a lot of rain and a little wind.  All in all, it was nothing for us.

This was our earthquake damage.

This was our hurricane damage...just a few blown leaves.