Magical Memories

Back at the end of April, we took our first trip to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando!  I know I'm just now getting to the post, but we've been very busy this month!

We flew into Orlando on a Thursday night and stayed at the Gaylord Palms Resort, which was phenomenal. They have an outdoor water play scape and Eli LOVED it!  We just checked that out our first night and had dinner and went to bed (kind of).  Turns out that Eli doesn't like roll away cribs in hotels, so that lead him to sleeping with us in our Queen bed....turns out that I don't like feet in my ribs, but I love cuddling with Eli:)

Friday was our big trip to the Magic Kingdom.  We had only introduced Eli to Mickey Mouse about 2 weeks before our trip since our trip was kind of last minute.  When we got to the park, we walked down Main Street USA and up to the castle just in time for the street party parade to start!  We had a front row seat to all the action and Eli was in awe the whole time.  I don't know if I ever saw him smile, but I do know that he was shocked that all of the characters from him books and shows had come to life.  

We took Eli on several of the rides, but It's a Small World was by far his favorite.  The first time on it, we were on a green boat and the second time we were on a blue boat and he can recall those details at any time.  He loved it!  I, of course, recall a time in my young dance career being a Russian doll/gymnastic routine...or maybe we were just doing Russians, but either way, it brought back a world of memories for me.  

Buzz Lightyear was also a hit since it had a little gun you used to shoot at the little circles in the scenes.  I thought Eli was beating me the whole time, turns out Ben had taken over and I didn't realize it.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend Magic Kingdom for young toddlers.  We were torn between all of the options, but this was the best!

Saturday, Aunt Andi came to visit us at our hotel and we hung out all day at the resort water park/play scape.  In the evening, we headed to Downtown Disney for some dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe.  It turns out that Eli isn't really into having large moving gorilla's looking over our table!

Finally, Ben stayed in Orlando for work while Eli and I flew home.  Eli was amazing on the plane, but I HIGHLY recommend also getting toddlers under 2 their own seat and use a CARES harness.  That five point harness saved me since it kept Eli in his seat like his car seat so he wasn't antsy to get down from his seat.  

Art Work by Eli

Clearly we have an artistic child in our midst!  I am trying to avoid becoming a hoarder of the things that Eli makes, so I decided to photograph everything and keep everything too (someday I will purge:)).  Below are just some of the things Eli has created in 'school'!

Painting with a magazine.

Eli's feet

Painting

Fruit loop Eli!

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli!

Happy 2^nd Birthday to my sweet baby boy.  You amaze me every day with the new things you are learning, your excitement for every adventure that we take and for simply loving us.  You are the light of my life and I look forward to all of the memories we are going to share.

Potty Time!

This is just a quick update to note that Eli went pee on the potty last night!  He's had no problems sitting on the potty, but last night while taking a bath, he pointed to the potty and said go.  I asked him if he wanted to try and go potty and he said yes.  So, I sat him on the seat and he went!! Such a proud moment for many reasons!

This morning, he said he wanted to sit on the potty, but then changed his mind.  Tonight we shall try again!

Kids Opening Day!

Happy Kids Opening Day!

Sorry for the late post but....here are some fun photo's from the beginning of the month, include Kids Opening Day (April 7th, 2013 vs. New York Yankees).  It's fair to mention that at the beginning of the game, Jeff Jones (pitching coach) handed Eli Justin Verlander's warm up ball!

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Eli and Colin chilling out on the couch!

Swim lessons

Easter Sunday

This year we had Easter at our house and had a blast hosting! Anyone who knows me knows there's few things I love to do more than throw/host a party and entertain. This year had been a little chaotic, so there wasn't a ton of time to plan, but we pulled it off.

Easter morning, the bunny paid Eli a visit! I can't explain in words how excited he was about this. His face lit up and he started running around like a crazy man!  After that, we colored eggs and played with the really cool things the bunny brought for Eli (Thomas train and book, Elmo, a bath toy and a chocolate bunny!)  Later in the day, we loved having the company of the Beard/Strauss family at our house for dinner and lots of fun playing in the park.   And because I love planning things, I planned a little Easter egg hunt.  At first the day was pretty gloomy, but the sun came out, so I decided to hide the eggs inside and outside.  I think all of the kids had fun finding the eggs, but I’m certain Eli had fun!  He wasn't sure what to do, but once he got the hang of it, he LOVED finding the eggs.  I think what he also loved was his first taste of candy!  Yep, I have put it off for almost two years and his first taste of candy was a Starburst jellybean.  When I say first, it’s the first to my knowledgeJ  After he had put the first piece in his mouth, he looked at me and said “Good!”.  He then proceeded to run around like a crazy man hopped up on sugar!

My beautiful nieces love Eli so much and it’s so neat to see them interacting more and more with Eli.  They pushed him on the swings at the park and helped him go down the slidesJ  I think my favorite moment from the day was to have all three munchkins sitting at the island in our kitchen having a snack.