Miss Abigail

If something stands tall and still, chances are she will swing on it, climb it or hang upside down from it! Princess of the monkey bars- it is one of her FAVORITE things to do! This particular day, it was a tree in our backyard. Nevermind that she's wearing a pretty dress from Nana- she's still a monkey in a tree!!

Brothers

It has been such a privilege and so exciting to watch the "friendship" grow b/t our boys. As Nathan gets older, his adoration of Jacob increases daily. He follows him around trying to keep up, calls for him repeatedly, "GEEE-COB!!" and points out every jeep, bus, and firetruck in the vicinity! Jacob patiently answers, "what Nafan?" and cheerfully includes him, invites him to play cars and trucks or dig in the sandbox. I pray often for the depth in their relationship- that they would be fast friends, sharpening (as iron sharpens iron) and truly love one another with an everlasting love.

We have had some extra boy time this summer while Abby has been bouncing from one adventure to the next (VBS, art camp, birthday parties, etc.)

nothing like some dirt and rocks for little boys!

playing at the water table with Nathan is a guaranteed bath- he thinks it's hysterical to throw the water!

cracking up at all the splashing!!

Nathan learned early how to ride the big-wheel b/c he wants to be out on the street when Jacob is bike riding!

Blue Ribbon?

We returned home today to find these growing in our garden! I think we might win first prize for that cucumber!!

The first time...

Tonight I was bathing the boys and as we were finishing up, Abby came into the bathroom to wait for her turn. I gave the boys their 2 minute countdown and when the time came, I told Nathan it was time to get out. He happily put his cup down, said "ok" and stood up! I wrapped him in the towel and was dancing around the bathroom with him being very silly and saying "Oh, Nathan, what good obeying! Mommy loves how you obeyed right away..." On and on my song and dance was going and he was all smiles. Abby was standing in front of the mirror, brushing out her hair, looking all of 12 years old, and said, "Mommy, you should give him a treat! Go get him a treat!" I started explaining to her that we don't always get a treat when we obey, that obeying is expected, you know on and on. Nathan is of course chanting "teat, teat!" and then Abby looks at me with all seriousness and says, and I quote, "but Mommy this is his first time ever to obey- really, Mommy, you should get him a treat!!"
The saddest part is that she might be right- at 21 months of age, this might be the first time ever he happily and quickly obeyed. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry...

Little Tikes Car

All 3 of mine have loved this car...

clearly, it makes him happy!

Day 4- Princess Breakfast and Epcot

On Sunday, our last day, Abby and I went to a princess breakfast in Cinderella's Castle. It was very fancy and several of the main princesses were there. It was a thrill just to go inside the castle itself, but the breakfast was very nice and Abby enjoyed visiting with each of the princesses. Jacob was worn out by this point, and he and Jay stayed back at the hotel where Jacob slept until after 9am (and Jay still had to wake him up and drag him out of bed to meet us!!)

Princess Abby in front of the castle ( random side note for all you future disney-goers: Belle is not necessarily Abby's favorite princess, but the costume is one of the few that doesn't have a hoop in the skirt. It was very easy to take off, fold up, and shove in our bookbag, so that we didn't have to go all the way back to our room to change clothes!)

Abby meeting Cinderella (again) in the castle

Abby and Snow White


Abby and Princess Aurora ( Sleeping Beauty)

Abby and Princess Jasmine

Abby and Belle

After breakfast, we hopped on the monorail to meet Jay and Jacob at Epcot. We had not originally planned to spend any time at Epcot. Sunday we were going to spend another full day at Magic Kingdom, but we had been able to see and do everything we wanted to there, even multiple times, so we decided to go to Epcot. We all ended up being so glad we did, but Jacob especially loved several of the rides there. The Fast Track and Soarin were two of his favorite rides. They both enjoyed Fast Track so much we did it, got off and got a fast pass, and came back later to do it again. It was actually the longest line we had to wait in our whole trip, which was about 35 minutes!! Not bad for Disney World!!

Jacob at Epcot

Another favorite attraction at Epcot was the Finding Nemo ride. We did it 2x also. When you come out of the ride, you are inside a very large aquarium and we had a great time viewing the sea turtles, dolphins, sting rays, etc.

Playing in the shark's mouth

Very fun ice cream snacks, compliments of the disney dining plan (a MUST in our opinion!!)

Another one of those iconic picture spots!!

After Epcot, we went back and took another very long nap. The fast pace of the week was beginning to be evident! We headed back to Hollywood Studios that night for dinner and for the Fantasmic Show. We rode Toy Story one last time before the show. We did not enjoy Fantasmic at all. It was way too scary for our kids- there is a lot of emphasis on the villans and "bad" guys of the disney movies. Lots of darkness, scary music, fire, etc. We actually ended up leaving the show early, so it was a little bit of a disappointing end to such a fabulous trip!! Overall, we had a blast! It really was the perfect trip and we can hardly wait to do it again when Nathan is old enough to join us!!


on the plane headed home to see Nathan!!!

Day 3- Hollywood Studios and Chef Mickeys

We spent our third day, Saturday, at Hollywood Studios. There were parts of this park that we loved, but overall, it was the most difficult for our children's ages. We got there and went straight to the new Toy Story ride, which is SO fun! We actually did it 3 times!! The rest of our morning was spent watching several shows including: Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney, and Beauty and the Beast. In between show times we walked around and saw a few of the highlights of Hollywood Studios!

Jay felt very strongly that we have our picture made in front of the iconic sorcerer's hat! This was the best we could do with the sunlight!

movie set city scape
San Francisco!

chatting with Donald!

The Playhouse Disney Show

Jacob meets a power ranger!

Jacob, Lightning McQueen, and Mater!

We had lunch at Hollywood Play and Vine where we met two of the Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath. There wasn't anything specifically wrong about this one, but it was their least favorite.

Jacob was SO hungry we had a hard time getting him to put his fork down for hugs!

Goliath hugs!

Hello June!!

After spending the morning at Hollywood, we went back and spent the afternoon at our pool. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but Jacob will still tell you all about the dragon water slide with King Triton sitting on top! It really was a very fun pool! We took a long nap and then went to Chef Mickey's for dinner (another sweet blessing from the Lord- He opened up those reservations for us. I had been calling for months to try and get in and still didn't have reservations for Chef Mickey's when we got to Disney. I went by our concierge for one last attempt and they had the exact night at 7pm that we were hoping for!!)

My friend Erica made them their matching tees!!

Mickey Mouse!

Chef Goofy!!

visiting with Donald!

hugs from Donald!

Pluto

loving some Pluto!!

Minnie Mouse!! Please check out the dessert plate. They brought her her very own plate to accommodate her peanut allergy! It was an overflowing plate of oreos, gummy bears, and a special allergy brownie!!
Chef Mickey's was one of our favorite character experiences! They had a blast!! After dinner we rode the monorail all the way around the loop and then went to the Magic Kingdom for the nighttime parade and fireworks! We also rode a couple of rides that have a special ambiance at night (the carousel, big thunder mtn railroad, astro orbiter!!)