July Part 1

Sorry for the backtracking, but I was so hung up on getting our vacation posted that I couldn't move on until it was done.  I am so relieved to have that out of the way and now I can update the last month at least before the baby comes.  The first of July my friend Kari and her family come through town on their way to a weekend with family.  I got to meet her new baby, Nate (whom I failed to take a photo of) and we ate some delicious lunch at Jaker's.  Jayci and Sawyer had fun playing in the windowsills at the front of the restaurant.  It was great to see Kari and her sweet little family!

Waiting for the parade to start.

Sitting tall with Hailey.

 We celebrated Independence Day Saturday and Sunday this year, since there were festivities both days.  The parade was sooo cold!  Tony and Sawyer were bundled up in blankets and jackets.  I was comfortable with a sweatshirt on for a little while, but then I had to borrow some blanket too.  In the afternoon, we went to a BBQ at Tyson & Angela's.  Sawyer loved jumping on the trampoline.  At about 7 p.m. we headed down to the river to find the perfect firework viewing spot and some yummy food.  It took us an hour to walk from the car to our spot, about 45 mins. to get food and get back to our spot, and then 30 mins. to wait in line for the bathroom.  We walked out of the port-a-potty with about 10 mins. to spare before the big show.  It was a great fireworks display as always.  I love watching Sawyer enjoy them.

Disney World: Day 6

Topiary display at the Epcot entrance.

Shaking a maraca in Mexico.

Dancing with the music.

Tuesday, May 11th-  Our last day was divided between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.  We started out at Epcot, because I was set on getting a free 5x7 photo and meet & greet with the characters, thanks to our Disney Visa card.  It didn't start until 11 a.m., so we rode some rides in the World Showcase and let Sawyer play with some musical instrument squares beforehand.   Tony wasn't very hip on the idea of waiting in line for the photo, but since I wasn't giving in, I waited for about 45 minutes for us to have a one-on-one photo time with Mickey, Minnie, & Goofy.  I think it was totally worth it and we got some super cute photos of Sawyer.  The bad part was our photo wouldn't be ready until after 3 p.m., so we would have to make a trip back to Epcot before they closed in order to pick it up.  Despite this, we hopped on the Tronorail over to the Magic Kingdom to spend the rest of our hours there

When we arrived, the Celebrate Parade was just beginning and we got to see Woody and some of Sawyer's favorite characters.  We played and explored for a couple hours before we had reservations at the Crystal Palace at 3:20 p.m.

Tony and I have eaten with Pooh and his Hundred Acre Wood friends before, but it was Sawyer's first time.  Some of my favorite photos were captured here.  I love Sawyer's face and his affection for Eeyore.  Thank goodness we had the dining plan or there is no way we would have wanted to fork out almost $80 for just mine and Tony's buffets.  The food was delicious and there was such a great variety to choose from, but that is a lot of money for one meal.  Sawyer topped off his mac n' cheese and pizza with a gigantic sugardoodle.  It was an awesome way to end our meals on our vacation. 

We squeezed in one more castle family photo, a shot in front of the train station at the entrance, and the Tronorail as we skipped back to Epcot before the Illuminations fireworks show was over.

Disney World: Day 5

Monday, May 10th-  We/I started off kinda slow this day, since we had been up until the wee hours of the morning enjoying our extra magic hours the night before.  When we came back to our room from our late night adventures, we found Sawyer's toy Woody doll sitting in the curtains in our window.  Disney does the funnest things when you stay there!  Sawyer was ready before I was, so he climbed in his stroller and said, "go go".  He was pretty patient, but Tony took him to play in the Goofy water squirters to keep him busy/happy, while I was getting ready .

Tony decided we needed to spend the day in the Magic Kingdom and make sure we got to do everything there we hadn't done yet.  With only 2 more days, I was fine with whatever made them both happy.  I didn't seem to get very many photos this day.  Tony might have some on the video camera that I could use, I'll have to look.  Before we got in the park, I already had to use the restroom (surprise, surprise).  On my way in, there was a hidden mickey stamped on the floor.  I still am not totally sure how they got in on the ground, but it was awesome.  I was so caught off guard that I stepped in it, so you can see my footprint in the middle of his mouth. 

Disney World: Day 4

Sunday, May 9th-Each day we are on vacation, Tony is totally into getting up and ready as fast as possible.  Sawyer would stand at the window and say, "side" because of course that is where he wanted to be.  But since it was Mother's Day, I wanted to sleep in a bit and make myself look nice.  Much to Tony's dismay we didn't leave the hotel until 12 p.m. Can you believe the audacity, but  I knew we were staying in the park until 1 a.m. when the Magic Kingdom closed to resort guests, so I didn't feel so bad for them.  To prove that even they were exhausted, I captured a picture of the two of them on the way to the park that morning/afternoon.

We started out in the Magic Kingdom, where we were able to meet pirate Goofy at the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Then it was off to the Jungle Cruise.  Both of these rides were favorites of Sawyer because they have boats and "watey" or water as you and I would call it.  He LOVED the animals along the Jungle Cruise as well.  Before we left the park for my Mother's Day dinner, we made our way to FantasyLand where we found Peter Pan and Wendy.  They even had accents as they spoke to Sawyer!

Grand Floridian

I got to choose where I wanted to eat, since it was my day, so I chose the fanciest resort on Disney property, The Grand Floridian!  It was magnificent inside and out.  The Victorian decor, a piano player in the lobby when we arrived, and a jazz band playing as we left made me feel like we had stepped back in time.  Sawyer colored as we dined at our granite table.  Both dinner and dessert was delicious.  We got the cutest dessert sampler so we could try a little bit of everything.  It had key lime pie, tiramisu, chocolate mouse, and a lemon cheesecake, even the sign that said, "Celebrate Today" was made of white chocolate and sugar.  They gave me a white carnation for being a mom to top off a perfect meal.  It was a very special place to spend Mother's Day with my boys.

Me & my boy on Mother's Day

 

  

Disney World: Day 3

Saturday, May 8th-  This day began in Hollywood Studios for breakfast at the Hollywood & Vine.  We were treated to another smorgasbord meal with fun kids foods while the characters from Little Einsteins (June & Leo) and JoJo's Circus (JoJo and Goliath) circulated.  Even though Sawyer had never seen either of these shows, he seemed to really enjoy meeting the characters and the dancing that was intermingled in the festivities.  We weren't sure if we would enjoy this breakfast, but I had so much fun watching Sawyer.  Afterwards, we went and saw the Playhouse Disney show and that was a huge hit with the little man.  He loved the bubbles and all the fun characters on stage.

We explored the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area.  Sawyer wasn’t sure what to think at first, but it was good for him to have time out of the stroller to roam and play with the giant blades of grass.  On our way to find a seat for the street party we ran into my favorite Christmas shop (but it was closed ) and Bolt.  Sawyer was excited to meet him because he can say “Bote”.  Just before the Block Party Bash parade we saw a giant “dino” and had to take his photo.  We found great seats for the parade on some stairs, up front, in the shade!  Sawyer loved all the characters and had fun dancing to the music. 

Once the parade ended we changed parks and spent the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom.  Walking down Main Street USA, we had the photographers take the famous “in front of the castle shot”.  Then it was off to ride the rides! Tony's favorite DisneyWorld attraction is Splash Mountain. He didn't get to ride it last year and I couldn't ride it this year, so Sawyer played at the Laughing Place play area while we waited for Daddy to ride with his friend Tyson.  It was a great for Sawyer to play and be able to roam free for about 45 mins.  He had a splendid time.