Disney World, Part I -- Magic Kingdom

We made our yearly trip to Disney World on June 2nd. We think we may have found the perfect time to visit. The first week in June means that Scott's out of school, but all the masses haven't arrived yet and there are still good deals to be had. We booked the vacation back in December, and Eli and I had been excitedly counting down the days on the computer through a Disney software program. The drive to Florida was blissfully uneventful as both kids were old enough to entertain themselves for long stints, and while Keira slept I could focus on Eli for a bit. We made our usual stop at Cracker Barrel for brunch. Two big hits that entertained Elijah for most of the drive were Travel BINGO (a thift store find -- thanks Grammie!) and a maze book we bought at Cracker Barrel.

We followed our usual routine of relaxing and unpacking on the first day when we arrived, then the next day we went to the Magic Kingdom. This year marked the first time for a few things as Elijah has gotten older. The first new experience this trip was successfully meeting characters. In the past, Elijah and Keira were terrified of the characters, but this year was different. The first day that we arrived at All Star Sports my sunglasses broke. While we were in the gift shop looking for a replacement pair, Eli found an autograph book and asked about it. I explained what it was, and he asked if we could buy it for his souvenir. Since I knew about his track record with characters, I told him we needed to try and meet a character first before we thought about buying an autograph book. Turns out this year was our lucky year. We all met Daisy Duck right when we arrived at the Magic Kingdom. As you can see from the smiles all around it was a success. :) P.S. Thanks to Dendi we were able to purchase some great professional photographer shots of our trip, including this one -- Thanks Dendi!


After the success of meeting Daisy we bought Eli an autograph book and went to meet the two stars -- Minnie and Mickey. Both of the kids were extremely excited. Eli even got their autograph and Keira insisted on hugging and kissing both Minnie and Mickey numerous times. Here's Keira's smile captured as she met Minnie for the first time and our family shot.



After meeting the characters, we spent some time together and we headed to Tomorrow Land. We rode The People Mover together, which ended up being one of Keira's favorite.


After The People Movers and getting our fastpass for Buzz Lightyear we headed over to drive the cars.





Later on, we all enjoyed another family ride, this time the carousel. Along with The People Movers, It's a Small World and the big train, the carousel was one of Keira's favorites.

Angel Choir Performance

On May 22nd, Elijah sang in front of the whole church with the Angel Choir. He performed for both services. The most exciting part of the morning for Elijah was singing in front of a lot family including: Mommy, Daddy, Keira, Dendi, Grammie, Bapa, Uncle Jason and Auntie Andrea.

Makin' Muffins

On May 23rd, I dared to attempt to bake muffins with two little helpers. It went incredibly well, and I felt perfectly accomplished. Keira stood on a stool, then a chair on one end of our kitchen island, while Eli stood on his stool on another side. They took turns helping to measure and stir the ingredients. Once the muffins were poured into the pans, they still wanted to "help" so I volunteered a little flour and sugar to the cause and they played happily for a LONG time, "measuring" and stirring.

Imagination Movers!

Grammie treated us to an amazing beginning of the summer treat -- an Imagination Mover's Concert. On May 21st, all four of us went to their 2:00 pm show. It was a lot of fun, and as you can imagine the first concert for both kids. Fortunately, the movers play music that even Scott and I like and they put on a great show. Not only were they fun and energetic, but as we'd heard, the guys take turns singing from the audience so they can meet their legion of fans. Eli even got to meet Mover Smitty and shake his hand. As with any new experience, we never know how the kids are going to react. But, both kids danced, sang along and were a little awe struck by the whole thing. I was worried, since Keira's not a fan of loud noises that Keira and I might spend our whole time in the lobby. In actuality, she was great and even loved their opening band Choo Choo Soul. Unfortunately, she was a little scared of the friendly monster they brought on stage for a few numbers. But, she just looked away and cuddled against me until he left. Even though she liked the concert, she was not excited by the idea of posing for pictures. So after a few false starts, Scott clicked a few of her on the ground and Eli and I posing with the sign.

Backyard Bliss

Ever since Scott completed the play structure over Spring Break, the backyard has been a favorite spot for all of us. Particularly this spring, with it's mild weather, saw us spending many happy hours out back. Once the weather got warm enough, we ate many lunches, dinners and snacks out back on our covered porch.


Besides eating, the kids enjoyed all activities associated with water. Keira loves to water the plants, or water anything for that matter. She's just a water girl. Then, when we got the water table for Keira's party that became a perennial favorite.




Finally, as the weather heated up for good, but before our neighborhood pool opened for the season, both kids enjoyed playing in the baby pool and going down the water slides on our back hill. Elijah continues to be an amazingly sweet and helpful big brother. We are incredibly lucky and blessed that our kids get along so well. Keira usually needs parental help to get down the little slide in the pool and the big slide down the back hill. But, one afternoon, her big brother helped instead. So sweet.

Keira's Birthday Party

We are enjoying a wonderful, whirlwind summer full of pool visits, swimming lessons, a trip to Disney, two trips to the lake house and much more. I've been having such a good time, and I haven't found a whole lot of time to blog. Looks like I'm over two months behind now, eek. Oh well, better late than never...

We celebrated Keira turning two on the afternoon of May 15. Originally, we had planned for another water backyard party. The weather didn't cooperate with our plans, but it turned out great anyway. It was our first try at having a party in our new house and our house didn't disappoint. It was fun to see how easy it is to entertain here. Interestingly, Keira actually slept through the first few minutes of her party. It was difficult getting her down for her nap, and I knew waking her up mid nap would not bode well for her party mood, so I let her sleep. When she woke up the house was full of people. At the last minute, I decided to dress her in her Minnie Mouse costume since that was her party's theme. When I brought her out of her room she was pleasantly surprised and a little overwhelmed to see so many friendly faces in her living room.






I didn't expect Keira to understand much of what was going on. Yet, she surprised me. She seemed to understand that it was her birthday party and she even appreciated all the Minnie Mouse decorations, plates and napkins.




But, the most fun she had all afternoon and early evening was just playing. She almost strutted around and revelled in all her toys, some new and some old favorites and all her playmates. She had a ball.












Eli got in on the fun, too. Two of his favorite parts of the party were playing with our neighbor Ashley Kate and building a huge Duplo tower with Uncle Jason.



Besides all the play time we also did all the usual party stuff like eat pizza, sing happy birthday, blow out the candles, and eat cake.






As I said before, Keira surprised me by how aware she was. I had assumed that Eli or I would open most of her presents for her. But, no, unfortunately for Eli she wanted to open them all be herself.



One nice suprise of the evening was how long some of our guests stayed. We somehow started playing "tennis" on our back lawn. It was insanely fun. While we played, the kids broke in our present for Keira -- the water table. The water table was, and continues to be, a huge hit.