Animal Kingdom

Our first park was the Animal Kingdom and its famous "Tree of Life."

Kilimanjaro Safari - my favorite part of the park.

Ben's ready to go. What is a trip to Disney without your own pair of Lightning McQueen mouse ears? I was surprised to see how many adults wore them around the parks. Call me Scrooge, but in my opinion, they are for those 12 and under.

On the Disney bus to the Animal Kingdom. Andy and his dad golfed that morning so we went with Charlotte and Jesse (Char's friend). Ben wore his Crocs and we had some major shoe trauma about an hour into the park when he said his feet hurt and couldn't walk. We left the stroller in Ohio accidentally and I was too cheap to rent one for $35, so I was worried it would be an arduous day. Ben is very particular about his footwear and I should have known better than to have him walk around all day in his sandals. But with lots of stops he managed alright and Andy brought a pair of shoes and socks when he met us there in the afternoon.

Decked out for 3-D in "It's Tough to Be a Bug." Ben ended up hunkered under my arm soon after the show started because it ended up being a bit scary for kids.

Ben tuckered out after a long day of walking. He missed the whole safari and his favorite animals, the giraffes.

Andy was a champ and carried a deadweight Ben (all 45 lbs. of him) from the safari ride out to our car in the far reaches of the parking lot.

Florida or Bust

A few weeks ago we met Andy's family down in Florida so Ben could experience DisneyWorld for his birthday. It was a great trip, nice weather and very relaxing. I got to read and rest alot while the auties, uncle, and grandparents took care of Ben. Thank you!!!

We stayed at a condo on the Disney property, but not affiliated with Disney, so we had easy access to the parks but also the perks of a kitchen and more space. Since there are lots of pictures, I'm going to take it a day at a time so as to not bore you to death.

Yes, that is Ben buck naked staring longingly out at the pools at the condos. He also did this every morning after he shed his PJs and Pull-Up. I loved sitting on the balcony as well, but maybe there's something even more enjoyable about doing it completely nude. Sadly, as a responsible adult, I'll never experience that joy.

Ben was in his swimsuit, lathered with sunscreen, and ready to head to the pool within about 15 minutes of arriving. I think the fact that it took the adults much longer to get ready and forever for the group to go anywhere en masse frustrated him a bit.

Our first day there we didn't hit any of the parks, but spent the evening at Downtown Disney. Talk about a marketer's dream. Stores, restaurants, arcades, theaters, and everything else you can imagine with a tie-in to make you buy Disney stuff. Thankfully, we managed to keep him out of the stores to avoid him begging for overpriced souvenirs. Downtown Disney, and the parks in general, also made for great people watching.

At the Lego store. They had life-sized Lego creations, a playground, and these little stations to create to your heart's content.

We couldn't resist a stop at Ghiradelli's Ice Cream. Ben's favorite flavor du jour is chocolate, and he clearly enjoyed his treat.

A not-so-great picture of me and Andy.

Ben with Grandma and Grandpa, pre-ice cream.

After our treat, we dropped everyone off at the condo and headed out to Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, to see some of our friends from Boston. It was so fun to catch up and to see their beautiful home. Andrea and Ben, thank you for your hospitality and for some of the best snickerdoodles ever!

Ben is lucky enough to work for Disney, so he gets to experience the magic every day.

Note: Windermere, FL, is also where Tiger Woods lives. We considered going and trying to do a drive-by of his house, or at least of the front of the gated compound where he lives. If we hadn't left so late, our stalking might have come to fruition.

Fore!

As many of you know, golf is the dominant religion for half of Andy's family. As avid golfers, four has somehow become the magical "coming of age" year when kids are old enough to get their first real golf club and learn the ways of the course. Andy found a kid golf club for Ben at Play-It-Again sports and a few months ago they started going to the driving range together, which Ben loves. Andy uses as his bargaining chip when Ben starts to act up and that usually gets him in line pretty quick.

A month or so ago they let me tag along. I'm not a golfer (much to Andy's chagrin), but don't mind going to the range. Ben was disappointed that I came because when he and Andy go by themselves they always get a treat afterwards (usually soda or ice cream). But that time he didn't get anything and now I'm associated with no treats. It's hard to be the killjoy.

All important: Washing your clubs in the nasty dirty water bucket when you're done.

Ando in action. He's got to get ready for his family match to be played July 1.

For the longest time we thought Ben was a lefty, but he stands like a righty, just crosses his hands like a lefty. We're interested to see how he ends up since my dad was a righty but golfed left-handed and my brother is ambidextrous.

The Happy Couple

You got a little sneak peek earlier, but here are some more engagement pictures of my little sister Kira and her fiance, Nathan, who will be getting married on June 30 in the Draper, UT temple. We are so excited! Can't wait to see our families and friends and I know Andy has scheduled lots of golf for the week we're there.

Looking forward to seeing the beatiful new temple as well, should make for some nice photos.

Nathan, love that skinny tie.

The sisters are planning on having a little pre-wedding party for Kira. Not a full-blown bachelorette bash per se, but a glorified Girls' Night Out where we fete the bride-to-be. Any fun ideas for themes, food, games, activities for such an occasion? Since we'll be in Utah without a home base, I thought it might be fun to go out somewhere. Any restaurants or places we could go for a festive atmosphere?

Injured Party

Please don't look at this picture and pick up the phone to call Child Protective Services. No, we're not beating our child or poking him with hot coals. He's exercising a new form of self-expression: Band-Aid body art. The kid loves to put on Band-Aids, whether he needs them or not, and the bigger, the better. He specifically requests "big people Band-Aids." Points also come for Band-Aids that have a picture or pattern on them. My mom sent him some Cars bandages for Christmas as part of a doctor kit and he loves putting them on and then pulling them off so he can adhere another one.

My mother-in-law had to have a waterproof Band-Aid on her arm while we were in Florida and Ben got hooked on the fact that there are ones that don't come off when you go swimming. So he proceeded to use her entire box, plus another entire box of Sponge Bob Band-Aids that Grandpa Charlie picked up for him at the drug store. All in a span of four days.

Two nights ago I opened our downstairs bathroom door to discover the above scene. He found where I'd hidden the bandages (perhaps under the sink was too obvious) and proceeded to gleefully cover himself in a new coat of Band-Aids. If this is as far as the body art fetish goes, I'll be happy. You can see in the top picture that his arms are also a favorite place for pens, markers, and any other writing instrument. Heaven forbid we move onto temporary tatoos!

Culinary Creations

Ben is a really good eater, as you can probably guess from looking at his size. Lately he's been very interested in making his own little food concotions, as well as asserting his independence in preparing and choosing his meals. This can sometimes be frustrating when he wants his oatmeal absolutely drowning in syrup, but we've come up with a solution where I fill a little dairy creamer with milk and a cup with brown sugar or syrup and then he gets to parcel them out himself until they're gone. I wish I could claim the brainwave, but thanks to my mom for the suggestion to avoid a needless power struggle. Ben's oatmeal sandwich. Basically his rice bread sprinkled with dry oatmeal. Looks pretty bland to me, but he ate it all. Granted, he did need a big glass of milk afterward.

Leaf stew. Ben made this on his birthday and I think he might have gotten the idea from Papa Bear's woodland stew in one of his Berenstain Bears books. The ingredients are: Leaves (of course, the more variety the better), broccoli, water, salt, pepper, and a strawberry. Maybe our monster from a few months ago will eat it.

Livin' Large

Here's the six month belly picture. While picking up Ben from preschool on Tuesday I had a woman comment, "You must be due any day now!" I just smiled sweetly and said, "Actually I have three months to go." I could tell she felt really bad and kept backtracking, telling me she wasn't insinuating anything, but I assured her I wasn't offended by her miscalculation.

I'm starting to feel the lovely pregnancy pains where your stomach itches incessantly and you feel all your muscles and ligaments stretch as you heave yourself to turn over in bed. A million thanks to B for letting me use your Boppy Total Body Pillow, which makes sleeping (or lying awake at night) much more comfortable. I like to call it my own little womb that I get wrapped up in every night. If you click the link and look at the picture you'll see what I mean.