Disneeeey World

We made it on a day with no rain. But, pretty much everyone else had the same idea. So, even though we went off season it was packed.

Here we are at the beginning of the day. What happy boys. First we went into the Monsters Inc. laugh floor, what a funny little show. Then we got on the Snow White ride. Quinn did not like that one. I didn't anticipate the ride would be so scary.

We got to ride the carousel.

The Tea Cups. And let me tell you there is no better ride in my son's eyes then the Tea Cups, reference the video at the end.

We went over to Huck Fins Island.

We went to a 3-D Mickey Movie and then watched the parade.

Unfortunately, because they had had a Christmas party the day before they didn't light the castle or light off fireworks. So, we went back to the hotel and sang Karaoke.

For those of you who don't know, my son is a throwback. He loves ABBA, the Beatles, and Elvis, specifically, all shook up. He would listen to all shook up over and over again. So Dan sang it for him, or rather they sang it together.

And then we sang the beach boys.

Finally, the video. Talk about joy and glee.

Florida trip

A few weeks ago my wife booked a spontaneous trip to Orlando FL. It's probably a little early for Quinn to make memories, he just turned three. But we had a use it or lose it week of timeshare to use up so off we went.

First day down we got some real good rain. Our trip includes tickets to sea world and Disney world, so we're not going to let the weather stop us. First day is sea world.

Not a single ride available for the young man.

I decided not to bring a stroller against Stephs recommendation, but I was having second thoughts as the hours went by.

Theme parks in the rain are not crowded at all. It was like a private showing.

And at the resort, we had the pool and hot tub to ourselves, obviously.

Quinn photo'd us here.

Hoping the weather does let up. Disney world probably won't be as convenient with heavy rain, but we are managing to have a good relaxing time. Quinn is loving the adventure, but he is also asking for his own bed back home. Hope everyone is doing well.

Quinn turns 3!!

Quinn's birthday was quite and event this year. We actually had a kids party before the family Thanksgiving instead of doing his birthday and Thanksgiving combined. What a blast. We started off the day playing with balloons, completely unplanned but effective. It kept all the kids busy until everyone arrived.

After balloons we eat. Since it was a Kung Fu Panda theme I ordered noodles and dumplings. I wrote each child's name in Chinese on tags and on place mats and made them all match the characters to find where they were sitting.



After eating the kids ran through an obstacle course I set up in the playroom. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of it, but they loved it. They started out by running around three paper towel rolls, then crawling under a table that had balloons attached to the underside. Then they jumped jumped back and forth into six different hoops, jumped over a pool, and karate chopped a Styrofoam board (again keeping with the Kung Fu theme).
Then we made Chinese lanterns. I figured why not throw some arts and crafts in there.






After arts and crafts we did some pin the noodle bowl on Po the Panda.





They broke a Po pinata


And then cake and presents.



What a perfect day.



To my dearest Quinn,

I want you to know that you are the light and love of my life. You have such a proud mother. You are such a kind and gentle boy. You have such wonderful manners and you listen soooo well. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you in my life, but I am grateful for you and always will be. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for you. I will never forget what a miracle you are, and I hope you never do either. Do wonderful things with your life, I truly believe you were meant to.

You are such a joy. You laugh so easily, and try to make us laugh as well, especially when you are in trouble. You are very laid back and calm. You are so aware of emotions, it never fails to surprise me. You always ask, "Are you happy mommy?" and you constantly talk about family. You love group hugs with your daddy and I and most of the time you will say, "We are family."

You are such a chatterbox lately. You talk about everything you've done, seen, and experienced that you can remember. And I am amazed by the things you remember and how far back your memory goes. You sometimes talk about things that happened a year ago. You certainly don't have my memory. I hope that lasts too. You love to say, "Do you remember when ....." even when the thing you are asking about just happened.

I love you as a little boy. You are so cuddly and loving. You like to be very close to the people you love and want to be interacting with people all the time. I will miss the little pats on our backs you always give us when you hug us. Your tiny little hands are so comforting. I will also miss you saying restornaut instead of restaurant. It's the only word I never tried to help you correct. Just after you turned three you corrected yourself. I'm glad you did, but like I said, I will miss it.

You are loved by so many people. And a blessing and a joy to be around. I love you my son, no matter what.

Truly,
Your Mother

Long overdue Halloween pictures.

Sorry this took so long. Here are pictures from Halloween.

As you can see, my little man was an elephant.

Luckily we got a picture with all five of the grand kids. Quinn was very obliging in holding Mila in place. She kept walking away.

Here are all the costumed people.

A close up of my elephant.

I wanted you to be able to see the tail. I can't get over how cute the whole outfit was. And it could probably be used as a snowsuit :).

Here is Auntie taking Quinn around. You can see Mary, Auntie Kristin, and Grandma Joanne to the side.

And to finish the Halloween experience, Maki and Quinn walked hand in hand for a while.

So sweet.

Fall festival and a thank you

Like all grandmas, my mother pretty much tells everyone she meets about Quinn (which I think is really sweet). She also tells the kids she teaches all about him. One of the girls in her class got him this hedgehog, which he absolutely adores and now sleeps with every night. The first stuffed animal he's ever taken to bed. One of her girls also made him a Go Quinn Go sign which we will post pictures of once I figure out where he put them. So thank you very much to the girls in my moms class. As you can see you've made my boy very happy.

We went to a fall festival today at a farm near us. What a blast, I couldn't believe all of the things they had going on.

You could, of course, pick a pumpkin.

Pretend to be a ghost. He didn't quite get the only show your face part.

We thought this was a beautiful spot.

Mommy cuddle time.

They had tractors to sit on.

Hay rides.

More cut outs. Quinn ended up sharing a face spot with auntie.

Painting your pumpkins once you pick one.

My friend Lisa came with us, that is not a random stranger painting with my son.

They had a treasure hunt we didn't do.

Pumpkin sling shots.

You aim at scarecrows!!!!

There was lots of food to be eaten.

More tractors to ride. They had a petting zoo and a hay bail maze for the kids. Face painting and so much more. It was really fun.

And last but not least. Pumpkin catapulting. Go mommy!!! Thanks to uncle Marshall for picking out the pumpkin.

If you couldn't tell, I hit the hay bails. Wowho, go mommy go.