Visitors from the Sooner State

We had a wonderful visit from mamaw and papaw last week. They were here Tuesday through Sunday (that whole retirement thing is pretty convenient!). I enjoyed the company (and help!!)and Noah luuuuuved the attention. He had a ball!

We picked them up at the airport and the entire way there, Noah was giving me the sign for airplane (accompanied by his "airplane sound" Aaaaaaaaah). The entire way back to our house he was giving mamaw and papaw the sign for airplane (because I had been telling him for days that they were coming to see him and that's how they were getting here - I guess he was telling them how they got here?). Then each time we'd get in the car to go "bye-bye" during the week, he'd give us the sign for airplane and we'd have to explain that, no, we're not going to the airport today. :)
We went to Toys R Us one day so mamaw and papaw could spoil their only grandchild a little bit. Noah got a singing, talking, LOUD ball popping lawn mower. We had to shout at each other in order to talk above this noisy toy. But Noah loves it so much! (He was pushing the mower Sunday morning before church and we told him c'mon, it's time to leave. He pushed the mower right out the door like he was going to take it to church with him!).
He also got a bubble gun. Not quite as loud, but still tons of fun.
He got a few books (not pictured). Here he is reading one of his old favorites with papaw.
We went to the park...

...and another park...
...and another park...I got to see Watermark in concert one night. I got to get my hair done (on a weekday!). I even got to scrapbook a little bit! Brandon and I got to take dance lessons (he bought me a gift certificate for Valentine's Day and we're just now using it). We went to dinner at Taste of Texas AND went out for dessert. I guess you could say we took full advantage of the grandparents (and they didn't mind a bit).

Like my mom said, (trying to find something good about us living so far away) our visits aren't as frequent as we'd like, but when we do get to see each other, we have lengthy, quality, precious visits.

Texas Traditions

We took part in a very sacred Texas tradition last weekend. A rodeo, you ask? Consumed a giant chicken fried steak? Did the Texas two-step at a honky tonk? Nope. Took pictures with the bluebonnets!!

I was adament that we had to take part in this "custom" during our tenure in the Lone Star State, so off we went, hot on the bluebonnet trail. We drove about an hour northwest to Brenham, TX (the unofficial heart of bluebonnet country AND home to Blue Bell Ice Cream!). Brandon thought I was crazy. When we arrived and he saw all the children dressed in their neutral colors and frilly spring dresses with their moms snapping as many pictures as their memory cards would hold, he quickly changed his tune.

Here are the pictures from our outing.

Before we could find any bluebonnets, we found this field of Indian Paintbrush, isn't it pretty?!I love this one, just wish I could pull the weed out of the picture. It didn't take long and my boys were ready for lunch. We took a break to eat at the BT Longhorn Steakhouse in downtown Brenham...

...and push the stroller up and down the sidewalk.

At last, we found some bluebonnets!

"Uh-Oh" Oops, baby, you're not supposed to pick the bluebonnets!

It was SOOO windy!
Noah was lovin' the timer pictures, he thought that was the coolest thing ever. He kept doing the sign for more.

Milestones

Baby Noah never learned to crawl, he went straight to walking. I guess he thought, I can get there a lot faster on my feet, why try the other way? Well, this weekend, he decided he'd try crawling. So, at the ripe old age of 17 1/2 months, he learned to crawl.

Disney World 2008

Sorry we've been out of pocket for a while, been a little busy with travels to Asia, Africa, France, Morocco, Italy, Germany, Norway, Mexico...Actually, we just went to Disney World, but got a taste of all of the above! Brandon went to an SAP conference in Orlando and Noah and I went along. The conference was at a fabulous resort, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. Here are a few pictures from our trip. Grandparents (and anyone else who wants), I will be emailing you the link to Walgreens so you can look at all one-hundred sixty pictures.


The beautiful Orlando sunset view from our hotel. Day 1, Wednesday, March 26, 2008, EPCOT
Today Noah got to take his first ever boat ride. We took a water taxi from our hotel to the park. The International Flower and Garden Festival was going on at Epcot, it was hard to keep from taking a picture of every plant and flower, everything looked so beautiful! They had several displays like this where the Disney characters were made out of foliage, so cool! Noah was a bit uncertain about Lady. She does look kinda scary with her big fluffy ears blowing in the wind.

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho it's off to work we go...

At Epcot, we got to visit France, Morocco, Japan, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico. I think I would've eaten at each of the "countries" if I would have had the time (and money)! We rode one ride at Epcot, The Seas with Nemo and Friends (so fun!). Baby Noah really enjoyed it. We sat in little clam shells and rode along searching for Nemo with Dori and friends. My arms really got a workout waiting in line, we had to park our stroller at the gate, the line was about 40 minutes long and daddy was at his conference, whew!

One of the high spots in Noah's day was when a high school marching band came parading through the park. He ate it up! One of my favorite parts was when we were on our way out of the park and we got to meet Chip and Dale. This is one of the most precious video clips from the entire trip. The little person in the costume was so sweet to Noah. I was so pleased how he warmed up to the characters (I was really worried that he would be afraid of them).




We went back to Epcot that evening once Brandon was finished with his classes. We got to meet Donald Duck. Noah kept saying E-I-E-I. I don't know if he was confused because Old MacDonald had a duck on his farm or if he thought Donald Duck was old MacDONALD? Too funny.

Day 2, Thursday, March 27, 2008, THE MAGIC KINGDOMThe "happiest place on earth" is also the most crowded place on earth (with the exception of westbound I-10 to Katy at 5:00 p.m.). Of course, we were there at one of the busiest times of the year. Despite the crowds, we got to see and do quite a bit. We rode It's a Small World (which by the way has become Noah's new favorite lullaby) when I try to change songs, he sits up and grunts at me and vigorously gives me the sign for more. We also got to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, both were very cute rides and perfect for toddlers.

We also had a great seat for the Disney Dreams Come True afternoon parade. Noah LOVED it!

We went back to the Magic Kingdom that evening so daddy could go with us. We saw the Country Bear Jamboree (Noah squealed, screamed and clapped with excitement). We also got to meet Mickey! Noah wasn't a bit afraid of him, he really enjoyed it! The sky was so beautiful that evening behind Cinderella's Castle.


Day 3, Friday, March 28, 2008 HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Today we waited for daddy to get out of his classes before we ventured out to the park. We got there in time for the Block Party Bash Parade. Noah was in awe. He LOVED it (how many times have I said that?) but really, he screamed and clapped and had so much fun. The floats were unbelieveable and the music was so fun. Here's Buzz Lightyear and the gang:

Woody and Jesse

After the parade, we headed over to see Playhouse Disney Live on Stage! There we saw Mickey and Friends, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and My Friends Tigger and Pooh.

The highlight of the day was when daddy got to ride the Star Tours Star Wars simulator, just kidding! It was when Noah got to "meet" Lightning McQueen and Mater! How cool is that?! Noah is not looking at my camera in one of the pictures I took (he was SO amazed). Hopefully the folks at Disney were able to capture one for me.Day 4, Saturday, March 29, 2008 ANIMAL KINGDOM

This is The Tree of Life, it is the centerpiece of the Animal Kingdom. I wish you could tell how big it is and I wish you could zoom in and see the details of the 325 animal carvings. The tree is 14 stories tall and 50-feet wide. Truly a sight to see!

The Animal Kingdom is very cool! Noah got to see animals of all kinds (tigers, gorillas, bats, birds, fish...). We learned early in the week that if we took him out of his stroller, it was a royal battle to get him back in it so Brandon got to where he would just pick up the entire stroller with Noah in it if he needed to see something.
We rode a train to Rafiki's Planet Watch where Noah got to pet some goats and sheep. He even hugged one, I cracked up! We saw a wonderful bird show called Flights of Wonder where we got to see vultures, owls, hawks, colorful macaws, a hilarious parrot, a crowned crane and the American Bald Eagle up close! Here's Noah in total wonderment at the show.

Yes, I did have a hat (or three) for my baby, but he would NOT keep them on his head!

Day 5, Sunday, March 30, 2008 DAYTONA

Apparently no trip to Florida is complete without a trip to Daytona Beach and the Daytona International Speedway (Home of "The Great American Race"). We got to Daytona Sunday morning before the spring breakers rolled out of bed. Here's my baby feeling the sand between his toes. Moments after this, a wave came toward him so what's a baby to do? Sit down in it! Needless to say, we made an unscheduled pit stop at the beach souvenir shop to purchase some dry clothes (way to plan ahead, mom and dad!).
Brandon "made" me eat lunch at this pier restaurant. I could see the waves crashing below me. Yikes!!

A view of the beach from the pier restaurant.


After lunch, we made a highly anticipated stop at the Daytona Int'l Speedway. It's HUGE!! They weren't doing tours of the track because of the car show, but we "sweet talked" our way in without paying a dime!
Daddy and Noah on the front stretch in front of the grandstands.
Sunday night we went over to Downtown Disney. I was either tired or tired of taking pictures, because I don't have a single picture from the evening. We ate a delicious meal at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe and battled more crowds. Go here if you want to see what Downtown Disney is all about.

Noah was SUCH a trooper for the entire trip. He would have partied from sun up 'til sundown if we would've let him. His least favorite part of the day was when we'd open the door to the hotel room each evening.

I think that's just about the longest post ever, but hey, how many times do you go to Disney World?!