The Boy

First of all, I've been horrible about replying to comments. I'm really sorry. I really do appreciate them. It's nice to know that despite the fact that I blog primarily to stay sane when alone 96.5% of the time with the boy, that there's really someone else out there reading these things.

Anyway, yesterday was the boy's 2nd birthday. I so wanted to write a fun, sweet blog about how much I love that little guy but he was a maniac all day. He's been a maniac for about a week now. He's going through a growth spurt I'm sure because he's sleeping 12-14 hours at night and eating EVERYTHING in sight all day. To top it off, we went to a friend's house for a game night (adults...the kids roamed the house mindlessly while we played cards-happy birthday baby, lol) so we were out REALLY late and as a result, he was a bear again today. Just for the record, we do love the boy and we do believe in celebrating birthdays. We're just waiting for Joshua to come home...besides, the kid's two. He doesn't know what he's missing yet.

He did get his present yesterday (mostly because I needed him to have a new toy to occupy himself for a while and boy did it work). We got him a trampoline.-not a big one in the backyard but a mini one for inside the house. Secretly, I'm hoping having the trampoline will redirect him from jumping on his bed but we'll see. At the very least, it should provide a nice distraction when we're stuck inside this winter. All day yesterday and today he was jumping and jumping and jumping. It was hilarious. He was dripping with sweat at one point and I had to make him stop and read a book with me. Between all the jumping and the growth spurt, he ate three times what he normally would. I kept having flashes of what the teenage years will be like...first all the cooking, then the grocery bill. I have to admit, I was frightened.

After our rather messy dinner tonight...Spanish meatballs and rice, it was bath time. That was the point in the day that drove me to drink. The boy was getting out of the tub and (as per our ritual) he was wearing a towel while I was getting his toothbrush ready. I had my back turned for a second...all bad mom moments start with those words. The boy ripped off his towel and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet

...it was baby powder.

wet toddler + baby powder = sticky grossness (which I'm sure will be funny one day looking back)

In the split second that I had as the boy was about to squeeze the bottle I swooped down and said his name. It wasn't yelling; it was that way only a mom can say your name...barely a whisper but more frightening than any battle cry ever shouted. Unfortunately, it was a bit too frightening and the boy jumped and squeezed the bottle....hard. I reached to grab his arm to keep him in the bathroom and contain the situation.

Didn't work.

He ran out of the bathroom and into the next room...the spare bedroom where we keep the dog kennel and that's just where he went. He ran naked, wet, and covered in baby powder into the dog's kennel, grabbed the door behind himself and shut it. All the while, still squeezing the baby powder and loving every moment of it.

We have a big dog. His kennel is big.

In order to get the kid out, I had to go in. Needless to say I got covered in sticky, gross baby powder paste and to top it off the dog had come into the room to see what was going on with his kennel. Balak, our dog, aka Bubba is very particular about things. He LOVES to sleep and his blanket is to him what a bone is to most dogs. You don't mess with Bubba's blanket. So, he was pacing in front of his kennel whining...panicking really about his blanket being covered in the same goop that we were covered in.

In the end, I kicked the dog outside, gave the kid another bath, put him to bed, washed the dog's precious blanket, cleaned the bathroom, bedroom and hallway floors and poured myself a drink.

My son is two. I can do this.

Father's Day

I'm just going to say it...I'm married to the World's Greatest Dad. It's true, all those coffee mugs, computer mouse pads and cheesy t-shirts were invented with my husband in mind. Let me explain how I know he's the best...

I was raised by a single mom-hardest job in the world but that's for another post. Father's Day in a word, sucked. It was my own personal reminder that my father didn't want me. He left before I was born and every year when Father's Day came around I felt like everyone was watching me...like I was wearing some sort of bastard scarlet letter. Growing up in northern Minnesota, Father's Day was usually just the week or two after school got out so more often than not, the last weeks of school were filled with crafts and cards for Dad. I would make the little gifts, knowing all the while that it would go to my mom (who fully deserved them) or to my Grandfather. It's just not the same. Now, with the benefit of adult wisdom (feel free to laugh at that) or more accurately, 27 years of hindsight, I know that my life was better without my biological father. I met him, Terry H, when I was 19, only 6 months after my mother married my step-dad, Terry R. Yup, both named Terry...apparently she has very specific preferences-actually, she didn't even realize the coincidence until I pointed it out one day. To keep things clear, I generally refer to them as Terry (meaning my step-dad) and bio-Terry (met him second and for much of my life he was a bio-hazard).

For years, I was totally confused as to how I'm supposed to celebrate Father's Day. Things with my step-dad are cordial because I know my mother loves him but I was in college when they got married and he has three kids of his own-all younger than me. Plus, he and I are both loud and stubborn but we're loud and stubborn about very different things. Other than loving my mom, we don't have much in common. As for bio-Terry, when we first connected, I made the decision to forgive him. I knew I couldn't live with hate but then as time progressed, I realized I had decided to forgive a man who had never apologized. It came to a head after the boy was born. I strongly believe in the benefit of having actively involved loving grandparents so I reached out again and to his credit, bio-Terry responded. But, after a visit for his birthday and seeing my 40-something first cousins (they're Irish Catholic) and all the pictures of my father who was there with all of them for every Kindergarten Graduation and birthday party, I left feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. To add insult to injury, at one point, bio-Terry had the nerve to tell me that he didn't hold anything against my mother. Yup, the man who admitted leaving my mother when she was pregnant with me and who didn't even tell his family that I existed until I found him, didn't hold anything against my mother who often worked two jobs to support us. I was furious and as immature as it may be, all I wanted was an apology. Some recognition of the pain his absence caused. So, I avoided him, his calls, his letters. That's my coping technique. I run. Like I said, immature. The worst part is that I love his family. They're hilarious. They're the type of family I dreamed about as a child...big and close. They get together almost every week in the summer for BBQs and pool parties. But it hurts too much to be one foot in that world and one foot out.

Which brings me to my amazing husband and why he is the World's Greatest Dad. His own dad divorced his mom when she was pregnant with him. She never re-married and his family is tiny. By all accounts, he was set up to fail as a father but instead he is the Buzz Lightyear of dads (he goes to infinity and beyond). From the time I was pregnant with the boy, he has been loving, protective and proud. (To the point where he didn't want me near any possible dangerous chemicals...like dish soap, lol...it was great). The first night in the hospital, the boy and I slept like champs while Joshua stood over the bassinet (all night) watching the boy breath. Because the boy was bundled so tightly and Joshua couldn't always see the boy's chest rise and fall, from time to time, he'd poke the boy. Yeah. He poked the sleeping baby. The first month we were home, Joshua let me have the bed to myself. He and the boy slept on the couch. It was a week and a half before I realized that Joshua had the boy sleeping face up on his chest...he had heard everyone at the hospital say that babies MUST sleep on their backs so as uncomfortable as I'm sure it was, he made sure the boy slept on his back. Joshua has loved the boy beyond measure and not just now that he's bigger and more able to do fun things like play catch and go to the park. He's the dad everyone like me, grows up dreaming of.

Have you ever had one of those moments when everything in your heart, everything that you've been thinking and praying about was suddenly and without warning posted on someone else's blog? If not, I can tell you that it's an eye opening experience and it happened to me this morning.

For those of you who don't know, I have a heart condition which in and of itself isn't too serious. It does make pregnancy a bit more tricky and combined with the fact that I have had three miscarriages (all very early thankfully), having the boatload of kids that we want, will probably require adoption. We've talked about the route we should take, international vs domestic agencies vs adoption through foster care and we had a tentative plan in mind...I'm a planner, big time but I recognize life happens and planning for children is near impossible even in the adoption world. The more we looked into our options the more overwhelming it started to seem. I think I forgot what adoption is about and then today while goofing off online, I came across a blog post that my friend JG shared on her facebook page. It wasn't her own post and I'd never read anything by the blogger before but it was one of those wow moments. It's about the true meaning of adoption and I wanted to share it with you all. So, please go to Grace for the Orphan and check it out.

Award time...

Ok, so this is my first attempt at passing an award on...so I apologize if I make some sort of terrible blogging award feux-pas.

A big thanks to Annoyed Army Wife who posted two awards and let 7 of us pick which one we wanted...I chose the

award mostly because the other one was beauty-based and right now I'm a little annoyed with the look of my blog design (but that's for another post).

The rules are simple...list 7 things about yourself and then pass it on to 7 other people so without further ado, I am passing this award on to the following 7 blogs because they always offer something new and fun to read:

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus

Flip Flops and Combat Boots

G.I. Joe's Wife

Me and My SoldierMan

Musings of an Army Wife

Riding the Roller Coaster

The "Sometimes Single" Mom

Ok, now 7 things about me...

1-I'm terrified of leaf piles (I know, I sound like a freak)...the thing is that I'm convinced there's snakes lurking under every leaf pile, waiting for me so it's really the snake and not so much the leaves that freak me out

2-My husband calls me Peanut and I love it

3-I'm a HUGE Minnesota Vikings fan...we will make it and win the Super Bowl one year and I really want to be there for it!

4-On our first date, I told my now husband that I want to have a bunch of kids and stay home and if he wasn't looking for the same thing, thanks for dinner but I was done with casaul stuff...apparently I didn't scare him off but we were also friends for a few months before we went on our first date so that probably helped

5-If I could live another life, I'd be a photo-journalist for National Geographic

6-I want a huge family and although we may have to go through adoption, I think we're going to end up with at least 5 kids

7-I sleep best in an ice cold room with a fan going and at least three really heavy blankets

Thanks again to The Annoyed Army Wife

Weather Review

It's been exactly three months since Joshua left for OSUT at Ft Leonard Wood today. I could write about a ton of stuff that the boy and I have done and all that I've learned in the last three months but I'm not in a nostalgic or sappy mood right now so instead, I'd like to recap the weather we've had to endure...(around here, the weather is always a good topic of conversation because it's never boring but these last few months, it's been even more adventurous than normal).

We have...

*been snowed in, twice-once was more ice than snow but same principle

*had the worst hail storm in the state's recorded history

*had 2 tornado watches for our area and one warning which was close enough to send us to the storm shelter (another first in recorded history)

*experienced triple digit degree weather beginning in April (not at all normal for our neck of the woods)

*had a handful of electrical storms-one of which came close enough to bring the neighbor's tree down (kind of glad they're on the other side of the street)

*lost power for at least an hour on 4 separate occasions

and yesterday, we saw the metro area flooded. Over a foot of rain in many parts and one creek near a popular lake rose an estimated 30 feet...yeah, FEET. The local news broadcasters are saying that it was a once in 500 year flood.

Thankfully, through it all, the boy, the dog, the house and I managed to stay undamaged (well, apart from our wind chimes which were taken out in the tornado warning).

I'd like to say all this record breaking weather surprised me but I pretty much expected it as soon as Joshua left. I also expected a plethora of mechanical issues to come up and so they have. My hope now, is that when deployment comes, it'll be boring.

Disney Blog Carnival: Music

Disney Blog Carnival: Music

Today is the last day of the Disney Blog Carnival but if you're just now checking it out, you can go to

and check out more stories/pics. Also, check out my earlier posts in the carnivalDisney Blog Carnival: ParksDisney Blog Carnival: RidesDisney Blog Carnival: FoodDisney Blog Carnival: CharactersDisney Blog Carnival: Fireworks But, back to today's topic, Music. The theme parks are full of different music...each attraction, each land, seemingly each corner has it's own theme song and it sets the stage but rather than going over all the amazing music Disney uses in the parks, I'm just going to tell you about my favorite three Disney songs. The first, is sappy. My favorite princess has always been Jasmine. Unfortunately, I have almost nothing in common with her...I'm not a princess, I'm a pale, white, dirty-blond girl with blue-green eyes but I do have a diamond in the rough so here's a song that always makes me think of him...(with pics from two different trips-before the boy and with the boy)

Ok, sappy moment over...well, for the most part. The second Disney song that I LOVE is a song that reminds me of the two most important people in my life and their special bond...

My last Disney song is our favorite park ride song and is just the kind of song that gets into your head (but in a good way). It's Splash Mountain's theme song and was my hubby's special ring tone for a long time. The pictures are just a few of the highlights from the last couple of years at Walt Disney World.

I hope you've had as much fun reading and watching the Disney Blog Carnival as I have. Big thanks to JG at Me and My SoldierMan for hosting it!

Disney Carnival: Fireworks

Disney Blog Carnival: Fireworks!

Remember to stop by

Me and My SoldierMan: Disney Blog Carnival: Fireworks for more Disney Fireworks and to link up your own page 

 

There's just something about the Magic Kingdom's fireworks show, Wishes, that always brings a tear to my eye. Last time we went, I had a fun new camera and took lots of pics...here's a video of the fireworks from the boy's first night in the parks...(sorry about the sound quality and keep in mind, I'm 5'2" and forgot my tri-pod so big people were a problem)

And yes, the boy really did fall asleep on Joshua's shoulders in the middle of the show (that's what happens when you're 14 months old and refuse to nap and miss something during the day).

One more thing, am I the only one who sees Tinkerbell in this picture? Tomorrow's topic: Music If you missed some of my previous Disney Blog Carnival posts you can find them at:Disney Blog Carnival: ParksDisney Blog Carnival: RidesDisney Blog Carnival: FoodDisney Blog Carnival: Characters
 

Disney Blog Carnival: Characters

Disney Blog Carnival: Characters

Remember to hop over to

to check out more stories and pics.

When it comes to Disney Characters, nothing compared to our last trip. It was the boy's first time and we were so curious about what his reaction would be.

The first character interaction came over dinner at Chef Mickey's. The boy didn't seem too sure of the whole thing (they're very big to such a little boy) but the funny part was that as long as Daddy was holding him, he didn't want them to go...he didn't want them to touch him but he didn't want them to go.

Our first big Character meet and greet came a few days later in Epcot at park opening (fyi: that's where there's the most amount of characters in one location with the smallest line). We decided to do things a little different than most. Since the boy wasn't old enough to get a pirate makeover at The Pirate's League but I still thought he should be able to get into the spirit of things, he wore something special to meet the Fab Five.

I know what you're thinking and no, I'm not crazy. I just felt like if other parents could dress up their little girls as princesses to meet Cinderella and their little boys as pirates to meet Captain Jack, I should be able to dress up my little boy as Donald Duck to meet Mickey Mouse (I actually wanted to dress him up as Mickey but he and my husband both like Donald better). He was having a great time, until he saw the group of people in line all turn at once and look at him.

Ok, I embarrassed my son for the first time. Oh well, I'm sure it won't be the last. He quickly got over his nerves and did a great job in line (it was all of 5 minutes which probably helped...GO TO WDW IN SEPTEMBER-sorry but the 2 hours summer waits are insane!). So, the boy met the big cheese himself...

He did great! We even got him to wave to the camera! It was perfect, until...

Mickey pulled his tail!

So the boy ran off and wouldn't go back to the Mouse.

Instead, he tattled told Minnie about it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any other decent pics with the rest of the characters that day but I wasn't too worried about it because I knew we'd be back at the end of the trip for another meet and greet in (somewhat) normal clothes.

By then, the boy had almost forgiven or at least forgotten Mickey's treachery but he was still not totally comfortable.

The boy's smiling but you can't really tell thanks to his obsession with his thumb-we have ultrasound video of him sucking his thumb. I'm not looking forward to breaking that habit.

Anyway, I was surprised how receptive Joshua was to wearing the Thing shirts. It was our last day and we got tons of (positive) comments everywhere-from all 4 parks (we always try to do at least our favorite 2 or 3 things in each park on our last day...as long as our flight schedule permits and this year, we succeeded) to our resort (Pop Century this year) to the airport! They worked out so well that a month later for Halloween, I made the boy a Cat in the Hat costume and Joshua and I wore our Thing shirts when we all went trick-or-treating.

Tomorrow's topis: Fireworks

Disney Blog Carnival: Food

Disclaimer: The new look is not the look I was going for but at midnight, I gave up, HTML code kicked my butt and this is the result (all that after my mouse died and the boy and I had to run to the store and grab a new one)

Disney Blog Carnival: Food (yummm....but you have to pronounce that like the Red Robin yummm commercials because Disney Food is that angelic)

Don't forget to hop over to JG's page

Me and My SoldierMan

and find more Disney Carnival Bloggers, stories and pics!

Here's some of the Food highlights from our last trip starting with our first night...we'd spent the day at Typhoon Lagoon swimming with sharks (SO cool) and playing in the wave pool so we'd built up a BIG appetite and luckily we had reservations at Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue...it's a dinner show that we love to take people who have never been...especially on the first night-it's a great introduction to the magic...

HDD is held at the Ft Wilderness Cabins and has great rustic feel to it. It's a dinner show where they literally bring you buckets of food (all the yummy comfort food...fried chicken, ribs, corn bread, potatoes...) and dining is family style. They also offer unlimited beer and sangria....that's all I'm going to say about that...

This was the only meal of the trip where everyone was there...we had two sets of friends who were at WDW with overlapping days in addition to half a dozen family. If you look closely, you'll see JG and her SoldierMan (*wink wink).

Two of the people from our group were called up on stage to preform as guest actors...this first was my cousin's husband, Kyle...he played a Brave Warrior...isn't he cute?!

The 2nd person from our table, was Erin, a close family friend who managed to be selected as the Can-Can girl...ooh la la.

This guy wasn't a part of our group but he certainly made the show even funnier...he's about to twirl like a ballerina...

The next day, we met up with our family (technically my family who are from Florida and Virginia and whom we hadn't seen before this trip since Benjamin was born)

The Photopass guy's assistant couldn't understand that the lens I had on the camera at the time didn't zoom in or out (it was a flat 50 for those who care) so Mickey got cut off a bit but we're all there.

We were the 1st table to be visited by each of the characters-thankfully because all around us children refused to eat while they anxiously awaited their own visit. Our kiddos met the characters one by one and in between managed to grab a few bites. This was the boy's first experience with his favorite character...he was nervous but excited!

This is my cousin's daughter, the princess...she has been to Disney World more times in her short little life than many people will go in their lifetime. The joy and magic are always there.

Casey's Corner...our favorite quick service place (just means it's not a proper sit down restaurant). It's sort of a tradition for our first and last days to grab a hot dog and watch some cartoons...a tradition the boy doesn't seem to mind.

Restaurant Merrikesh....in a word, delicious. It's in the Moroccan Pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase, complete with a bellydancer and really amazing food. I had the most tender (literally fell off the bone) lamb shank. I highly recommend it!

Both my boys loved it (and not just because of the bellydancer...though the little one was fairly mesmerized...the big one knew better than to stare too much, lol...it's all very family friendly)

Our absolute favorite restaurant at Disney World is Le Cellier-it's a French/Canadian Steak House/Winery and it's good...like the best steak of your life good (and we're BIG steak people).

This is one of the only "real" food pics I took...it's my Chocolate Moose from Le Cellier.

We managed to do a second dinner show on our last trip, the Spirit of Aloha Luau. It was a first for us and included everything from singing and hula dancers to a fire-breather (he was really impressive).

Again, beer and wine were unlimited but my cousin decided to order whatever this thing was called...he said it was really good and even got to keep the coconut cup (it was a monkey carved from a real coconut).

After the show, they brought out our desserts...Chocolate Volcanoes...

and we ate...and ate...

until we couldn't eat anymore.

Towards the end of our trip, we had a dinner, just the three of us, at Liberty Tree Tavern. It's a Colonial Style Restaurant in Magic Kingdom where, rather than just calling your name for your table, they announce you to the restaurant...like you're royalty entering a ball...anywhere that treats me like royalty is on my good list ;)

The food is unlimited and served family style which is great with a little one....this day he was wiped out and seemed particularly interested in the green beans.

With a little one, snacking was a must periodically...

This was one such moment...we were waiting on Daddy to get off Rock N' Rollercoaster

But, let's be honest....real food at Disney World is amazing but it's the treats that are the most fun....

Waiting for IllumiNations to begin

Just after he realizes his first Mickey Mouse Ice Cream is all gone (also, right before lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In...only at Disney World does dessert come before the meal)

A pit stop at Liberty Square in Epcot

Back at the resort, just before bedtime...Daddy messing with the boy

He didn't seem to mind too much

By the end of the trip, the boy learned our policy on treats at Disney....basically it's the opposite of at home (and it took a couple weeks at home to unlearn that policy but it was well worth it).

One, please (ok, he didn't say please unfortunately but he did want some ice cream)

Tomorrow's topic: Characters...should be a fun one!

Disney Blog Carnival: Rides

Disney Blog Carnival: Rides

Remember to hop over to JG's blog Me and My SoldierMan to read/see more Disney Carnival Bloggers and link-up your own page!

Today's topic is rides and although some of the attractions in the video below aren't technically rides, they're all some of our most favorites from our last visit. However, I should qualify that there are many more we love but don't provide an opportunity to video or photograph.

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Some of my favorite memories of rides/attractions from our last trip...

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*Seeing how excited the boy got in Mickey's PhilharMagic...he was only 14 month but we got him to wear the 3D glasses and since Donald was his absolute favorite thing in the world (he's since moved on to Daisy), he kept reaching for him and yelling. He was in heaven!

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*Big Thunder Railroad is, always has been, and probably always will be my FAVORITE ride. It's been my favorite since I was 7 and big enough to ride it (miraculously considering that in kindergarten I wore 2T clothes) but this year it went to a new level. My Aunt took the boy so Joshua and I could have some time in the parks to ourselves one evening and we just happened to be on Big Thunder Railroad as Wishes (the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom began). We had seen it properly, sitting in front of the Castle earlier in the trip. But cuddling with my husband on my favorite ride, at my favorite place with an amazing fireworks show, there's no other word for it, it was perfection.

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*The boy in the Teacups...in a word, hilarious.

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*I was selected to be an extra in the Indiana Jones Stunt Show...awesome (the only downside was that I was in it so I couldn't take pictures and Joshua's not very skilled with a camera).

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*On our last night in the parks, we decided to take the boy on Dumbo and again, while on the ride, Wishes began. The picture below the video is the one that sums up our trip that year in a nut shell. It was just after we got off Dumbo and were watching Wishes from behind the Castle (not a ride pic, but my favorite).

For the record, Joshua's favorite ride is Splash Mountain but it's not a very easy ride to photograph. I think next time, I'm going to do what I did for Expedition Everest and try to get a daytime picture of him coming down the drop (btw the pics in the video of Everest, Joshua's 4th from the front on the right...not that it really matters but it's fun to know).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I could go to Disney World, not ride anything and still have a great time. There's just something magical about being there, you really are in a whole other world.

Tomorrow's topic: Food....makes me hungry just thinking about it, yummmm!

Disney Carnival: Parks

A great friend and fellow Disney-phile is hosting a Disney Blog Carnival this week. Today's topic is Disney Parks.

Be sure to go over to

Me and My SoldierMan: Disney Blog Carnival: Parks to sign up and check out all the other blogs participating in the carnival.

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My hubby and I are BIG fans of Walt Disney World and I'm sure we'll love all the various DisneyLands around the world once we get the chance to visit (we're hoping sooner rather than later). Here's a few of my favorite pics from our last visit to WDW which was also our son's first visit in September 2009 (the time before, we came home with a special souvenir-pregnant with our son).

Magic Kingdom

(Where the magic began, well, in Florida at least)

(we love going in the fall and seeing all the Halloween/fall decorations)

(this guy was awesome...he was painting with water...as soon as he finished, it would start to disappear but he was so good-this was the first year I'd seen anyone do it and it was only a few minutes after seeing the "Talking Trashcan" for the first time as well...lots of firsts this trip)

(While we were having lunch on our first day, the boy saw Donald Duck for the first time and was SO excited!...aren't their shorts cute?!)

(The Dapper Dans Barbershop Quartet preformed while the boy got his very first haircut which was our excuse to go to Disney World this year)

(he was a champ...played with sticker and didn't get nervous one bit)

(His first ears and his first haircut rolled into one...doesn't get better than that in our house)

(Donald's Boat...with all the new construction going on in Magic Kingdom, we're hoping that Donald's boat makes the cut...we all had a great time)

Epcot

(I heart Epcot)

(Did you know that when the fountain in the middle of Future World was christened, representatives from 23 nations brought water from their own nation's lakes and rivers to be fed into the fountain and symbolize what Epcot is really about)

(Oh Canada, you have my favorite restaurant and remind me of going up in northern Minnesota)

(The Seas Pavilion is a big hit for our family)

(This is my favorite building in Epcot...can't really say why, I just love the way it looks)

(IllumiNations is just amazing)

Hollywood Studios

(which will always be MGM in my book...it's weird to think that the boy will never know it as MGM)

(This picture alone proves that you're never too young to go to Disney...he LOVED it!)

(my favorite picture of them by far!)

(Hollywood Studios Street Preformers)

(Hollywood Studios Street Preformers)

(Can't wait for the boy to be big enough to hold my hand through Tower of Terror)

(We don't do treats at home very often but at Disney it's pretty much whatever you want, you get, he picked up on that rule pretty quickly..."one please")

Animal Kingdom

(for some reason, I don't have too many Animal Kingdom pics that I really like...I'll have to remember that on our next trip)

(please ignore my husband...surprisingly enough, that's his happy face and yes, he wears black hats with brown shirts just to annoy me)

(I love this pic because it's looking out from the bridge to Africa into Asia with Everest in the background)

(the boy LOVED looking at all the stuff outside Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom, which worked out great for us because it's one of our favorite rides!)

(The boy. Notice one shoe on and one shoe off...that's my son, so proud)

(I always wanted a boy's boy...looks like I got it...ps>his shirt says Born to be Wild)

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Don't forget to go to Me and My SoldierMan: Disney Blog Carnival: Parks and link up to post your own Disney pics and stories and see others!