Picture Time

These are John's 5 year-old pictures.

John's Birthday

On John's birthday we had a small family party at home. We had turkey sandwiches at his request and a cake with blue sprinkles. I can't believe he is 5 already!

John's First Day of Kindergarten

I can't believe my baby is old enough for Kindergarten! Thankfully, he was quite excited to go. He is in duel language program- half day English/ half day Spanish. This first day he came home and said, "It's too long." But now he's adjusted and doing great! By Thursday of the first week, he saw the playground and took off to go play. I had to call after him to tell me good-bye. He tells me first thing after school every day that he was good boy. I'm glad he's liking school!

It says, "Kindergarten 2011". Every year I'll have him write a new one for the new grade. It will be fun to watch him and his handwriting grow.

Animal Kingdom

Our very last day was spent at the Animal Kingdom park. We were hoping and praying for no rain after yesterday and it didn't until we were in the car on our way home. The kids loved the Finding Nemo show and checking out all the animals. Adam and I have this joke that I see an alligator every time we go to Florida. I spent the trip finding one to fulfill the quota. The fake ones didn't count and the little baby ones we saw didn't count according to Adam either. About 90 minutes before the park closes we walk by a pin and saw an American crocodile (that's native to Florida.) Of course that counted and poor Adam was disappointed. But yet again I am victorious!

When April met Pocahontas she said, "Cinderella is my favorite princess." Pocahontas was very polite but I was kinda embarrassed April was so tacky. I guess you can get away with it at 3.
The giraffe was RIGHT there. This picture isn't at all zoomed in. We watch it drink from a puddle in the road. It was so cool! We just got in the lucky car.
Playing the drums.
This was outside as we made our way into the bird show.
Playing around in the gift shop.
Adam on the newest ride. I was SO bummed that I couldn't ride this one.
This was our very last ride at Disney World. John loved the giant raft. He went with Adam first and then wanted to go with me. As we walked though the line he would tell me all about the ride and line- he was an expert!

Epcot

Epcot was great, especially because it felt so empty. Maybe it was lucky or the way we used our fastpasses, but we barely waited for anything for any time at all.

Katelyn catching a nap on daddy.

We had lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant. It was fun to watch the aquarium throughout the meal, especially the shark and giant sea turtle.
John's lunch plate.
Eaten by a shark!
This little play area had lots of fun things for the kids to run around and do. Adam held up Katelyn here and so April had to do it too.
John and April love puzzles.
Adam thought this was funny
We got caught in a huge rainstorm. Florida rainstorms are supposed to pass fast- not this one. Most people were just hanging out and waiting for it to stop, but the day was almost gone and we decided to brave it. You can see how soaked we ended up. We hung our clothes all night to dry and they were still wet in the morning. It's a fun memory though and the kids didn't seem to mind the rain at all.

Magic Kingdom

Day three was spent at the Magic Kingdom. As we got there John was telling me, "They have two trains- a slow one and a fast one. I saw it on my map." Before we came John loved looking at the interactive park maps online.

We headed straight to Fantasyland. It was a great start to the day- Snow White, Peter Pan, Pooh Bear, Dumbo- all fun rides that we could all ride together.

Princess April
Katelyn love Small World. She was looking intently at everything- even pointing at times. April saw the first room and goes, "Lots of dollies for April and Katelyn to share!"
Watching the show in front of the castle. John was telling April that is was her princess castle and she would say, "For me?!?"
We had a Pooh Bear character lunch at the Crystal Palace.
Katelyn is not too sure about the characters. She warmed up as the meal went on though.

John and April bounced with Tigger.

That's my Adam!
John liked driving on Autopia.
April LOVES Cinderella. She was so excited to see her in the parade. She kept looking down the street to see who was coming next.

Hollywood Studios

Our first full day in the parks we spent at Hollywood Studios. I had read that the best thins to do was go on Toy Story Mania and grab a fastpass for is first thing. Well, evidently the rest of the park had the same idea because EVERYONE went there, too. We ended up in a line and when I went to check it out I realized that it was for the fastpass- not even the ride. We got out of that and went over to Tower of Terror instead (probably not the best first ride for the kids. They hated it.)

Adm on Rocking Roller Coaster. He had to go by himself since the kids were too short and I'm pregnant. Thankfully the kids were tall enough for just about everything. This was the only ride John couldn't go on.

In line for Toy Story Mania. We were able to ride it 3 times. It was April's favorite. Almost every time (if not every time) we got off she would cry because she didn't want to get off.
3D glasses for Toy Story Mania
In front of the Muppet 3D show
Cooling down in the hydrant
This was a fun area for the kids to just run in.


Waiting to see Woody and Buzz








In line for Star Tours
Waiting for Fantasmic to start. We had a dinner package that was a buffet and then later that night special seating for Fantasmic so we didn't have to wait in line with everyone else. The kids loved it. April was commenting about it throughout the whole show. "This person is sad or happy." "There's Snow White!" etc. John loved that Mickey got the bad guys.