Continuing on with our day in The Magic Kingdom…

After seeing Mickey, Minnie and Santa, we finally made it past the front square and into the park.  I don’t remember the last time I was at Disney but it’s been several years and, I’m not gonna lie, I got a little emotional when we were walking up Main Street towards the castle.  I’m not some sort of Disney freak, I think I was just so happy to be there and continuing the memories with my family.  Being able to go with Maxwell and see it all through his eyes – it’s pretty neat.  Anyway…

We first went and got a Fast Pass for me and Robert to ride Space Mountain later and then hit up the kiddie rides.  The Carousel was awesome…

and, now, please get ready for Scary Momma Face!

Whoa!  Maybe I am a Disney freak?!  🙂

Next stop was Winnie the Pooh.  Maxwell was doing his best to take it all in…

especially when he started glowing in the dark!

Cool!  After that, we stopped for some dinner and then Robert and I headed over to Space Mountain which was just as much fun as I remember. Twists and turns and all in the dark!

After a night of little sleep (Maxwell apparently doesn’t like hotel rooms.  Remember Little Rock?), Maxwell was up and ready to hit the parks again!

(like his shirt?  I made it!)

The weather was great and there were, surprisingly no lines at all.  Robert and I rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then took Maxwell on Pirates of the Caribbean.  After that, we all went into The Haunted Mansion together…

Luckily we all made it out alive with no hitch-hiking ghosts in tow!

Next stop?  A hot dog on Main Street of course.  I think this was Maxwell’s first hot dog ever.  He liked it but the fries were the big hit…

After a stroll through some shops…

it was time to call it a day.

Maxwell was spent…

exhausted…

and completely done for.

It was time to go home!  Even though we were only in Orlando for 24 hours, we sure did pack a lot of fun into every second!  I’d also like to publicly thank Robert for being such a good sport.  He had been to Disney World once when he was 10 and definitely had no idea what to expect from my crazy Disney-loving family!  Thanks for embracing it all Robert and helping us to have a zip-a-dee-doo-da time! (am I a dork? oh yes.)

ps – did you know I have a brick with my name on it at Disney World?  Been there for 18 years!

 

Here’s the deal – my family LOVES Disney.  We love it.  We went on numerous family vacations there and I just have such fun memories of my family and that place.  This year, my mom had this idea to get the whole family together for a quick little Disney trip.  The purpose of the trip was really so she could get a picture of the grandbabies all together for her Christmas card…but we didn’t care about the reason, we just wanted to go!  When everything was first planned, we weren’t even going to go into The Magic Kingdom.  We were just going to go see Santa at Downtown Disney and then maybe do a little shopping.  What were we thinking?!  The morning we left for Florida, everyone made the (smart) decision to change our plans and do it up right…Disney style…which meant The Magic Kingdom.

Sooo…Robert and I left Saturday morning to fly to Orlando.  Maxwell did great on the flight and we got there around noon.  After a quick lunch and nap at the hotel, we headed over to The Magic Kingdom.

Always important to hydrate when you’re going to be out in the sun…

When we bought our tickets they gave my Dad this button since his birthday was last week.  Everywhere we went that day, Disney staff were constantly saying “Happy Birthday, Steve!”  It was pretty funny.

When we finally got in, we had the take the obligatory entrance picture…

Exciting stuff!  We then met up with Keath, Jen, Delaney and Nate and headed for our first stop – a meet and greet with the main mouse himself.

Maxwell didn’t cry…but he wasn’t exactly thrilled with them either!

After we checked that off the list, it was over to see Santa.  The line was a little long but Maxwell didn’t mind because he had plenty of entertainment.  Namely me….

Robert…

and cousin Nate.

When we finally got up to see the big man, Maxwell reacted just as I suspected…

Guess he’s gonna be on the naughty list!

He calmed down a bit and we got a family pic…

Don’t you like how I’m hooked arms with Santa?  He was a jolly soul.

Maxwell’s favorite part of the Santa experience was definitely the candy cane he got after…

And, just for the record, Nate’s on the naughty list too!

I think that’s enough for today!  More Disney to come tomorrow!!

After getting home from Naples on Wednesday, Robert and I packed up again to head to Nashville for my Vanderbilt 10 year reunion.  The super-nice GJ came into town to stay with Maxwell.  I’m not sure who had more fun – us in Nashville or Maxwell at home with GJ!

I loved being back in Nashvegas, loved seeing old friends and loved re-living my awesome college years!  Although, I can’t quite stay up as late as I did back then!  But I sure can get up earlier in the morning!  🙂

We stayed at The Hutton – such a swanky new addition to Nashville.  It was fantastic.  While I didn’t get to eat at all my old favorites like Calypso, I did get to try to some fun new restaurants like Whisky Kitchen and Zumi Sushi.

We went to the official 2001 class party on campus Friday night…

and I got to see lots of familiar faces (please indulge me with all these group photos of people you likely don’t know! or maybe you do. I have no idea who reads this bloggy blog)…

Kristin, in the middle of the last picture, was my college roommate 3 of my 4 years at Vandy.  She now has a little boy only 2 weeks younger than Maxwell.  Who would have thought when I met her first day of freshman year 10 years ago that we would now have babies born within days of each other?!  so cool.

After the party we walked by the Tri-Delt house on our way to catch a cab and took this picture…

Dorks.  and I love it.

That night we hit up downtown Nashville and spent some quality time at Robert’s.  Doesn’t get much better than that!  Saturday was lunch, tailgating and the exciting Vandy game (that Robert and I skipped out on!).

We also walked through campus that day and, let me tell you, those students look like they have a good time on game day!  Did you also know that college girls (at least the Vandy ones) ALL wear sundresses and cowboy boots on game day?  Well, they do…and those sundresses are short!  Goodness gracious!

We headed back to B’ham Sunday morning and I sure was happy to pull in and see Maxwell’s smiling face.  I was also SO excited to see that my mom had planted pansies all over our yard!  She really is the BEST!

And, because I can’t have a post without a picture of the blog star…here you go…

Peeking out from all of our fall goodness!!

It was a fun trip, a great reunion and now we are glad to be home!!

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to Toys R Us in Naples to get Maxwell a treat for being…well, for being him.  We came home with a little red car and it was a hit!  A BIG time hit!

Maxwell the mechanic worked hard putting it all together…

with maybe just a little help from Dad.

After it was all ready to go, Maxwell couldn’t wait to take it for a spin…

after he buckled up of course!  Safety first!

When he finally hit the “road” he was all smiles!

He LOVED this car.  Robert and I probably clocked a few miles each just going around and around the house because it was raining outside.  Maxwell sure didn’t mind staying inside as long as he got to drive!!  This thing is definitely going to be a favorite every time we visit Naples!

We were having a great time in Naples but Maxwell got sick on Tuesday night (snotty and pukey) and I was afraid he was getting another ear infection.  So, given that and the rain, we decided to head on back to AL early and get him up to the doctor.  Thankfully his ears were just fine and while I hated to cut our vacation short, it was better to be safe than sorry.

My sweet boy snoozing in the car on the way to the airport…

Hopefully our next visit to Naples will bring just as much family fun and more sunshine! And hopefully Santa will bring another red, sporty special treat to Birmingham!  🙂

Last week Robert and I went to Naples for a little vacation.  The good part of the trip?  We got to see my family.  The bad part of the trip?  It rained every single day we were there.  So much for the beach!

On the plane bright and early ready to blast off at 7am!

We had a layover in Orlando and Maxwell took full advantage of the open spaces in the airport.  I think we can officially say that Maxwell is a walker.  Check out the video here.  He cracks me up.

While it might not have been blue skies and sunshine in Florida, we still had fun watching Maxwell, Delaney and Nate play…those 3 are a hoot together!

I love this first picture.  Delaney is dragging GJ away by the finger (“C’mon J!”), Maxwell is stealing a toy from Nate, and poor baby Nate is just completely unsure as to what all is going on…

Robert got in on all the baby-playing fun…

and let’s all hope this is the last time we see Maxwell behind bars!

Cute Nater-Tater…

The kids had fun playing with several of mine and Keath’s (me and Keath’s?) old toys, like this Fisher Price Barn…

and old rocking horse.

Maxwell then decided that playtime was over and it was time for a workout…

But then realized that working out is over-rated…

and eating is way more fun!

The next morning Delaney modeled her awesome Alice in Wonderland halloween costume that GJ made!  Is she not the cutest little Alice you’ve ever seen?!

Meanwhile, Maxwell found time to fit in another workout.  He started with the dumbbells…

and then went for a spin on the bike…

(poppin a wheelie too!)

and then finished it up with a little stairmaster action…

He even inspired Nate to get a little exercise (in full protective gear of course!)  🙂

I have to note here that Maxwell truly became a “stair master” on this trip.  We have another big staircase going up to the second floor and he probably went up it 5 times in a row. There is no stopping him!

After the strenuous workout, Maxwell took a breather to stop and admire a cute baby…wonder who that could be?!

Later that afternoon GJ, Robert, Maxwell and I made a trip to Toys R Us to get a special treat.  A red, sporty special little treat…tune in tomorrow to see!