DISNEY!!!!!!!!

***Warning...this will be a VEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYYY long post with very many precious pictures and some cool ones too***

On Monday, Ryan, Abbott and I headed out with Tim and Janet (AKA Pops and Grammie) to fly out to Orlando and begin a week of fun at Disney World (my first time!!). Once there, we met up with Ryan's brother, Justin and his wife, April....as well as her parents, Ron and Regina, and her sister, Amy. The more, the merrier, right? We had TONS of fun and here are only some of the pictures to prove it!

We stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort in "Martinique." Here is a picture from our balcony.

Once we checked in and made it to our rooms, we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at Raglan Road, an Irish pub complete with an Irish band and fantastic bread pudding...and I am not even a huge fan of bread pudding, but, believe me, this was AWESOME. On our way out, we saw some local wildlife in the courtyard.

Abbott quickly made friends as was the case on every shuttle ride, every day...although not always with ducks.

3 generations waiting for the shuttle....you know, you can take a shuttle anywhere. We didn't rent a car because Disney shuttled us and our luggage from the airport to the resort, from the resort to any park we were going to, and then back to the airport again.

Here is part of downtown Disney. Do you know what movie these guys are from?

Home of the best bread pudding I have ever had.

This guy is made completely of legos....the small kind. He is just one of many displays right outside the Legos store.

So close to realizing one of my childhood dreams. At this point, I hadn't made it to her castle yet, so a statue would have to suffice.

I bought Abbott some genuine Mickey ears with his name on the back. He wouldn't wear them the night we bought them, but we all tried real hard to get him to put them on. He was just too tired from a day of traveling, I guess.

The next morning was to be our first day in the parks. We headed to Magic Kingdom, first. Abbott was OK with his ears this time....thank goodness! He looks so cute in them!

This is the entrance to Magic Kingdom. I finally made it!

Not too impressed yet!

The castle!!!

We rode "It's a Small World." I LOVED IT!

In line to ride the Dumbo ride....so fun!

Grammie and Pops were in the Dumbo in front of us!

Next, we rode the carousel. I love the look on his face in this one.

Abbott decided to nap for a bit in his stroller so Grammie and Pops headed off with him, while Ryan, Justin, April, Regina, Amy, Ron and I headed off to ride some of the futureland rides. Lucky for us, Buzz Lightyear was there to greet us! We took this picture for Jack....ok and maybe for me too!

Futureland is cool...everywhere.

Tuesday night, we all headed out to a luau. It was a great night for it! This is the night that I got about 8 bug bites on one leg....this was the beginning of a long and itchy trip for me, but don't we look cute?

Wednesday morning, we went back to Magic Kingdom to catch a few of the other things we didn't get to do the day before and caught a princess show...SWEET!

We met Pooh and Tigger...right after we rode the Pooh ride!

Here is one of my childhood dreams coming true! I also met Belle and Aurora this day.

We headed to Toon Town to meet Mickey and Abbott fell asleep as we were next in line. Mickey and Minnie both gave him a kiss and he never even knew!

That afternoon, we headed to Hollywood Studios to see what we could see, and also for our scheduled dinner at Hollywood and Vine, a 50's style diner with a killer buffet.

This is the Tower of Terror. I rode it...and almost peed in my pants.

We took Abbott to see a Playhouse Disney show. This included all the fun kids shows characters from the Disney Channel: Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and of course, Mickey and the gang! He danced his little head off...Justin has some good video of that so when he sends it to me, I will post that.

Thursday was Epcot Day. We had breakfast with the princesses in Norway. Epcot has the whole world in just one park....amazing, right?

He is making this face....

as he is seeing these guys:

Here is Abbott with a Norwegian viking (very manly)....as we wait to eat breakfast with the princesses (not so very manly).

I LOVED it that we met Snow White. Abbott could not have cared less, but he met Ariel this day too. Since we met Cinderella, Belle and Aurora the day before, he wasn't too thrilled about them either. He was more interested in the food on his plate.

Here we are waiting in line for "Test Track." It simulates the testing they do on cars before they send them out on the road to be sold. Best part of this ride was when it simulated took a curve at 70 mph. Pretty fun.

Germany.

OK, it's at this point in the trip that things got unexpectedly interesting. I already had about 12 more bites on my legs than I did after the luau so I was miserable with itching. We headed back to Magic Kingdom for the electric parade and maybe the fireworks show, if Abbott could hang (fireworks started at 10:00). We had claimed a spot right on the town square, which is the perfect place to view both the parade and then the fireworks. Grammie and Pops headed out to get a snack, while Abbott, Ryan and I held our spot on the route. Things were going well...Abbott was happy, time was passing quickly, when suddenly we heard the crowd go, "OOOOH!" We looked over to see Grammie on the ground. Ryan ran over to check on her and she couldn't get up. Her shoe had gotten caught on the lip of the curb as she stepped back onto the sidewalk, and she fell right on her left knee. After several attempts to try and walk, with no success, some park attendants got her a wheelchair and took her, unwillingly (she really wanted to see the parade!) to the first aid center, where it was determined that she needed more medical help than they could give her. So, Thursday night, Grammie rode out of Magic Kingdom in an ambulance and headed to the hospital. Ryan, Abbott and I watched the parade and the fireworks as planned and we met back up at the hotel. Diagnosis? Broken knee cap. BIG OLE BUMMER, but you know what? This could have ruined the rest of the trip for some people, but she didn't let it! Grammie the trooper hung in there like a champ and the show went on...in a wheelchair so nicely loaned to us by the resort. Here are some pictures from the parade and fireworks show.

Abbott took this one.

This is how he saw a lot of the parade, until he got too tired.

Friday morning was Animal Kingdom, and also Grammie's birthday! This is the view of Mount Everest from the bridge to Africa. Mount Everest is actually a roller coaster, did you know that? I rode it, and it was awesome. And I saw a yeti.

The view of the safari convoy as we waited for our truck.

Getting ready to leave for our safari!

The giraffe really was this close to our truck.

The lion was not...I used my zoom lens for this shot!

We saw the "Celebration of the Lion King" show. It was so fun! Abbott loved sitting in the front row...he waved at every performer that came near.

This guy was directly to our left. I had to lean back to fit him in the shot, since he was so close.

Friday night was our birthday dinner for Janet. Here is the happy birthday girl at the table at "Yak and Yeti." Yes, that was really the name of the restaurant. Funny name, awesome food.

It rained a lot on Friday, and we actually spent a good part of the afternoon under a pavilion avoiding the rain until our dinner. When dinner was over, we discovered it was raining pretty hard so Grammie had to get suited up in her chair! I told you she was a good sport!

So, final tally for the week:

Number of broken bones: 1

Number of bug bites: 23

Number of sunburns: 0 (yay!)

Number of parks visited: 4

Number of pictures taken: over 400

Number of smiles: infinite.

Thanks, Grammie and Pops for a wonderful trip! The memories made this week will last forever!

The Vineyard

OK, I know I said that I would have pictures from today at the vineyard, but I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!! Bummer. Just know that I have the best behaved and sweetest boy on earth...even when he doesn't get a nap...as long as he is able to watch his daddy play drums and has plenty of space to roam around! :) It was a great day, with a strong forecast of storms that actually turned out to be sunshine and a nice cool breeze!

What a fun time!

Mommy and Abbott day

Ryan is in Alabama for the weekend having a "mancation" with some friends (some guys rented a cabin in the woods and are going to grill out and smoke cigars all weekend before one of them gets married). Anyway, while Ryan is gone, Abbott and I have had some big fun! This morning, we had a breakfast date at one of my favorite restaurants, then we headed straight to the zoo. We got there about half an hour after it opened so it wasn't too hot, we got a decent parking space and best of all, there were NO CROWDS...yet.

Here, Abbott is meeting alpacas for the first time. They were more interested in the sound on the other side of the fence than in meeting Abbott, though.

This part of the zoo is called "Critter Encounters." Fancy name for a petting zoo, but it was so fun to watch him be able to get so close to the animals. He had no fear...just walked right up to pet a goat!

This was kind of the look on his face the whole time we were there. He almost fell asleep on the way there so he was a little dazed. There were a couple of exhibits where he perked up, though.

Isn't it beautiful?

The bamboo trail...my favorite part of our zoo.

This is one of the baby tiger cubs. When we got there, they were both at the very back of the exhibit. There was this photographer there who has come at least weekly to photograph them and chronicle their growth. He has gotten to know them and calls them by name. He got one of them to come to the front of the fence, where I was able to get a pretty good picture and she made Abbott laugh when she ran towards the fence!

This is both of them at the very back of their exhibit.

A nice lady took our picture by the elephants.

I love the elephant savannah. It's so open and spacious.....you know, for a zoo and all.

When we came home, Abbott took a three hour nap! The zoo sure wore him out today.

This afternoon, I was doing some dishes while Abbott was playing and exploring his newfound freedom in walking. I must have left him alone a little too long because when I was done, I discovered that he had emptied out an entire package of diapers and loaded them all on my bed. I don't know why we get the kid toys. It seems that a package of diapers is all he needs to keep busy!

We have had fun with just mommy and Abbott time, but we sure are ready to see Daddy! He will be home tomorrow morning and then he is playing at the vineyard tomorrow. I am sure we will have some pictures from then too!

Thanks for reading!

Picture catch up

I know it's been a couple of weeks since we went to Texas, but I just unloaded the camera and there are some pictures too good to miss! I will make the commentary pretty quick because after I finish this, I have pictures from today to put up. WHEW! Let's get this show on the road!

Two boys and their Great-Poppa.

Silly Jack!

Best way to let two boys eat popsicles?? Strip 'em down to their diapers and let them go to town, of course!

Poppa and Abbott had fun getting to know each other this trip.

Here, Poppa is telling Abbott all about farming.

Most recent family shot.

This great old tree recently succumbed to a strong storm. It's still beautiful to me, just in a different way now.

My two guys checking out the cattle.

Abbott got a mysterious swollen ear the day of Rebekah's shower. We figured out later that it was a bug bite.

My artsy shot with Jack in the fuzzy background.

The boys of the next Meredith Hill generation.

How did I stay in Texas for a week and come away with no pictures of Wannie?!?! Well, here are her hands working tirelessly on the cute apron she made for me. Thanks, Wannie! I love my apron.

Stay tuned for pictures from today!

A whole mess of videos

I unloaded the video camera tonight and felt the need to make a whole post of videos. Here they are...in no particular order whatsoever....3 of my favorites! Enjoy!

1. Abbott shows off his verbal skills.


2. The best laugh fest ever!


3. On the road from TX to TN with 2 sleeping boys, one of them without a functioning nose at the time.

Trip update

My sister has posted a brief update of our trip so far. CLICK HERE to read it!

Tubes and a Green Thumb

This morning, Abbott had a small surgery: tubes in his ears. He had so many ear infections that the doctor decided it was time. We went in super early this morning and he did really well in the waiting room, walking all over the place and making friends. He even did well when we went back to get prepped for the procedure (this is in spite of not being able to eat or drink anything after midnight last night). He loved being able to sit on a hospital bed and he had the nurses in love with him from the get go. They gave him something similar to baby vallium to help him relax and boy did he ever relax! He kicked back on that bed and just chilled out for 20 solid minutes before they took him back to surgery. It was too funny. Before I had the chance to get into the magazine I picked up, they came out to tell us it was over and we could go get him. He had a pretty rough time waking up....he was confused and hungry for the msot part. I am sure he didn't know what to think of his body feeling the way it did after being knocked out. Anyway, we are home now and he is napping. We will have some drops to put in his ears for the next few days, but other than that life is back to normal for us....hopefully with less trips to the pediatrician!

We spent Sunday afternoon in the yard while Daddy mowed. Abbott helped me plant some flowers and had a general good and dirty old time. Here are some great pictures I got!

This is how a little boys pants should look after playing in the yard!



Getting right in there with the dirt...atta boy!


I used the cups to get the soil out of the bag...Abbott used them just to carry around.


A man and his yard.







On Friday we leave for Texas for my cousin's baby shower and a fun visit! We are so excited to see everyone!