B-ball

Ryan started basketball at the YMCA a few weeks ago. He is on the Jr. Sixers and the league is called the Little Dribblers!  For a group of 4 and 5 year olds, it's incredibly organized. We have yet to see one pig-pile on the ball! There is not a lot of dribbling but baskets are scored.  Ryan loves playing on the team with his buddies Owen and 'Other' Ryan!

Little and Big

Tonight at bedtime, Ryan started to cry. When I asked him why he was upset, he said 'Because I won't be the little brother anymore'.  It was so sweet. We had a chat about how he is going to be BOTH a little brother (to Allie) AND a big brother (to the baby).  I explained how I am both a little and big sister to my brothers and how cool that can be (I skipped right over the middle-child-syndrome...I'm sure we'll address that at another time!) I told him how important his job will be to help with the baby and teach the baby things.  He asked what kinds of things he can do with the baby.  I told him he can help change diapers to which he responded 'I don't want to change diapers!!'.  So, I guess we'll have to review his list of big brother responsiblities as my due date approaches. I assured him that even when the baby arrives, he will always be my little boy...no matter how big he gets!

They closed school for this??

The kids finally got what they wished for...snow! It's not much but it's snow. Apparently, there was quite a bit of ice on the roads as well since they cancelled school in the majority of the state of GA!

We went out last night to catch some snowflakes and then again this morning to 'play'. I think it took us longer to get bundled up this morning than we were actually outside. It's very cold...in the teens and windy. We would rather be warm inside and just look at the pretty white stuff outside.

Crazy accumulation!

Disney 2009

After Christmas, we threw all the toys in the playroom, packed up the car and drove down to Orlando for a few days @ Disney World!  Nana & Papa met us for our first night/day.  We walked over to Downtown Disney and enjoyed dinner at The Rainforest Cafe.

We got up bright and early for our first day @ Magic Kingdom.  It was cool...ok, downright cold! for most of our stay in Orlando but that didn't stop us from having fun!  The crowds were manageable and we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for any ride. Thank you FastPass!!  Neil took Allie on Space Mountain since she now meets the height requirement. SHE LOVED IT! She is definitely our little daredevil!

1st Character...BUZZ!!

Allie's favorite part of MK was The Princess & The Frog Riverboat show!

Allie was so excited during the parade!

For our 2nd day, we went to Hollywood Studios. If you recall, Allie participated in the 'Jedi Training' last year. Ryan has been DYING to do this and thus we made that our priority! I stood in line for about an hour while Neil and the kids did rides. Allie & Ryan were 1st & 2nd in line for the first Jedi Training. They both fought Darth Vader and now Ryan's life is complete!  We met the Power Rangers, went on the Toy Story Midway Madness ride, and met a bunch of other characters.

Ryan is in heaven!

One of MANY pictures with the Power Rangers

ront row for Jedi Training!

Ryan is a pro with his light saber!

The Jedi Master called Ryan 'chatty' because he wouldn't stop shouting out all the answers!

Ryan fights Vader

Allie's turn. No one went to the dark side!

Beautiful (and expensive) face paint

Ryan as the Red Power Ranger

The Incredibles!

Cast of UP (aka the slowest characters in all of WDW!)

Jedi training will tire you out!

For our 3rd day, we returned to Magic Kingdom. Other than Neil and the kids getting stuck on Splash Mountain for 40 minutes while they fixed a computer glitch, it was a pretty uneventful day. We did get a free FastPass ticket that we used on 2 rides after the Splash Mountain ordeal :).

With Alice

Right before they got stuck for 40 minutes!

With Aladdin and Princess Jasmine

For our 4th and final day, we went to Animal Kingdom. This was our first time visiting this park.  We saw lots of cool animals on the Safari ride (which makes us all want to go to South Africa and see a real safari!). Neil took the kids on the river rapids and the Dinosaur ride as well. We finished out the day with the Bug's Life 3-D movie.  It was actually warm enough for the kids to spend a little time in the pool that afternoon!

With Terk (from Tarzan)

Riding the rapids

Finally warm enough to swim!!!

It was another wonderful trip and the kids had a blast! We drove home on the 31st and we were ALL in bed by 8:45pm that night!!  We are looking forward to school starting and getting back into our routine this week!