He's 7

That dreaded day came again. March 10. We tried to avoid it but it just showed up. And now, our Noah is 7.

He lucked out having a Spring Break birthday because he believes we took this trip just to celebrate his birthday. And he really doesn't care how many times we try to explain it.

He's had a busy day! We took in a Braves v. Yankees spring training game. We sat right next to the Yankee bullpen and he even got a ball. In the evening, Uncle Scott treated all of us to dinner at T-Rex. It's been pretty fun.

He is not happy that he isn't getting his presents until the end of the day. However, I am certain that he would have paid us no attention today had we let him open them first thing. Just a hunch....

I guess if we have to celebrate the day, this is a pretty good place to do it. Happy birthday, big kid! We love you!

Day Seven

Up and at them early this morning as we head home after lunch. Benjamin jumped out of bed this morning and exclaimed, "Hooray! Today's the day we get to go home!" And he has been high energy all day because of it. We had breakfast in our room before we left. Mickey waffles - yum. He wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom to ride the PeopleMover again. Unfortunately, it wasn't working at first. We did a lot of other things while we waited. Including getting to see Alice, white rabbit, AND Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum all together! We flew rockets and raced cars. The park was very empty today which made it pretty fun. We had hot dogs for lunch then finally made it to the PeopleMover. Our last hurrah. We went back to the hotel to collect our bags and cash in our remaining snacks. Benjamin could not wait to get on the bus so he could - you guessed it - color. We got to our gate and the first thing he did? Color. He is also making a list of all the rides he went on.

Day Six

Back to the Magic Kingdom. We made it just in time to watch the street party parade. Again. One of us just cannot get enough of that show. We seconded some more of Benjamin's favorites: Splash Mountain, the teacups, and Buzz Lightyear. Benjamin beat both of us this time around. Daddy and Benjamin spent some time exploring Tom Sawyer's island. Then Benjamin had had enough. He asked to go back to our room. We talked about going swimming but somebody fell asleep on the bus on the way back to the hotel. We couldn't wake him. Not even running in to his Sunday school teachers on the stairs. We let him sleep a while then woke him to go have dinner. He was not happy about this. We made it in time for the movie - Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He tried to watch it but it was kind of chilly and he really just wanted to get back to the room to color. We were all in bed by 9:15.

Day Five

Benjamin decided on Hollywood Studios for today. We got here bright and early to get him signed up for the Jedi training show. He and daddy hustled over to sign up and Benjamin told the guy he didn't want to do it. He said we could watch the show and see if he changed his mind. He did not. Turns out ALL he wants to do today is sit and color. We chose to not ask his opinion anymore and just do things and bring him along for the ride - where he can color in his stroller. We did the movie ride and met the last of the characters he was missing for his book. We went to the stunt car show and he LOVED that. It was the only thing he asked to do again. Unfortunately, they didn't do it again. We did Star Wars a couple of times. The ride changes every time. Daddy was even the rebel spy one time. We ended the evening with the Beauty and the Beast show which was very fancy. He thought it was funny when I told him the boys in the show were doing ballet. We made it back to the hotel for dinner and the movie. Benj had the best seat in the house - the giant 0.

Day Four

Benj started his day with a pirate treasure hunt. We set off for the Grand Floridian where he boarded his ship and went in search of Gasprilla's treasure. No parents allowed so we are at his mercy for details. He says they had to follow clues and find a bottle, a coconut, and of course the treasure. Inside the big box was little boxes for all the pirates on board. He wasn't off long before he informed us he couldn't wait to do it again. Daddy and i hung out on a hammock on the beach while we waited. We had specific instructions that we were to draw in his "workshop" while he was gone, so we did just that. After lunch, we made our way back to the Magic Kingdom. Not to ride on anything, though, Benjamin wanted to work on drawing. We parked ourselves on the sidewalk right in front of the castle and started sketching. As luck would have it, we got to watch the "Dreams" show two more times and we were in the perfect location for the midday parade. We made our way through the rest of the park that we had missed yesterday. We saw the tiki birds, the pirates, the country bears, and Benjamin and daddy did Splash Mountain. His first big ride! I still can't convince him to do Space Mountain or Tower of Terror, however. Benjamin wanted to stay for the fireworks again. We managed to find a seat in the back where we were right under the show. It was very fun. One more time through Mickey's Music and then we were done. He made it on to the bus and then he passed out. A fun, fun day!

Day Three

Tried our hand at first family. In the rain. There was another family clearly there for the same purpose. They were dancing it up trying to be all cute. We assumed we'd lost and were willing to accept our defeat when the most amazing thing happened. We got picked!! Because so much of the park is closed, there was a lot less fanfare. But, Benjamin was pretty excited and that is what it is all about. We spent the rest of the day taking in the Magic Kingdom. Race cars. Teacups. Benjamin's favorite - the People Mover. Oh, and I got a million points on Buzz Lightyear. I almost forgot. 5:00 and Benj was out. Our plan is to hang out in front of the castle to wait on the fireworks. It rained a little today and it is much chillier. Hope we make it!

Day Two

Day One

Kind of a late start to the day. Not getting to bed until midnight, Benjamin slept until almost 9:00am. Our luggage didn't arrive overnight. Luckily, they had it when we went to the front desk. Now we have had our breakfast and we are on our way to "the hat" to see Star Wars. Yes, his shirt is on backwards. No, he doesn't care. Arrived too late to be a Jedi in Training. As daddy says, luckily no one has had any expectations of actually doing that. It is really warm out here. Benj didn't want to stay and watch the show. Good thing too! We found Phineas and Ferb. We didn't even know they were going to be here! Quick visit with the Muppets. Then it was off to Star Wars. Time for lunch and some play time at Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Finally he appears to have some energy. We might be second guessing our plans to not bring a stroller with this one. We had a slight meltdown while waiting in line to see Buzz and Woody. We had to sit on a bench and have a Popsicle and a little rest. But that must have been the secret because he was fine the rest of the day. We then went back to Toy Story Mania. Man, that ride is fun. Even when daddy beats us all. After seeing Buzz and Woody, we headed to Ariel and Disney Junior. As we were coming out I saw the Animation Studio. Because he loves to draw and color so much, I suggested we go in to show him that grown ups can do that too. He did seem very interested in that, but the best part was all the characters that hide out in there! There must have been 10! His autograph book is already full. He picked up a "How to Draw" book and could hardly wait to get back to the room to crack it open. We grabbed dinner when got back to the hotel and caught the tail end of a movie out on the patio. Once back in the room, he got right to work on his drawing. We are trying to convince him to get a bath and go to bed so we can start a little earlier tomorrow. Benjamin's favorite part of the day was getting all the autographs.

The Big Reveal

*** I am going to try to post throughout the week - as time allows. I am not entirely sure how to get pictures on here, so please check back after we get home to get the full story.


Well, we are off! At first he didn't think today was a good day. "Can't we go tomorrow?". But once he saw his shirt and his tickets, he was convinced. We managed to leave home in time to grab some dinner before arriving at the airport. Benjamin selected pizza-we couldn't argue with that. We got to the airport just in time to board the plane. We were taking bets as to when Benjamin would fall asleep. Surprisingly he stayed awake the entire flight! He did some writing, some coloring in his new books, and played cards with daddy. Once we got to the right place to catch the bus, we got right on and headed to our hotel. 11:15pm, we are finally in our room. Benjamin is still going strong. Thank goodness because our room is in the farthest possible location. Woo. Hoo. Time for jammies and bed. No word on what we are doing tomorrow. He did mention Legoland but I am hoping we didn't come all the way here to look at Legos....

Start Your Engines

Noah participated in his first Pinewood Derby this weekend. Just last week he and daddy decided they were ready to try Cub Scouts. As luck would have it, their first meeting was finishing up the derby cars. Noah and I rushed to Michael's to pick up his kit and he and daddy got to work.

Friday night found us packed in to the school cafeteria. Because he is not yet an official member of the Pack, he had to participate in the Outlaw race. (Anyone can participate - but it is at the end of the night.)He very patiently waited through 60 rounds of the real race for it to be his turn. He and Benj loved checking out the other cars.
Finally - two hours later, it was his turn.
He was so excited to have his turn at a trophy.
Lane #3, loaded and ready.
He didn't come in first.
Each car got to race 6 times in various match-ups. He did take a couple of 3rds, which we thought was impressive. Him? Not so much. See the girl with the big smile? That is his classmate Ava who just happened to take 1st place. (I am guessing they will never date and this will be the cause of that rift forever...)
Benj had a fashion statement to make.
And here he is. Always a winner in our book!!