Downtown Disney/Buena Vista Palace

So, it was advised that anyone going to Discovery Cove should take it easy the day before as you would be completely worn out. We decided to stay around the hotel to swim and rest and then head to Downtown Disney after it got dark and cooled down some.
We stayed at the Buena Vista Palace which is a Disney resort hotel. We were literally across the way from Downtown Disney and from our 20th floor room, we could see Epcot and Magic Kingdom. At night, it made for some spectacular fireworks shows.








After nap and dinner at Uno, we went to explore Downtown Disney. Basically, it's what the West End tried to be but failed in a major way. Divided into 3 sections—Downtown Disney West Side, Downtown Disney Marketplace and Pleasure Island, it's a very lively and interesting place to walk around.
Disney West Side is pretty much the entertainment part like Cirque, AMC, restaurants, and an indoor gaming park.
Disney Marketplace-toy stores etc. It's the one we spent the most time in. :)
Pleasure Island- is pretty much the part for grown ups. There's an Irish Pub that played U2 songs on repeat (woo!), a Harley-Davidson store, and a few outdoor venues for live music.
On our way in, we saw the boat "Jenny" from Forrest Gump outside of Planet Hollywood.
The boys stopped in the Harley store and had pictures taken on the motorcycle that belonged to Peter Fonda in Easy Rider. Brian loved that part.
We found a restaurant we wanted to get dessert in called T-Rex. Amazeballs place!! Only, the wait was 3 hours just to get in. Um, no. Just...no. But, the boys and I went inside and looked around anyway. Pretty cool place. I was bummed (probably moreso than the kids) about not getting to eat there. We walked a little further and I saw it. The place to rival all places. Ghiradelli chocolatier. Yes. And they even had a soda fountain on the other side of it. This place was awesome. I found a $30 sundae I wanted but I thought eating that much ice cream would result in a public viewing of my innerworkings being expelled. So, we got shakes instead. So. Good.
We walked a little further and spotted the Lego store. I love Legos. My kids love Legos. But, my husband LOOOOVES Legos. We saw some really cool Lego sculptures. The store itself is much like that one at North Park so the kids were kinda 'meh' about that part.
Walking further out, we found a toy store that had the ultimate end all, be all of toys. It was a create-your-own-personal-lightsaber. Yeah. Nerd heaven.
Other than it being waay crowded, Downtown Disney is definitely cool. It reminded me of Seaport Village in San Diego. Lots of restaurants, little shops, and entertainment. It was definitely fun but we cut our trip short as the evening storm was beginning to roll in. So, we left earlier than we wanted to. Boo.

Sea World

We headed out to Sea World-Orlando. The boys love animals. All kinds. And since we had a free 14 day pass to go to Sea World with our Discovery Cove ticket purchases, we thought we'd take advantage.
I loved the Renaissance theme of the park itself. We saw manatees that were part of the SW rescue program, dolphins (both older and newborn), sharks, tropical fish, eels, the boys got to feed sea lions and some rays. Caden enjoyed seeing the animals as did Ethan. However, Ethan has been expressing his displeasure with how small and confined the spaces are for the orcas used for performances. He refused to have his picture taken next to the tank nor did he want to see the Shamu show(s). He said it didn't seem right to have those animals in such small spaces. After hearing his viewpoints, Brian and I both started to view things differently. Strange how a kid can say the most simplistic things to turn your viewpoints around.
The good points? Sesame Street had a live Elmo and Abby performance we took in for Caden. It was so much fun to watch his little face light up when the Sesame Street characters all came out singing. We also let the boys ride a few rides which Caden LOVED. He is apparently going to be our adventure-seeker/roller-coaster enthusiast.
Don't get me wrong, I know that Sea World has some great things going for it. But, Ethan is not overly enthused with its containment of the larger sea mammals. I love him for that big marshmallow heart of his. Brian and I joke about how PETA will now become EETA, as in, Ethan for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Pretty Close to Paradise

"I know I don't get there often enough
But God knows I surely try
It's a magic kind of medicine
That no doctor could prescribe..."

Yes, Florida has some absolutely GORGEOUS beaches. We drove about 2 hours to get to the Gulf Coastline of Florida from Orlando. It was sooo worth it. It's so different from swimming in the brown waters of Galveston. We were a little worried about the possibility of not being able to see the beaches because of the oil. (Thanks, BP. Appreciate it, you turds.) But, it wasn't effected in the least.
The first beach we hit was Caspersen Beach to search for fossilized shark teeth. Three things about this beach, it was beautiful but the "sand" near the shoreline is purely broken shell and fossil. It HURTS to walk on it. Two, it is very peaceful. Three, quite a few people do actually have serious equipment to search for sharks' teeth. We didn't use equipment but we did attempt to search for some. (Albeit, unsuccessfully)
The best part about this was it was Caden's first time at the beach. He had a wonderful time. I thought he would freak out at the whole, waves crashing type thing but, no, he loved being splashed, digging, chasing crabs, and picking up seashells.
Let me tell you though, it was hot. Another thing, um, when Ethan and Caden pulled down their swim trunks to wash off, their entire backsides were covered in seashell. I mean the entire side! Not pleasant at all.
We went a little farther and ended up at Siesta Key beach. Breathtaking. Brian and I decided we wanted to come back and stay on the actual beach next time. The water is clear and blue-green in places. The sand is a fine powder which our feet were eternally grateful for. The beach itself? So gorgeous.

Florida!

Not Evans...the state. Yeah, we became the "Ohhh let's take a family vacation to Florida" people. All in all, the part I worried about the most was actually GETTING there. See, we decided against driving and chose to fly. I'm adding, "Flew on a post-9/11 flight with two children under the age of 7" on my list of accomplishments. If you don't know why I'm doing this, you either haven't traveled lately or you haven't traveled by air with children. Ya know, we got through it breezily and without any issues. Both boys were FABULOUS travelers especially throwing in the fact that we had to get up at 2:30 A.M. (yes, as in the-sun-isn't-up-and-didn't-I-just-go-to-bed-A.M.) to make it to the airport to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight out of DFW. I do NOT regret leaving this early at all. The airport was calm, not busy at all, and it allowed us to get through checkpoints easily.
This was the first time to fly for both boys. Ethan was nervous and has asked a LOT of questions about why we have to do certain things and why we can't bring certain things. I have decided to talk to him about 9/11 and security when we get home. He needs to know a little bit because it's such a turning point but I was sooo not prepared to talk to him before we boarded for a 2.5 hr flight.
We kept the destination a secret from the boys until we got to the airport. Ethan was so excited as, this is the land o' alligators. Caden was as "meh" about it as any two year old. Well, until we got to our hotel and he saw Mickey Mouse everywhere.
Alas, I will update more later with where we've been and post a few pictures to go with it. :)

Who's Who??

My kids, at this point, only somewhat resemble each other. Ethan has an olive complexion, deep dark eyes, wavy brown hair complete with a widow's peak (which he hates and at some point has attempted to cut it off), and looks a lot like me. Caden, on the other hand, is blonde, light brown eyes, chubby cheeks, and resembles his dad in so many ways.
****Sidenote- I actually had a woman, who was cutting Caden's hair at the time, ask me if he and Ethan had the same dad. I just answered with a short, "Yes." But really what I wanted to do is pick my mouth up off of the floor and ask, "Did you really just ask me that?" It's kinda funny now but at the time, I thought it was pretty danged brazen of her to even ask.****
They didn't start out this way though. I look back at pictures and I honestly, at times, have to look at the date they were taken to decipher who exactly I'm looking at. Go ahead, judge me in your head...I'll wait.
So, my question is, look at the following. Can you tell who is who?

“A little boy is the only thing God can use to make a man.”

"A boy is trust with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket."

The time has come...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

The time did come to set Caden up in a "big boy" bed. He is potty trained and we felt that not only was he ready to sleep in toddler bed, but he needs the freedom to get up to use the potty in the middle of the night if necessary.
Now, I know most people would ask why we chose a toddler bed instead of a twin/full-sized or even wonder why we didn't just convert his baby bed. I think the general was for him to feel like his tiny bed was his and his alone. He is able to get in and out of it as he needs/wants to. *This is also my Achilles' Heel* Aside from the fact that we arent sure that his room will become an office or guest room. It just made more sense for us to go this way.
Ok, and the other thing I compromised on was his make-shift bedding. Ugh. I despise cartoon characters as bedding or room decor. It's something I always said we wouldn't do. HOWEVER, if you know my kid, you know about his obsession with Go Diego, Go! I agreed, for the toddler bedding only, that he could have the sheet set and blanket. (The blanket is actually a nap blanket I got at the Aspasians Craft Fair here in Rockwall--so stinkin' cute and it's handmade)-I caved a little. Anyway, he's done really well with becoming familiar with his bedtime routine and is able to execute most of it on his own. This is a verrrry good thing. It's a little bittersweet because it's now been confirmed, right before my eyes, that he's not a baby anymore.

From left to right: Diego, Caden, Puppy, and Baby Alice

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice-Cream-in-adorable-Texas-Rangers-plastic-helmets

Man vs. Wild

We've already established that Ethan is our science/biology enthusiast. His speciality now? Bugs, geckos, frogs, etc. Basically, anything that mom will find gross, he loves. The other day we went to Brian's parents house. We're getting out of the car and Ethan looks down into a patch of thick St. Augustine grass and says, "Hey, it's a tiny frog!"- Ok, two things: HOW did he see that? and Why didn't I? So after exploring the backyard for a little while, he comes to the door and asks me to come take a look at what he's found. Yeah, it was the tiniest frog I have ever seen. He told me that he was under the assumption it was a cricket until he looked down at the grass and noticed the creature had four legs. Again, HOW does he see this stuff?

Anytime we are out and about, that kid is forever digging in flowerbeds and grassy areas looking for a specimen. It is crazy.
In fact, just last night, as I was coming inside from working out and grocery shopping, I heard him scream, "Awww coooool!" and as he walks over to me, I see he has something in his hand. Yeah, he caught a baby gecko. The best part? The look of sheer joy on his face. (ew.) He walks over to show his little brother, and Caden lets out this giggly scream. Anything Ethan picks up, he wants to show Caden. And because Caden is his brother's shadow, he is completely involved and finds it all humorous.

Brian and I agree that Ethan could be into worse things. The way his mind works boggles my own though. He isn't really interested in cartoons. Man vs. Wild; Survivorman; Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe; Life; and the like are more his style. He's so smart, sweet, precious, and definitely all boy. I hope he maintains his love for science and I can honestly say I hope he continues to wonder, seek answers, and always ask why.

I Love Children's Literature!

There are so many reasons to love the children's sections of the bookstores and libraries. The illustrations and the vivid imagery the really great authors provide kids, amazes me as an adult. To be honest, I partially became a teacher because of my love for literature. I enjoy evoking the appreciation and love for a good story more than anything. I love that I can pass that on to our boys. Brian has been a huge supporter of this, as well. The few things we rarely tell the boys no on are books. If they find a book they want, it's purchased or checked out for them. Rockwall has a big beautiful new library with a great children's section and we have had a blast digging through and finding a good read or six. ;) Here are a few the boys and I have enjoyed reading together so far this summer.


I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Jan Bunting
This is the most deliciously haunting and beautifully written book. Ever. This is my absolute FAVORITE right now. Ethan loved it!



Caden and I have been collecting the Gossie collection by Olivier Dunrea. There's something super-entertaining about a tiny goose named Gossie and her awesome red boots. :)


The boys and I love this book! LOVE IT! With Cade entering his picky-eater phase, this book was perfect. I actually picked it up at our school book fair (I love me some book fair!!) and am so glad I did!
Luck of the Lochness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating by: Alice Weaver Flahtery


Knuffle Bunny by: Mo Willems
Such a sweet book.


Diary of a Worm by: Doreen Cronin
Because it's hilarious is what it is.


Flotsam by: David Wiesner
The imagery is beautiful and it's fun to hear the boys discuss each picture in detail.


I have a TON more I could list. We love the classic stuff too, don't get me wrong. Shel Silverstein, Kevin Henkes, Ian Falconer, Lauren Child, Marc Brown, Eric Carle, Bill Martin Jr. etc. all have a special place with us. I love reading to the boys and watching how engrossed they are in the stories themselves. It really makes my heart sing to see how their love and appreciation for books, reading, and beautiful illustrations has grown and continues to grow.





***By the by, if you have small kids or teach, go to www.bemboszoo.com
it is utterly amazing to look at how the names of the animals make pictures. Def. one of my favorite sites.***