Spring Fun!

A few weeks ago, we let Tanek play in the sprinkler for the first time this year. We bought one of those things with the curvy, wiggly attachments to connect to the hose to make it more fun. It doesn't actually work as well as I would have liked it to, but Tanek had a good time!

Disney, Disney, Disney - February 22-23, 2009!

Tanek continued his birthday celebration at Disney on Sunday and Monday. Mom, Meme Anita, and I took him to all 4 parks in two days! We started out at Animal Kingdom where Tanek got to see Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. He got to see Pluto up close, but we couldn't get pictures because he was leaving for a photo shoot. Tanek didn't really care about the pictures, he was just excited to see him. Pluto is his new favorite character. We did get pictures with Minnie and Goofy, though.

Sunday night we went to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks and extra magic hours. Tanek decided it was nap time on the bus ride over and then proceeded to sleep through the fireworks. We woke him up to eat dinner and then he was ready for the rest of the night. We rode all of his favorite rides until midnight before calling it a night. Here are pictures of some of the fireworks, although pictures don't do them justice.

We thought the reflection of the castle in the water was really pretty at night.

Here is Tanek at the room before we left for the Magic Kingdom. As you can see, he is all decked out and ready to see Mickey Mouse!

"It's dark in here, I can't see, where'd Tanek go?" "Here I am!" This is Tanek's new game that he thinks is sooo funny!

Tanek sleeping through the fireworks. He had to have been really out to not wake up with all of the noise.

This is the Pop Century Resort where we stayed. We were in the 1970's section which had the huge Mickey Mouse phone, foosball, and Big Wheel. Tanek was especially fond of the big wheel since he has one just like it, only much smaller!

We also introduced Tanek to Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead.

On Monday, we went to Hollywood Studios so Tanek could see Playhouse Disney Live! which is one of his favorite things to do. He loves seeing the characters from his favorite shows! Of course, we also went to see Towie and Mine, too. Then we went to Epcot, rode Spaceship Earth, and ate at the restaurant in Mexico before coming home. All in all, we all had a great time. Having Meme Anita with us made it so much more fun, probably because she gets as excited as Tanek does about anything Disney! Tanek got even more spoiled with all of the toys we bought him. He especially loves his toy disney buses because that is his absolute favorite "ride" at disney - riding the disney bus! Meme Anita had pictures of us taken with Mine and Towie and then bought us a picture frame with Mine and Towie on it as a momento of our trip. Thank you for the memories Meme Anita! We had such a good time and can't wait to go again!

Introducing MoMo 2

This is MoMo the second, or MoMo 2 as Tanek calls him. MoMo kicked the bucket the day before Tanek's birthday. He was still swimming when I left for work on Thursday, but Mom found him nose first in the rocks later that day when she was at the house. I started to explain it all to Tanek, but he kept saying "No, MoMo's not dead", so we just dropped it and Ricky went and bought a new MoMo to take his place. It's too soon aftyer Abigail to try and explain another death to him. I think Ricky did a pretty good job in picking out a twin, though! I don't think Tanek has noticed the difference even though he knows that this is MoMo 2 and not MoMo. Anyway, Tanek is happy and MoMo 2 seems happy in his new home, and that is all that matters right now! Welcome to the family MoMo 2!

Tanek's 3rd Birthday - It's all about Mickey Mouse!

Tanek turned three yesterday and we had a little party for him today. He went back and forth between three cakes - Mickey Mouse, Towie and Mine, or construction vehicles - but in the end, he chose Mickey Mouse. He just cannot get enough of Mickey Mouse lately! It is appropriate, though, since we are taking him to Disney tomorrow! His cake was supposed to have red instead of the pink, but it didn't bother Tanek at all. The colors didn't matter to him as long as it had Mickey Mouse and sprinkles! He had a family party with Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Mimi, Pawpaw, Kelly, Kevin, Meme Anita, and Morgan. He had a fun time showing out for everyone, too. I'm still not quite sure how he ended up with so many presents. I think he was a little spoiled for this birthday - I hope he doesn't expect this to continue all the time! He was so funny, though, and kept saying "Oh my, oh my, oh my". I have to say, we heard a lot of "Oh my's" today.

Here is Tanek with his Mimi.

Tanek and Morgan are playing with his "little Red". Tanek just loves Morgan - he is always talking about her!Tanek was trying hard to read this card!Here is Tanek with his new bulldozer. We have to look at these every time we are at Walmart, and he thinks he needs all of them. Now he has a big bulldozer and a little bulldozer.

Tanek was opening his presents with a little help from Morgan to figure out where to start.

Here is Tanek's titan "trash truck". He was so excited about this present! For whatever reason, he loves the trash trucks!

Here is Tanek enjoying his cake, although it is the icing that he likes the best.

Tanek is blowong out his candle with a little help fron Mommy.

Lady Abigail Lysandra: December 18, 1995 - January 27, 2009

It has been a very sad day today! Abigail has been our baby for 13 years, but she passed away this morning at 9:30 am. Although it was unexpected, I think she died peacefully in her sleep. When I went to take her and Amos out to potty this morning at 6:00 am, she was alive, but limp and unresponsive. I guess her heart just couldn't take anymore. Ricky and I are thankful that we were both able to be home with her this morning. If we would have had to go to work, we would never have known until we got home. I don't know what I would have done if she had had to die alone. So, we just held her, petted her, and told her how much we loved her until she was gone, crying almost the whole time. We buried her by the house with her baby doll pillow and her favorite blanket.

We let Amos have time to say his goodbyes (in whatever ways dogs say goodbye), and had Tanek tell her goodbye and watch us bury her. We tried to tell him that he won't be able to see Abigail anymore because she went to doggie heaven, but he still frequently asks, "where's Abigail"? I hope Amos will be okay. He keeps looking for her and sniffing around her bed, but I'm just not ready to put her babydoll bed and pillows away yet. It makes me cry just thinking about her, much less talking about her. Anyone who knows us, knows how much "the babies" mean to us. Abigail really was our little girl! She went through a lot over the years, but she was always one tough baby!

Abigail, you brought so much joy to our lives and we loved every minute we spent with you! We will always love you, sweetpea! We will miss you forever!

Coronado Springs Resort

This is the resort we stayed at during our trip to Disney. The grounds and landscaping were very pretty and tropical, but the resort itself was big and spread out. We were in Casitas 3, which was close to the shops and dining areas, but far from the pool and playground. It was also close to bus stop #2, which is the first stop to be picked up and dropped off from the parks. That was a big plus!

This is a picture of the marina with the Cabanas in the background.

This is one of the courtyards in the Casitas that we walked through every day.Another courtyard close to our room in Casitas 3.

El Centro - this is where the lobby, shops, and dining are located.

Views of the Casitas from across the lake.

View of the Cabanas from across the lake.

The Cabanas are where I originally wanted to stay because they are more centrally located to the pool/playground area and the shops/dining. But they are also at the last bus stops, and that would have been hard carrying Tanek and the stroller onto a crowded bus! Besides, Tanek and I did walk to the Dig Site once so he could run around at the playground. He loved it, and we both enjoyed the extra mile or so of walking!

More Disney Pics

Saturday, Tanek and I went back to the Magic Kingdom while Ricky stayed at the room and watched football. We went to Adventureland first, and rode the Magic Carpets...

and climbed the Swiss Family Treehouse. This is the view of the castle from the treehouse.

Here is Tanek outside the Jungle Cruise. We rode the Jungle Cruise and did Pirates of the Caribbean while we were in Adventureland. Then we went to Frontierland and took the train to Mickey's Toontown before we went back to the room to rest for awhile.

Tanek was unbelievably good the entire morning! He rode in his stroller the whole time without whining once. Since he was such a good boy, I bought him a pair of "Mine" tennis shoes. The smallest size they had was a 7-8, so I figured he could have them to wear later (he is a size smaller). But, once he tried them on, they weren't coming back off! His feet look like boats compared to the rest of him, but he doesn't care! When we went back later in the afternoon, we went back to Fantasyland and rode the teacups again.

We also rode Snow White's Scary Adventures, the Carousel, and went to Pooh's Corner so he could run around and play. We also went to the playground in Mickey's Toontown, and then rode the train back to Main Street.

Or course, late in the afternoon Tanek wasn't quite the angel he was earlier. He pitched a little fit on the bus on the way back to the park. It was one of those embarrassing moments when everyone else is looking at you, like "would you do something with that kid?!" and thinking "Boy am I glad that's not my kid" all at the same time. And you just wanted to give him a good spanking right then, but you don't because then people would say you're abusing him. Anyway, we made it to the park and had a nice, long talk (and a spanking) when we got off of the bus. That helped, but he was still hyped up and couldn't sit still most of the evening.