Disney Day 3: Part II

Welcome to Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort - Jambo House. We arrived before dinner to check out the Savannah view at the Animal Kingdom. We had dinner reservations for Jiko. The food was AMAZING...all the food had an African flare! Drew & I split a Bobotie Spring Roll which had a ground beef and vegetable slaw topping with a little special sauce drizzled on top. Drew had the short ribs and I had the duck served over shittake mushrooms, potatoes and spinach...unreal!  John Brady was not in the best mood tonight...remember from earlier...he skipped his nap. He had a little cheese pizza and was not enthusiastic about being stuck in his high chair. Drew and I had to eat our $120 dinner in shifts. That is always fun...haha! One ate while the other took JB to see the animals or to the playground. All and all fussiness or not the night was fun and the food was top notch! We enjoyed the beautiful decor in the resort and our experience tonight!

Family photos with two little boys are always interesting! =) I love this one below...John Brady was not interested in smiling for the camera, but wanted to kiss his little bro!

Nichols Family - Disney 2012 (Beckett 2 1/2 mo, JB 28 mo)

Disney Day 3 : Part I

After spending all day yesterday at the park riding ride after ride and meeting some of his favorite characters...today was a more CHILL day! We tried to alternate park days with more relaxed swim, playground, shopping days! It worked out pretty well. Today we started off about 8 am swimming withh John Brady & Beckett. Beckett slept right through it in the stroller...he wasn't as impressed with the pool as JB haha! After about an hour of swimming we put JB in some dry clothes and took him to the playgroud. He loves the playground here at the Resort. It is shaded...thank heavens and has many different slides and swings. He really enjoyed the checker set also. He stacked the huge checkers and called them blocks.

After the playground and lunch we totally skipped the nap...as we have every day so far and headed straight for Downtown Disney. We hit up World of Disney store, Sir Mickey's sporting store, Once Upon a Toy Store, Lego land, and Ghiradeli's for a yummy treat.  John Brady was treated to many goodies. Nanny & Poppi got him a Goofy and Drew and I got him shirts, tooth brush, PJ's, etc. We all enjoyed a cold ice cream & water after! JB & Drew split cookies & cream, Dad had strawberry cheesecake, Mom had butter pecan and I had mocha chocolate chip....dad went for the double dip! =)



Disney Day 2

Today was worth every penny!!! I can't think of a time that John Brady has had more fun than today! Drew said at the end of the day today..."Just think this is the most fun John Brady has had in one day." For that reason alone...today was one of my favorite days ever!! There is NOTHING in the world better that watching your child have a blast, their eyes light up, die laughing on a ride, etc.

We started today at breakfast at O'hana in the Polynesian Resort. It was a character breakfast with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch. John Brady could have cared less for Lilo & Stitch and actually Stitch scared the ba-jesus out of him! We had an all you can eat platter complete with sausage, biscuits, eggs, sausage, bacon and Mickey waffles. John Brady was super impressed with the waffles shaped like Mickey. We got all our calories for the whole day in the breakfast but luckily we walked it off at the Magic Kingdom. John Brady got to see Mickey & Pluto. He loved/hated it! He loved seeing them until they got too close he wanted to keep an eye on them. Any time they were around all he could do was call them over...when they got up to him he said "Mama Mama" and would take my arm and put it around him. It was hilarious!

After breakfast we caught the monorail over the Magic Kingdom and let the sweating begin! We started with It's a Small World, followed by Peter Pan in Flight. John Brady was obsessed with It's a Small World....none of us were super impressed with Peter Pan for his age...it was a little too dark inside for him to see alot. We  followed those rides with Dumbo & Adventures of Winnie Pooh which we all loved. His favorites were the Mad Tea Party cups & the Carosuel. We rode EVERY ride for his age some of his other favorites were Goofy's Barnstormer, Jungle Cruise & the train. Drew & I even grabbed some fast passes for Space Mountain and got out thrill in too...of course we both had to ride alone, which was fine. John Brady had a blast today! We also got to see the Parade on Main Street USA, a show at Magic Kingdom with some fireworks, Pluto, Daisy, Winnie the Pooh & Tiger. We grabbed a yummy icee, some lemonade and a loaded hotdog & fries at Kasey's Korner while there too! Today was a total success and I can't wait to go back on Tuesday! Yay for Magic Kindom, the happiest place! haha

Once we got home mom and dad left for The Grand Floridian's Narcossee's on the lagoon. They were sweet to watch Beckett while we were at the Magic Kingdom so they got their own special dinner!!

 



Disney Day 1 - Part II

It is Mickey Backyard BBQ time!

Ice Cream mouth

His first Mickey ice cream bar

JB's reaction when he saw Mickey & Minnie run out

We had a great afternoon swimming and touring around! Once we came in and rested a little while it was time to head out for dinner. Just about the time we needed to leave our resort it started pouring rain! Oh and lucky for us our BBQ was outdoors =(  Thank goodness it was under a pavillion. We had to drive to Fort Wilderness Resort and catch their bus to take us back to the pavillion. We got dropped off a good 200 yards from the pavillion and we had no choice but to make a run for it. I had a towel over my head, Drew was holding JB and we ran ran so we could grab a good seat for the BBQ. Mom, Dad & Beckett waitied on the rain to stop because they were headed to a different restaurant while we were at the BBQ. Glad we toughed through the rain because we got a great seat and about 10 minutes after we arrived people started to pour in. Dinner was a buffet all you can eat and all you can drink wine and beer. Thank heavens! We needed some vino after our trek in the pouring rain to the BBQ. As soon as the lines opened up I headed to grab two plates for the three of us to share. [Hotdogs, hamburgers, ribs, slaw, potato salad, baked beans, mac & cheese...ya know all the healthy things at the BBQ.] We started on some cab in a plastic wine glass...classic! JB loved the food and kept saying yummyyyyy! We ate our $$ worth and JB even got a Mickey Mouse icecream bar.

Once dinner was over the band started up and JB was focused in. The band introduced the man with the ears!!! Mickey Mouse!!!! John Brady was star struck and not sure what to think. Then seconds later ran out Minnie, Chip & Dale! They invited all the kids to come to the dance floor to dance with their favorite character. Once all the children were out there...SURPRISE here comes Goofy! John Brady loves Goofy too!  John Brady was not scared to dance...at all! He was shaking it all over the dance floor. Drew and I laughed so hard at all his new moves. He loved dancing with the characters....he followed them around, did the Congo, etc. He would run up behind them and tap them on the leg and say their name. He wasn't so sure about them when they turned around and got in his face though. We had a BLAST running after JB and taking pictures of him dancing and having a blast. The BBQ lasted about 1 1/2 hours. I am already ready to go back again with both boys in about two years...please Drew!!! ;)  We will definately do the BBQ again because even though the characters don't come to each table, the kids get to run around and interact with them for longer than the one second photo op like all the other character dining experiences. John Brady spent a good 30 plus minutes interacting with whichever character he prefered.

On the bus telling Poppi about his time at the BBQ

By the time it was ending the rain had stopped and we met up with mom and dad and headed back to our resort. We ran in changed diapers, got comfy, grabbed beach towels and headed back out about 8:45 to the Polynesian. We arrived to their beach right at 9:00 for the water parade on the Seven Seas Lagoon. We sat on the beach and watched the water parade and then a little of Lion King on the beach while waiting for the fireworks to start over the Magic Kingdom @ 10. It was worth the wait. The Polynesian plays the same music being played at the Magic Kingdom....it started "A dream is a wish your heart makes when your fast asleep....etc" JB sat in my lap and laid his head back on my chest and watched the fireworks with wide eyes the whole time. He didn't move a muscle other than to look up at me and smile in between them and also call out the different colors and shapes of the fireworks. I couldn't help but cry...some tears trickled down my face as I watched the beautiful fireworks over the Magic Kingdom with JB snuggled in my lap... for the first time as a mom. I had watched these same water parades and fireworks over 10 times on the same beach at the Polynesian with my mom and dad ...seems like just yesterday. But it isn't just yesterday...years and years have passed. We have all aged, things have changed, and time hasn't stopped. Tonigh I sat on the beach with my TWO boys, my awesome husband and the best parents in the world. My have things changed. It was a perfect ending to the day. This was THE latest JB has been up at night. He had a bath at 10:45 and was out like a light within 10 minutes.

Tomorrow...O'hana & Magic Kingdom here we come....