The Rest of Disney World

I know I should have posted this a couple of months ago for continuity's sake, but I am finally getting around to posting about the rest of our vacation. Instead of getting Christmas gifts last year my parents took us to Disney World right after Thanksgiving. Animal Kingdom was Davey's favorite part of Disney World, but that isn't to say we didn't have a great time at the rest of the parks.  Here are some pics of the other parts of our vacation.

Nemo at Epcot

The Chinese Acrobats at Epcot were amazing

I know some times Dave thinks his job should really be "Inhuman Resources"

Here's Charlie giving Mickey that suspicious work

We've got a pretty good little driver on our hands in Tomorrowland

Charlie loved the Magic Carpet (basically Dumbo on a carpet)

Dumbo was another favorite

It was Christmastime and the Castle Lights were AH-mazing!

Charlie's favorite ride, Toy Story Mania!

I think these smiles say it all!

The 3D glasses sure were fun!

It was fun to compete and see who got the highest score!

Charlie loved helping Daddy!

The Osborne lights at Hollywood Studios were amazing

They also synchronized to music

One last family pic on our last night there.

Disney World was so much fun.  Even though it has been six months since we went, the kids always talk about the things we did there.  I am surprised how much Charlie remembers and he is just 3 years old.  Thanks again Mom and Dad for the fun memories!

Disney World- Animal Kingdom

In November we went with my (Brittany's) family to Disney World.  Although we went to Disneyland the year before, it was especially fun to go with Charlie this time, as he was old enough to enjoy it.  Disney World is HUGE.  It is so much bigger than Disneyland and there is a lot more to see.  To be honest, Disneyland is probably a little bit easier to do with kids as young as ours, but we still had a blast.

One of the really neat things that Disney World has that Disneyland doesn't is Animal Kingdom.  Honestly, this park made the whole trip worth it for us, mainly because Davey was so excited to go there.  He says he wants to be a zookeeper when he grows up, and he spent hours looking at the Animal Kingdom section of a Disney World guidebook that we had.  Fortunately, it lived up to all his expectations and was his favorite park.

Breakfast with Donald and friends.  Charlie isn't so sure about all these characters!

Charlie refused to stand with most of the characters, but finally let us take his picture with Mickey.

He and Davey followed Goofy around the restaurant playing instruments.

Loved the parades!

They had this scavenger hunt that you could do in each land of the Animal Kingdom.  You would go to each station and they would teach you something about animals or the environment and give you a stamp.  Davey LOVED doing this.  Honestly, I think he liked it more that most of the rides.  We didn't finish our first day there, so we had to go back another day and finish it.  The boys were both pretty proud!

Davey's favorite animal (see his little face poking over the back?)

Rafiki

Pocahontas told us that Rafiki had a blue bottom so of course he had to turn and show us

Dave really liked Pocahontas.  He even told me afterwards he thought she was hot.  I think he just really liked her long hair.  Then I told him I was pretty sure it was a wig and I think he was a little disappointed.

 

 

Charlie looking that same way again with Jiminy Cricket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I think I prefer Disneyland to Disney World, IF it weren't for Animal Kingdom.  Disneyland was the original and it seems like the "Disney Magic" is a little stronger there.  I still have more pictures of the rest of our vacation that I will have to use for another post, but since Davey loved Animal Kingdom so much I had to give it a post of it's own.

Kindergarten....er....First Grade!!!

After Davey was born we realized that we had a decision to make.  He turned five last year in late August, just a couple of days before the deadline to enroll in Kindergarten.  Dave and I decided to hold him back so he could be one of the oldest kids in his class rather than the youngest.  This year rolled around and he started Kindergarten a couple of days before he turned six.  About a month in, we realized that maybe holding him back hadn't been the best thing for him.  He was so ready to be reading and be challenged, and kindergarten wasn't moving fast enough for him.  He was getting super bored and thought a lot of the stuff they were doing in class was "dumb." So after discussing things with his teacher and principal, he decided he wanted to try first grade.

 

So he has been in first grade for about a month and a half now.  He loves the things he is learning and doesn't seem to mind being there all day.  I think he is making friends and hope that he is eating enough at lunch (he is SUCH as picky eater)!  I do miss having him around all day, as does Charlie.  I knew the day would come that he would be gone at school all day, I just wasn't prepared for it to come so soon.  I sure am proud of my smart boy though!

Davey's Sixth Birthday

 Davey had a fun family party for his sixth birthday.  We had everyone over for a barbecue and presents.

He requested a chocolate cake, which I was happy to accomodate!

Dave made sure he showed Davey how they celebrate birthdays in Bolivia...where they shove the birthday boy's face in the cake!  Davey thought this was hilarious!

Then he decided that having cake all over his face was so fun that he might as well try to get it all over his entire body.

When we were living in Utah County we made sure that he was well aware of the fact that we are Aggie fans, and that we never cheered for BYU.  Davey is now a HUGE Aggie fan and even went so far as to tell his primary teacher that "We don't like BYU."  When I saw this BYU shirt at the store, I couldn't resist getting it for him.

I think the thumb says it all!!!

Some of Davey's favorite things at age six are:

-Charlie. He is always thinking of his little brother.  Davey has a chart where he receives points for doing chores and other good things.  He noticed the other day that he had a lot of points while Charlie only had a few.  He came to me, visibly upset and said he wanted to erase some of his points and give them to Charlie.  I tried to tell him I would give Charlie points without him having to erase points of his own, but he insisted.  He is so kind to Charlie and loves him more than anything (except maybe his Dad).
-His Dad.  It is a pretty tight race between his Dad and Charlie.  Dave told Davey that Charlie is his best friend, but that means Davey is his mejor amigo (best friend in Spanish).  Davey always chooses to sit by his Dad at dinner.  He loves to cuddle with him every night before he goes to bed.  Sometimes Dave goes and talks to him at night when he is tucking him in and they have discussions about all kinds of things.  I love seeing the special bond they have.
-His favorite sport is baseball.  He has tried playing all sports and has fun with all of them, but if you ask him which is his favorite, he will always say baseball.  I think he enjoys it because he can be social and visit with his friends while playing.
-He likes cheeseburgers, playing Super Mario Sluggers on the Nintendo Wii (you should see how sweaty he gets from jumping up and down), drawing, science, and superheroes.
-My favorite of Davey's features is his smile.  He has always been a smiley boy, even when he was really little.  He hardly ever looks grumpy and his little grin is contagious.  I can't help but smile every time I look at my smiley boy!

Bear Lake

 We went to Bear Lake a couple of times this summer.  Both times we didn't really do anything exciting. We pretty much just let the boys play in the sand and they were more than satisfied with that, especially Charlie.  He was content to sit on the sand and dig in.

The boys LOVED collecting rocks.  Charlie especially was into it.  If you know Charlie, you know he loves rocks.  He stops and picks up rocks everywhere we go, including the landscaping rocks people use in their flower beds.

We had so much fun playing in the sand that we went back a week later and brought along our own sand toys!

We also brought along the cousins for some extra fun!

I was worried about Charlie going out in the water, so I put arm floaties on him.  I didn't have to worry, he was so intent on playing in the sand, he didn't even notice the lake!

It was definitely a lot of fun!

Baseball Season

If you ask Davey what his favorite sport is he will say baseball. It is actually kind of funny, because although Dave and I both like baseball, I wouldn't say it is either of our favorite sport.  I think maybe Davey likes it because he likes the slower pace so he can look around and visit with his friends.

It is funny to watch them field the ball.  Each time they send out two kids to field and it is a footrace to see you who can get the ball first. Davey learned quickly to put his mitt down on the ball right away or the other kid would take it.

He got really good at throwing as well.

He also enjoyed hanging out waiting to bat!

 

This last picture is my favorite.  I love him and his cute smile!

Soccer season

This spring Davey played soccer.  It was an especially fun year for him because Dave was his coach.  I don't know if it was particularly fun for Dave.  Trying to get a bunch of 5 and 6 year-olds to follow directions is definitely a challenge.  Half the time one kid would be laying on the ground, while another was hanging from the goalposts, while another was stealing the ball from his own teammate.  All in all though, Davey really enjoyed himself, and had really improved by the end of the season.

Coach Dave in action.  I think this is one of those rare instances in which they were actually listening to him!

I think he really enjoyed the social aspect of the game!

Poor Charlie, he had a really hard time sitting on the sidelines, especially with Davey playing and Daddy coaching. Most games we ended up making him sit in the car with a grandparent to make sure he stayed off the field!

Here he is starting to be a little more aggressive in going for the ball.

All the boys together at the end.