Amaya Papaya!

Today we went to a fun place called Amaya Papaya! It is full of fun, bright colored toys for kids ages 5 and under. I had heard several mommy's talk about it and when groupon.com offered half price admission tickets, I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. So, after swim lessons we headed over there. The boys loved it! Thomas had fun dressing up as a race car driver and playing with the magnetic fishing set. Nathan loved all the colored bead toys and wearing safety goggles. Nathan noticed a rail where they had puzzles. One of the puzzles had a picture of a boy on it. He tried to kiss it! It was so cute! They even have an indoor sandbox which Thomas was happy about but Nathan didn't care for it too much. It started to get crowded so after playing for about an hour we headed out. It was certainly another fun, air conditioned summer activity.

Mommy Group

I consider myself very lucky. I get to have the best of both worlds. I get to teach, which I LOVE and I get to be a stay-at-home mommy! (well, during the summer.) Since so many mommy groups meet in the middle of the week in the morning hours, it's hard to find a group of moms that have children similar in age and have many things in common. A few Seminole County teachers decided to create a mommy group that meets on days that we are out of school. The summer has been full of fun mommy group adventures. This week we went to the Millenia Mall since Pottery Barn Kids has story time on Tuesdays. It was a bit disappointing, so we decided to cruise around with our stollers and head to the food court for lunch. Afterwards, the children played on a padded carpet. They had so much fun chasing each other! It was a super fun, air conditioned playdate!

My Escape Artist

Nathan is definitely my escape artist. He officially can get out of the jumperoo, scale a baby gate and twist around while buckled up in his chair while eating and actually stand up. The little chair is strapped on to one of our dining room chairs, which helps save space. Well, to play it safer than sorry, we got a big boy high chair...with a 5 point harness! This little guy is not getting out of this chair! He absolutely loves it, too. It's nice that there is an activity bar that he can play with while I am getting his food ready or while cleaning up after he eats. We think it's only a matter of time before he figures out how to climb out of his crib. Yikes!

Poor Lady

Some of you know that we adopted a new cat after our stubborn, sweet Morris ran away in January. (Which he is currently living at the house behind ours, yet will not come home. Long story!) We noticed that Lady was not eating well and was having some potty issues. She would get so excited to eat, but just couldn't. We took her to the vet where Ken's sister works and had some xrays taken. Turns out that Lady had a cancerous tumor growing and pushing against her stomach which is why she was having eating and potty problems. We decided that we didn't want her to suffer. After work Ken went and sat with her. Thomas took the news pretty well. He still talks about her and misses having a pet. Even though we only had her for about 4 months, it was very sad that she left us. She was a sweet cat and will be missed.

Our Little Houdini

Nathan has proved he loves adventure and danger. He has proven this many times. Crawling on top of tables. Standing on chairs. Now, we can add escaping from his jumper to the list. The other day I was addressing some envelopes at the table and all of a sudden, Nathan was playing near my feet. I had put him in the jumper so that I could actually finish the task I had started hours before. I was shocked to see him out of it. So, I decided to place him back in it and watch how the escape happened. So...this is how it happened...within seconds.

4th of July Fun!

For the Fourth of July, we went to the Central Florida Zoo. We got to see some animals and even our favorite childrens entertainer, Mr. Richard, who was performing. Thomas loved showing Ken around since his class went on a field trip there at the beginning of the year. Thomas loved the snake exhibit the most. Nathan loved feeding the goats. He tried to kiss one of them! The day was a little soggy, but it kept the heat away which was nice.

We got home by three o'clock and let the kids take a rest. After dinner we loaded back up and went into Oviedo to see their fireworks display. It was fantastic! Thomas thought it was cool while Nathan thought it was a bit too loud. He didn't cry, though. All in all, it was a great fourth of July day!

Thomas turns 5!

For Thomas' special birthday we went to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. We have been planning this trip for quite a while. We always wanted to take him there, but wanted to be sure that he was old enough to remember it, too. We had given him clues all week about where we were taking him. On the morning of his birthday we told him we were going to Disney. He was very excited although I don't think he exactly understood the magnitude of where we were going. On the way there, I had arranged for a character call. Mickey called Thomas at 9 am to tell him he was happy to know he was coming to visit. Even though the morning started out a little drizzly, it turned out to be the best weather conditions, considering it is July. It was great that it was overcast and we even had a breeze the entire time we were there. When we got there Thomas received a Happy Birthday badge. He was so proud! We loaded the ferry and got sight of Cinderella's castle. Thomas thought it was so cool, even though it was a castle for a girl.

The first stop we made was to the Barber shop. I had heard that they make the haircut experience very special. This was Nathan's first haircut and he didn't seem too happy about it. They gave him a special certificate, saved his locks of hair and he also got his first set of mouse ears with "First Haircut" stitched on the back. I am so glad that we stopped there first. I don't think we would have made it back there during the day since we stayed so busy.

Our next stop was the long awaited, Buzz Lightyear ride. I was expecting a 2 hour wait, but was happy to see that it was only a 25 minute wait. In fact, this ended up being the longest we had to wait for a ride the entire time we were there. Thomas and Ken rode in one car and Nathan and I rode in the other. Nathan was captivated by all the lights and sounds and of course Thomas was in heaven. When the ride was over we stood in a line to meet Buzz Lightyear. Thomas was eager to get to the gift shop where he had spotted "Lotso" from Toy Story 3. And for those who have seen the movie, yes, he smells like strawberries.

Nathan had fallen asleep on the walk over to Fantasy Land, so only Thomas and Ken rode the teacups and Dumbo. (Which was fine by me and my easily-queasy stomach.) When Nathan woke up we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, the carousel, and It's a Small World ride. Thomas finally found the perfect set of Mickey ears...Toy Story! We made our way to see Mickey and Minnie mouse and the boys thought that was very neat. Then we went on a few more rides and before we knew it it was time for dinner.

We noticed around 7:30 that many people were sitting on the curb at Main Street. They were saving their spots for the Electrical parade. I saved our spots while Ken and Thomas went back to Tomorrow Land to ride more rides. At 9 o'clock the parade started. Nathan loved the light up Mickey (along with his first Mickey stuffed animal). Thomas clapped to the music the entire length of the parade. I think he got all caught up in emotion because I looked over at him and he had his arm around the boy next to him. It was so cute. After the parade we finally made our way through the crowd to the monorail. As we boarded the tram, Thomas asked Ken if it was okay to rest his eyes on the way home. We just laughed! We weren't even out of the parking lot and both boys had fallen asleep.

We spent 13 hours at Disney for his magical 5th birthday. I can't think of another way to celebrate someone we love so much. Even though it feels like I just brought him home from the hospital, it has been so much fun watching him grow up into a sweet little boy. Happy 5th Birthday, Thomas!