Roadtrip!

We took a road trip. If you are looking for tips for long car rides with toddlers, here's my best tip: Don't.

Fortunately we had a fun destination and, after many hours in the car, we were greeted by Grandpa Duane and a significant amount of free food. Here's the stuff we did that turned out to be photo worthy:

We took Paul to the St. George temple so he would have the opportunity to experience grass. We don't have much grass, and what we do have is not soft, or green, or nice to play in.

Spring time!

We visited Pioneer Mountain Park, where Paul revealed and sudden and inexplicable fear of very open and un-scary caves. He sobbed when we put him in one, thinking it would be cute, and my arms have the fingernail marks to prove how anxious he was to not enter one again.

 

Paul was not scared of this cave.

Paul was scared of this cave.

 We made a brief trip to Zions National Park. Our visit happened to coincide with the Zions Half Marathon, bad luck for us, so we used the pedestrian entrance and went on one short walk. We still saw some pretty spectacular mountain views and experienced some pretty spectacular allergic reactions.

We had a nice stop over in Las Vegas with Lee's brother Kody (You should apologize to your neighbors for us. Paul was unreasonably sleepless and LOUD) and then started the long, terrible drive home. Paul was a trooper and he did well all things considered, but his nap was spent in stopped traffic resulting from a wrecked semi-truck, so it made the drive longer in more ways than one. We're glad to be home and we have no plans to travel again for a few more months at least.

Orlando Adventure, Part Two

Hopefully you enjoyed hearing about Hollywood and Universal Studios, next up is the Magic Kingdom.

The classic pose with the castle is extra magical because of the crane in the background. We took Paul on several rides which he enjoyed or disliked to varying degrees. He was marginally indifferent to Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, and the Tea Cups. Paul was completely in awe of It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion and he was utterly terrified of Pirates of the Caribbean. There was fog. The boat runs right under the fog and it freaked Paul out. He was fine until the fog incident, after that he clung to me for the rest of the ride.

Paul and Grandpa wait for us to get back from Splash Mountain.

Adventure Land! In his royal carriage Paul did a lot less walking than the rest of us.

The Phillips' boys put Emperor Zurg behind bars for good!

Paul might have liked the Royal Carousel if we hadn't ridden it at dinner time.

Paul was completely fascinated by the light parade and he enjoyed the fireworks until the grand finale, at which point he fell asleep.
Our 4th and final park destination was Island Adventure. We spent two days there which worked great for us. This park has some of the best rides, it was the least crowded, and it had the most playgrounds for Paul.

I do not know what mythical creature has bird head, lion claws, wings, and a snake tail but this statue is one of those.

One of the best parts of our whole trip was playing with Paul at Seuss' Landing. A couple rides, a playground, and practically no lines. This is also the only place we did character meets with Paul.

Paul sits on Horton's nest.

This is probably the most whimsical place on the planet.

Paul continues to be confused about the rides we take him on.

We also found a fantastic playground amongst the dinosaurs. Paul loved it! Contrary to what you might see in the following video, Paul actually loved playing on the splash pad.

 

 As you can see, Paul was shockingly nonchalant about being attacked by giant dinosaurs. Fog was too scary, but T-Rex is yawn worthy.

 

And, of course, there was Hogsmeade! We enjoyed the rides, the butterbeer, and the constant John Williams soundtrack.

 

All aboard! Except us. We didn't have the necessary park hopper pass to ride.

Delicious sweets and a sleeping baby!

Paul loved the whole trip, but not for the reasons you might think. He treated his stroller like a parade float, he rode along and waved with both hands to everyone who passed. He would walk up to complete strangers (always with a parent close by, of course) and stare at them and say "hi!" He made friends everywhere he went. He drew a crowd playing at this splash pad:

He got really close to one of the spouts, his face was less than a foot away from it, and about half a dozen people were gathered to watch and see what happened when water squirted his face. When it finally happened Paul was surprised, so he leaned over to check it out again. Then he got squirted again. That's when he got upset so we knew it was time for him to change into his dry clothes.

This castle might be better than the one in Disney.

We filled our week with as much magic as Paul could handle, as much walking as Grandpa could handle, and we are happy to be home. If you are headed to Orlando in the near future, give me a call and I'll give you all my brilliant travel tips. Till next time!

Paul's first snowball and other adventures

We went on quite the cross-country trip this last week! It started with a day in Cincinnati, OH with the Burnett family. It was terrifically snowy there, so we took the opportunity to introduce Paul to snowballs, sledding, and all the usual winter tricks.

We also introduced Paul to his cousins Stella, Olivia, and Rivers. He loves them all and would have played with them for our entire trip, but we had another destination. We had to say good-bye after our one snow day.

We hopped on a plane--after a two hour delay due to a wrecked toilet (I am so not kidding)--and made our way to Orlando Florida. We met up with Grandpa Duane and Uncle Jordan for a week of theme park fun!

First stop: Universal Studios!
Home to Diagon Alley...

We couldn't find the keys, or the flying motorcycle would have been gone, baby.

Paul enjoys ice cream from Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour, as do I.

Lee, Paul, and Jordan with Diagon Alley and Gringott's Bank.

Paul looks better in my sunglasses than I do.

We love you, giant shark!

There were some playgrounds where Paul went down slides and splashed in fountains with Pa while we tried out some of the "big kid" rides.

The "Fievel Goes West" Playground

The "Curious George" Playground

We all enjoyed trying Butterbeer, including Paul, the rest of us were less messy about it, though.

This photo contains a clever optical illusion. See if you can spot it!

By the end of the day we were all exhausted and hungry and ready to head back to our dingy little room for some sleep.

Next Stop: Hollywood Studios!

Walt Disney World is huge. Once you see the park gates, expect your drive to last at least another 15 minutes. We visited Hollywood Studios first which boasts a couple killer rides and is the theme park home of the Star Wars franchise!

Jordan cruises around Endor.

Lee and Paul hope the Imperial Walker's vision is based on movement.

Paul loved the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!" playground.

Paul loved going on the slides by himself, like a big boy.

Paul got stuck between a root and a blade of grass.

Ready for adventures with Indiana Jones!

 We got on all the rides we wanted, Paul walked up to complete strangers and said, "Hi!" thus making himself many new friends, and we were all grateful to not be walking to our hotel, though we did have to make several bus transfers to get there.

Keep your eyes peeled because part two of our Floridian excursion will be soon to follow!