We Survived 6 Days at Disneyworld...

We have had a great time this week, but we are TIRED! I think we'll need at least 2 more weeks of vacation to recover :) I can't wait to get home and take the time to look at all of the pictures. Between my mom, my sister, and me, we probably took at least 200 to 300 pictures a day. I'm planning on making a Snapfish book of the week, and I'm sure that choosing the pictures for the book is not going to be easy. I'm so proud of O for having such great behavior even when she was tired. She was very excited to choose a prize today. She chose a set of Cinderella figurines, and she has had fun playing with them. Although, she's been a little concerned that there is no pumpkin with the set, and Cinderella doesn't have shoes. After playing with her figurines for a while, she spent an hour or more playing with a stack of hotel towels. Who new that towels could be so much fun??? She spread them out, stacked them, made a path with the washcloths, and wrapped a towel around her leg when she was pretending that her leg was broken. Who needs toys when you have towels?! She's also really enjoyed playing with quarters, nickels, and dimes this week. On the bus rides, she played with her fingers...making a church, steeple, and then all the people (you know the rhyme, right?). So...I'm realizing more and more that the toys I buy her are more for me than her, but it's still so much fun :) I've spent way too much on souvenirs this week, but I did get some really cool things for O's dress-up suitcase and her musical instrument collection. Hopefully, I'll be able to get these things home intact and unseen by O :)

Wow! I am SO tired :)

Vacationing is Disneyworld is certainly not a relaxing vacation! We are having a fantastic time, but we are exhausted. It's 9:00 and almost everybody is asleep for the night (Guh-guh, Grandpa, Elliott, Mem, etc.). My mom wore a pedometer the 1st 2 days, and we are averaging about 5 to 6 miles a day. I'm hoping to lose the baby weight that I gained during my 11 weeks of pregnancy (I'm sure those of you who have lost a baby can sympathize with how much it sucks to have baby weight, but no baby). Hopefully, I'll be able to fit into my clothes again after this trip. Anyway...we've had 1 day at Epcot, 2 days at Magic Kingdom, and we are planning on going to Hollywood Studios tomorrow. O has been a trooper. She got scared yesterday during the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, and then we believed the guidebook when it said that the Haunted Mansion wasn't scary...mistake! It IS scary if you are 2 years old :( I sang "You are my sunshine" quietly into O's ear about 100 times as we went through the ride to help her feel less scared. Later, she told us that she was scared of the aliens in the Haunted House. She said they were tall and might get her. Poor baby! So, now she is scared of every indoor ride, but she loves the outdoor rides. She especially loves the carousel and the teacups. While we were spinning VERY fast on the teacups, she yelled "Ock and Oll!" (rock and roll). Now it's time for me to go to bed :)

We're Back!

O and I just returned from a one night vacation that turned into a 3 night vacation :) We had a great time, and O really enjoyed playing with her cousin. It was nice (but strange) to be without a computer for 3 days! Luckily, I had a couple of blog posts saved as drafts that Elliott published for me :) Thanks for all of the comments over the last few days. I'm trying to catch up on reading my email, and I'll answer all of the questions in the comments section. It's good to be home!

Panning for Gems

We took panning for gems this afternoon, and she had a great time. She chose a blue shovel ("boo" is her favorite color), and she shoveled the sand and gems into the screens. Then she (with the help of daddy and grandaddy) shook the pan to loosen and wash away the dirt. She was excited to see the beautiful gems left on the screen. Her prettiest find is an amethyst geode.

Hiking in the Mountains

We hiked to a waterfall this morning, and it wasn't a very long hike, but it felt long since I had a 26 pound toddler in my sling! My sister borrowed my Beco for her California trip, since I was sure I wouldn't need it in the sweltering heat of the Bahamas :) Thank goodness, I had the sling! O loved touching the rock walls. We talked about whether they were rough or smooth and hard or soft. She was excited about seeing her first waterfall, but her favorite part of the day was exploring a cave. I recited several lines from one of our favorite books, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, while we searched the cave for bears. What fun!

We're Having a Great Time!

We left for our vacation on Friday, and we're having a great time so far! We started our vacation by visiting a local nature park.
Helping row a boat through a cypress swamp. She's been singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" ever since!

O observed bees making honey.
She was very impressed with the fish, and she kept asking to see "more fish."
She liked watching the king snake crawling around in its cage. This gave me the creepy crawlies, but I tried not to let O see that I don't like snakes.
She pounded rice in a rice mill.
Trying out a tree trunk chair.