Before we left for our trip to Disney World, Scott and I heard somewhere that Disney can sometimes be referred to as "The Agony and the Ecstasy". How true! Matthew had a fabulous time and we loved seeing him have so much fun, but it's a lot of work. And it is funny, once you're away from the heat, the crowds, the park food and all the walking, you are left with memories of a great trip.
This was Matthew's first trip to Disney World. We had been planning this adventure for months and kept it a secret from Matthew until the day we left. We were so excited to tell him where we were going and he just smiled and said "ok". It was very anti-climatic for us. I think that Matthew began to realize the enormity of this trip as we were on our way to the resort on the Magical Express bus.
After a long day of travel, we arrived at Disney's Caribbean Beach resort very late. We were all beat and hungry. But Matthew got his second wind when he saw our "pirate room". He immediately wanted all of us to dress up as pirates and play. He loved to steal the treasure and then sail away on his ship (a.k.a his bed).
It took a lot of coaxing to get him to go to sleep that night. Little did he know what was in store for him over the next few days.
We spent most of the next day recovering from our travels. Grandpa Mike and Grandma Karen came that day and joined us in exploring the resort and playing on the playground and in the pool.
We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant at Downtown Disney the first evening that Grandpa Mike and Grandma Karen arrived. We went to the Lego store after dinner and Matthew was so excited to see a whole store full of just Legos. He really enjoyed being able to make his own "Lego car" and race against the cars that other kids had made. If the truth be known, I think that all the adults enjoyed it just as much, if not more.
The next day, we visited Disney Hollywood Studios. Matthew got to meet Lightening McQueen and Towmater and see them in a stunt show. One of Matthew's favorite things that day was the Disney Junior show that featured the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. He loved the gold doubloons that fell from the ceiling during the show. Matthew really liked the big spider web in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. He climbed on it at least 5 times.
On our first day at Magic Kingdom, we caught the end of the parade as we were entering the park. There were very few people around so we got a front row seat for the show. Matthew was thrilled and blew a kiss to Goofy as he went by. We were so surprised when Goofy caught his kiss, held it to his heart and blew one back to Matthew. Great moment!
Matthew's all-time favorite thing to do at Disney was to drive the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway. They gave him a Mickey Mouse drivers license, but we think they made a serious error. His favorite way to drive was with no hands on the wheels and let the car bump from side to side. He was hysterical with laughter and we were too.
We had a blast at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party and parade. We tried to dress Matthew up in his dinosaur costume, but it was too hot that evening. So mom and dad were the only ones in official costume. Although Matthew had the choice of going trick or treating or meeting some of the Disney characters, the only thing that he wanted to do was ride more rides (especially the Tomorrowland Speedway). He truly is an adventurous boy. We wondered if we might be pushing his limits a little by letting him ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but after the ride finished, he wanted to ride again and again and again....
We spent the next couple of days still at Magic Kingdom, since Matthew seemed to really enjoy it. We took a raft over to Tom Sawyer Island and we explored caves, a frontier fort and floating tire bridges. Matthew especially liked pretending that he was hiding in the fort and shooting at the roller coaster across the river. We found a great spot to sit and relax while rocking in chairs on a beautiful covered porch.
One of Matthew's favorite things to do was to march along the train tracks in the park. As soon as we were through the front gates, he would be shouting "Let's get marching on the train tracks". So it's only appropriate that we marched along the track on our way out of Disney our last day.
We spent the last couple of days at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Karen's house playing in the pool and running around the house playing pirates. I don't think that their cats will ever be the same again ; )
It was a great trip and it was wonderful to spend time together as a family without all of the distractions of work and home. Those are the best kinds of vacations, no matter where you go : )
Lights on the tree out front
Matthew's Charlie Brown Christmas Tree
"Now this is a big one!"
Daddy and son Santas
Zoolights
A little chilly for Zoolights
More Zoolights
Unpacking the electric train
Asleep with "Chrismoose" on Christmas Eve
Legos, Legos and more Legos
Ready to race daddy at the boat pond
Decorating a gingerbread house with Grammie
We started out Halloween weekend with a sleepover with Matthew's friend, Jonas. The boys loved hanging out and playing Legos and cars and going for a hike in the woods. However, bedtime was a little challenging with two chatty boys. The next day, despite staying up late, they made their own potato head pumpkins and we made treats to take to a party later in the evening.
Halloween was a little less crazy this year because we decided to go Trick or Treating at Uptown rather than joining all of Gig Harbor downtown. It was a little less of a score for candy for Matthew, but I think he's still too young to figure that out yet : ) He decided very early this past September that he wanted to be a dinosaur for Halloween so he was thrilled to finally wear his costume after having it for so long. We also had several (like 20) applications of green face paint leftover from his frog costume last year, so he wanted a green-faced T Rex this year. We found it very funny when we asked him what a T Rex ate, Matthew responded, of course, with "candy". 
Before we left for our trip to Disney World, Scott and I heard somewhere that Disney can sometimes be referred to as "The Agony and the Ecstasy". How true! Matthew had a fabulous time and we loved seeing him have so much fun, but it's a lot of work. And it is funny, once you're away from the heat, the crowds, the park food and all the walking, you are left with memories of a great trip.
