Where memories are made...

WARNING!!

Photo overload!!

Below is an overdose of Disney magic!!

If you dare, enjoy the story behind one precious little (almost 3 year old) boy's first Disney experience! :)

We never told Connor where we were going, but he had an idea it was a "fun place."

After we dropped our luggage off, we walked a few steps past our hotel room to see something amazing...

Connor could not believe his eyes! He spotted his buddy, Rex, then could not contain himself when he saw "BUZZ!" (you'll see Buzz a little later)...

We walked through Andy's room to check out the rest of the hotel...

Connor jumped into "Buzz's car" aka "RC."

This is just an example of why Connor has the coolest Nana ever...

Speaking of cool grandparents, Connor's one and only Papa suited up to go for a swim in the Fantasia pool with his one and only Connor!

On our way back to our room, we had to pay Buzz another visit. We got used to paying Buzz at least 10 visits a day (no joke). Connor would take any opportunity to "show you Buzz Lightyear."

Connor was so funny, asking me to "take my picture." Even if I didn't have my camera, he would just ask me to "pretend," so I'd just hold up my hands and take a fake picture :).



We also found it pretty darn cool that the blocks near our room read B-W-L-K
(Papa's business)!

Auntie Katie arrived that night! Once Connor finally pooped out, we got a good night's rest and woke up ready for a trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Since Connor doesn't know any of the princesses, we referred to this place as "Mickey's Castle!"

Connor's first ride was the Winnie the Pooh ride where we all sat in a big honey pot. We were very fortunate to not wait in any line for more than 15-20 minutes. It was so hard hyping up a new, fun ride, then explaining to your little child that they must wait in line! The hardest line to wait in was the Dumbo ride. Nana was so sweet to go stand in line, while we tried to distract Connor. Connor was royally annoyed when I placed him in this stationary Dumbo to take his picture though. His face read, "I am so not fooled, Mom. I want the real thing."

We were overjoyed to find there was no wait for the It's a Small World ride. I recall the wait being at least an hour and a half as a kid!

Check out this precious face taking it all in...

We made our way over to the Buzz ride. While waiting in line, Connor caught a glimpse of the real Buzz...so we had to hop out of line to hop into the real Buzz line!

We hopped on the People Mover after Buzz. It's amazing how one little person makes even the most boring rides exciting! Life is so much better with Connor there!

We made our way around the park and stumbled across Buzz's buddies...Woody & Jessie! We hopped in line to have the nice Disney employee tell us we were too late and that Woody & Jessie needed to get to the character parade and she already let the last family in line. We were thoroughly disappointed, but luckily Connor didn't see what was happening. We walked around the corner to avoid Connor making eye contact with Woody & Jessie, and we tried to come up with a plan B. I let Connor stretch his legs and got him out of his stroller. Just as we were chatting, out from around the corner comes no one other but WOODY! He just strolled by and gave Connor a high five! If only I had a camera to capture the shocked beyond belief look on Connor's face as his hero just happily walked on by! It was a moment I'll never forget! Connor was so cute and was like "Hey Woody!" Before we got over the excitement of that moment, seconds later, Jessie came out from around the corner too. Connor was able to give her another high five as she passed on by to get ready for the parade. Great memory for us and Connor!!

I guess they realized there was enough time before the parade, so Woody & Jessie made it back to their station to greet more kiddies. Auntie Katie got a place in line while we got ice cream bars. Once we made our way to the front, Connor was cute as can be with the world's coolest cowboy and cowgirl!

Kisses for the lady...

And hugs for Mr. Woody!

You best believe this picture will make it's way into a frame in Connor's room!

We then found ourselves a seat and waited for the character parade to begin. While we waited, a cute little band made their way over and started talking with Connor. *Throughout the whole day, Disney staff called on Connor by his name since "Connor" was posted on the front of his shirt. It was fun to see how Connor felt like everyone knew him!

A little Papa-Connor bonding time before the parade began...

The good ol' "floppy wave" to all of the passing characters :)

High five!

The parade was perfect! We got to see some great characters and were able to rest a bit as well!

Connor made a request for the Buzz ride again, so we went for round 2!
Papa dominated and shot the most aliens with his laser gun, while Connor was busy pushing the joystick on our cart (sending Auntie Katie into shades of green!). It was hilarious and by far, the best ride!

A ginormous thank you to Nana & Papa for everything on our trip. :)

This picture makes me laugh. This was on our bus ride back to the hotel. I'm pretty sure Connor was being a booger and either announced that he "tooted" or something else similar that he knows he shouldn't be doing. Why is it that boys find bodily functions humorous?!?!

We were all wiped out from Disney, but one little boy was still full of gusto! He immediately requested we "go see Buzz and Andy's toys."

We cleaned up, met up with Katie's honey, Eric, and headed to Downtown Disney for supper. We were traveling with a little boy that has a busy busy fun-filled day and who opted not to nap, so we were expecting the worst but hoping for the best!

Family photo take #2
(the gang minus Craig & Nicole)

And take #3 (our attempt at a good photo of just the 3 of them).

Connor caught a second wind after supper (its amazing what food will do for this child).
We crashed when we got back to our hotel, packed up the next morning, and headed on over to a nearby resort for our special character breakfast before heading home!

We took a stroll around the resort and tried to kill time before our breakfast.

There was a lot of distracting Connor and waiting to be seated at the breakfast, followed by a heart broken little boy when Minnie Mouse accidentally skipped our table, but all was better when Donald, Goofy, and Minnie made their way around to us!

Hugs...

and smooches...

Although Connor was hoping for Mickey, he settled for Minnie :)
Check out his 'cheese face!'

We had such a wonderful trip! Connor is still asking for "more fun stuff" at the "fun place!" I'm pretty sure I need to invest in a 4-story high Buzz Lightyear for our backyard! :)

Thank you so much to Nana, Papa, Auntie Katie, and Eric for sharing in the fun with us! We can't wait to go again!

Trick or Treat!

Frankenstein was dressed early & was on the loose...

His first stop...to hang with "The other Frankenstein."
He was so precious as he kept telling me,
"Mommy TWO Frankensteins. TWO Frankensteins!"

After hanging with Frankenstein at the neighbor's house for a few minutes, we loaded up and headed to a "Halloween Party." This "party" was more like an hour length costume kiddie hang out full of songs, crafts, snacks, and goodies full of parents standing with cameras in hope of making fun Halloween memories for their little ones. Well, this Mom, made the mistake of calling this outing a "party", because my child associates a party with c-a-k-e. Imagine his disappointment when I kept talking of how much fun this party would be and then he comes to find there is no c-a-k-e anywhere to be found! Let's just say this short fun-filled hour meeting was more work than it was worth! At least Connor fit the part as 'monster' with his costume on ;)

We peeled out of the hot costume for a nice nap, refueled, and then got suited up once again for the long awaited "trick or treating." We all met at Nana & Papa's and went trick or treating around their neighborhood. It was a flashback to my childhood Halloweens. The Meyer family even came by with their kids, so it really was a flashback to when we would all go around together. Only now, we're watching our kids do it! It was pretty neat :)

If only this picture had sound...
My little Frankenstein just giggled and clapped his little hands until he got Nana's motion-sensor talking jack-o-lantern to talk. It was pretty darn adorable...

Nana & Papa also had a neighbor that went all out with their decorations. Connor spent a good half hour playing in their yard at the end of the night!

Connor hitched a ride in Kaylee & Austin's wagon

The Sluders' precious Olivia pumpkin had the same idea...

Connor kept right up there with the bigger kids, shooting out his "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." He even threw in a few "Happy Halloweens." It made his Mama quite proud :)

These neighbors (Stan and Judy) had a special place in their heart for Connor. We definitely made sure to stop by their house!

(This picture makes me laugh! It sums up about every house we went up to. At least one person was taken out by Aidan's Buzz Lightyear wings! The best part was Aidan had no idea the entire time! :) )


My precious monster was excellent all night!

Connor tried a few goodies while we were still collecting...
Connor was introduced to an oatmeal creme pie...and enjoyed every crumb of it!
He tried a few M&Ms and cheeseballs, but handed them over to me pretty quickly after he decided they weren't the greatest. I happily accepted :)
I will be thrilled (and probably heavier) if Connor continues to not eat candy!

This was one memorable Halloween!
We got back to the house to find Matt waiting for us (looking all handsome in his business clothes). It was Matt's first day of work for Parker Hannifin! After a few months of anxiously waiting to hear if he got the job, we were so very excited to learn he would be a part of that wonderful company.

All in all, we had a wonderful Halloween! :)