Fayetteville, Georgia: Laney's Birthday Party

A few day after Logan's party, we attended a great birthday party for Gavin's girlfriend Laney.  She invited the whole preschool class and their siblings to Chuck E. Cheese on a Thursday morning right when they opened their doors at 9am.  This timing was perfect for we had the whole place to ourselves which made this first experience for us magical.  In fact, I might not never dare to top it!  

No surprise, but the boys had a blast.  All their games were one token and there were so many games suitable for the younger players.
 

Logan found this little car ride addicting and eventually professed his love for it.
 

But where the majority of Logan's token ended up was this laser shooting spider game.
 

Okay, Logan really loved all the games.  Gavin was too busy having the time of his life with all his classmates to get in too many pictures.
 

And for one token, this machine would take a sketch of you and another.  I snatched one token from each boy to remember the awesome morning.
 

Behind the Scenes and After the Fact

 

 

 

After our quasi photo shoot, the boys got a little silly.

The Many Faces of Logan

 

 

 

January 2013

The Many Faces of Gavin

 

 

 

January 2013

Throwback Monday to Our Ward Christmas Party

I discovered some printed pictures our church had distributed from the 2012 Christmas Party back in February.  It only took me a few months to finally scan them digitally. 

Logan's Thor'd Birthday

We celebrated Logan's third birthday the Saturday after Disney, and I apologize to our family that I am just now posting the event.  This was the first year Logan was aware of any sense of a theme so when we asked he quickly answered with a Thor birthday.  Since this was his Halloween costume last year, it was not a huge surprise but fun nevertheless coming up with ideas.  We kept the party pretty simple with inviting only his closest friends and their siblings.    

Here is the invitation I created for the big day using a shot from Halloween.

We played with a floor full of balloons and duck duck goose until everyone arrived.
 

Then it was time to make them superheroes! Logan received a special Thor mask as the birthday boy.
 

Getting ready to fly off to save some stuffed animals!
 

We took them on a tour of the house flying around the various rooms, under tables, over ottomans, and jumping over pillows.

All to rescue the stuffed animals!
 

The big three year old in his appropriate Avengers birthday shirt.
  

He was on cloud nine the whole party surrounded by his friends and fun.
 

Logan's friend Thomas was pretty camera and activity shy so I wanted a shot of just him.
 

Present time!
 

Such a happy boy who loves life!
 

Jacksonville, Florida: Our Last Leg of the Trip

Park time at Papa's park is always a must!

This shot of Logan blowing out his candles was from a video on our phone, hence the weird crop that I do not feel like fixing at the moment. 

With Logan's birthday two days after we arrive home, we celebrated a few days early while at Papa's.  Logan was gifted Lincoln Logs which quickly got put to use!

No trip to Florida is complete without a 'bon voyage' Slurpee.  We are deprived of them in Georgia.

Guess who slept most of the way home?

And then guess who did not sleep at all?

Orlando, Florida: Day Four, Magic Kingdom Take Two

Much to the surprise and delight of the boys, Papa played hooky at work on Friday and joined us for our last day of Disney fun!  Friday was significantly cooler requiring us to wear our pants and jackets, but we came prepared as much for Florida in February.  Magic Kingdom was also significantly more busy on Friday compared to our Wednesday visit.  In fact,  I would dare to say it was the busiest Sean and I have ever seen Magic Kingdom together.  And if you know my dad, you know how much he loves crowds.   

Once inside the door, we headed straight to meet Mickey while everyone was still in good spirits.  From there, here were the attractions we visited: Walt Disney World Railroad to Fantasyland, Goofy's Barnstormer, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and his new circus tents, Mad Tea Party, Tomorrowland Speedway, Torrowland People Mover, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Peter Pan's Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, it's a Small World, and Sean & Gavin rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Despite the crowds, we were able to still pack in a lot of fun and many of the classic rides!   

Every morning about 10 minutes before the park officially opens there is a special Magic Kingdom Welcome Ceremony.  There is singing, dancing, Mickey, other character friends and of course fireworks.  Everything to get you in the Disney spirit and pull at your heart strings.  In all my life and half spent as a Florida resident, I never knew there was a special ceremony to open the doors to Magic Kingdom.  As everyone was fresh from a night's rest, the crowd was just miles of smiles.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Gavin had a special experience when he got picked to be a volunteer.  The host Mike Wazowski interviewed Gavin for his name, age, what he wants to be when he grows up (said 'worker man') and if he was having a good day.  He was pretty floored over the whole thing.  Pun totally intended!

Overall it was just a Miner vacation but so worth the memories!