Final FL Pics

Here are the last of our vacation pictures. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to take Sophie to the pool. She was a little hesitant at first, but soon got the hang of her water wings and loved swimming.

Sun-bathing

I think Sophie's favorite part of being at the pool was the snack break

Daddy-Sophie time

Post-swimming lunch on the screened-in porch. She wanted to live out there and frequently went out and played for a long time by herself. Anyone know how I can get a free porch installed?

All that swimming and playing takes it out of you

And here's a little swimming video:

Nerd Family

Magic Kingdom - Part 2

After our afternoon nap we felt brave enough to go back to Disney World, and a nice afternoon rain had cooled off and emptied out the park a bit. Sophie's favorite part of the day was probably splashing in the puddles while waiting to board the ferry.

Shooting her Buzz Lightyear laser gun. Since she went on this ride Sophie has been pointing her finger gun and trying to shoot Zurg so I made a rule that she can only shoot Zurg - not people.

This was as close as we got to Mickey. We decided not to wait for 30 minutes for Sophie to hug a mouse.

Only Aunt Laura and Gran were brave enough to ride the teacups with Sophie, and she LOVED it!

Playing on the playground

Driving cars with Daddy

Electrical Parade

And we capped off the night with fireworks and a funnel cake. Of course as soon as we got in the car Sophie said, "Oh no! We forgot to ride Dumbo." Hopefully she'll remember some of her day there, and not just the parts she didn't get to do. Thanks to the family for being troopers and making it memorable for all of us.

Magic Kingdom - Part 1

Thanks to the Disney "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" volunteer program, we were able to go to the Magic Kingdom for a day for free. Back in March my mom, dad, and I spent some time making blankets for kids for Project Linus - a charity organization that gives blankets to children in hospitals. It's a great charity, and we were glad to be able to do that, and of course get a day at Disney in return. My cousin Robin drove down from Jacksonville to join us and it was great to catch up with her.

On the ferry on our way to the happiest place on earth.

Sophie got to go to a character breakfast with Gran and Papa and met some friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.

Giving "snuggles" to Tigger

Love this one - so happy!

Toward the end of the breakfast she apparently got a little tired and a little shy. That's okay, Piglet is shy too.

She still hadn't seen Pooh and was getting a little sad and tired, so Gran called Mommy in for back-up and we saw Pooh together. She was very shy, but Pooh was patient and understanding. Actually, I had to say that these character actors are really great - they totally know how to handle all kinds of kids and were so sweet with Soph.

Unsure on the Jungle Cruise

It's hard to tell here, but she was LOVING the magic carpet ride

By lunchtime she had had enough, so we decided to go back to the condo so we could all take naps. Sophie was a little sad to leave - she told me she needed to stay and "meet everyone." It's hard to explain to a 2 year-old that you're leaving the most magical place she's ever been in order to take a nap, but that you'll come back later. And it's even harder to get her to actually take that nap. But it's a good thing we did, because we ended up staying at the park that night until almost 11 and she did great...more pics to come.

Sea World

While in FL Sophie got the special treat of going to Sea World with Uncle Bubby and Aunt Laura. Let's just say she was spoiled just a bit - she ran into the condo afterward clutching a stuffed Shamu in one hand and a polar bear in the other (she explained that the whale was for Micah), and told me all about eating at the shark restaurant and feeding the fish and playing in the sand. It was a very special day for her with her aunt and uncle, and a special day for her daddy and me to sit by the pool and relax.

Feeding fish to the seals

Actually, the sand was probably the highlight of her day. I happen to think that sand boxes are the worst toy ever invented for children. And Sophie couldn't disagree with me more. So when Laura and Aaron let her roll around (literally) in the sand, she was thrilled. Here she's demonstrating her "crab walk" skills.