Building Lightsabers

One of the many things the boys really wanted to do at Disney was build their own lightsabers.

Sophie is always willing to lend a helping hand.

Of course John picked purple.

Anders looked to be enamored by the whole process.

Soon Anders got the hang of putting his cool new toy together.

Even Sophie made one.  These things are actually pretty cool.  They even light up and make noises!

Disney World-Toy Story Style

We watched, what felt like hours, of those Planning your Disney Vacation videos and I still don't think the boys grasped just how big Disney was going to be. Debbie and Pam made sure to hit the things the kids were the most excited about.  John probably could have stayed another week and still not had his fill.  But he jotted down a list of the things he wants to see and do next time he goes.

 If only they were truly contained in this cell...

 Gus was VERY excited to see Buzz.

 When Gus saw this picture he said, " Do you know what I told Buzz?  I told him I was a big fan."  That the understatement of the year.  Look at that kid.  He can't let go!

 I could be wrong, but I think they are waiting for the Buzz ride.  Anders might have slept through the whole thing.  Disney takes a lot out of you.

 You can't see Buzz without seeing Woody and Jessie.  Anders didn't really know how he felt about Jessie.  It took him a while to warm up to her.

It's hard to tell in this picture.  But I believe Gus is standing how Woody usually stands...hand on hip and one foot out.

 Now Anders feels a little better about Jessie.   He'll hold her hand but it doesn't look like he is going to get any closer.

 I'm not sure if he ever really warmed up to Jessie.  But he seems to be just fine with Woody.

 Anders was insistant on wearing his hat like this.  This is ridiculously cute.  Anders seems to grasp the concept that his survival skills increase the cuter he is.

The boys have been talking about getting an Etch A Sketch this big for a couple of weeks now.  That would be a fun conversation piece in our house.

The Grand Floridian

Debbie and Pam toyed with a couple of different ideas about where to stay and ended up deciding to stay at the Grand Floridian because of its ideal location.  Never having been to Disney World myself I didn't realize what a big deal this was until people who knew Disney asked where the boys would be staying.

 Anders wants in!  That is his I'm not playing around face.

 This is the Grand Floridian.  Isn't it big and beautiful?

 The hotel staff had fun stuff for the kids to do by the pool.  Can you tell John is excited about something?

 I think he was excited about volunteering for an activity.  John is always in need of cold water being splashed in his face.

It looks like they had tons of fun activities for the kids to do during a relaxing day at the pool.

 Anders enjoyed being the pirate of the pool.  He came back from Disney with a new Jake and the Never Land Pirates infatuation.

 Gus was more than willing to sacrifice by eating ice cream at the pool daily.  Such a hard life.

Nickelodeon Resort

After spending a few days hanging out at Debbie and Pam's house, the crew was Disney bound.  Before hitting the Magical Kingdom, they stayed the night at the Nickelodeon Resort in Orlando.  While the boys watch a few Nick shows they watch them through Netflix so they don't see all of the Nick commercials.  But they did seem to know all bout being slimed.  They were excited to see how that all worked.

 Gus seems pretty happy to be there.

 John was ecstatic. 

 Getting crazier by the second.

 One big crazy party with Sophie.

 These two are not always a good combination for the sanity of the other people in the room.  They are two peas in a pod and they feed off of each others craziness.

 Somehow Anders managed to be upset in such a happy place.

Then he fell asleep and all was right in the world.

 The boys were excited to meet some Nickelodeon characters.

 Can you tell John is a 6 year old boy?  There goes Gus with the kissing again.

 Gus going down a slide with water at the end is a big deal.  Before this I'm not even sure Gus would go down a park slide with a rain puddle at the bottom.

 Anders, however, is game for just about anything.

 The boys had a great time running around the water park.

 Apparently Gus's trip down the water slide pooped him out and needed to relax.

 Anders just couldn't stay in one place for two long.

 All of these people are standing under the big Nickelodeon bucket.  I wondered why at first...keep scrolling.

 This would be why.  Sophie and the boys are in there somewhere.

 John was very excited about being slimed.

 Can't go to the Nickelodeon Resort without meeting SpongeBob.

After a busy day it was time to hit the hay.

Fun in Florida

I'm sure I will have several, and by several I mean a bajillion, posts about the boy's adventures in Florida this summer.  I just started tackling the pictures Debbie had on her camera and still have the disc of pictures the Disney staff took to go through.  I'm trying to narrow down as much as possible, but their time there was packed full of fun stuff.  I'm told Sophie took most of these pictures and I think she did a great job capturing the utter chaos and goofiness the boys exhibit.

The first few days in Florida were spent at Debbie and Pam's house.  It's a great thing they planned it that way since the flight from Chicago to Tampa kept getting delayed causing the clan to not get to the house until around 11:30 PM!  AND all of the boys were still awake!  When Debbie called me I was a little worried about what was in store for them the next day.

 Evidently they all slept in a little.  By a little I mean they stayed in bed until about 8.  That is the equivalent of noon normal people time.  Then they spent the morning lounging around.

 The boys love Sophie.  They just can't get enough of her.  This trip brought their love of her to a whole other level.

After a bit of time the boys were back to business as usual.

 John does not look happy.  Gus looks a little confused.  Business as usual.

 I noticed a running theme in many of the Florida pictures...Gus likes to kiss stuff. 

Anders needs to take a little rest and get a hug before he starts running around like a mad-man again.  I wonder if John is in time-out here.  If not,  I would love to know how they got him to willingly sit still for more than 2 seconds.

 One of Debbie and Pam's neighbors have a pool.  So the boys enjoyed swimming for hours.

 Sophie fits right in with our goof-ball boys.  Gus seems to have a disgusted look on his face most of the time.

Fun in the sun and they haven't even reached Disney yet!