We just spent a fun filled week with Tyler's brother Travis, his darling wife Alise and Jackson's precious cousin Avery! We had been looking forward to their visit for so long and it turned out great. The weather was awesome, no rain, sunny days, and we even got really cold a couple nights! It was so much fun to see them again and to have Jackson and Avery get to spend so much time together. Jackson only has 2 cousins (but 1 more on the way!) so it's good for him to get to know Avery who is only 6 months younger!
Not sure if it is an activity our neighbors appreciated, but Ty and Trav had fun hitting balls into the lake behind our house.
We hit up Epcot and Magic Kingdom on our first Disney day and it would be an understatement to say that Jackson was difficult... He was finally over the majority of his illness but after several sleepless nights he was not his normal easy going self. This led to me understanding what it would be like to have a difficult child and taking basically no pictures. But we were still able to have a pretty good time! Highlights at Epcot were the Aquarium, Test Track, Soarin, feeding the ducks, enjoying good food, and riding the boat ride in Mexico.
We headed to Magic Kingdom after the kiddos got some much needed naps back at our place. The evening began with a fun show in front of the castle that Avery and Jackson both loved!
We were able to ride Small World, Dumbo, the Carousal, Winnie the Pooh and the boys hit up Space Mountain while the moms and babies toured around on the people movers. We were able to watch the Disney Wishes and Firework show right in front of the castle and it was awesome! The babies did great and stayed awake until we got in our cars at about 9 pm.
The next couple days we took it at a much slower pace. During the weekend we went to the park, drove around Windermere, a high school football game, the mall, and Tyler and I were able to attend the temple while Travis and Avery graciously stayed home with the kiddos.
Saturday evening was lots of fun when we went mini golfing at Disney. J & A had so much fun with their little plastic clubs. I didn't know if we'd be able to golf the complete 18 holes with the little ones running around, but they did so well! We were able to golf the whole course and Travis is happy to say that after a fierce competition with Tyler ... he came up on top.
After our golfing we went over to the Disney Boardwalk area and walked around the beautiful Beach and Yacht Club Hotels. We had dinner on the Boardwalk at a great little deli and headed back home.
Our next big Disney day was Monday and we visited the other two parks - Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios. Can I tell you how much better behaved Jackson was this day?? So glad to have a happy and healthy baby again and I'm so glad Avery never got sick!
Anyways, we had lots of fun at animal kingdom on the safari, checking out gorillas, rode a "choo choo" and saw our friend perform in the finding nemo show! the boys rode Everest and Dinosaur while the moms and babies took the less thrilling rides in Dino-Land USA.
We didn't end up leaving the park til after 1pm and the babies were both so tired. Avery fell asleep in about 45 seconds and Jackson took about 4 minutes. Then Alise and I turned around and saw this...
That evening we went back over to Hollywood Studios and introduced Avery to Winnie the Pooh! She was so stinkin cute with him! She blew him kisses, gave him kisses hugs, and was so happy to see him. And then there was Jackson. Terrified, wouldn't touch him, wouldn't give a high five and didn't want to even stand too close, as the bottom picture portrays...
The boys hit up Rock'N, Toy Story, we saw the Indiana Show, Disney Jr Show, American Idol Finale Show, then got to walk around the Festival of Dancing Lights!
They left yesterday and Jackson has been looking very lonely walking around the house by himself. He might not have always been super gentle with Avery (as he tried to play catch and threw the ball at her face, or tried to give her a bottle but shoved it into her arm) but he really loved having her around.
My favorite moment was yesterday morning. I had to wake up Jackson at 7:30 so we could get ready to take them to the airport. As i walked in his room, Avery came with me. At first Jackson stayed laying down and was acting pretty tired. But then I said, "Jackson, guess who is here to see you --- Avery is in your room too!" At hearing this he immediately sat up looked out of the crib and got the biggest smile when he saw her. He then says "Hi! Hi! Hi" and begins waving excitedly. It was pretty dang adorable and I'm excited to reunite these two when we get to Utah for Christmas :-)
