A Week Of Firsts

This past week has been a huge week of firsts for Riley.  Typically when you say these words, you are talking about a baby, but this time I am talking about my five year old.  Sadly I don't have a lot of pictures to show, just little stories.     It all started Friday night when Riley starts whining at the dinner table that his tooth was loose.  Riley did not get his first tooth until he was 10 months old, so I did not expect a loose tooth until at least first grade.  Here I am trying to eat dinner, and listening to him whine.   I told him to come over and let me feel it.  It couldn't have moved more than a 1/16 of an inch.  Being the ever sympathetic mom, I told him to get over it and eat his dinner.  It would probably be a month before his tooth came out.  At this point I forgot about the tooth and moved on with life.

     Flash forward to Saturday afternoon and next event.  Riley's soccer game was at noon.  I was so proud of how he looked last week.  He had been focused and aggressive.  But Randy was out of town last weekend, so I was hoping for a repeat performance.  Not only did I get a repeat, but Riley also scored his first goal in 2 seasons.  One proud soccer mom!  Of course I did not have the camera!

   Sunday morning I taught PreK Sunday school.  After sunday school all the children in the church headed into the sanctuary with the palm branches and the younger children sang.  Riley was so excited to be in front of the whole church waving his palm branches.  After church we changed clothes in the car and headed out to Lone Star Park for the kids' first horse races.  It was opening weekend and Randy and I had not been out there since before we had kids.  Our Star Telegram Press Pass got us in free for the weekend, so we decided to go out there for a few races.  We got there a little early so we headed over to the kids park where the kids got to ride a pony. 

We had hoped to see Sponge Bob but the line was crazy long!  After the pony ride we showed the kids the jockeys and race horses up close.  Then it was time for the first race.  Riley was pretty interested, but Alex was beginning to show signs of needing a nap. We placed more bets and watched another race.  Then I decided the kids needed a treat, it was getting pretty hot.  So we headed inside for some ice cream.  While this was messy, it didn't do much for how tired Alex was getting.  After the 3rd race, we decided it was time to let Riley place his first gamble.  He picked horse #3 to show.  Horse #3 came in 3rd place.  Riley won $2.75.  He thought that was pretty cool.  Never mind that the original $2 was our money.  My child is now a gambler at the age of 5!  Another first!
   Monday morning was another first.  I was standing in the hall during my co-curr about 8:30 in the morning and out pops Riley, baby tooth in hand!  Did I mention he was beaming???  I had no idea it was even close to being that loose.  I think the kids in Mrs. Adams class were all having tooth pulling lessons because 3 children lost a tooth on Monday in Mrs. Adams class alone!  Anyway I ran upstairs to get my camera phone and went to meet Riley in the nurse's office.

The funny thing was my mom's reaction was "oh darn, he lost it at school."  She didn't realize that it is actually cooler to lose your tooth at school because you get to put your tooth in a tooth container that you can wear proudly all day and put your name on the tooth tree outside the nurse's office.   Monday night he put his tooth in his A&M tooth pillow (that has been stored in the closet since his first birthday).  The tooth fairy flew in that night and left a letter and $5.  I have heard that the tooth fairy pays more for the first tooth than the remaining teeth. 

Tuesday was a calm day and not any firsts.

Today was another day filled with firsts.  Riley had his Kindergarten field trip to the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History.  I took off work so that I could go as a chaperone. 

First bus ride and it the very back seat no less!

The kids had a great time.  We explored the exhibits for about an hour.  Of course they spent the most time outside with the water tables.  Never mind that it was 68 degrees and cloudy!  So cold!

After some play time we all met up to go see his first IMAX movie, BUGS.

 When the movie was over, we had time for a few more exhibits.  This time we checked out the dinosaurs area.  Here are my three sitting in a dinosaur footprint.

 Then we took advantage of the cooler weather, and dug in the dinosaur dig.  The kids had so much fun.  I could have stayed on that bench for hours.

 But the time came to head back to the bus and head home.  I knew the back row had gotten quiet...this is what I found.

Ahh!  What a great day!

Friday & Last Day- Magic Kingdom- Take 2

Sadly our final day at Disney arrived.  This time we headed back to Magic Kingdom to catch up on all that was missed on the super short first day. 

 I really contemplated going the opposite direction in the park to catch up on the side that was missed, but we decided to go straight up the middle instead.  Mom, Dad, and the kids headed to Fantasyland while I dashed off to get fast passes for Space Mountain.  As I am waiting to get fast passes, I notice the line to see Mickey & Minnie and it is super short.  So I start calling & calling & calling.  Finally I gave up and started my brisk walk to join the rest.  I can't believe I was within 5 people of seeing Mickey & Minnie and no one heard their phone ring.  Grr!!!

 Anyway first up was "It's A Small World".  Alex absolutely loved the dancing dolls.  Its funny, Riley's favorite ride the first time was Dumbo, but Alex likes the music & dancing.  In fact she was even orchastrating the music throughout the ride.  SOOO cute!

 I don't think any of us minded this being a favorite ride.  The line was cooler & much shorter than Dumbo. 

After this we headed back to Space Mountain.  Again I was a little nervous because the ride is totally in the dark.  But of course Riley loved it.  Then we rode Buzz Lightyear one more time, because we just had to!
After that we headed to the other side of the park to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, this time with Gampa and then because the line was so short we rode Splash Mountain. 

 Calling Nana in between rides to let her know what our plans were.  Alex really wanted to ride Splash Mountain and she would have loved the characters, but unfortunately it has one big drop off and she is not big enough yet.  Another trip...

 Right after we came down the mountain.  Just a little wet, because you know we had to be in the front car!

 This sign just seemed to fit how our day was going this time around!

After getting off the ride, we found Frontierland Mickey & Minnie posing in a tucked away spot.  So Dad & Riley got in line and I ran to find Mom & Alex, because she couldn't hear the phone.  Notice a trend???

Alex was so excited as soon as she saw Mickey & Minnie.  Oh and fever had finally broken.  Woohoo!  Maybe that was why the day was soooo much better!

As our turn came around, Alex and Riley went straight up there to give them each a big hug.  It was absolutely precious.  It took the whole trip, but I was able to stand back and just admire them enjoying their special time with the characters.

After Mickey and Minnie time we discovered this little toddler playground tucked away.  I really wish we had realized this was here while Riley, Dad, and I were riding the rides.  Alex would have been perfectly content hanging out here for quite a while.  Mom had taken her to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride that is alot like Dumbo, but she did not like it at all.

Then we all headed over to ride The Jungle Cruise & Pirates of the Carribean.

So much excitement from the day and Alex was stealing a quick nap during the Pirates line.

We thought we would head back to the hotel to take a quick nap, but along the way we realized it was time for the afternoon parade.  We had never actually seen this and were curious.  So we went to our usual spot for the night parade and got settled in.  I decided to treat us all to an ice cream float, which sounded heavenly on this extra warm day.  I just didn't realize the line was going to take so long.  We were literally passing it around as the parade began.  It is kind of crazy juggling an ice cream float and a camera.
It was so cute to hear Alex yell, "Woody" before I even spotted him.  She really knows the Toy Story characters.  Almost as much as Beauty and the Beast.

Loving every minute of the Disney characters and the parade from the perfect location of Gampa's arms.

The beautiful Belle

After the parade we went and rode Buzz Lightyear and Its a Small World one more time.  Then it was time to go, but I think this smile on the bus ride home says it all!

Day 4 Epcot & Breakfast with the Princesses!!

Before I begin with our day, I have to start with the night before.  Wednesday night was AWFUL!!  I guess I should start with the stupid decision I made Tuesday evening.  We got back early from Hollywood Studios and thought if there was a single night for swimming, then Tuesday would be the night.  The only problem was the water was soooo cold.  I kept trying to bounce around and let Alex start having fun.  But she cried the whole time.  I rushed her back to the room and put her in a warm bath.  Eventually she fell asleep but with wet hair and totally exhausted.  So I should not have been surprised when the fever returned with a vengence on Wednesday night.  It was at least 102.6 and woke her up every hour.  When Thursday early morning rolled around, she had just finally slept for a straight 2 hour period.  Needless to say, she was a bear when we woke her.  She didn't want to have breakfast with the princesses and she didn't want to wear her Belle dress.  Eventually I got her dressed, but you can see on the bus she is still not in a happy mood.  

 I think we all have that sleepy look on our faces.  But I was determined that she was going to meet Belle!!!

 Our breakfast was scheduled in Norway at 8am.  The park opened at 9, so we were the first in the park for the morning.  Epcot was also celebrating their Garden Festival.  I love this timing at Epcot.  This year they had the Pixar characters greeting you from Toy Story 3.

 Then the girls posed with Daisy.

 The boys posed with Mickey, Minnie, & Pluto.

 The favorite, Lightning McQueen.  It was early morning and you can see how thick the fog was.  It was kind of strange to stand by the edge of the water and not be able to see anything on the other side.  Oh and check out our shirts.  Thursday was also St. Patrick's Day.  So we all had matching green shirts with Mickeys and our names.

After a few pictures, we made it to Norway and the Royal Banquet Hall.

 The first thing you do is pose with a designated princess for your posed 8x10 picture.  We were so excited that the designated princess was Belle.  As we stepped up the photographer asked if we wanted pictures with the kids and Belle or the whole family.  I told him that I preferred it be just Alex, but if she wouldn't pose then I would take the kids and me.  As expected Alex wouldn't go up by herself, so we all went up.  The photographer took the picture.  Then just as we were leaving, Belle worked her magic.  She turned to Alex and asked for a hug.

 Alex looked at her and hugged her.  Then all the frustration slipped away and the magic took over.  We got the perfect picture with the perfect princess!!!  I literally almost cried.

After the picture miracle, we headed to our buffet to start getting our breakfast.  But as soon as we put some food on a plate, we realized the princesses were starting to come around to the tables.  So we rushed back to our table.  But the Aurora was not Belle and Alex wasn't ready to pose on her own.

 Alex did pose with Ariel.  I wish I could say that Riley would have posed too, but he had a serious crush on Ariel and was hiding shyly at the table.

 Snow White does not have red hair so Riley was willing to pose with her, and Alex was beginning to get the hang of things.  :)

Finally we met with Cinderella, then rushed off to go ride some rides before the park got crowded.  We got our fast passes for Soarin and then headed to meet up with more characters.

 The magic of the morning was beginning to wear off and the sleepiness started to set back in.  So much for happy pictures with Mickey & Minnie.

 Not even close to happy!

But don't we all look great in our green shirts!!

I wish I could say that they day got better from here on. But it was a really warm day. There were several rides that Alex could not go on. She did take a nap while Dad, Riley, & I rode Soarin but she was still a worn out & sick little girl.

 Patience wore thin as the day wore on.  Finally after lunch we decided to let Riley, Mom, & I ride Test Track with our fast passes and then head back to the hotel.  As we were walking back we saw the line to take pictures with Belle.  Alex insisted on standing in line.  She was all for Belle, but not quite as sure about the huge Beast.

 Beauty and the Beast in Flowers.

Cinderella and Prince Charming

 Check out that pose with Tigger!

Our last ride at Epcot was Spaceship Earth.  I would have really enjoyed this ride, if Riley had not pushed the buttons that made the entire ride for us in Japanese!  But Alex did enjoy the car driving game after we got off the ride. 

Overall this definitely not one of our best days, but we all really enjoyed our breakfast with the princesses.  It was after all one of my most anticipted moments of the trip and I was not disappointed.