Back from Disney

We just got back from a three-day trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with Bubbe, Aunt Laurie, and Uncle Jonathan. It was a really, really fun trip.

Mom, Dad, Hazel, Turner, and I flew from Austin to Dallas to Orlando. We all did really well on the plane flights. I found out that the in-flight magazines had statistics about all of the different kinds of airplanes.  I could see how many people could fit in different planes, how fast they could go, and how high they flew.  It was very interesting.  In addition, we all had our own backpacks with snacks and our Leap Pads. I was especially helpful in the airport helping to carry the bags.

Once we got to Orlando, we took a bus to our hotel, Art of Animation, which was all about characters from Disney. There was a giant swimming pool that had Nemo characters in it. We stayed in the Cars section, with our room right next to Bubbe, Aunt Laurie, and Uncle Jonathan. Mom and Dad were happy to have some extra grown-ups around to help.

Our hotel had a giant Mater statue right in front of it. Mom made sure to get a picture.

It was a crazy three days. We woke up early every day -- so early that Mom and Dad had to wake us up instead of the other way around, which is what usually happens. The first and third day we went to Magic Kingdom, and the second day we went to Animal Kingdom. Because it was the off-season, the lines weren't bad at all.

Each of us had our favorite rides. My favorite was "It's a Small World" because of each of the different countries. I have been learning all of the countries on my map so it was neat to be able to find the different ones on the ride. We did that ride twice.

Hazel's favorite rides were the Tea Cups and the Dumbo flying elephants. We did those rides twice, maybe even three times for the Tea Cups.

Turner's favorite was the Barnstormer, a roller coaster that I didn't even try to go on. Turner is a crazy dare-devil. He also liked the train a lot.

Dad's favorite ride was the Jungle Safari in Animal Kingdom, where we saw giraffes, hippos, rhinos, and zebras. Mom's favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear Spin, where she got to shoot aliens. She creamed Dad at that. She also liked Animal Kingdom, where she had the opportunity to pose in a picture with this monkey.

We also all liked the carousel, the Liberty Square boat ride, and the Magic Carpet Ride in Magic Kingdom. In Animal Kingdom, we took a break to play in a giant sandbox and also looked at a live hawk.

One ride we definitely did NOT like was the water ride that got us all wet. Hazel and I went with Mom and Dad on that ride, and we were MAD when we got soaked. We both said it was the worst ride ever. Fortunately, we dried out soon enough, and went on to other rides. None of us kids liked the Pirates of the Caribbean either.

We also weren't crazy about the shows, especially the "4D" ones that sprayed us with air and water. Hazel and Mom were also not crazy about the Belle show, as you can see from Hazel's expression in this picture.  After the first day, we stopped going to the shows.

On our last morning, we had a breakfast with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Our favorite was Donald Duck. Turner was a little scared of Goofy. Mom loved the breakfast. It was a huge buffet with more breakfast choices than she's ever seen, and Mom was happy to get a cup of real coffee.

Our last night we watched an awesome parade, and then a great show on the castle, followed by fireworks. It was a great way to end the trip.

It was a fantastic trip and we all had a really great time.  You can see all of the pictures from our trip here.

Award Winner

The glitz and glamour of the award ceremony

I am now officially a recognized award winner in the field of science. Last week, my science fair project was selected as a winner out of more than 40 kindergarten entries in my elementary school's science fair.

I worked on the project with another friend in my class.  Our project involved melting crayons. We formulated our hypotheses by guessing which colors would melt faster. We each thought our favorite color would melt first. Our moms helped us actually melt the crayons. After three trials, we discovered that the darker colors did melt faster.

After the experiments, we put together a poster showing our experiment and its results. We had to glue pictures and write our names, and I helped Mom type up my information.

Mom and Dad were impressed with the experiment, but none of us ever expected to win! I got a medal to wear around school all day. Perhaps this will be the first of many awards in my future.

Snow Days!!!

Believe it or not, we've had two days off school due to wintery weather in the past week -- and a couple days in the 70s in between our snow days. Here's a photo of Hazel and me enjoying the so-called snow.

Turner did it!

Today was a big day for Turner.

We've all been harassing him for a while, telling him he should use the potty. Last week, Mom got Hazel some new underwear when Hazel stopped wearing Pull-Ups to bed at night. Mom also got some for Turner and told him he could have them when he uses the potty.

Then last night he told Mom he wanted to wear underwear. She said he could try in the morning, but only if he'd try using the potty first. After breakfast this morning, she gave him a new book starring his hero, Elmo, and told him he can only read it when he's sitting on the potty. He was super excited and started taking off his jeans right away.

After reading the book for a really long time, Mom put a Curious George video on for him and told him he could get off the potty whenever he wanted, but if he wasn't on the potty, she was turning off the video. After a while, he told Mom he was ready to put his pants back on because he was finished -- he had peed in the potty!

Hazel and Mom told Turner how proud they are and Mom gave him a new book as a prize. Then Turner called Dad at work to tell him the good news, and Dad told Turner how proud he is of him. When I came home from school and heard all about it, I told him I'm proud too.

Turner tried again in the afternoon, to no avail, but we know he'll do it again soon. At least he is trying.

We're all very proud and super excited for our little guy. Here's to more progress in the potty department! Yay Turner!

Hazel's huge week!

Hazel had a really big week this week.

First, she stopped wearing Pull-Ups to bed, and hasn't had any accidents!

Then today, she sounded out a couple of words in one of Turner's Llama books. Then after school we went over for a party planning meeting with my teacher at school and while we were in my class, Mom gave her the first book in the set of kindergarten readers, and Hazel read the whole thing with no problem!

Mom flipped out a little, and my teacher sent the first 10 books home with us for Hazel. When we came home, Hazel read the next one too. Dad was excited to hear her read the books again at bedtime.

Mom and Dad have been going through a Learn to Read book with Hazel for the past month or two, but this week, the concept of sounding out new words seems to really have clicked with Hazel. It's fun and super exciting to hear her read so well.

Hazel says she is ready for kindergarten, and I guess all this proves it. One day this week when they were dropping me off in the morning, she ran into the classroom and said she wasn't leaving. My teacher and Mom had to kick her out. She may feel ready, but she isn't allowed to start until August.

We are all really proud of her!

State Capitals

I have a new trick. I've been really into maps lately, so Mom got me a couple of maps to hang on my toy room walls. I look at them all the time. The other day I surprised Mom and Dad by telling them I taught myself the state capitals. Dad took this video. I've asked Mom for maps of other countries so stay tuned...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Years everyone. This year I resolve to post on my blog more often. We'll see how that goes.

We had a fantastic New Year. On New Year's Eve, we pulled out hats and noise makers so we could celebrate the coming of 2014. We talked a lot about all of the exciting things that will happen to us in 2014. Hazel starting kindergarten and Turner potty-training were at the top of our lists.

Unfortunately, Mom and Dad didn't let us stay up to midnight, so we did most of our celebrating New Years Day. Mom and Dad stayed up watching New Years celebrations on TV and eating delicious fondue. Mom resolved to get a new fondue pot this year.

On New Year's Day, we woke up bright and early to ring in the New Year. That made Mom and Dad really regret staying up past midnight. We started off the day with Mom, helping her make blueberry muffins and trying our best to keep them away from Irving and Muktuk, two very bad bears.

Later in the day, we went over to our friends Luke and Noble's house to celebrate with other families. It was so fun! There were lots of other kids our age there and tons and tons of food. When it got dark, we got to play with sparklers and even shot off some Roman candles. After that, Mom sat down with us in the corner of the yard while Dad shot off some larger fireworks. It was quite a show. We weren't ready to leave yet, but Mom and Dad knew we've got a lot to do this year, and we needed to start it off with some good sleep, so we drove home.

One funny thing that's already happened in 2014 was at breakfast this morning. Hazel was complaining loudly about wanting something to eat that we didn't have. I told her to stop it this instant or I was going to take her to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and I would make look at every single thing at the store. This was apparently a terrifying prospect as she was immediately quiet. Mom and Dad thought it was hilarious.

Here's to a great 2014!