King of the Hill

Rrrroooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!


Whew, all that yelling makes me thristy! I'm told not to do this when it's yellow though.

Christmas Day

Santa came to our house today! I was afraid that he would be upset that I didn't sit on his lap when I saw him a few weeks ago. (With the Disney trip craziness, I didn't get a chance to blog about that major meltdown, but unfortunately it happened.) He brought me more Cars characters which I totally love, a whole bunch of books, and some games. Not to shabby!

Daddy got these slippers which he decided to return, but not before I got to walk in them!

Just like last year, getting through all the presents took a lot of time. Last year it was because I had to make sure every little piece of wrapping paper was thrown out, but this year it was because I wanted to play with everything before moving on. This picture shows what happened when Mommy and Daddy said I needed to open something new! Geez, how many kids do you know that get upset on Christmas morning because there is MORE stuff to open?!

The biggest thing that Santa brought us was an XBox 360! One of the games is Mater National (Cars, of course) and this is the view that Mommy has had of me and Daddy ever since!

Well, and this one too.


This is a balloon launcher that Great-Aunt Sara sent me. I love sending balloons flying all over the room, especially 2 or 3 at a time! I also got a new Leap Pad from Great-Aunt Judy & Uncle Bruce, and some computer games and alphabet magnets from Great-Grandpa Don and Janet! All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas! Thanks everyone!

Christmas Eve

Today we went to Grandma Elaine and Big Bob's house for Christmas. We forgot to take the camera and this is the only picture that Big Bob took that turned out! (Mommy thinks it's a pretty darn good one, so we'll forgive him!) I got cool presents here too...a pair of bee-ock-e-ers (binoculars, for those of you who want to be boring and pronounce it correctly), some Cars characters, and a Bob the Builder TV game! Cousin Matt even gave me a neat Hummer car that I've played with so much that it looks like it's been through a war! What a great day!

Christmas Eve Eve

Today we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Jim and Great-Grandma Eleanore. They came over to our house and we ate a nice lunch and then opened presents!


As usual, I had to be a he-man and carry as much at a time as I could! It was a struggle, but at least I didn't drop anything! I got some pretty neat stuff, like a Disney DVD Bingo game, some blocks, a Cars puzzle, a subscription to Highlights Magazine for Preschoolers, and some other cool things too!

Walt Disney World - Day 5

Our last day at Disney World began with a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Daddy wasn't feeling well so he wasn't able to join us, but he sure missed out on some fun!


Cool waffles, huh? They actually tasted good too!

What is it about me that makes everyone want to tickle me?

Pluto being silly again! I want a dog like this someday.

Goofy striking a pose!

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

After breakfast we met up with Daddy and headed to MGM Studios. While we were waiting for the main attraction (pics follow), we got to stop by Al's Toy Barn and see some of my other favorites. Buzz Lightyear is so cool...to infinity and beyond!

Howdy partner! Woody is pretty awesome too! Mommy asked him if Andy's name was written on the bottom of his boot, but it wasn't. Is it so hard to have consistency?

And the hands down, no question about it, absolute highlight of my trip, was seeing Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars! They had two meet and greet times and we got there during the first one. However, while we were in line to see them up close, this mean lady cut us off and let the family in front of us be the last ones. Mommy begged and pleaded to let us go ahead, but she didn't budge and we ended up having to wait until the next time came around. Kinda put a crimp in our plans for the rest of the day, but hey, these guys were worth the wait!

Mater is so funny, and he even shook his engine for me too!

But when he did, it scared the crap out of me and I jumped out of the way! I'll bet he laughed as hard as when he went tractor tipping!

One last lap around the track and we'll be on our way.

Our trip is now just about over and it's time to leave. We boarded the Disney World Railroad to take us back to the front of the park, and I got to be the Guest Conductor! This is Heather and she let me wear her hat and I got to say "All Aboard" over the microphone when we started and "All Clear" when we arrived and everyone was allowed to get off the train. What a great way to end our vacation!

Walt Disney World - Day 4

Halfway through the trip and we are pretty exhausted. Mommy says my lips are funny in this picture so I'm humoring her by posting it.

Today was spent at the Animal Kingdom and we started out by visiting Rafiki's Planet Watch. It's a conservation station and animal care area. We got to watch veterinarians doing blood work and other stuff on a knocked out duck. They also had tanks of tarantulas and other bugs and spiders that Mommy of course loved. Here's me with Rafiki himself! (He's the one who announced the arrival of Simba in The Lion King.) Too bad Daddy's camera lost the charge right after this and we had to rely on the crappy cell phone for pictures the rest of the day.

Jiminy Cricket was here too! I guess because he's a bug and all. His autograph is pretty cool...he made an umbrella out of the J!

The animal Mommy was looking forward to seeing the most was the Meerkat. This one was watching for predators while the other four were safely underground, and unfortunately he joined them just a few minutes later. I'm not sure what predators he thinks might be around since it's their own enclosure afterall! After this we went on a safari and saw all kinds of animals that I've never seen before. My favorites were still the giraffes, but we also saw elephants with a baby, rhinos, lions, ostriches, and some funny looking termite mounds. Next we went to see Finding Nemo The Musical, which I hear is similar to The Lion King on broadway with people holding puppets. It was a good show, but like all the others, very loud. Our last show today was Festival of the Lion King, which was also loud, but I really loved it! We even video taped part of it so that'll be cool to watch again!


This was the Christmas card photo Mommy had hoped for. Mickey in his holiday attire was supposed to be the money shot, until the darn sun decided to interfere. Even if she could have fixed it, I wasn't smiling! But you all know how much I like to give her challenges, so I hope you like the picture we ended up with. Today ended with a dinner buffet at an African restaurant. Since Daddy spent some time there this summer, we didn't want to miss the chance to see what the food was like for him. Turns out he didn't get anything too fancy since he was in remote areas, so it was pretty different. Mommy thought the best thing there was a carrot and ginger soup and we all put away quite a few of the oh so yummy desserts! That's it for day 4!

Walt Disney World - Day 3

Day three was back at the Magic Kingdom and it started out with a haircut at the Harmony Barbershop on Main Street USA. There was quite a line when we got there and I got to watch several cute girls get their hair all sparkly. One was even dressed as Snow White and I thought she was a little hottie! By the time it was my turn, I was over it and didn't want my hair cut anymore! Mommy is the only one who's ever done it before and even the cool chair didn't sway me. I cried pretty much all the way through it, and in the end Mommy's cuts were better...and that says a lot, let me tell ya! She even had to do some touch ups! And even though it was my first "professional" hair cut, I didn't even get a special Mickey ears hat that said so!


Still a bit traumatized, we headed over to the Jungle Cruise for some cheering up.

NOW I'm happy...driving the race car again! Whoops, I guess I better watch the road!


OK, so maybe that "My First Trip" button isn't so bad afterall. We had an hour to kill before we could use a FastPass so we got in line at the Dumbo ride which had a posted 45 minute wait time. We weren't in line 30 seconds when this lady saw the button and came over to ask me if I wanted to be Dumbo's Co-Pilot of the Day...darn tootin' I do! It meant we got to move to the front of the line and I got an official Dumbo Co-Pilot Certificate. This is a video of her making the announcement to the poor folks we got to cut in front of! (The first couple of seconds aren't there because it all happened pretty quickly and Daddy wasn't expecting to have to get the video camera ready.)

Here we are about to take off! Unfortunately it started to rain while we were up in the air.


I forgot to mention earlier that Tinkerbell left me presents each morning of the trip! I got a Disney disposable camera each day and other things that related to what we would be doing that day. I sure liked clicking that button even though I wasn't particularly aiming at anything. This is part of the "It's a Small World" ride, which Daddy was just thrilled to have to go on. Well, I hadn't quite finished up my camera from yesterday before starting todays so I got busy snapping away. By the end of the 11 minute ride, I had taken a roll and a half...about 40 pictures in all. When we were done, Daddy said something about not having to go back on it for at least a decade now. Good thing I was there to capture it all on film!


Dinner was at the "Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue". It was a silly country/western show with bbq ribs, chicken, cornbread, potatoes, baked beans, and strawberry shortcake. At the beginning of the show, all of the cast went out into the audience and announced in rhyme where some of the people were from. We were chosen and the guy made a cute joke about wolverines, but can we remember what it was?...of course not!


This may be the very best picture of me and the folks EVER. Why? Because Daddy is actually somewhat smiling in it!


The finale of the show was when all the wait staff brought each table a washboard. They told us to use our spoons on it, and boy did I! Telling a kid to make noise is about the greatest thing in the world! And I thought other things were loud before this, but not so much when you get to participate in it!

After dinner we headed back to the Magic Kingdom and rode Cinderella's Carrousel. One of the horses has a golden bow on it's tail and that is supposed to be hers, but we didn't find it until after we were done.

As luck would have it, we were able to get into a character greeting line without too much of a wait. Since I still have a fear of large costumes, Mommy wasn't sure what was going to happen. First up was actually Minnie Mouse but when I saw that Goofy was there too I threw a little fit to see him first. Luckily the lady let us get back in line afterwards.

Silly Pluto! Dogs can't usually sign autographs, but doing it on their noses is a downright hoot!

Hi Minnie, nice to meet ya! (Disney's original hottie!)

This is the stack of presents under the BIG Christmas tree on Main Street. This picture would have been one of the contenders for the Christmas card if it hadn't been so dark outside. Time to head back to the hotel for some shut eye!

Walt Disney World - Day 2

Day two was spent at EPCOT. Doesn't Spaceship Earth look like a big golf ball? Mommy really wanted to ride on Test Track since she didn't get to last time they were here, so Daddy and I started the day by waiting for her to do that. After that, we did a lot of walking around just trying to get our bearings and before we knew it it was already lunchtime!

We headed over to the Norway Pavilion for lunch and the parental-types got these weird sandwiches that were coated in flour. Seriously, with every bite they took they had to shake their hands to get it off and by the time they were done the table was covered in white powder! Despite that, they said they were good, so alright! My lunch was just the standard pb&j but it came on a Mickey-ear'd shaped tray! The dessert was "worms in dirt" and it was really yummy, even though I had trouble biting the darn thing!


Next up was Nemo! Turtle Talk with Crush was awesome dude!

Oh no, Mommy's been eaten by a shark!

Daddy snapped a cool picture of this sting-ray in the aquarium.

The drum show at the Japan Pavilion is one of Daddy's favorites. Yea, I'd have to agree. We also saw some pretty awesome acrobats at the China Pavilion but we didn't get any pictures of them. It's just as well, some of the positions they got in to were sick!

Dinner was at the Biergarten in the Germany Pavilion. It's a buffet dinner with musical show and we were seated right next to the stage which made it easy to join in. Luckily Mommy is a willing participant and went with me to do the Chicken Dance!

Taking a breather from the dancing, all of us kids quieted down to hear a story about Christmas in Germany. I'm way in the back on the left, kind of underneath the guy in the white t-shirt.

And a family shot in front of the decorations on the way out. When we boarded the monorail back to the hotel, we got to sit up in the front with the driver. He gave us each a pilot's license too!