Disney Part I

We left a day early for our Disney trip to beat Hurricane Hanna. This also meant we got to spend another day at the parks! The weather was beautiful, and the crowds were non-existent...definitely the best time to visit Mickey. This was Marianne's first trip to Disney World as a walker, and she loved it! We spent most of our time doing things that Marianne would enjoy. Here are some pictures....

"High School Musical" has a block party several times a day at Hollywood Studios. We caught a show on our first day at the parks, and Marianne loved the music and the dancing. As the show was leaving, she chased it down, not wanting it to end....."STOP! I want to DANCE!"
Each park has a great playground area for kids, and Hollywood Studios has perhaps the best playgound of all: it's the "movie set" of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" so the kids are surrounded the ginormous blades of grass, leaves, spiders, mushrooms, and even a can of Play-Doh! Marianne discovered the sprinklers and decided to play in the water for most of her time at the playground. She cries when I rinse her hair in the bathtub, but doesn't mind water spraying directly into her eyes at Disney World...
Here's Marianne playing at the "Laughing Place", a small playground near Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom. We played here while Daddy, GaGa, and PaPa rode one of the best rides at Disney World.
We took several trips on the Walt Disney Railroad throughout the week!
We visited Mickey's house in Toontown, and Marianne was interested in the pumpkins in Mickey's garden.

Long time no write...

OK folks, sorry for the lack of postings in the month of September. We spent the second week in September at Disney World, the third and fourth weeks in varying degrees of sickness, and now we are headed to the Outer Banks for a family fall vacation. Get ready for some pictures!

Schoolhouse Rock

Marianne started "school" on Monday, August 25! The Village Chapel has a Mother's Morning Out program on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and David and I thought this would be a good opportunity for Marianne to spend time with other kids her age, as well as work on our current separation anxiety issues. There are about five other kids in her class, as well as one teacher and two helpers. It's a darling classroom, and after she quit crying she ended up having a good time! On Monday, she cried for 20 minutes (and I was outside listening to it all!), and on Wednesday she cried for 30 seconds! She also cries when I come to pick her up...because she doesn't want to leave!

In the car ready to go to "school"...
Marianne with her "big girl" backpack...
See you later, Mama!
Marianne's art project on Monday...

Say "Uncle"!

Uncle Nate was in the States for a couple weeks, and we got to see him a couple times. Marianne often points to a picture of Nathan and Josh in her photo album and says, "Uncle" quite clearly. She hadn't seen Nate since April and enjoyed playing with him when he came to Pinehurst for a couple days. Right before he headed back to Germany, we met the family at Cracker Barrel in Greensboro. Marianne liked the rocking chairs outside, although her Dada wouldn't let her sit the Carolina-blue one!

Marianne and Uncle Nate...

Best Buds

Jean Marie and Kathryn came for a visit last week -- Jean Marie is far braver than I, traveling all the way from Idaho with a toddler! The girls (and moms) had a great time at the park and swimming pool. Kathryn impressed us with her ability to climb into the crib, her "please" and "thank you's", while Marianne took the gold medal in the eating competition. Here are some pics:

Kat and Marianne hanging out on the tire swing. Playing with the chimes...
Riding on the bouncy firetruck...
Jamal and Krissy...
Marianne's current preferred method of sliding:

Imagination Station

One of our new favorite places in town is "Imagination Station". It's a great place for kids to explore, learn, and play pretend. With a veterinarian's office, fire station, grocery store, kitchen, train, boat, hospital, teepee, costume and puppet area, and exercise room to play in, the time always goes by quickly. We've been visiting Imagination Station with our church play group this summer, and we've been a few other times as well.

Marianne's current favorite activity is the exercise room, because that's where the music is! She loves to dance and shake maracas, and she's started testing out the trampoline as well. She also loves to play in the hospital area because (surprise!) there are baby dolls to hold and feed. Marianne usually finds a little time to climb aboard the boat for a quick ride. The raft sits on a water bed, so I can bounce it and make "waves" for her. She's also become interested in the golf cart, and sits on it and honks the horn saying, "Beep! Toot!". Hmmm, a sign perhaps? :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

"Rain, rain, go away!

Come again another day!"

Well, not exactly! Marianne loved the rain! She hasn't seen much rain in her life, due to drought conditions for most of the year. I was impressed that she kept her hood on, although she kept looking up at the sky with her mouth open wide to catch raindrops!