A May Full of West Moments

We just seemed to hang with the West side of the clan the month of May.  Lara and the girls came down for a visit and we went up to spend the weekend in Fayetteville since we missed James' birthday.  Poor little guy then got so sick while we were there and we didn't get to see them.

Here are some moments from our month...

One of Gray's favorite games on this trip was going to the beauty parlor....don't tell Matt or Papa.  :)

Our attic renovation was slowly coming to a close and I was just finishing out the reading nook (which you can read about on my other blog).  Pretending it was a stage, the kids danced and sang the days away...so cute!

We were able to hang out at the barn to see the horses for a little bit with mom.  I think Mary Ida loved it the most.

Grayson was equally excited about playing in the feed.

some story time with Aunt Lara

I think the fact that he's in his underwear butches up the tea party just a bit.  And check out Mary Ida's hat.

This was also the day Ava started walking!!  SO exciting!  We were letting the kids run out the rain wiggles on an obstacle course we set up in the playroom and she just randomly took her first steps.  I was literally jumping up and down!  And I caught the whole thing on video!

Just ignore my weird self in the background.  We'd been inside from the rain...for a long time.

We also headed up to Tennessee to hang with the fam at Nonni and Bubba's house...

The kids had such a fun afternoon playing outside...I like to think Nonni and Bubba's feels a little magical to them.  It's so green and has such character there.  I can definitely imagine forts and castles being built there sometime soon.

Ava loved the swing!

I mean, really loved it!  They got her one for her birthday so she could enjoy it at home, too.

We all got some swinging time in with the homemade swing (courtesy of Bubba)

Don't these two look like brother and sister???  Every time I see them together, that's all I can see. So cute.

Their Uncle Jim took them to find some honeysuckle...he's always doing such fun things like that with the kids. 

And then Grayson must have had too much, because he was getting all smoochy with Mary Ida...

and I'm not sure she liked it.

But she started warming up.

What faces!!  That's got to mean trouble.

One last random pic from our weekend trip to Birmingham...for our 7th anniversary!  We had a great time and, wow, what a treat it was to sleep in!! 

That's it for our May....I'm catching up, see?

:)

The Rest of Disney

Well, I know I'm way behind since this dates back to April, but I'm working on it. :)

Here's the rest of our Disney trip in a nutshell.  We took one day and headed to Downtown Disney; there's so much to see and do there.  Matt and I knew what we wanted to "treat" Grayson with while at Disney, and we knew he'd be excited.  We went straight to the toy store...and headed for the Mr. Potato Head bins.  For a flat price, you can fill up a box or large potato head with as much as you can fit inside.

A sweet Disney cast member snagged Grayson and told him to pick out his pieces and she would make it fit.  She really lived up to her end of the bargain!  Our potato head was packed plus she threw in about 12 extra pieces that didn't make it.

We had a wonderful time on our Pirates and Pals cruise.  Gray got to meet two of his favorite pirates at the Cotemporary Resort, followed by a pirate cruise to see the fireworks over Magic Kingdom.  SO much fun!

Hitting up Midieval Times was another highlight for him.

This was a big bonding night for him and his Papa.

More fun at Universal Studios.

and we finally got smart and created our own double stroller.

The last few pictures speak for themselves.  The week was absolutely filled with joyous and happy moments, and I could not have asked for such a blessing and more flat-out fun.

And pretty much everyday Grayson asks when we can go back to the Disney World castle.

:)

Disney Part 4- Epcot

Slowly, but surely, I'm going to catch up on our summer together here in the West household!  We've had such a wonderful summer as a family of four and I can't wait to record it all.  But first, we'll just start where we left off, our Disney trip.

On the third park day (after Uncle Lance had gone home), we headed to Epcot for some fun...and so Matt could go to Figment.  He had in his head it was going to be spectacular.  :)

The kids were getting just a little worn out...this is early in the morning.

Our little pirate again, posing in front of the ball.  I had not been to Epcot since I was much younger and I had forgotten how beautiful the gardens are.  We wanted to go to Tinkerbell's garden, but it happened to be closed while we were there...so pretty!

Grayson is always transfixed inside an aquarium; I think he could stand there all day watching the fish...we might have a national geographic photographer right in front of our eyes. :)

That's a joke, but some of you might as well prepare.  He watches Man vs. Wild and we watched Speed of Light-East Africa last night on Discovery.  :)

After riding figment (which disappointed Matt greatly), we played on the squares that light up when you jump on them.  I think I'll put those in the playroom...good for getting the wiggles out.

Ava was, again, a trooper.  She just rode in the stroller, napped when she needed it, and was mostly a joy to deal with.  I'm telling you, people, babies are not so bad at Disney World!

Gray's favorite part (and Matt's)

 by far was the water playground with all the skipping water.

Such sweet little moments happen on vacations...I love that we tend to think only of each other and what makes everyone happy.  It is so very easy to lose sight of that at home, getting "busy."  I have decided busy-ness is one of the hugest tools satan uses to distract us...or at least me, anyway.

My little jokester...he put this visor on and wore it all night, giggling away. 

Good times.

:)

Disney Part 3- Hollywood Studios and Tusker House Breakfast

We began the next day gearing up for Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Our family had not been in years and neither had Matt.  Lance was SUPER excited about the toy story ride, so we loaded up (again at 7:30 am) ready to see and do.

Matt and I actually got one picture together, just the two of us!  It's so funny that that becomes more rare with little ones running around.

One of Gray's favorite parts was playing in "Honey, I shrunk the playground." 

All the slides he could imagine, and stuff to climb on was limitless...it was right up his alley.

Papa helped him ride the giant ant.

One of the characters we met that day was a toy soldier from Toy Story.  Grayson was so excited to see him, but when it actually came time to take pictures with him, Gray's face, well, it did that.

This is literally day 2 at the park, and we were exhausted!  By lunchtime. :)

On the third day, we had a character breakfast scheduled at Tusker House Restaurant inside Animal Kingdom park, so we slept in a bit.

I was distracted by all the beauty within the park, as I am with most of Disney's attractions, but this place is kind of magical to me.  It feels so authentic.

Meeting Donald on our way inside to the breakfast (um, I won't complain that we waited for over an hour despite our reservations.)

Meeting the big guy, himself.

And collapsing again after a day filled with excitement.

:)