Toy Story 3

Today was our first family outing to the movie theatre.  David, Dylan, Zoe and I took off to see Disney Pixar's Toy Story 3.  I am a huge movie buff and love to go see anything on the big screen so I have looked forward to taking the kids along with David to our first movie for years; but it was Dylan who determined the timing of such an event as well as the movie.

Thanks to some wonderfully placed advertising on the Disney Channel, Dylan has been asking to see this movie for months.  Dylan always refers to the movie or any toy or other item related to it as something from "Disney Pixar's Toy Story."  I had to chuckle the first time I heard him say it because not only did he mention Toy Story, but the whole Disney and Pixar thing cracked me up a bit.  Since Dylan had been asking to see this movie, David and I agreed that it was time to try out the theatre.  With a little hesitation because of Zoe's age, we decided she must join in on the family first. 

I told Dylan last night that we could go see Disney Pixar's Toy Story 3 today.  Dylan woke up this morning, and came to find David and me.  His very first words to us were "Can we go see Disney Pixar's Toy Story now?"  So you can imagine it was a bit challenging to get breakfast down Dylan and get him dressed.  When Zoe got up and I brought her downstairs he told Zoe "Mommy and Daddy are taking us to go see Disney Pixar's Toy Story at the movies today."  He was so proud and excited.

As we are heading out of the house, Dylan asked me "Can we get popcorn?"  So once we got our tickets and got inside of the movie cinema, we had to make our first stop be that to get some popcorn. 

All four of us sat in a line in the second row of the stadium seating area.  Dylan had already told us at breakfast that he wanted to sit beside Daddy and Zoe.  Zoe announced she wanted to sit beside Mommy. So we sat down in this order - David, Dylan, Zoe and me.   We weren't sure if the four of us sitting together at the time would all still be there sitting together by the end of the movie, but we were!  The kids did really well for the most part.  The hardest part was getting through the twenty three minutes of previews before the movie. There were a few times where Dylan got a little scared and asked if it was time to go home yet during some of the scenes where the toys are in the trash.  Zoe got a little restless and stood up a few times, but seemed to stay focused and entertained for the most part. 

Dylan has told us countless times now how much he liked the movie.  And it is quite clear that he understood the message of the movie as he has told us a million times already that "Toys are not to be thrown in the trash.  Only garbage goes in the trash, Mommy. Toys are for playing with and having fun."  We have also talked about how in the movie Andy grew up and was finished playing with toys so he donated his toys to another little kid.  Dylan has quickly informed me that he is not ready to donate any of his toys yet but maybe one day he will and I can help him.  ;-)

Siblings

I often pray that Zoe and Dylan will be the best of friends through thick and thin and encourage, support and love each other through the best and worst of times.  I know genetics made them siblings, but I believe their hearts holds the key to their relationship and the bonds between them. 

At ages 2 and 3, there are many days when they are fighting over toys constantly that I wonder if they'll ever even be friends, much less best friends.  But then ever so often there are those encouraging, loving, quick fleeting moments that make my insides melt and I know a strong bond is developing.  I took my opportunity to capture a few of these moments during our beach trip.   

I love to see my two little kiddos holding hands, especially when Dylan is holding Zoe's hand to help her walk down the steps or to help her get somewhere a little faster.

Dylan leading Zoe along the beach.  She's going a little slower so he's helping speed her up.

I don't know what Dylan was saying to her, but this was such a cute moment.  He was holding one of her hands and telling her something. 

Dylan and Zoe holding each others hands to jump the waves together.

As they are walking out of the water, look at Dylan reaching for his little sister's hand. 

When they are playing together, I could watch them forever.  I love to watch how they interact.  Dylan, the leader, often gives the directions and sets up the situation to play.  Zoe already admires her big brother so much and loves to be the focus of his attention. 

Playing with a ball together in the baby pool at the resort.

Looking for treasure at night on the beach, D&Z found a deep hole in the sand that became their pirate house.  This was truly a treasure for them.  I sat down in the sand and just watched them play pirates together.  They jumped in the hole, walked the plank, and laughed uncontrollably.

Dylan holding Zoe's hand so she doesn't fall down the steep hill into the crab water.

Zoe swimming to DD (as she calls him) to see what he found in the water.

"Let's Go Ride the Rides!"

When the kids weren't playing in the sand and surf, their second favorite thing to do was go to Broadway at the Beach and ride the Kiddie rides.  Dylan absolutely loves these rides and Zoe was old enough this year to really love them too!   We went to Broadway and rode rides three times during our week long trip.

Dylan, Zoe and David on the ferris wheel.  This is Dylan's favorite ride.  This was Zoe's first ride on the ferris wheel and she just squealed with excitement.

Dylan being the train conductor while riding the train.  He kept calling out "All aboard!" and ringing the bell.  It was so cute!

Daddy and Zoe sitting in the first row behind Dylan the Conductor. 

Dylan riding the airplanes.

Zoe's favorite ride was the crazy cars!  My girl has no fear.  Dylan won't ride these as he tried it once last year and didn't like it.  Zoe kept riding the Crazy Cars until Daddy couldn't handle it any more.

Riding the Carousel

A Full Day of Beach Fun!

One of my favorite days during our beach trip was the day that we spent most of the morning and afternoon  outdoors by the beach.   

Once we got out to the beach, we found that there was this creek area that developed during high tide.  It was nice, shallow, calm water and the kids loved it!  It was perfect water for crabbing and there were literally thousands of crabs.  So while the kids, David and Bop all ventured into the shallow water for some play, I decided I'd best be suited on the shore.  On the other side of the creek was a little island where the kids enjoyed playing in the softest sand around. Dylan and Zoe spent hours in this little creek and island area.  Dylan would keep telling me "Mommy, I like swimming with the crabs."  And Zoe would just squeal with laughter.  I don't know how to describe this noise she makes but it is one of pure joy that is a bit of a laugh and a shriek at the same time.  I'm sure everyone on the beach knew where Zoe was. 

"Let's get in the water, Mama!"  There was a steep bank of sand built up that the kids enjoyed sliding down into to get to the water at the creek like area.

Dylan and Zoe playing at the edge of the "crab water" as Dylan called it.

Dylan proudly showing off a seashell he found. 

The kids made some friends with Morgan (7) and her little brother, Jackson (4).  Morgan was catching crabs in one bucket and little fish in the other.  She was happy to teach Dylan and Zoe all about the creatures she had.  Morgan had them each name their own crab.

After playing in the "crab water" for a while, Morgan's mom invited us to come have snacks with them.  They shared their goldfish snacks with us and we shared our Capri Suns with them.  After snack time, it was time to go play in the ocean waves and the sand.

While David and Dylan were busy building a sand castle, Zoe and I walked along the beach hunting for seashells.  Zoe would find some shells and she'd say "Look at this one, Mama."  And then when she was ready to find another spot, she'd tell me "Come on Mama!"  After we finished finding shells, Zoe walked towards the ocean and sat at the water's edge and told me "Sit, Mama." So Zoe and I sat in the sand together and let the waves come brush against us.  Zoe ended up sitting in my lap after a while and I had so much fun just soaking in the sand, waves, and ocean breeze with my favorite little girl. 

Dylan and David came down to find us as they were done building a sand castle and Dylan proclaimed "Let's go swimming!"  It was getting past lunch time already, but no one was ready to go in.  It was such a beautiful day and we were all having such a great time.  So we decided to have lunch at the Beach Shack and then we headed on to the pool.  Bop came down to join us at the beach just before lunch so the five us enjoyed our lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and then it was time for Dylan to show off his swimming skills for Bop.

Dylan decided to jump in the baby pool first.  Here he is wearing "Sharky" which is his puddle jumper life jacket.  Dylan loves this thing! Zoe was old enough to wear a puddle jumper this year and give up the baby float.  Dylan helped me pick out a green frog for Zoe. 

After the kids showed off in the pool for Bop for a while, Dylan asked if Bop would take him to the playground.  Our resort had a great kids playground area right by the beach and Dylan remembered Bop taking him to the playground there last year.  Who could resist this request?  So before going in, we stopped by the playground for a while.

Dylan the climber!

Bop helping Dylan slide down the "fire pole." 

Zoe loves to swing!

It was way past nap time at this point and we were all getting pretty drained from the sun so it was time to head up to the condo and get some rest.  The kids napped for 3 hours!!! 

Hitting the Beach!!!

I absolutely LOVE the beach.  There's rarely another place I'd rather be.  I love the feel of the sand between my toes and the sound of the ocean waves crashing.  There's a certain energy and peacefullness all at the same time.  And Dylan and Zoe are just as fond of the beach as their mommy is! 

We were able to pack up and head to the beach for an entire week along with Bop and Nana. 

This was our best family vacation ever!!! In the past we had some good vacations, but I think the kids were really a little too young and were on more rigorous, routine-based schedules that made things more difficult to relax.  We were also rather limited in the past as to what we could do and when.  Now that Zoe is 2 and Dylan is 3, we're coming into some new stages.  While we still kept to somewhat of a routine, we were actually able to get up in the morning, have breakfast, and hit the beach for several hours before coming in!  In the past our max beach time was 2 hours on our very best day and some days we just never made it there.  This year we actually spent five hours at the beach and pool one day and we went to the beach every single day!  We were able to play in the sand, jump the waves, have snacks or lunch on the beach, and even have some energy left to go to the pool and the playground.  All that before coming in and putting the kids down for nap.  We pushed nap out by a few hours so the kids usually napped around 3pm and slept until 5pm.  It worked perfectly because then we could go out to dinner, go ride some rides on Broadway, and still hit the pool or take a walk on the beach!  Bed time for Dylan and Zoe was also pushed back to about 10pm which gave us plenty of evening time to do some fun things. 

It was really nice having my parents there.  This was our first trip of a week's duration where it was just the four of us and my parents.  The kids love any time that they get to spend with Bop and Nana, but I actually felt like I got to enjoy some time with them too because the kids and the routine we set up worked so well.  It reminded me of the days when my parents, sister and I would go to the beach.  I really enjoyed sitting out on our ocean front balcony and talking to Bop, Nana and David while the kids napped or slept and I still had energy to be awake. 

I am so blessed and thankful that we were able to have a wonderful week at the beach and I hope we'll all cherish these memories for decades to come.

It's Summer Time!

I always look forward to summer as if somehow life will slow down and there will be more time to relax.  Well it's been a month since I've blogged and that's a small indication of how fast the time keeps passing by and how busy we have been.  Once summer gets here I quickly remember that things don't really slow down, but get busier in many ways because there is always so much more to do and so many things going on like birthdays, holidays, beach trips, family trips, park play dates, swimming pool, Carowinds, and the list goes on and on.  Despite the busyness we're off to a wonderful and fun start to summer. 

Dylan and Zoe have loved getting to play outside a lot!

Zoe riding the motorcycle with the wind blowing through her hair

Dylan riding his UNC tricycle that was too small last year.

The kids love playing in the driveway this year.  We get out the riding toys, basketball set, balls, and sidewalk chalk.

And in the summer, you can be more relaxed even with so much to do.  Dylan and Zoe love staying in their PJs and having breakfast and playing a little bit before getting dressed for the day.

The kids have enjoyed several friends's birthday parties so far.  Some of the favorites were Nicholaus's water party and Judson's Monkey Joe's party. 

Loving Summer Time!