Ava’s Birthday Trip to Walt Disney World

Papa and Lola (Scott’s parents) take the grandkids to Walt Disney World as a birthday trip when they are 4. So Scott and Ava flew to Orlando for a few days of fun at the park.

Day 1 (Saturday):

We flew to Orlando, took the bus to the hotel (All Star Movies Resort) and met up with friends Romy and Tisha. Ava loved the “Andy’s room” on our wing of the hotel.

Waiting to takeoff

Ava and Romy with the giant Buzz.

And with Rex (with Woody in the background)

Day 2 (Sunday):

We discovered another wing of the hotel with the 101 Dalmations theme.

But RC from Toy Story is still a favorite.

And what can beat giant blocks?

We then took the bus and the monorail over to the next hotel – the Polynesian. Ava liked watching for the lizards as we waited for Lola and Papa to arrive.

Here we are at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom.

Ava might be a little excited!

First we did Enchanted Tale  with Belle – which was a cool interactive performance…

We did “It’s a Small World” (first time).

Met Woody and Jesse…

Rode Dumbo…

And met Pluto.

Day 3: Monday

We spent the day in the Magic Kingdom, starting off with the opening of the park with the Mayor and the whole gang.

then we met Mickey….after standing in line of course.

We saw parades and street celebrations.

Did lots of rides…

And got to see the castle all lit up at night.

We watched the Christmas Parade.

Which ended with Santa (and Mickey)

The watched the fireworks from our room…

Day 4 (Tuesday):

Tuesday we spent at Epcot, complete with lunch with the Princesses at Norway.

We started off with the Nemo ride.

Complete with baby Nemo’s…

And the giant puffer fish.

Next we met up with Minnie and friends.

Then it was off to Norway for lunch with the princesses. First we met Belle.

Aurora.

Ariel.

and Snow White.

Here’s Ava outside of Norway.

Then we did the Test Track. Ava is happy here as we wait for the ride.

But scared and burying her head in my arm as we hit almost 65 mph.

We then metup with Tisha and Romy again. They liked Goofy.

and Minnie.

Ava had to see Chip and Dale.

And we did the Nemo ride again. This time Ava was in the shark.

As night fell, Ava liked the lit pavement…

Day 5 (Wednesday)

On Wednesday we went back to the Magic Kingdom. By now Ava was totally into the princesses.

We met Rapunzel.

and Snow White.

Cinderella sprinkled Fairy Dust in Ava’s ring.

After a short day, we hopped back on the Monorail to the hotel, then off to home.

 

Ava had an awesome time and is still telling everyone how much fun she had! Thanks Papa and Lola!

Halloween and Other Fall Fun

Fall is in the air, and the girls (or at least Ava) have been talking about what they are going to be for Halloween for a few weeks.

Ava’s school does a “trunk or treat” event, which is a great way for the little ones to see lots of well-decorated trunks and all their school friends. And there was a fire truck there too for an added bonus.

Ava was Super Girl, and Ali was a Peanut.

On Halloween day we took a trip to McDonald’s Ranch, which has lots of things setup for the fall. Ava was thrilled to ride the horse…

While Ali was happy playing with the hay.

An old tractor is always fun.

And of course a petting zoo with baby pigs is great for the little ones.

We did a hay ride.

And there were some pumpkins left too. Here is Ava as a scarecrow.

The girls had fun getting ready for the trick or treaters on Halloween night.

Especially with the glowing pumpkins.

 

Our community does twice-a-year community wide garage sales. Ali was chipper supervising with her Starbucks in hand.

We’ve also started soccer again with the cooler weather. Here’s Ava winding up for a shot on goal.

And after we discovered just how much Ali loves the swings in San Diego, we put some swings up on the back patio. Here’s Ava giving Ali a little help.

While Pepper watches cautiously.

With the nice weather, even at the library the girls like to be outside.

Off to chase the girls some more….

California Girls

This year we decided to do our (mostly) annual trip to San Diego over Ava’s fall break. We stayed in Del Mar in a townhouse just 1 block from the beach and a block away from the park. The girls were thrilled to be outside all the time….plus with a two story townhouse, Ali got even better at navigating the stairs.

Walking around in La Jolla…

And watching the sea lions in the cove.

We hit the beach at least once every day. Ali had a blast in the sand, while Ava had fun looking for shells (and found a few sand dollars as well).

Ali does her best to keep up with Ava and Dad.

Low tide = more freedom for Ali to roam.

In the mornings we would take Pepper to dog beach for his swim.

Once it got warmer, it was fun for the girls to play.

Ava was waiting for us to bury her.

While Ali was making sure she was fully covered in sand.

Somedays we just made footprints in the sand (Ali).

Or practiced some yoga on the beach.

Dad tried to convince Ava to try boogie boarding…but the chilly water and the waves were a bit too much.

So we discovered sand surfing instead. Ali actually has good balance.

The girls enlisted Mom to be their driver for the sand surfing.

Although sometimes Ava would give it a try as well.

Click the image above for a video of Ava and Ali sand surfing

The park nearby was a hit as well. Ava liked to climb the trees.

and Ali had fun watching the birds and the planes.

and just playing in the park.

Both girls loved the swings. In fact Ali would cry and walk over to them if we tried to get her to do something else.

Ava always wants to go higher and faster.

The train runs right by the park, which was a big hit for all the kids (they would all run to wave to the train).

Sometimes we just had to post by the ocean.

One day we did the USS Midway tour (more for Dad than for the kids).

Our friends the Manago’s came for the last few nights. Here are the girls with a little post-beach downtime watching a movie.

For the entire week Ava had her class mascot (the Cat in the Hat). So we took pictures with the cat.

And since Dr. Seuss lived in La Jolla, we found the gallery that has lots of his work.

One last photo of Ali walking on the beach….

Until next time – adios California!