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November 08 Pirates and Pals CruiseThe BEST new thing that we did was the Pirates and Pals Cruise! Grant's favorite Disney movie is Peter Pan. He loves all the characters especially Capt. Hook and Peter Pan. He loves to read the story at night and he loves to make the sound that the crocodile makes when he gets close to Capt. Hook. So when I saw the new cruise was available, I booked it right away! The boys were really impressed with the whole experience. They had great personal interactions with the pirates and the characters! Although it was really cold, it was a great night. The boys played games with Capt. Hook and had a blast. Then we loaded up the boat and headed out to watch the lighted water parade and the Magic Kindom fireworks. The pirates on board did some great trivia and gave out cool pirate loot. BUT the very best part of the night was when we got back to the dock and Peter Pan was waiting there for us. Guess what he did? He said, "Who's Grant?" and grabbed Grant's hand for some one on one time! He walked all the way back to the building with Grant and just talked to him. It was really, really special. Grant was so thrilled and almost speachless at first! I imagine it was like a dream come true for him. Peter was just wonderful and we felt like we experienced a little Disney magic that night!
             Hollywood Studios Block PartyThe Hollywood Studios parade is normally my favorite of all the parades. They don't do the parade anymore and instead they have a new "block party". I have to admit that I was really disappointed that they did away with the parade. However, we did enjoy the block party. It was not near as good as the parade but it was cute. The boys liked it but missed seeing all the characters that were in the parade. The block party did get better when Grant busted out his dance moves in front of the entire crowd! He is such a funny and fearless kid.
Hollywood StudiosMy personal favorite park at Disney World is Hollywood Studios. I just LOVE the look and feel it. The old Hollywood style is just cool! Plus, some of my favorite rides/shows are at Hollywood Studios. I love the shows and the Beauty and the Beast show is one of the best. Greyson was so excited because he was tall enough to ride the rock and roll roller coaster this year! I rode it with him his first time and we were in the very front. It was awesome. All 5 of us rode the Tower Of Terror together! It was so halarious to see my mom and Grant's reactions. Grant is still talking about that ride and how it was his favorite. The funny thing is that he did not want to ride it again but he says he loved it! We tried out a new restaurant this year called The Sci-Fi Cafe. It was really different and a great addition to our Disney adventure! We will go back for sure!
                The Big hit this year was the all new TOY STORY MANIA! It was really, really fun. We all wanted to do it again and again. The boys both love the Toy Story movies so they were excited to meet Buzz and Woody and ride the new ride.
      November 07 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween PartyOne of the things that we were most excited about was going to the Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. We were not disappointed! It was so awesome! The boys got all decked out in their costumes and they looked adorable! We all really LOVED the special Halloween parade and fireworks. The boys liked trick or treating too. My favorite part was seeing all the characters in their costumes. Grant got pretty tired about 10:30 so we took him home but Greyson and Neil partied until closing time! Neil said the Haunted Mansion was really scary at night and that Grey was a little spooked. They loved being able to ride without all the long lines too. It was such a special "treat" to be there to see Disney celebrate Halloween!
Animals, Dinosaurs and most importantly... rides!The favorites at Animal Kingdom were:
Grant- The boneyard playground, Kilamanjaro Safari
Greyson- Mt. Everest Roller Coaster, Kilamanjaro Safari
We had a great day at Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed the parade and the Nemo show a lot. The bestpart of Animal Kingdom is my opinion is the Lion King show. The boys were both picked to be part of the show this year which they loved! I have to admit that I loved it too.
               November 03 Animal Kingdom!Lunch in the Hundred Acre Woods..or otherwise known as The Crystal Palace restuarant in Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed Pooh and friends and a lovely meal too!     November 02 Disney- Day 2We got up early and hurried to Magic Kingdom! We love seeing the opening of the park. I love, love, love the way the boys light up when they hear the train whistle and see Mickey Mouse for the first time!
Here are a couple of pictures of the boys first castle sighting! They were so excited!
We always head to FANTASYLAND first! Riding Dumbo first is our little family tradition
After Dumbo we hit all the rides in Fantasyland. We loved Peter Pan, Mickey's Philharmagic, and all of them really. BUT we all really had fun on the first roller coaster ride of the trip. Watching the boys was a blast! We stayed all day at Magic Kingdom and enjoyed every minute! The boys favorite ride was by far Big Thunder Mountain. From the looks of these pictures, my mom liked it too. I think by the end of the trip we rode that ride at least 8 times! Some other favorite shots from Magic Kingdom!
October 31 The First Magical NightThe boys really were amazed by the light parade and the firework show at Magic Kingdom. I remember watching the light parade as a little girl. My mom was telling Grey all about how I cried and did not want it to end. My mom's parents took us to Disney when I was about Greyson's age and I remember a lot of the trip. They made it so special for us and I thought of them a lot on our trip. I remember that my Grandpa let us stay and watch the second parade because I was so upset. As an adult, I still find it a really spectacular show. The Wishes firework show is a favorite too. We love when Tinkerbell flies across the sky! Grant loves the fireworks but he is so funny. He covers his ears and squints up his face the whole time. We have many pictures of him in his Daddy's arms enjoying fireworks!
Disney Continues- Day 1Our first afternoon at Disney, we headed to Magic Kingdom. We only had a few hours but we got to do some fun things. I loved watching the boys' faces light up when they saw the castle. They both stopped and pointed and just stared in amazement. What a great moment! The pictures also show some of the great reactions to their first roller coaster rides of the trip! I love these pictures! The boys loved the Buzz Lightyear ride too. So did Gramma and Daddy! Driving the cars was fun even thought Grant was not a great driver. We all loved the 3D show of Mickey's Philharmagic too. It was a great first day. We were able to fit a lot in before the nighttime festivities!
October 27 Disney Day One :)We took the boys to Disney World last week and we had a wonderful trip! We loved having my mom along for the fun too. She was a lot of help and was the cherry on top for the boys. They love her so much and loved sharing this time with her.
We arrived at hotel, The Polynesian. It was beautiful and we were so glad to be there! We were greeted with lei and an Aloha! The resort has an island theme. Here are a couple of shots of the boys in their leis.
  After we checked into our hotel, we went straight to lunch at The Whispering Canyon. We were so excited to see Uncle Cliff and his friend Sheila.
One Step Closer to BLACK!Greyson tested for his black belt recommended and he got it! Yeah! He is on his way. The black recommended belt is a black belt but it the first step of 3. He has to maintain the belt and his standing until he tests for the next text. Then he will be a black belt. THEN he has to train more to test for his name on his black belt. It is a process but he is so close! He is getting so good and it is fun to watch him. He did 3 different board breaks and he was awesome! We are so proud that he has stuck with tae-kwan-do for this long. What a good kid!
       Grant and LukeThese guys are the best of buddies. I took these pics just because I thought they were so cute playing and reading together!
  October 15 aNapa!Napa is truly breathtaking! Neil and I had a very relaxing time during our visit. We were able to have some very unique experiences and meet some great people.
These photos were taken at the Stags Leap wine cellar. It was so cool. It was inside a mountain and it took 4 years to create. We had dinner inside and enjoyed the wine and company! One interesting thing we learned was that the name "Stag's Leap" came from a tale about a stag trapped by indian hunters leaping across the v shaped mountain to escape. You can see the V in the mountain behind us in the picture below!
   We had a lovely lunch at the Tamber Bey vineyard. The weather was perfect too! There was a low key band and the wine was flowing. The best part of the day was getting to stomp grapes! Most vineyards don't use this method anymore but some still do! It was really fun and very sticky. I felt like Lucy for a minute.
We drove over to St. Helana one afternoon to meet Neil's cousin Chris and his wife Nova for lunch. Nova make reservations at The Culinary Institute at Greystone. We sat outside on a balcony that overlooked miles of vineyards in perfect weather. The food was superb and the company even better! We miss Chris and Nova living in Dallas but are so happy that they get to live in such a beautiful place. We hope to go back to visit them again soon and bring the boys. It was a really great day!
  On the last night of our trip, we had a really special treat. Michael Chiarello, the foot network star, cooked dinner for us in his store. He was really entertaining and we learned and laughed a lot. Neil said it was one of the best meals that he has ever eaten. He also has his own vineyard so he shared a little of every one of his wines with us throughout all the courses. There were so many glasses on the table that you could not help but laugh! We really loved one of his wines so we ordered a case to be shipped back to Texas once it cools down. It was my favorite meal just because everyone was in such good spirits and having such a great time. Michael was a really down to earth guy that just loves his life and work. It was a great ending to a fabulous trip!
San Francisco 2009Neil and I had to pleasure of going to San Francisco and Napa a couple of weeks ago. We had a wonderful time. We flew into San Francisco and spent the day exploring. We had lunch at a really cute, old, not touristy, very old school local place that was reccomended by our neighbors. It was where they had their first date many years ago. I had a really yummy eggplant sandwich! We drove around a lot and enjoyed the houses and buildings. We ended our afternoon by taking a walk on the Golden Gate bridge. It was really cool. It is hard to believe how HUGE it is and how many people are on it at all times of the day!
     October 14 Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsWell, the weather here has been really yucky for several WEEKS. We are not rain people. We are sun people. So, we headed out to see a movie. The boys and I LOVED the movie. It was one of the best that we have seen in a long time. Grant does not like to wear the 3D glasses though so to him it was probably a little blurry. :) I love spending these relaxing times with my boys. Someday I know they will not want to go see a movie with me so I appreciate this time. On another note, an afternoon at the movie now costs $50. That is crazy but we had fun!
  October 11 Gymnastics Time for GrantGrant really loves his gymnastics class. He is learning how to do a backbend and a cartwheel right now. He does a good job and is stong little guy!
    Grey Books His First MovieWe are so excited for Greyson! He booked his first movie role last month. He is playing the son of the main character in a SAG movie called "Pros and Cons". The movie is about fantasy football and the fallout it creates for one man's family. Grey is "Johnny Snow". It is such a wonderful role for Greyson and he is learning so much! He is doing a great job and we are so proud of him. If you are on Facebook, you can become a fan of the movie by searching for "Pros and Cons Movie". They update the fan page with photos of shooting, etc.
My mom was his "on set guardian" for his first day of filming. She said that he did awesome and even cried during a sad scene. She was able to take a couple of pictures while they had downtime. The other pictures are of him signing his first movie contract and of him doing his first table read. We are all learning a lot!
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