No Training Wheels!!

We introduced Henry to the balance bike about a year and a half ago.  Check him out in This Post last April.  He picked up on it right away and loved it.  He pretty much mastered it last summer, taking the bike down some pretty steep hills, and going on long rides with us.  So this year we thought we would possibly try taking the training wheels off his regular bike.  We mentioned it to him last week, but with the crappy weather we didn't know when we would actually do it.  Well tonight was randomly the night.  Henry asked Andy to take them off, he did, and this was his first time on his bike with no training wheels.  We had no idea what to expect, and didn't even really help him at all - he just took off!! 

After the first five minutes this was him:

And by the end of the night (2 hours later) we were riding around the block and he was going so fast that he was out of our sight (which made me real nervous).  

I don't remember it being quite this easy when I was trained.  I remember my dad running behind me down our street, falling a lot, and taking a little bit longer than one try.  I give all the credit to the balance bike - definitely a great purchase!  And it definitely helps that Henry has shown a ton of interest in it.  Another big milestone in the Schmidt household!! 

Oh - and the pink helmet is due to us forgetting his helmet at my parents house this past weekend.  Hannah was nice enough to share, and it didn't seem to bother Henry at all that he was wearing a pink helmet!

Ocean and Downtown Disney

Since we were only 60 miles from the beach, we decided to take the kids over there for half the day on Thursday.  We headed east to Coco Beach.  It was quite windy, and the waves were pretty big, but the kids loved playing in the waves.  We only stayed a little over an hour, but it was worth it.  We grabbed a bite to eat at Fish Lips, which is right on Port Canaveral, and then headed back to Orlando.  The kids fell asleep on the way back, and we were back to the resort by 2pm with time to hit the pool one last time before dinner in Downtown Disney.  

Henry loaded up his red solo cups with sea shells.  They made their way back to Iowa and are on his train table - he loves to show them off. 

Playing in the sand. 

Papa and Grandma Deaner. 

Building sand castles. 

Getting water for the castle moat. 

So proud!

I had to keep Hannah's fair skin covered up as much as possible as she got her daddy's skin and it does not like the sun.  She had a sun rash the entire time we were down there!  Henry on the other hand has perfect skin and somehow always gets a tan - we aren't sure where he got that skin from! 

Fam pic in the Atlantic Ocean!

After naps and one last dip in the pool, we got cleaned up and headed to Downtown Disney to TRex restaurant.  Dinosaurs everywhere!  

Most family pics ever!

Being silly in our pic at Henry's request. 

Random gold guy in middle of Downtown Disney.

Biggest Disney Store ever. 

Hannah loved seeing the princess statues. 

We headed back to the resort with time to pack everything up and get ready for our early flight Friday morning.  I definitely could have used a few more days of fun in the sun - but am so glad for the trip we took and know we will be back again!  Henry asked me the other day 'Mommy, when my baby brother is born can we take him to Disney??!!'  It was pretty funny.  It probably won't be awhile, but as we all know time goes by so fast and it will be here before we know it.  So blessed for the awesome memories we made last week in Florida!!  It truly was a 'magical' trip:)

Bonnet Creek Wyndham Resort

Wednesday morning we all slept in until 8am.  Henry was the first one up out of all of us.  The adults were just as tired as the kids, if not more!  Back in 1999, my parents purchased a timeshare resort, and since then we have gone on a family vacation pretty much each year.  We are so blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity each year, and are so thankful for my parents making it possible for us to be able to stay at such nice places, that fit our entire family in one unit!  It is through Wyndham Vacation Resorts, who has locations all over the country.  We have tried out several of the cities, and last year when Andy and I came to Florida we tested out Bonnet Creek and just fell in love!  I knew I had to bring the rest of my fam down to check it out.  It is their closest resort to Disney, just a few miles away, has a ton of amenities, and always activities going on.  We did sit through the Owner's presentation, which took some time Wednesday morning, but once we got back to the resort Andy had the kids dressed and ready for some fun in the sun.  

Cleaning around the room. 

There are 5 different pool areas around the resort, including a splash pad at the main building.  Everything is a short walk away, which is really nice, as all of the different towers are in a circle around the lake.  We checked out the splash pad first thing, but sadly, I think the kids have already outgrown them!  Henry wanted to go right for the big pool.

Most of the pools have zero entry, which is a must have for kids this age.  The kids could walk in themselves, and Henry could jump from the ledge without needing us to catch him!  

Hannah would only jump to Grandma Deaner...

Both kids were constantly doing belly flops - not sure how that doesn't hurt their little tummies!!

Henry would swim under Brianna's tube and come up through the middle, climb on top and then jump off of it to me.  

Walking back to the room.  Andy and my dad went out to get food for lunch and dinner as our unit had a full kitchen, so it was nice to be able to just stay in and eat.  Keeps the budget down, and the kids out of public!

Hannah must have been exhausted, as she asked to go take a nap around 12:30, and ended up sleeping until 4.  Henry on the other hand was ready to go.  We checked the activities calendar and it was time for kids karaoke, possibly the funniest thing ever!  

Henry got up there and sang Row, Row, Row Your Boat - he did such a great job!  Sorry for me singing super loudly at the beginning - didn't hit me that you wouldn't be able to hear him over me for the first, like, forever, and it is the longest song ever...he wanted to do Baby by Beiber, but an 8 yr old little girl sang it right before him....need to work on more songs that he knows all the words too before next trip.   

Playing in the pool at Tower 6 - shade is essential for Andy, who burns after 5 minutes in the sun AFTER being lathered with SPF 50+ sunscreen.

Pregnant lady enjoying the pool, all while Hannah is still sleeping.  Thank you to Brianna and Grandma Deaner for staying behind! 

We finally got Henry back to the room for a quick nap, then ate grilled burgers for supper, and headed out for a game of mini golf - a staple at our family vacations.  Hannah insisted on wearing her Tangled dress - I gave in, because hey, we were in the happiest place on earth - right??

Henry LOVES mini golf - check out his tongue sticking out of his mouth - concentration!!

Papa taking the game pretty seriously. 

Playing outdoor checkers. 

Playing at the playground. 

Swinging!  You can see a good view of all the towers - all of them are part of Bonnet Creek Resort.  Six towers total. 

Then over to the sand to play a game we made up - throw the ball and see who can find it the fastest - best.game.ever. for wearing out your kids!  

  

We played until it was dark and then headed back to the room for bath, relaxing, and bed.

Disney Electrical Parade

The Electrical Parade was one of my favorite parts of the day.  Such a fun parade, in the dark, with so many characters and lights.  The kids absolutely loved it!  Here are some of the videos from the parade - as you can see, Hannah just loved pointing out all of the characters from half way down the road.  Rewatching these videos gets me excited for our next trip down there - hopefully not too long before we are back!

Disney - Part Two

We got back to the resort around 2pm, the kids fell asleep on the 10 minute drive back, and both transferred successfully!  The adults lounged and spent time by the pool, while the kids slept for 3 hours.  We ate dinner, and headed back to Disney.  It was nice for my dad to rest his knee, and me to rest my uterus.  Actually, much to my surprise my pregnancy didn't slow me down one bit.  I thought maybe my stomach or back would start to feel tired or hurt, but I honestly felt great the entire day and even forgot I was pregnant at times.  I'm sure third trimester will be different, so I am glad we planned this trip when we did, when I'm still feeling great.  But it was definitely nice to get a few hours rest in. 

Thank goodness for free Wifi!

Lounging pool side with Bri while kids napped.

After you park your car in the 4th largest parking lot in the country, you have the option of taking a ferry ride, or the monorail over to Disney World.  The ferry ride is quite enjoyable, and much more roomy - and the kids loved the boat ride quite a bit!  Here is me with my two boys:)

Try at a family pic.  Henry is really into making silly faces during pictures lately. 

And we are back, refreshed, and ready to tackle the 2nd half of the park!

With Grandma Deaner and Papa.

We found some great photo spots with the castle in the background that weren't super crowded.  This was as we were headed to the west to get our fast pass for the Jungle Cruise.  Mom and two of her daughters.

Andy giving a thumbs down for the Swiss Family Tree House attraction...a LOT of steps.  Kudos to my dad for powering through the entire day, but especially this one!  He just had knee surgery 4 weeks ago!!

Waiting in line for Magic Carpet ride.

Henry was tall enough to ride the Big Mountain Railroad roller coaster this year, which he loved.  So while Hannah, Grandma Deaner and I waited we found this perfect little hideaway play area for smaller children right by Splash Mountain.  Hannah loved it and as you can see - she took her little Minnie with her EVERYWHERE!  It was pretty cute.  I really don't think she put her down the entire night.

After the electrical parade, fireworks, and hitting up a few last minute rides that had no waits since it was 10:30pm at night, we decided to stop and see if the meet the Princess line had finally slowed down.  Nope, there was still an 85 minute wait!!  At 10:30pm!  They closed off the fast pass for meeting the Princesses around 6pm, so that is the one thing we should have gotten to sooner.  So next time - we will get the Princess fast pass right away.  There was no line to meet Mickey though, which is right next to the Princesses at the front of the park.  For almost 11pm at night the kids did so well.  Hannah wasn't scared one bit - she touched his nose, and Henry gave him a hug, and we got one last great family pic.  And yes, Hannah insisted on wearing her Tangled dress the entire night, and the next day too:)

The end to our magical day! 

Disney World - First Half of Day

Tuesday was our big day. Disney here we come! I had researched a lot and had some good pointers from friends that have been there before, and with our trip there last year I felt prepared to make the most of our day. We got there shortly after the gates opened and headed toward Tomorrowland for Henry's favorite ride - Buzz Lightyear.

Our group!  My mom and dad had never been to Disney World, though my dad said he had paid for several trips for his daughters to go over the school years....so it was fun for them to get to experience the magic:)

The standby line wait time was only 5 minutes! We got right on! At Disney there is this wonderful thing called a fast pass that you can use for the more popular attractions with longer wait times. It is free and is a great feature to take advantage of. We only ended up having to use it for 2 or 3 rides though which was a nice surprise. An advantage of going during the week.

Love this pic!

Hannah got to ride with mommy and Henry with Daddy.  Brianna and Dad went on Space Mountain while we did the Tomorrowland Speedway.

Henry was big enough this year to drive himself - with a little help from daddy. 

We then took a back path over to Fantasyland.  Daddy, Henry, and Papa went on the roller coaster while Hannah and Grandma did Dumbo.  Henry is just over 40" this year, so was able to ride most of the rides.  The only ones he wasn't big enough for was Space Mountain. 

Back out to Main Street in time for the Celebrate parade.

Dancing in the street with the characters. 

On the new Fantasyland Little Mermaid ride. 

At the last second Hannah decided she wanted to ride with Grandma Deaner, so Grandma, Papa, Brianna and Hannah all squeezed into one of the shells. 

We will never forgot this scene, as the ride had what seemed to be a very long interruption.  'Kiss the girl' kept playing over and over for about 15 minutes.  We were very happy to leave Ariel's Grotto!!

Waiting in line to see Ariel!

I was so proud of Hannah - she jumped right up next to Ariel and they chit chatted.  We weren't sure how Hannah would do around the characters this year as she had always been terrified of them.  Not this year - she is getting so big!

I shed a little tear at this point when Hannah followed Ariel's instructions and posed.  Just precious.

Henry on the other hand acted like Mr. Cool and wouldn't get too close to the Princess.  It was pretty funny.

On the way out we watched the 'Dreams Come True' performance, where the kids and I sat in the very front.  Hannah loved pointing out all of the Princesses.

I had debated heading back to the resort over lunch, and decided that it was a good idea, especially since I knew I wanted to make it for the electrical parade and the fireworks.  So we took the 45 minute journey back for nap time.  Even though our resort is probably only 3 miles from Disney, it takes quite awhile with the ferry/tram ride, then the shuttle to where your car is parked.  The kids fell asleep on the way back, transferred successfully to their beds, and the adults got to rest as well for about 3 hours.  I highly recommend taking a break if you have the option to!  The kids ended up making it until 11pm that night with just one or two meltdowns!