The Fowler Family: January 2008

I have seriously been dreading posting this one....not because I don't want to share, but this is going to be a long one. Most of this is for my own personal journaling, so please forgive me for being long winded...

For weeks before we left, we tried to get Gavin excited. We showed him the Disney World website EVERYDAY and made sure he knew who Mickey Mouse was before we left. So when we woke him up at 5 AM to leave for the airport he sluggishly walked to the computer when we said...."do you want to go to Disney World?!" You know you've paid too much money to go when your kid thinks Disney World is the computer.

Here's our trip timeline:

Thursday, January 10th- We hit the airport. We showed up at the airport at 6 AM to meet Jodi and Ian, only to find out our flight was delayed until almost 9 AM. The excitement we all felt was the only thing that made this bearable. Luckily we had time to grab a quick bite and ride the moving walkways a couple of times. We made it to Orlando, Florida in one piece...I'm honestly shocked by this one!

I am officially no longer against harnessing my child. That monkey leash made the airport much more momma friendly. I must admit, though, the looks some people gave us were pretty funny.

Lacey....THANK YOU!!!! I owe you big time!! Free babysitting ANYTIME! For anyone not knowing why I love her so much is the fact that her and Tyler let us borrow both their video camera AND the portable DVD player. That sucker was heaven sent. We'll defineately be investing in one very soon.

Does it look like Gavin's having fun?? Believe or not, Ian (my baby brother for those who don't know) is Gavin's FAVORITE play toy. Second...Anna. He had so much fun chasing after Ian the entire time. Gavin did great on both plane trips. He hardly slept on the way to Houston, but was allright to Orlando. He was such a trooper.

From the airport we took a tour bus to our hotel about 45 min. away. Gavin LOVED the fact that he could jump around and watch Mickey Mouse on the TV screen.

That night, when we got to our hotel, we decided to try going Epcot for an hour. We got all the way there (a short 5 min. bus ride) to find out our ticket weren't the right ones and we had to go to the Will-Call office to get ours. Too bad they were closed. Oh well, we tried, right?! Poor Gavin barely made it back to the hotel before crashing.

Friday, Jan. 11th- We stayed on the park at the Disney All Star Music Resort. It was just like the one we stayed at last time, only there was a different theme. It was a really nice hotel, but just too big. We had to hoof it for about 15 minutes until we could get from our room to the lobby. We loved it though!

We got up early to catch one of the buses to go to the MGM studios (Hollywood Studios) for a character breakfast. Jodi booked one last time on my birthday and it was so much fun! We had breakfast with Jojo and Goliath and the Little Einsteins.

As you can probably tell, these pictures stink. Gavin wasn't too sure of these guys in the beginning. He about had a heart attack when Goliath tried to hug him. But by the end he was following June (from Einsteins) around and dancing with her. I'm so glad we did this early in the trip because it made for much cuter pictures later on.

The rest of the day, we played at MGM and went on a ton of rides. It was nice and no where near as busy as I've seen it before. It was nice. The only thing that stunk was that Tim and I got sick with wicked nasty headaches and sore throats the entire time. Luckily we found some good drugs.

We tried the baby swap thing on all of the rides Gav couldn't go on. I would watch him while Jodi, Ian and Tim would go on a ride, then I would get to sneak up to the front and go again with Ian and Jodi. Those two loved getting to go on everything twice without waiting in line! It was AWESOME!

We then scooted to Epcot on via boat and took Gavin to see the Nemo ride and the Turtle Talk with Crush. He went crazy. The whole time he kept saying.... "Mammo, Mammo Mammo!" and "Tuttle, Tuttle!" I think we went on the ride 4 times and watched Turtle Talk twice. Gav was mesmerized!
Afterwards, Tim bought Gavin some Nemo bath toys and we went back to the hotel to swim. Well, Gavin swam in the bathtub and Ian and Tim went in the HUGE pool shaped like a guitar. Close right??

These pics fit in that day somewhere....it's a good thing Jodi knows where all the smart things are. We hardly had to wait in order to get Mickey Mouse pics.

Saturday, January 12th- - We thought for sure that we had killed our son. The sleep he had had in the past few days were laughable. He was good, but he could BARELY keep his eyes opened. We gave him this day to sleep in, but if we wouldn't have woke him up at 10:30AM he probably would have slept the day away.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nanna Jodi! We love that you let us spend your birthday with you at Disney World! We love you!

Afterwards we headed to my favorite park, Magic Kingdom for the day. Gavin loved it and Ian went on pretty much EVERY ride. The weather was wonderful and there were hardly any lines! I think the longest line was the freaking Dumbo flying thingies and we really only waited 30 minutes.

While Tim, Jodi and Ian rode on the Rollercoaster in ToonTown. Gavin and I ran around and visited all of the cool houses. He went crazy. His favorite part was this little playground. Also, Tim scored us some pretty sweet Mickey Ears for FREE! They gave everyone on the rollercoaster these free Mickey Ears that you can't buy! Gavin loved them. I was surprised how long he actually kept them on even though they were huge on his tiny head.

Gavin's other favorite ride (and mine) was the Buzz Light Year Spin. We got to use these laser guns and we had to shoot at things during the ride. I always won on points...but I did have Gavin's help. I think we went on this ride about 10 times.

One of the naps Gavin did take was when we went in the Haunted Mansion. I thought he seemed quick during the entire ride. Sure enough, when we went to get of the ride, Gavin was limp as a noodle...completely passed out. We threw him straight into the stroller and enjoyed about an hour of peace.

Later that night, Jodi booked us another Character meal. Seriously, this is the best money ever spent. The way Gavin's and Ian's eyes lit up when they saw them was worth a million bucks. Gavin went crazy! The food was awesome too! We loved it so much in fact that Jodi and I snuck a bunch of stuff for snacks the next day. Hey, foods expensive! And when you pay $60 for a dinner, you better get something in return, right?!

Sunday, January 13th-- We hit another Character Breakfast early at Animal Kingdom. This one was by far my favorite. I honestly can't tell you why though. I think it was mostly because I was feeling better and didn't mind eating with my sore throat.

I think this means he's done...We were really excited get on the early Safari ride. In the morning is when you get the best view of the animals. I swear I could have touched a giraffe if I wanted...though they probably would have kicked me out, but I swear it was that close! Gavin kept looking at me like I was crazy. I don't think he realized how big they were. He was so excited to see an elephant!In the 'It's a Bugs Life' 3D movie....Gavin even left his 3D glasses on.The new 'Expedition Everest' ride. I LOVED IT! It was really fun!

After it started POURING rain, we decided to wait until it cleared up with a nap back at the hotel. Gavin and I slept like rocks and then we headed to the Fantasmic! Gavin loved the show! He was so excited to see Mickey mouse again. Plus, Tim bought him ANOTHER $20 light up toy. (those things are WAY too expensive!)

Monday, January 14th-- We decided to take this day pretty easy. I think we were all slowing down in enthusiasm as well as Gavin totally getting on my nerves. Not really his fault though. We did after all keep him up until midnight EVERY night and he rarely took a nap, so I'll give him credit. We started this day off at Animal Kingdom again so we could see the Nemo Musical. Before the show started we went to the Rainforest Cafe and ate a wicked awesome lunch. This was the best food by far. Gavin was freaked out by all of the animatronics and didn't leave my side the entire time.

Gavin eating his favorite treat. Gavin and Ian...best buddies! Gavin looks up to him so much. I just love these boys!

We ended the night at Magic Kingdom and watched the fireworks and the parade and did a little shopping (Tim and I got our awesome candied apples that we always get) and them we went back to the hotel. Then Gavin took a bath and ordered us some pizza. What a good boy!

Tuesday, January 15th-- We left Florida and enjoyed every minute of it. We didn't have to wake up early...like we do when we usually fly, which was very nice. I was excited to get my hair back. I was not liking the curlyness. Although, I really can't complain...Jodi and Gavin have the curliest hair. Gavin had one serious afro the entire time. I loved the heat, but not the humidity. The only hardship of the day was the tour bus ride back to the airport.....YUCK! Gavin was SCREAMING the entire time! I can't begin to describe how fun that 45 minutes was. It was a good thing I was sitting next to some super understanding people or my kid may have been left behind. Luckily, the plane ride was fairly uneventful. Gavin slept wonderfully on both flights and the layover and Houston wasn't too bad because of Lacey and Tyler's DVD player (THANKS AGAIN, BTW!) Shawn picked us up from the airport barely awake (us not him!) and we crashed for two days.

Although I'm soooo happy to be home, I still can't wait until the next time we go!

Here's my resolutions for the new year. I usually do good with my resolutions and hope I can do even better this year. Maybe if I post them it will help me that much more!

I have to get pretty specific or I don't do them, so forgive the detail.....It's really for me (Keeping me honest)

-------GO TO CHURCH MORE! Tim and I have been okay, but we really need to be better. I think that the 9AM got to us and with Gavin sleeping in until 9:30, it was just to hard to wake him up and be cranky all day. I want to go to church EVERY weekend that I can (know vacations and stuff will come up, but I need to prioritize). I need to really push this for the good of my family. Luckily, Tim is good with this one.

-------KEEP UP WEIGHT WATCHERS! So far, okay. I started this before the year was over with some friends of mine and my mom. They have all been a huge support and the POINTS system is surprisingly easy. I kind of slacked during the holidays and just barely picked it back up, but I have to do this if I want to feel normal again! I cannot get pregnant again until I get back to my goal weight!

-------EXERCISE! I used to be wonderful at exercise, but since Gavin was born, that thought went down the drain. I am REALLY going for 4 days a week. I have some excellent videos I've been doing and hope I can stick with it! Hopefully we'll get gym memberships again soon!

-------GET TOYS! Not for me or for Gavin, but for the Christmas Box. A Children's Shelter we live next to is always in desperate need of decent toys and I hope I can get some good ones of Gavin's that really don't interest him anymore. We really don't have room to store EVERYTHING, but just throwing it away is just so useless when someone else would appreciate it more.

-------ORGANIZE! This one is ALWAYS tough, but I want to go through everything and get it set....room by room....hopefully it won't be too hard.

-------HELP! Help others! This should be easy, but sometimes I get so caught up that I just don't think. I hope I can do more for people and make their lives easier.

-------READ! I think this is the most important! Read more to Gavin...Read the Docterine and Covenants all the way including P of G.P......Read the scriptures WITH Tim....

-------PRAY and GET TO THE TEMPLE! I swear they both should be no brainers, but it can be so crazy. We need to pray EVERY night as a family and pray before meals. We've been better but we can still do more. Temple is also important! I need to get my butt there more often!!

-------GO TO BED! I really need to start going to bed before midnight. I'll start that after tonight considering it's 12:10AM.

Okay, I'm done! Good Luck with all of your resolutions!