Disney World (Part IV)

We spent our last day at Epcot. Henry brute-forced his way through the whole day without a nap and did just fine.

At the Japan pavilion, he got to make a traditional Japanese Noh mask...which he immediately used to try and scare everyone around him, including strangers.

Looks pretty happy in these 3D glasses right? And he was fine for the first 15 minutes of Honey I Shrunk the Audience. It was when the whole theater started shaking back and forth to simulate being chased by a giant cat, causing Henry to yell "Mommy, where are we going?!", that we had to make our early exit.

To say that Henry had a crush on Snow White would be an tremendous understatement. He showed off for her in every way and got so nervous, at one point it looked like he was doing a Mary Katherine Gallagher impression.

A quick dance before eating German food and saying goodbye to Disney World. Ricola anyone?

Disney World (Part III)

Hollywood Studios. Disney's smallest park, but the one with Playhouse Disney and Cars characters and the Muppets. So score one for three-year-olds!

Yep, Handy Manny was there en toda su gloria de habla española. Also pictured here are Felipe, Squeeze, Pat and Dusty.

Ever wonder what it would feel like to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds? You actually get to find out on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster...all to the tune of Aerosmith's Love in an Elevator!

Ever wonder what your face would look like if you accelerated from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds...?

If there would have been a place to light candles, Henry would have done so.

Here's to another 50 years!!!

Minnie Mouse chocolate-covered apples. The Imagineers have left few stones unturned.

Disney World (Part II)

We spent Sunday at Animal Kingdom. That morning, we went to Donald's breakfast safari, where we got to eat (among other things, Mickey-shaped waffles) with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.

The whole gang. Turns out, Donald shoots a lot fewer cannon balls when you get him in a one-on-one situation.

A very special moment...Henry was pretty much in awe.

Henry has a tiny Mickey that serves as a sort of travel-sized Duckie--it serves the same purpose because it's soft and has a tag. When Henry met the real Mickey, he took him by the hand and led him to Alexis and then asked her for his Mickey. He wanted to show it to the real Mickey...and he even demonstrated how he uses it by taking the tag and rubbing it against his cheek. Real Mickey was not at all creeped out by this and actually seemed touched.

A ride on a flying triceratops

So I told Henry to stick his head in this cheetah's mouth and act scared...and what do you know? He did a pretty good job. Home Alone remake, here we come!

Disney World (Part I)

To celebrate my parents' 50th (!!!) wedding anniversary, the entire family -- six and two-thirds grandchildren, two daughters, two sons-in-law, one son, one daughter-in-law, one patriarch and one matriarch -- spent five days at the Happiest Place on Earth^TM, Walt Disney World. It was Henry's first time there and he loved it (Maelstrom, spinning tea cups and Honey I Shrunk the Audience in 3D notwithstanding). His favorite parts, besides the joy of spending almost a week with his cousins and Gran Gran and Pop, were meeting Mickey Mouse, Snow White and the real Lightening McQueen and Mater. I'm sure he also liked staying up past 10:00....but what else can you do when you have 8:30 reservations to eat Eissbein-Gratin mit Gebackenen Zwiebeln at the Germany Pavilion?

We were contractually obligated to pose for this picture.

Besides the perfect weather, we also enjoyed great timing. This parade started up about ten minutes after we walked through the front gates.

A dream come true: driving a race car (a red one, no less) with Pop riding shotgun!

The Mad Tea Party, aka the tea cups ride. He was having fun until I started spinning our cup a little too fast. Whoops. Obviously, this picture was taken after our tea party got a little too mad. (But Natalie and Lexie weren't complaining.)

Mouse Gothic. Made out of plants.

We were a very large group. And this picture shows only 5/7 of us.