Disney World: Part One

The first week of the year was full of magic...DISNEY WORLD MAGIC. My parents were able to join us for a week long Disney adventure and boy did we have a wonderful time. Like any good Anderson/Jakulewicz trip, there were WAY TOO MANY PHOTOS taken so brace yourself! Here it goes in no particular order...kind of....

Axel on the airplane making faces because he's tired of waiting for everyone to get seated, he's ready to go!
Lucas testing out his new Leapster.
Someone is being a brat...can you guess who?
Your right, both of them! Lucas was mad because we woke him up and made him get out of the car. And Axel, he clued into the fact that he could easily torment his big brother from behind. Brother love.

Lucas became a real pirate and received a scroll with his certification signed by himself, Capt. Jack Sparrow!
Axel picked out a Mickey Mouse Pez in the candy store.
Lucas wanted sugar sand! Luckily for us, he likes to save things so it probably will be forgotten about before it's eaten.
G&G just needed a little pick me up caffeine after running from one end of the park to the next and back again. :)
GJ & Lucas jumping on dino steps to hear them roar!
Axel making sure not to miss out.
Dino ride with G&G.
Hotel time was rare but we had a wonderful suite...two bathrooms, two bedrooms, living room, full kitchen, washer, dryer, dishwasher and jacuzzi tub! It was PERFECT!
Fancy pool drink.
The weather was cool for Florida but here was the sweet pirate ship at our hotel. It had a super fun water slide built in. We tested it out a few times but spent most our time in the hot tub!
Disney Hollywood Studios was a huge hit with the Star Tours although the main attractions was closed for remodeling.
G&G provide a little mid-day nourishment.
New York City?!
A "rest" day spent at Disney Quest in Downtown Disney. The boys loved it because there are a million video games requiring no quarters but I would not recommend this place. We had free passes thank goodness.
G&G time = special time!
Mickey's Castle or at least that's what we call Cinderella's Castle. Axel was infatuated with it!
We HAD to do the Dumbo ride for G&G Anderson! We knew they would be proud!
Doing rides while Daddy waited in line at Dumbo.
Big stuff! He was so proud!
This is only the tip of the iceberg, we have many more photos. It's just so hard to decide which to post so please forgive me for the long posts. I can't help myself. :)

Out with the Old and in with the New

We decided to do a little bowling the last week of the year with some good friends and some great headgear.

Heidi recently had her baby, Jack Eric Buchiet, 8lbs, 4.5 oz, 20 inches long. He's super cute!Axel was a HUGE fan of bowling. He loved everything about it and was so excited when it was finally his turn.

We ended the year 2010 with a quick trip to the Red River Gorge for a day of climbing. The temps were good for a day and we took advantage of it. It was a great way to end both our year and "fall" climbing season. Sprite's were a climbing day highlight for both boys. (The small things in life!)That evening, we enjoyed some sparkling juice. Here's our big boy and his Daddy!
I love it!
Daddy teaching Axel all about football.
We got home early enough to enjoy New years Eve. However, when trying to coax Lucas out of the car in the middle of his Star Wars movie proved to be a challenge. It went something like this:
Mommy: "Lucas, please come inside so we can have a special New Year's Eve treat."

Lucas: "Mom, do you remember when you told me that New Years Eve was a very special night and that we should do something that would make us really happy?"

Mommy: "Yes,"

Lucas:"Letting me sit in the car and finish my most favorite movie ever would make me so happy and make it the best night ever!"

We compromised on coming inside to watch his oh-so-special-show on the laptop!
Nope, we didn't make it to midnight and we were fine with that!
The New Year started with some new discoveries. Our STINKER!
Yep, true stinker!
Lucas got to finally finish his show. He discovered the Directors Cut bonus addition and love hearing George Lucas and crew discuss all the details of making the movies. A true fan!
Yes, Disney World photos are coming soon!
Happy New Year!

Glance Into the Future

Photos. They are truly amazing how they can capture time. I look back at our baby photos and it's so hard to imagine Lucas & Axel so tiny and small. Luckily, the photos trigger memories and keep the images clear where my brain gets fuzzy. I love that photos help us remember.

Every once in awhile, a photo captures the future. I little glimmer of what time can do.

We recently returned home from a wonderful trip to Disney World with my parents. I was going through all the photos, trying to decide which ones would be perfect for the blog. Then, I came across this one...
I just stopped and starred. Who was this young man?
There's no sign of toddler or even little boy in this photo. It was a fast forward into time, years down the road when Lucas will be teetering on his teenage years. It tricked my brain for sure. It made me realize just how true it is when other moms stop me on the street, in restaurants and at the grocery store to tell me to enjoy my boys. They tell me that time will fly by and before I know it, my sons will be will be 15 years...21 years...30 years old and so on. They are right.

It's a wonderful reminder to enjoy each day and not rush our lives away. Luckily for me, a slight turn of the head and the mouth full of fish crackers brought me right back to 5 year old land!
Phew! I'm not ready for teenagers just yet! :)

A White Christmas - 2010

Christmas Cardinal.We woke up to a white Christmas which was beautiful. It snowed only about an inch but covered the old snow nicely making it a perfect day to spend inside enjoying Christmas Day!

He came, Santa came!A better view of the loot.
Lucas woke up before anyone and headed down stars to take a peek. He didn't touch a thing. I heard him on the stairs and invited him in for some Christmas cuddles. I had no idea he had gone down stairs until he told me he needed to whisper something into my ear. He said, "I know what Axel got for Christmas...Santa was here." So sweet!

We cuddled awhile and then headed down together.

Axel just starred in complete amazement. He would not look at anything else but the train.Lucas' Christmas wish. A few weeks ago, Lucas asked Daddy if wishes really can come true. Daddy said, "Some Christmas wishes do come true. What is your wish?" Lucas replied, "I wish Santa would bring me a new Indiana Jones Wii game. I'm not sure if there's one invented yet but I think he could make me one if there's not."

His wish came true!
He also got a Leapster Explorer.
Axel didn't care about his stocking or any of the other wrapped gifts. He was content with his new train.
Daddy trying to get Axel to open up his stocking.
He finally agreed and quickly realized there was good reason to check out his stocking.
Lucas was checking out Axel's new Write & Scribble.
Uncle Brian with his new beanie and one egg pan!
Breakfast time!
Mickey Mouse pancakes, sausage and choo-choos!
Back to unwrapping gifts!
Mommy got new climbing shoes.
Axel was telling me all about his train.
An awesome Star Wars book.
Uncle Brian with his new headphones.
Cyclometer and a handmade scarf!
Another train!!
A Star Wars Lego set.
Daddy's new bike pants.
Bath tub train!
You wouldn't know it from most of the photos but Axel did receive some non-train gifts for a little balance. :) He loves his Grinch!
Notice Axel's location...he would not leave that train track!
Daddy and his new bike tool kit.
Mommy and her new bike shorts.
The best turkey ever dinner!
Soaking up Uncle Brian...aka...tiring Uncle Brian out! :)
Nice smile Lucas. heeheehee
Axel was having a ball!
Jumping time!
I asked Lucas if he got everything he wished for. He quietly said, "No. I didn't get hugs and kisses from you yet!" I had to ask if Daddy told him to tell me that and nope, there was no set up.

My heart melted!

What a wonderful Christmas! I am truly blessed! Thank you God for all that you have given us!
Merry Christmas!