Toboggan Racers

This video is from the Toboggan Racers water slide at Blizzard Beach.  Nic is the first one on the left and Jackson is right next to him.  This was his second time riding this slide...after the first time I ran back to grab my camera.  I was so proud of him!!  He was the talk of the staff at Blizzard Beach :)  Pretty cool way to spend the last day of being 2!  Next year skydiving??!! Enjoy!

Blizzard Beach

Last day of being a 2 year old!

The day before Jackson turned 3 we spent it at Disney's Blizzard Beach.  I won't lie I was a little hesitant in going to a waterpark,  the ones back home gross me out.  Leave it to Disney to make it amazing!  This place was HUGE!   Beautiful white sandy beach areas, fun slides suitable for even little kids, a few crazy adult thrill seeker slides & it was complete with a lazy river that circled the whole property.  They even had a working chair lift to take you to the top of the mountain!   We can't wait to go back! So much fun!!! 

Haviland Family

Love this little guy so much!!!

Blizzard Beach December 15th 2011

Planning our day with daddy!

Playing in the beautiful sand!

Lazy River

Such a fun day!!

Getting ready to ride the chair lift!

 

Animal Kingdom & Epcot

Poor guy time change really was hard....but I wont lie, LOVED getting to wake him up :) Haha revenge!

Beautiful trees at all 4 of the parks!

We love Tigger!

Daddy & Jack doing a special Mission.  The Kim Possible interactive mission had us running all over the park.  Very Fun!!

One of the highlights of our trip:  Candlelight Processional.  A beautiful orchestra complete with a celebrity narrator retelling the birth of Jesus.  Amazing!  How cool is it that we got Neil Patrick Harris?! SUIT-UP :)  (If you don't watch How I Met Your Mother than you have no clue what I am talking about.)

Tourist Picture:  In front of Epcot Ball.  I've been here 4 times and have yet to go into that ball!  One day...

Hippos: Safari at Animal Kingdom

A little warm rain and a chance to wear these fabulous ponchos :)

After

Before

Lunch at Rainforest Cafe

Its Tough to be a Bug

A planner like his mommy!  Love this!!

Conservation Station in Animal Kingdom:  He loved that you had to ride a "rusty train" to get here.  This is where the animal hospitals, animal education & petting area are located.

Melbourne, Florida

In his happy place :)

Johnson's Beach House: Tiki Bar

This kid loves the beach!

Horseshoe Crab Shell

Portuguese Man of War

Jacks first time to the Atlantic

Traveling with a Toddler

Long gone are the days of diving into a great book on the airplane, listening to a fabulous play list while you sip a cocktail, packing a carry-on solely containing YOUR things & taking a nap in the air.....yep you guessed it! What is Traveling with A Toddler???

As my dad dropped us off at the airport at 4:30 am (thanks again dad!) we looked like we were going to be gone for a year! I was never a girl scout. I am confident in all the cookies I have eaten over the years, to fully embrace the scout motto "Be prepared."
Yes. I knew I over packed but 10 days, 3000 miles away from your home with a toddler is a long time.

Do it, I dare you!!

My goal was to make the 6 hour flight (9 hour total travel time) go as smoothly as possible! This motto became particularly useful as we sat on runway for almost an hour while waiting to be "de-iced." It took that long, you could almost hear people in Minnesota laughing as it seemed like no one at Sac International knew how to de-ice anything let alone a giant plane. Thankfully the sounds of melting down kids, and frustrated parents were not us!!! Be prepared.

The de-icing debacle made us land 70 minutes late only to have enough time for a quick potty break in Houston and we boarded our final flight to sunny Orlando!

Here are some of my favorite travel tips!

1- Do not "pre board" why spend any more time on the plane than you have to??! Instead Nic went on the plane before and set up carseat (see tip 2) got everything ready, while Jackson & I got some cardio & boarded last. It was so easy just walking down isle having everything set up!!

2- Car Seat!!!! A MUST, amazing, safe...nuff said! Yes it is a pain dragging it around but Jackson goes into this "car seat trance" the minute he is strapped in...awesome! Your best bet on your child sleeping on plane! Plus I have a trick check out this! Worth EVERY penny! Yep the mom of the toddler who walked up & down the isle 100 times wishes she had brought his carseat!

http://www.gogobabyz.com/product-i14550-c26-g6-b0-p0-gogo_Kidz_Travelmate_.aspx

It makes the car seat into a stroller like device, making cruising the airport a breeze and stores in over head compartment! AWESOME!!!!! I got a ton of ugly looks from parents in the airport as I made my way around, lol!
Had we not been headed to Disney World I wouldn't have brought my stroller but didn't want to rent a one.

3-DVD player with "kid noise eliminating headphones" and new movies! I bought a ton of dvds on amazon for $5 before we left!

4-Special treats & little toys yes this can get expensive but start planning in advance and target dollar bin has goodies too!! The key is NEW or never been seen...kids these days! But trust me hauling toys from home is simply a waste of space. Also if you cant buy new, borrow some toys from a friend.
I brought organic vitamin C lolly pops for take-off....worked great!

5-Nighttime Pull-ups/Diapers- pretty obvious they hold more & those bathrooms are nasty! Thankfully have never been in the "mommy mile high club" aka changing a poop in an airplane bathroom!!

This girl obviously NOT "traveling with a toddler" slept, snored and looked like this for over 2 hours...lol! Reminder I got up at 3:30 that morning-don't judge :)

We finally made it!!!

Like I said...Go Go kidz is the BEST!!!

More pictures from our fabulous vacation coming soon!!! Happy New Year Everyone!!