A New Sport

It took me awhile before I agreed to sign Brady up to play hockey. Sharp razor blades on shoes doesn't necessarily appeal to me. However, hockey is one of Jason's favorite sports so it's pretty cool to see Brady out there...like father, like son! Our first session was interesting. Poor Brady fell so much that I thought he's either going to hate this sport or will love it... he walked off the ice and said "I LOVE IT!" We 've been at it for a few weeks now, and although he is improving quickly (he no longer falls first thing when he steps on the ice), he still falls down quite often. He always pops right back up and tries again. I was the camera mom out there snapping everything, waving, and worried that he was getting hurt...I think Jason was a tad embarrassed. The photos below capture what we see all too often...in slow motion...

Going, going, gone...

Our Little Hockey Tot!!

Children's Museum Visit

Recently we drove up to Naperville to meet some friends of ours. Stacie and I have been friends since grade school and we try to get together at least a couple of times a year. It's fun getting together and letting our kids play together. This time we decided on visiting a children's museum. The kids sure had fun, just take a look at some of the photos!
Brady's favorite activity was building "something" out of wood...using real tools! Daddy was right there with him, helping him build this masterpiece. I personally think it's Rudolph. We thought it turned out just perfect!

Walt Disney World

We visited Walt Disney World for the first time in October. Brady is five now, which is the perfect age for this adventure. We spent seven days in Orlando and managed to visit every theme park and Sea World. By the end of the trip, we were exhausted - but it was worth it! Magic Kingdom was so much fun, we went there three or four times. The castle is beautiful and everything we had imagined. It changes colors at night and the fireworks show is stunning. Tinkerbell even "flies" from the castle shortly before the fireworks. Leave it to Brady to look up, notice the wire and say "Tinkerbell is ziplining!"

We surprised Brady with a character meal at Chef Mickey's - which was an amazing experience. I was a little nervous as to how Brady would react around the characters. We had traumatized him a couple of years ago when I had front row seats to see Sesame Street Live and Elmo scared him (he was quite large when we were so close to him). We've been talking about Mickey and his friends for almost a year now, so thankfully it paid off. He loved the characters!!

To our pleasant surprise, Brady is a huge fan of roller coasters...the bigger the better! It must be genetic! One of his favorite rides was the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. And to think, I was scared to let him go on it. After all, he was only one inch taller than the minimum height requirement. As soon as the ride ended, I heard "Let's go again!" Jason and I went on two rides that he couldn't go on...Rockin' Roller Coaster and Kraken (at Sea World). It won't be long before he's ready for the front row on the fastest coaster at a theme park! His other favorite rides werethe Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Big Thunder Mountain Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom) and Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom). We rode all of them multiple times.

We were there during Halloween week, so we bought tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They close the park down to everybody except those with tickets. We had so much fun - everything from the rides, trick or treating with the characters, Boo to You parade, and the fireworks. Our little pirate had a wonderful Halloween experience - and so did mom & dad. Disney is truly a magical experience. This was one vacation that will forever live in our hearts.