More Disney Pics...

One of our favorite places was the Nemo and Friends complex at Epcot. The Nemo ride, Talking with Crush, and the aquarium were a definite favorite of both kids. I think we did Nemo at least 3 (or 4!) times throughout the week!

Ben's expression when he saw the Magic Kingdom parade coming down Main Street...his face says it all.

Waiting in line at the Tomorrowland Speedway---this was our longest line to wait in---30 min! January is the perfect time to go to WDW---there were NO waits!
Ben driving at the Tomorrowland Speedway at the Magic Kingdom! He loved steering the cars and pushing the pedal!

Logan and I riding "It's a Small World" at Magic Kingdom---Logan LOVED this ride. His little fingers were pointing at everything!

Family picture in front of Magic Kingdom railway station.

Group picture at Animal Kingdom!

Character Dining at WDW

We scheduled 3 different meals with the Disney Characters during our vacation. I wasn't sure how Ben was going to react to the characters (he doesn't like costumes, Halloween, etc)....but he loved meeting all the characters! Meeting all of the classic Disney characters was so "magical" for him---the characters weren't people in costumes...they are real to him! He loved meeting all of them, hugging them, and taking pictures with them. Logan even loved them! Logan especially loved squeezing Mickey Mouse's nose and blowing kisses to Minnie Mouse! Such a little flirt, at such a little age!

Breakfast at the Beach Club resort. Ben loved his Mickey waffles! (Just look at the joy on his face!) My boys with Minnie Mouse!

Sweet baby blowing kisses!

We ate dinner at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort one evening. Very fun to see what Mickey and friends cooked up for us that night!

We also ate dinner at the Epcot's Garden Grille with Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale!

Mimi getting a birthday hug from Mickey!

Logan giving kisses to Mickey Mouse! He loved the characters as much his big brother!

Happy Birthday Mimi! What a wonderful way to celebrate her 60th birthday! A week full of fun and surprises! We love you Mimi!

Even Logan enjoyed some of Mimi's birthday cake!

WDW---The Day of the Dinosaurs

We spent our 1st official day in a WDW park, at Animal Kingdom. And all of that time was spent at "DINOLAND, USA". (Have I told you how my oldest son is obsessed with dinosaurs?) So, yes, we spent about 5 hours in Dinoland---then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner at...you guessed it, T-Rex Restaurant. We had a full day of dinosaurs! Ben would have been happy and his trip complete if we just stayed in Dinoland the entire time. But, then again, he had no idea what was waiting for him beyond the fossil bones...

Ben's favorite ride in all of Disney World was the...you guessed it!...."Dinosaur" ride, in Dinoland! It is actually a "big kid" ride, roller coaster type ride, with really cool life-like animotronic dinosaurs that pop-out and try to scare you! I screamed twice when I rode it---Ben was never scared and loved every minute of it. (And he loves reminding me how I was scared, and he was not!) :-) So, Gran bought Ben a huge Carnotaurus (the scary dinosaur in the ride). Ben is SO PROUD of his carnotaurus....

...he walked around all day with it.... ...fell asleep on the bus with it....

...and went to bed with it every night.

Have I told you my son is obsessed with dinosaurs?

Disney World Marathon, January 9th

We started our Disney World vacation off with Mom and Dad's Marathon, Saturday, Jan. 9th. The arctic blast blew into WDW Friday night, and we awoke to FRIGID temperatures! Snow was predicted at Disney World/Orlando area---the first time since 1975! And while the snow did not make it to the ground, (the meteorlogist said it melted, then re-froze as sleet), it was miserable weather to start our vacation, let alone participate in a marathon! It was 26 degrees outside, with a wind chill of 19, and heavy sleet.

But, Randy, I, and the kids bundled up and headed to the finish line to capture some memories for Mom and Dad. However, as soon as we got into the park, the weather worsened and I made a "Mommy-decision" to get my babies out of the horrible weather. So, I sent Randy to the finish line and told him to take pictures!

Here is our "Incredible" Gran, and "Wonder Woman" Mimi, approaching the finish line!
(Just kidding, these are just some of the other crazy people that participated!)

Here is one with Mom and Dad approaching the finish line.
Mom is in the bright, hot pink jacket and Dad is to her right in the gray jacket.
Their actual finish time was 3 hours 36 min! Way to go Mimi and Gran!
(The clock displayed on the picture is the actual gun time, but they didn't walk over the start time pad for over 30 min after the start gun fired.)


My cousins, Michael and Courtney Rees also participated in the Disney Marathon! This is the 2nd marathon my mom has participated with Michael and Courtney---they were all in the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll Marathon, Nov 2008. Courtney's mom also participated!

The happy...but completely frozen....marathoners!

WAY TO GO! We are so proud of all of you! It takes a lot of determination, mental and physical strength to successfully participate in a marathon---and even more so, with the incredibly harsh weather conditions! So, GOOD JOB REESES!!!

Reading Together

I have been getting so many requests from friends and family for a blog update on our Disney World trip! BUT...I am STILL sorting through our photos and hopefully in the next week I will have a Disney blog! We had a BLAST---and everything was so MAGICAL for Ben. Ben's face was priceless, and there were so many times that I just had tears in my eyes at the sheer joy on his face. Logan also had a wonderful time and loved riding the rides just as much as his big brother! He was such a good baby.

So, in the meantime, here is a picture of my sweet boys, reading books together after bath time.

Daddy Time!

Logan loves to imitate everything he sees his big brother and Daddy do. This includes playing the Wii. If either, or both of them, are playing the Wii, Logan has to have his own controller, pretending he is playing too! I guess time will come very shortly, that we will have to buy a 3rd controller for Logan! If nothing else, it is good, fun time the boys have with their Daddy.

Falling into Leaves

With the cold weather that has hit South/Central Texas, the leaves in our trees have fallen in record time. And recently, the boys had fun helping Daddy rake them up....and mess them up too!

Big Shoes to Fill

With the holidays, Randy was home more than usual, and the boys and I loved having him home. He has been working so hard, and such long hours, that many times he is lucky to get kisses and hugs before the boys head off to bed in the evening when he gets home. But, with Daddy being home for the holidays, so were his shoes....


And those shoes are hard to fill....but here is one proud baby trying his darndest to be like his Daddy. These boys love their Daddy more than anything...

Christmas 2009

Our Hood family had a wonderful Christmas. It was filled with gifts, love, joy, and family. Our festivities began on Christmas eve when we met Randy's dad and related family for lunch at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Amorcito's. Then we all headed back to our home for a gift exchange. Then in the late afternoon, we headed to Christmas eve church service. On Christmas day, my parents were with us all day---and the boys, as well as Randy and I, really enjoyed the day with them. We played games, read books, ate food, and took naps. It was a perfect Christmas day. Then Randy and I headed over to his mom's house for some good food and gift exchange while the boys napped. All in all, we had a wonderful day; received many wonderful gifts; while never losing sight of the real meaning behind Christmas. We truly celebrated our Savior's birth and paid reverence to the fact that without his miraculous birth, we would not be where we are today. Everything we have is because of Him. And we Praise Him for it, on Christmas day, and every day.

Here are some family photos of our Christmas morning.
Ben and Logan, on Christmas Eve night, ready for bed----and ready for Santa!

The Christmas loot from Santa!

My Hood boys anxiously awaiting to see what Santa brought them on Christmas morning!

Ben is really into dinosaurs. Have I told you that before? I mean, really into dinosaurs. He can name all dinosaurs, tell you if they are herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores, tell you what prehistoric period they lived in (whether jurassic, cretaceous, etc), and even tell you some stats about his favorite dinosaurs (how tall, how big, etc). The kid is REALLY into dinosaurs. SO, all he asked for was a "Spinosaurus". Now, most people don't know who Spinosaurus is....well, Ben will tell you that Spinosaurus was the meanest, deadliest dinosaur that ever lived. Even meaner than T-Rex. But with the general public, lest most children, not knowing who or what a Spinosaurus is....can you imagine the trouble that Santa encountered finding a Spinosaurus to add to his dinosaur collection? Ummm, yeah.

But here is a picture of....Ben finding his Spinosaurus from Santa. If Ben only knew how hard Santa worked to get that Spinosaurus to him for Christmas....thank goodness for our trusted Carnegie Hall and USPS! (phew!)

Logan playing peekaboo through his new Farm House Fisher Price toy. He loves it!

Ben, proudly showing off his new Nerf swords that Santa brought him. (Oh Santa, really...you shouldn't have...)

Logan, checking out his new CAT dump truck ride-on toy.

Logan loves his new chair and his new books! One of Logan's favorite things to do is read! His Mommy loves this!

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking and cooking---I just love all of the yummy smells on Christmas day!

And even Bonnie was "spoiled" with a new coat this year! (If you can't read her coat, it says "spoiled".) :-)