The Very Long Day of Disney

Ok, no one thought that we'd start Disney at 9:30 and still be there 12 hours later. Crazy is the only way to describe it. Tons of rides, full-size Lightning McQueen, a billion people, phenomenal fireworks show, and one really excited little boy. I do have to admit, Nick did use his Uncle Matt for a pillow for about an hour and a half.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride started it off just a little too scary...

A ride in the monkey cage on the circus train was certainly a highlight...

A brief rest in Minnie's chair was a respite from the horror of Toon Town...

Oh yeah, first driver's license from Autopia...

Blasting those silly space Z's with reckless abandon. We still aren't sure how Uncle Matt got that high of score...

The Day of the Metro

Who knew, LA does have public transit. Today, we made a whirlwind tour via the LA Metro system. We made the obligatory Hollywood stop and cruised on to downtown. Nick took in all of the markets and we enjoyed an outstanding sandwich. We even got to ride on a Funicular. Too much to write it all, but we had a great time...

Griffith Park: The Day of Rides

Griffith Park, as it turns out, is a ride paradise. In addition to being a huge beautiful park, it has three miniature trains to ride and some smelly ponies. Of course, we had to ride them all. The crown jewel for the adults was the mile long miniature railroad complete with tressels, bridges, and tunnels. For Nick it might be a toss-up between that and the pony.

Nicholas Versus the Pacific

Day One - Los Angeles

Nicholas made the long plane ride out to California. It was a rough nights sleep after landing here, but that didn't keep him from going crazy busy the next day.

First, Nicholas decided he had all the energy in the world for a hike...

Then he got "tired" and required frequent shoulder rides by his Uncle Matt...

Fear not, however, he got a good nap thanks to LA traffic and was ready to hit the beach...

Which he took every advantage of...

Planting Season

Ahh, it must be springtime. Nicholas decided it was time to get his seeds planted for this year's garden. He wanted to grow "french fries", but settled for a mix of peppers, tomatoes, and all else his heart desires. The greenhouses are happily catching sun in his room right now until the frigid wears off outside. Here Nicholas is planting in the soil that he still thinks might melt....

It's raining...

It's pouring...
Good thing I made this cool rain gauge at Home Depot....

Trike-A-Thon

The results and early photos are in. Nicholas absolutely loved riding his bike around the gym at the Y during school. Turns out the laps were smaller than we expected and he shattered the 4 year old record for laps in his class. Thank you to all of you that supported him in the Trike-A-Thon and I apologize to all those who did so by lap count :)

On the way in, getting some warm-up in....

Come on, just let us go already....

And here they come again... Repeat this 44 times :)

And now in full rough-cut video form...