P Day - The Biggest Letter Day EVER!

We had so much stuff for P Day, we weren't able to smash it all into one day. We tried, but there was just no way! So cancel all your appointments, this is going to take a while!

P Day 1

D and I spent our not-so-lazy Sunday at Mom & Bob's house and brought all of our P Day stuff with us. Boy, we were busy! I think my parents were really excited to be a part of our huge letter day.

As soon as we got there, Pa had Phineas & Ferb tattoos to apply. Dylan got a Perry tattoo for P Day. He and Pa have been doing tattoos quite a bit lately and they are getting to be pros. And I'm sure Bob likes showing off his Phineas & Ferb tattoos to all the guys at work!

Whlie his tattoo was drying he decided it was time to eat. It was a day of P food! He snacked on some peanuts while Nonny made him a giant pancake!

He ate the entire pancake. And he definitely didn't want to share any of it with Lili the cat. I know it looks like D is showing Lili how to count to 4, but he was actually saying, "No, Lili! Stop! Go away!"

Ahoy! Next up was pirate time! We both put bandannas on and got out the pirate stuff. We forgot to grab his big sword from Matt & Jenn, but we brought his inflatable one from his first birthday party, and his Jake from my dad and Connie.

It didn't take long before our pirate time turned into a full, blown-out pirate sword fight. I know that it looks like a very unfair fight, but D made me take the big sword and he used Jake's little one.

 

 

We needed a breather after all the running around and laughing, so D and Nonny had some quite time and looked at his Jake & the Never Land Pirates look & find book. They looked  and looked and looked! He loves look & find books. 

After that, D wanted to do stickers with my mom. I don't think he is capable of going to their house and not "doing stickers." So, the two of them searched through all the stickers and found ones with P stuff on them.

There was just enough time before naptime (Yes, that's right - I'm not even to naptime of Day 1 yet!!) for one more P craft. 

Last week, at his Arts & Play Class at the Y, Dylan made a shamrock craft that we made into a pumpkin craft for today. I cut out a yellow pumpkin from construction paper and then cut up an orange sheet. I covered the pumpkin with glue and let him place all the orange pieces. It turned out pretty cute. We gave it to Nonny & Pa once it dried and they displayed it proudly on their fridge!

I had gotten three pumpkin books from the library. So, we snuggled up on D's bed and got reading pre-naptime. My favorite out of the three was How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara.

When D woke up from his nap hungry, we filled his tray with P food! We adults had already indulged in a P lunch of Clints Pizza (So, we were happy!). Dylan had peanuts, pickles, pizza, peaches, and pudding!

P Day was definitely the easiest one for food. And it was a bunch of stuff that Dylan really likes!

On to another P Craft! It was time to make a pig!

I saw a similar craft online, but it was a plain plastic bottle with pink paper wrapped around the middle. I thought it would be much cuter if we painted it!

I squirted some pink paint inside of a clean and dry plastic bottle, put the cap on tight, and let D shake it until the entire inside was coated with pink paint (I used Martha Stewart high gloss paint).

D helped hold the pig still while my mom and I used her hot glue gun to glue a white pipe cleaner for the tail, pink paper ears, and squishy ear plugs for feet (the feet were my mom's brilliant idea - awesome!). I drew eyes, snout, and mouth with a Sharpie.

I think the pig ended up being the hit of the day. Although, I'm not sure that Dylan was as excited as the adults were. In my modest opinion, the pig is awesome!

After some pig play time, we got back to work! I had an actual worksheet for today along with all these crazy crafts. I printed off the Confessions of a Homeschooler letter search for P. 

Then, we made a pizza for Daddy. I had cut out some red circles and black mushroom shapes. Pepperoni and mushroom just happens to be Josh's favorite. So I asked D to make a really yummy pizza for Daddy. We glued all the pieces on and then took a pretend taste test. Hope you don't mind that we already had a bite, Babe!

While searching through his massive amount of books, Nonny and D found a picture of a beautiful peacock and a book about penguins!

By the time dinner rolled around D asked my mom if she would make some Mac & Cheese for him. Apparently  P Day was a little too much to handle because he started to fall asleep while chowing down.

I manged to get a second wind into him by pushing up bath time. By the time we got home, D was in his PJs and starting to get sleepy again. I put on Happy Feet (about penguins) and we snuggled up on the couch. Needless to say, he didn't make it to the end of the movie.

P Day 2
We didn't need a second day of P, but I had so many fun things to do, that I just couldn't stop myself. Day 2 wasn't nearly as full of letter stuff as Day 1.

We read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear by Eric Carle (I know I've mentioned it before, but Dylan absolutely loves Eric Carle books) and then we made our own Polar Bear.

Okay, so I know that this is a pathetic attempt at a Polar Bear, but it was an easy craft that D could do all by himself. I drew a (poor version of a) Polar Bear, covered the paper plate in glue and let him stick cotton balls to it. Voila, craft accomplished.

For dinner, Dylan had Phineas & Ferb chicken noodle soup with Perry shapes. Perry, obviously, had to join us at the dinner table and check out D's food.

[Side note: for those of you who don't have kids or who haven't yet discovered Phineas & Ferb...you are missing out. It's pretty awesome. Just ask, well, almost anyone who has seen it!]

After dinner we were in a Perry mood. So we pulled out D's Phineas & Ferb look & find book and got a little assistance from Perry. We also watched the newest episode stored on the DVR while we were at it.

Before finishing our day with popcorn and the original Disney animated Peter Pan, we did one last P activity. I had some tri-colored pasta and had him separate it by color. He also spent some time pretending to chow down on the uncooked pasta.

I can't believe we are finally done with P stuff. I also can't believe that you made it through this entire entry! Whew! I think we may pick a less busy letter for tomorrow.

Disney Days - a Magical Magic Kingdom Day

You may think that we did everything a little backwards with our Magic Kingdom day last, but it worked out great for us. Coming in second place behind the wonderful Christmas decorations at the Magic Kingdom, comes their Autumn/Halloween stuff. Since this park is the home to the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties, they really go all out with decorating.

They even dress up scarecrows for the holiday!

And don’t get me started on the giant pumpkins! (Okay, so they are fake…but they look great!)

They even put up special statues around the Walt & Mickey statue in front of the castle.

We found Pirate Goofy! Cindy was super excited because Goofy is her favorite and, let’s face it, pirates are cool! So we had to get some good photos with that funny scallywag!

And what kind of trip to the Magic Kingdom would it be without stopping to see Mr. & Mrs. Disney (Mickey & Minnie)?

I just want to take a brief moment to mention how happy I am that Cindy D wanted to come on this vacation with us. I’ve known her since I was in grade school and she has always be wonderful to me. I’m not at all surprised that she treats my son the same way. She’s one of those people that you want around a lot because she has the ability to brighten up your day. She really made the trip more special…and fun!

Our day at Magic Kingdom would not be complete unless we had Dole Whips. It's a Magic Kingdom tradition for our family. If you’ve never had a Dole Whip, you are missing out on one of the true treasures at Walt Disney World. Next time you are there, stop at the refreshment counter across from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and treat yourself to a bit of tropical bliss in a cup. Trust me! All three of us ladies got different flavors and Dylan sampled them all!

Our final night in Disney World ended with me holding my son while watching Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I had forgotten how many times I saw those fireworks and heard the music (When I worked at the Grand Floridian, one of our jobs was to be a Fireworks Cruise boat captain on Pontoon Boats. So I took families out on that Lake many, many, many times for this show). All the words and my favorites parts came rushing back as soon as it started. It was a simple joy that I wasn’t expecting. Maybe that sweet song is one I should add to my Dylan lullaby repertoire.

It ended up being the perfect end to a wonderful vacation with my incredible son, my wonderful Mama, and a very dear family friend. I’m so lucky to have those memories.

Pumpkin Carvers

It has become a bit of a tradition for Josh and I to carve pumpkins every year. We started a few years ago, and aside from last year (we were a bit too busy between our 3 month old and the Halloween Party we were trying to put together), we’ve been doing it every year! We knew it was a bit early to do it on Oct 14, but Josh is leaving on Sunday for a 2-week school in California. So it was now or never!

Of course, this time, we had an excited little helper! Dylan was really into it, even though he had no idea what we were doing. He wanted to get right in there and get his hands dirty…literally!. He is such a fast learner too - I dipped my hands in once or twice and he immediately followed my lead and was pulling pumpkin guts out and putting them on the table.

Of course, once my pumpkin was almost completely cleaned out, he wanted to start putting stuff back inside. “That’s where that stuff belongs, right? So, that pumpkin guts step took me a little longer than planned. But it was well worth the cuteness that I got in return.

Once the carving tools came out, he quickly got annoyed that we were doing something that he couldn’t help with. But at least he gave me a little love before leaving the room to go play with other toys. Is he the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen, or what?

The process takes a bit longer when you have a 1yr-old running around the house, but we both managed to finish our pumpkins. After Dylan went to bed, we took a couple photos of our masterpieces! Another year of awesome carvings!

Happy Halloween, Everyone!