Corduroy

Ever since discovering the Corduroy the Bear book at Nana and Papa's house up north, Olive has really enjoyed Corduroy. For Christmas, she got 2 Corduroy books and a small Corduroy bear. By chance, I happen to check out the MN Zoo schedule late Friday night and discovered that Corduroy the bear was going to be making an appearance on Saturday morning!

Off to the zoo we went:

Waiting and watching:

Priceless reaction to seeing Corduroy coming up the walkway:

There he is:

Checking out Olive's Corduroy:

Hug:

At this point, Corduroy's handlers were trying to shoo Olive out of the way so he could continue walking to his destination. But no, Olive turned her little self around, looked at Sam and me and said, "I want my picture taken with him".

OK, kiddo:

Finally, he was where he should be, so Olive went back for more chatting:

A handshake:

Maybe just one more picture:

Seems this meeting was a hit!

Winter Kid

It's been cooooold here for most of January. Most people don't leave their houses unless they have to. Not us! We have to get out. On a Saturday we ventured into the below zero temperatures to go to story time and a special presentation from the zoo. It was so cold that the zoo volunteer could only bring one animal.

But that was OK with Olive:

Next we walked down the block to Bread and Chocolate for hot cocoa and a chocolate croissant:

See? We can stand it:

Caroling with Olive

Olive really enjoys the piano at Grandma and Grandpa LaChance's house. Over Christmas, she would sit there for a long time, and somehow seemed to know how to hold open the songbook and play songs. Well, Olive's versions of the songs.

Videos of her very subdued Christmas songs:

In this one I get reprimanded for the camera use:

And this popular carol about the Christmas fairy:

Winter Fun

Some videos of all the outdoor fun Olive had in the snow up north.

Toboggan ride with Papa:

First snowmobile ride with Daddy:

And the big family sleigh-ride through the snow:

Yes, that's really our family. Singing "Jingle Bells" while on a horse drawn sleigh ride. And yes, we really are that happy.

And lucky!

Olive sings

Olive likes to see videos of herself. She also likes to sing. Last week she thought maybe she'd sing some songs and then watch them back on the camera. I think they are each amusing in various ways. She's such a funny kid.

Take one:

Take 2:

Take 3:

More Florida Fun

A couple more videos from our FL trip that are pretty darn cute.

First up, one of Olive loving the hotel swimming pool:

Second, Olive and Sienna reading books and chatting:

I love how Sienna pronounces Olive's tough name: O-woof. :)

Disney!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we flew to Orlando to be with Sam's extended family. Sam's parents thought that as long as we were all going to be there, we should do a day at Disney World with Olive and her cousin Sienna (who is also 2). To say it was a day to remember would be an understatement. Watching 2 year olds take in Disney was pretty remarkable. All these new experiences as a parent we never thought of! Sam and I both agreed that watching Olive see the characters, go on the rides, and feel the magic that is Disney was really, really neat.

There isn't really a better way to tell you about Disney than to show, so if you're unprepared for tons of photos of our kid, now is a good time to move on!

Here are Charlie, Sienna, Sam and Olive waiting for the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom:

View from the ferry, you can see the castle:

Olive and Grandma on the ferry:

Jason, Charlie and Sam:

Sienna riding on Micaela's shoulders:

Our first view of the castle:

Ride #1, It's a Small World:

Inside It's a Small World:

A video from inside:

Waiting in line for Dumbo, wearing Minnie ears Uncle Jason bought for the girls:

Still in line for Dumbo:

Olive and Grandpa on Dumbo:

Waiting in line to meet Ariel, needed a snack already:

Ariel and Olive:

This was a major highlight, and I'm so glad we waited for 40 minutes to meet her, since Olive had been telling everyone that she was going to see Ariel at Disney:

Did I mention that we waiting in line a lot? Probably 60% of our time was waiting in line. It got a bit boring at times:

Micaela discovered that a double stroller provides room for an adult to get a break, too:

Still in line:

We made it! Worth the wait to meet Tigger and Pooh. Olive even gave them hugs:

For some reason there was no line for the carousel, we should have gone on it a few more times:

The girls, catching a ride:

A hug at the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse:

Show at the castle:

The girls couldn't tear their eyes away from the show for a photo:

Next we went on the jungle cruise, but first we waiting in the longest line ever. The sign said 35 minutes, and we waited over an hour. Olive and Sam entertained one another:

Finally on the Jungle Boat Cruise:

Mickey treat while waiting for the parade to start:

Parade highlights:

A video of the parade:

Can you tell Olive was getting tired by this point?:

Well, she was. After the parade she fell asleep while we were in line for the Peter Pan ride:

Final photo in front of the castle:

Had to stop for goodies of course:

Heading back to the car on the tram, Olive telling Grandpa and Grandma something exciting:

We all commented that we were amazed the little girls did so well. Neither of them ever got upset, melted down, or even got frustrated. It seems amazing to spend 8 hours at Disney with 2 two year olds and not have a tear shed! But we did it, and they both had such a fun time. It seems so cliche to use words like "magical" in association with a theme park. But really, it was, and it is. To see these girls take in the magic of it all was so much fun. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma, this is a trip none of us will soon forget!