God Speed....

(Transferred from the old blog The Egan Initiative)

I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood, but occasionally we are graced with an awe inspiring sound that few in this world are lucky enough to experience.

8 minutes ago I stood in my backyard and faced east in anticipation of the sight that would come before the sound. First I heard the dogs around the neighborhood start to bark, then I saw the bright light through the trees, racing up to the sky at a speed that cannot help but make you pause. When this flame in the sky had reached about halfway up in my view, a rumble started to come from its direction. It continued to get louder, vibrating the windows of my house and the blood in my veins. Today the air was clear enough and the wind just right to carry the sound to the point you could hear the flames of the Shuttle crackle. Soon the vibrating roar surrounded the air around me and my peacefully sleeping newborn. I watched with a feeling of pride for the good side of humanity as the flame got distant, then sparked as the booster rockets separated from the main part of the shuttle. As the image of the shuttle disappeared it left behind a large line of smoke, brightly illuminated by the sun. The rumble soon faded away, and I came inside the home to watch the shuttle Atlantis live on the television, to get a view of it entering space at over 4000 miles per hour.

I feel very privileged to live so close to something so amazing. It is by no accident that I do; when I was young we would come visit my grandparents here in Brevard county and I always felt I wanted to live here.

My shuttle experiences have not always been spectacular, as the first shuttle launch I witnessed was the tragic launch of the Challenger in January 1986. I remember it very well, stepping out to the patio of my grandfather's condo on that cold day to watch it go up. As it was going up in the air, my grandfather said something was wrong, that it should be going towards the moon, and as he pointed the direction it should be going a large puff of smoke filled the air. The shuttle was no longer making its journey upwards. I had not fully understood the gravity of the situation being that I was 5, but the feeling and images of that day have haunted my memories.

However, my memories are now filled with the many launches I have witnessed since moving to Florida in August of 2005. Each launch has been astounding, and have all been different in their own way. In my opinion nothing can top a night launch, when the shuttle lights up the sky like a sunrise. It is like the sun making a quick appearance in the east, just long enough to say hello, illuminating the blue in the sky. A fantastic sight.

We have only 6 more launches scheduled for our shuttle program. I think it is unfortunate it is being canceled before its replacement, the Ares rockets, are ready to begin. As it stands now, there will be at least a 3 year gap between the programs. I will miss seeing the shuttles go up in the sky, but I am very glad to have been lucky enough to be present during the launches I have seen.

Midnight Sun: Shuttle launch viewed from our backyard, August 27, 2009 at 11:59 pm

The birth of our first little one

(Transferred from the old blog The Egan Initiative)

While waiting for our unborn son's never ending story to unfold I figure now would be a great time to tell the birth story of our daughter, especially since I have never actually written it down.

Her official due date was October 20, 2006. On the 19th of October I went in for the regular weekly exam with my OB. It was about 3 pm when I got out and almost immediately I started to feel some cramping. My sister happened to call to say hi while I was in the parking lot, and I remember telling here how I feel like it is entirely possible I could be starting the labor process. We were both pretty excited though I still wasn't quite sure since the cramps were not terribly strong. I told her that the next time I talked to her there should be another human in the world, then we said our goodbyes and I drove home.

The cramping continued throughout the afternoon, but not frequent enough where I would consider them actual contractions. That pattern didn't really start until later in the evening. Ryan and I were watching 'a file' - we had been watching every X-Files episode on DVD during that year and were winding down to the end. The episode we were watching at the time just happened to be about Dana Scully (the red head for those who don't watch the show) having a child, which was a rare storyline for the show. We had to pause the show for me to call my doctor, since the cramping had become much stronger and more frequent. She said that it was pretty much up to me on if I go at this point (kind of a weird answer, I felt). I told her I would wait it out for it to get stronger. About 20 minutes after that they did get stronger, and I won't go into details too much (but some do know what happens when it gets stronger) and at around 10 pm we decided to drive up to the hospital.

The hospital of our choice was almost 30 minutes from home. There really were none closer but this one seemed quite nice. It was Parrish Medical Center in north Titusville, situated on the Indian River. We got in and I registered, then they escorted me up to the 5th floor maternity ward. The pain was definitely getting stronger at this point and all I wanted to do was lay down. They put me in a hospital bed and continued to ask me a bunch more routine questions. The nurse did an exam and found me dilated to a 3. I guess they felt this wasn't far along enough and called the doctor to see if I should stay. Again her answer was the same...its up to me. I was thinking that at this point I knew the baby was coming and I was not going to drive an hour round trip again anytime soon, so I told them I really wanted to stay.

The night progressed rather slowly. A lot of walking up and down the halls, during which I loved to stop and look at the newborns in the nursery since they were a great inspiration. My back was starting to hurt quite a bit and so Ryan became my massage therapist. I was making it through the contraction pain ok, but by 6 am the back pain was getting so severe I decided to ask for an epidural. I had originally only planned on doing that if I felt it was necessary, which with the painful back labor I was experiencing it became a necessity. While waiting for the anesthesiologist to arrive the pain was getting quite intense in my lower back and making me cry a little. Contractions are nothing compared to back labor, it seemed. Finally at around quarter to 7 he arrived with the long needle that many woman who have had labor are familiar with; I'd normally find it intimidating but at this point I knew its purpose and I strongly welcomed it. His first try wasn't successful, but after the second try he got the catheter in my back and soon there was relief.

It was so nice to be out of pain so I was able to rest for a little while, as was a very tired Ryan. We had not had any sleep that whole night. Later that morning my aunt Karen arrived to help with the birth. She is a nurse at another hospital here in Brevard county. She brought some food for Ryan; which brings me to mind that it isn't easy laboring for hours and not being allowed to eat. Being that I had only progressed to about a dilation of 8 (you are supposed to be a 10) we waited and waited. Around noon my doctor showed up and said she wanted to do a pitocin drip. I was a bit hesitant about this since I felt there was no need to induce a labor already in progress, especially since the baby was doing fantastic - her heartbeat had remained steady the whole time. However, since she was the doc, I trusted her opinion and let her do the drip. They administered the Pitocin and reduced the epidural, and soon the contractions got even stronger. It didn't take long for me to tear in two places, and this ended up requiring almost 4 months of healing.

Around 1:30 I was finally ready to begin the pushing stage. Now this is where the term labor just isn't generous enough. I got extremely hot and went on for hours trying to push her out. Not an easy feat! She just didn't want to come out. Later I found out that her head was facing up rather than down and this is what made it difficult to push her out, as well as the reason why I experienced the painful back labor. The epidural drip was weak enough for me to feel my contractions but I still couldn't feel my legs. Karen and Ryan helped to lift them during pushing. They were a great support team to get through this part of the process. After 2 hours of repeated pushing and trying to cool down in between, our sweet little girl made her grand entrance into the world at 3:21 pm. (I think it is awesome...321 right across the river from NASA).

That moment of a new life beginning is amazing and unforgettable. I was overwhelmed with happiness and love, and moments after her first breath she was in my arms. I couldn't help but cry and tell her I love her, and try to soothe her little baby cries...telling her it was ok. She was so beautiful I almost couldn't handle it. The nurses soon had to take her over to the scales and clean her up. I was completely exhausted at this point but just couldn't take my eyes off of her. My first impression was that she looked like a mini Ryan. She was just adorable.

Anytime I was in her presence I was was completely in awe. Here was this new little human that I had known since the moment she came into this world, and she was amazing. I just loved observing her discover everything in her surroundings. During her first day she was fascinated with her hands and fingers. We had a memorable 2 days in the hospital, which was very helpful for me to get rest, then we made our way home to really get our new life together underway. My adoration of her has grown and grown over the past 3 years and I have always enjoyed watching her discover new things. Being a parent has been amazing and I am so excited to do this again very soon.

Updates, updates

We are all getting excited for the new person arriving in 2 months. Zelda loves giving the baby kisses (on the belly). Yesterday I told her that the baby wanted a kiss since she gave me one, and she took that as meaning the baby wanted to giver her a kiss, since she promptly laid her cheek where she assumes his head to be and waited a moment before she gave him a kiss in return.

She has been so full of creativity and imagination lately. It has been a lot of fun to watch. Weeks ago she was shuffling around on the carpet. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied "walking like a penguin." She loves to impersonate animals, be it by sounds or movements. "A turtle goes like this," and she swings her arm, "and an owl goes like this: hoo hoo!". She was bringing me her stuffed animals recently. I tossed one to the other side of the room, and she ran over to it and picked it up in her mouth, then crawled over to me, dropped it in my lap and barked. I don't quite know where her idea to do that came from but it was hilarious, and she still does it occasionally.

Last week we received a generous gift from my parents. They gave us their Ford Focus, just so long as we could get it from Utah to Florida. Our friends Dustin & Jeff drove it out in a record 3 days! It was awesome to visit with them, though the visit was extremely short; they arrived around 10pm and had to leave for a very early flight back home the next morning. We hung out a bit then I suggested we go to the beach. It was lovely out...overcast and a little bit of rain, but easy enough to see since there was a full moon behind the clouds. Boogas fell asleep in the car on the way there, and we laid her down on a towel on the beach. She soon woke up, looked around her, and said "Sand!". She loves to play in the sand, and is still intimidated by the waves, so Ryan & I took turns hanging out with her while the other went to the warm waves. Dustin & Ryan were the only two with swimsuits, so they got all the way in the water. Hopefully it was awesome enough to entice them back for another more extended stay.

The car we got works great, and it is so reassuring to know we now have a second car just in case. Plus I am a lot happier when Ryan takes it to work as I don't have to worry as much as when he is on his scooter. I trust him enough on that but I don't trust other drivers to see him. I almost got hit in my Echo on the way to the office of my midwife 2 weeks ago. Thank goodness no one was in the lane on the right of me so I could swerve away from the car merging right into where I was. People are just so oblivious sometimes it freaks me out.

Speaking of my midwife, she is awesome, and I am so excited to have her this time around. My last doctor was more of the type of person that treated pregnancy & birth like a disease to be worked on rather than its own special process. I wish I would have found the lady I'm going to be using this time. Her name is Lila, and she works in partnership with an OB doctor who is just as cool; just in case there are complications the doctor takes over. Otherwise Lila will be there through it all. Zelda loves her, so that is a good sign. 8 1/2 more weeks until the due date. The baby is getting a whole lot more active, in an entirely different way than Zelda was. She seemed to be dancing all the time in the womb...lots of arm and leg movements. Link, on the other hand, does a lot of stretching and strong single movements. Can't wait to meet him. :D

Having a Boy

Here is an entry that is long overdue.

My birthday was quite the fun filled day. It started out with our first ultrasound in which we were going to find out if our little one is going to be a boy or a girl. Jen joined along since the ultrasound doc didn't allow other kids in the room. So while Jen & Zelda played outside the hospital, Ryan and I got to see a peek at our little one. They did a lot more with this ultrasound than with Zelda's. They spent a lot more time on it, and even had an option of getting a video recording. Very soon into the ultrasound we knew what it was...obviously a boy. They didn't even technically tell us what it was for several minutes, and really didn't need to; during a view of him from the front I noticed there was quite the difference between his and our daughter's ultrasound. So there you have it, we'll be having one of each. We are very excited. A great thing, too, as I've had his name picked out for years.

They showed us many things during the ultrasound, such as his leg bones, brain, heart, stomach, even a colored view of the blood flow in the umbilical chord. He was not very active, as opposed to Zelda, who just didn't sit still. I recall that she even made a silly, scrunched up face as soon as she was viewed on the ultrasound, and it made the nurse & I laugh quite a bit. I have noticed that as a consistent difference between the two of them. His movements are not as frequent, but when they happen they are very strong. Zelda on the other hand I had nicknamed 'the skanking baby' since it felt like she was dancing in my belly, arms and legs moving very often and quickly. I am so excited to meet my son in person in a few months and get to know him.

Here is the video, and a few photos:




































As we were going downstairs to find Zelda & Jen we ran into them when the elevator opened. Such good timing. Naturally they were the first we told of the news that we are having a boy. Zelda didn't quite get it, and was more interested in the little umbrella she had which she said was like Mary Poppins. It had been a raining morning and was slated to be a rainy day...which would later affect our other plans.

We went home to get a few things so we could go to Disney. They have a special this year where let you in for free on your birthday. Ryan had a discounted pass so adding another day for him only cost around $30. We got there around 1, planning on getting some pictures taken since I needed a portrait for Zelda's 2nd year, then playing around the park. We managed to get just a few at the entrance to the park when rain started. And boy did it rain! We trudged through it to Toon Town since we could meet the characters inside, and out of the rain. After meeting most of them it was soon apparent that everyone else had the same idea. We stuck around for a bit then ventured back outside with hopes we could at least go on one indoor ride. The rain was coming down harder than I have ever seen it other than a tropical storm. We were soaked, even with having ponchos and umbrellas. Most outdoor rides were closed and the indoor rides were packed. We decided to leave the Magic Kingdom around 4, only 3 hours after we got there. It seemed as though everyone was leaving at the same time. We then went to Wolfgang Pucks for my birthday dinner & celebration of our new little one. The food was amazing. By this time the rain had let up a bit, but storm clouds were all around us so we new the break was temporary. Instead of going back to the parks we decided to call it a day.

I had waited weeks to post this since I was trying to get a registry online for a site I used last time that specializes in cloth diapers, but after a month they still haven't gotten it together. We are pretty much set with what we need for his arrival; just need to get some boyish clothes and more cloth diapers. I know some people want to get us a few gifts; we are looking at getting Sopoeasy diapers, size small (can be found at http://www.bluepenguin.biz/ ) , and as for clothes anything from Threadless is awesome. Other than that we are good to go.

I am very excited about our little boy. Zelda talks about him often and is slowly getting the idea, even coming up and kissing my belly every now and then. 3 1/2 months and counting......

Farewell

It has been only hours since the world was told the news of the death of Michael Jackson. I must say a part of me was surprised about how much it affected me. I first heard of him being brought to the hospital in the 5 o'clock news headlines. 45 minutes later I logged in to check Facebook and a friend had said that he died...I at first didn't beleive it. I turned on the TV, and they were talking about it, saying that the news came in that he was pronounced dead. A split second of shock was followed by tears. No way...not yet, it can't be.... and then opened up reflections on just how much of an influence he was on my life. His passing on is like the marking of the end of an era, and end to my childhood. There is no doubt his influence will live on.

I remember the first time I was introduced to Michael like it was yesterday. I was quite young and at a birthday party for a daughter of one of my mom's friends, whose name was Sue. At some point in the party many of the adults were inside and going to watch something on the TV. It turned out to be Thriller. I remember one person telling me it was scary and I shouldn't watch it, but I was too intrigued to turn away. I fell in love instantly! Soon I was given the Thriller album on tape. I still have it, bearing a star my mom drew on the side with Billy Jean, which was my favorite song on the whole album. I had a little tape player/speaker combo that I brought with me everywhere and listened to the tape. I'm sure there are many people I subjected to my Michael Jackson infatuation over the years. ;) Later that same year for Christmas I was given a Michael Jackson Thriller doll, which I still have...though I have since lost his shoes, sunglasses, and silver glove. I had a poster of him at my bed. All by the age of 4.

Over my growing years I formed a life long adoration of singing and dance which I attribute to him. I realized last night just how much of who I am was influenced by my first childhood 'crush'. I used to dance and sing to his music in the backyard, imagining that I was also a famous singer. Such good times. I know that because of him I love skinny guys...so really Ryan has him to thank, too, ha ha... not to mention that I always that it was awesome when guys wear eyeliner, and even down to the fashion influence having me always loving black and a bit more of the goth style...I know it all surfaced from him. I also realized last night while watching some recaps of him and just mesmerized by his glittery outfits that my love of glitter must have been born through my love of him too. I even broke my arm when I was 8 because I was doing my own version of what I saw him do in the music video "The Way you Make me Feel"; he climbed through a window of a car, and I was doing the same thing only I decided it would be cool to sit on the window sill for a while. Next thing I knew I was hurt and on the ground. Whenever anything of Michael came on TV my parents would record it for me on what would be much used VHS tapes. I watched Moonwalker all the time. Whenever I see Joe Pesci I first associate him with the bad guy in Moonwalker. That movie was the first time I realized the Beatles could be cool, since he performed "Come Together" in it.

Even when his popularity waned during the 90s I never stopped loving him. I'd listen to his tape in my car all the time, not caring what others thought, though I just loved it when someone else enjoyed it as much as I did. Old school Michael is classic. You can't top it, and pop music could never escape his talented influence. Any time he is played at the dance clubs I'd get giddy and feel like a kid again. I used to love going to Disney's Pleasure Island while it was still open since they played him frequently at 8Trax. I even opened up our housewarming party last year playing the music video for Rock With You (woohoo, glitter)

I regret I will never be able to see him perform live. I was all set to do whatever I could to see him on his planned upcoming tour. We have lost an amazing talent, one I honestly believe will never be equaled in the field of pop music ever. Much love to Michael & his family, and many thanks for all he has meant for me.



















First photo: With my cousin Alyssa in Oregon listening & dancing to Michael on my tape player. Andrea was never much of a fan, ha ha.
Second Photo: Christmas when I got my MJ doll. You can see my tape player on the floor below him. Knowing me I was trying to play along with the song while pretending he was singing.
Third Photo: At Pleasure Island having a great time dancing to Billy Jean in 2008

Tiger Lily

Recently we dealt with a hard decision regarding our cat, Tiger Lily. Since before we got her she has had an occasional issue of missing the litter box. This had been manageable until we moved into our new home in April of last year. As soon as we moved in she started using the entryway carpet. Getting her to always use her litter box was a bit of a struggle but after about a month it seemed as though we succeeded. Unfortunately throughout the next year she would still use the entryway about once every two weeks. She even started using the carpet in the office. 3 months ago Zelda accidentally locked Tiger Lily out from the garage and consequently Tiger Lily used the carpet in the playroom as her bathroom. This seemed to open up a floodgate and she never stopped using it no matter what we did. We cleaned it using several methods, we tried putting her food over there, but she never stopped. This got very stressful, and became a point where it was a health hazard, since for one I’m not supposed to be near cat poop since I’m preggo, and being in the playroom it was always by Zelda’s things. I don’t know if perhaps the carpet had been marked by a previous owners pet, or if Tiger Lily was stressed out, but since we couldn’t get her to stop and it was such a big issue we felt we had to let her go. It was difficult to find a new home for her since most people can’t take a cat for various reasons, let alone with this issue…and some people are unfortunately deterred by her having one eye. So it was looking like the only last step was the shelter. At this point she was living in the garage, of which I felt terrible because of the heat, but if I let her in for even 30 minutes to cool off she would poo or pee on the carpet. Over the weekend I searched for a no kill shelter that had room since the one I got her from was no longer around. I wasn’t having much luck, but I got an offer from a friend who said she knew someone who was a foster parent of kitties that might be able to train her back into just using the litter box. I was contemplating this when I received a call from Jen that one of her co-workers would like to take Tiger Lily. I was happy and relieved that Jen was able to find her a home, yet I was so heartbroken over the prospects of letting her go. However, I knew this was a rare opportunity, so I took it…being that it has been so hard to find her a new home, and this lady was actually looking for a new cat. I cried a bit before Jen came to pick her up, and tried to explain to Zelda that kitty had to go bye bye. Zelda spent the last hour with her filling up her food & water bowl and bringing it to the cat. It was very cute. When she actually left, Zelda cried for some time saying “Kitty go bye bye. Wanna give hug.”

That was probably the hardest part for me, separating the two. Zelda just adores Tiger Lily. Days before she left, and when I knew she had to be going, I let the cat in to cool off for a bit. I heard Zelda go up to her, give her a kiss and say “I love you.” This made me tear up. Tiger Lily is a great cat, extremely sweet and tolerated Zelda’s toddlerness very well. They were such good buddies.

Tiger Lily is a wonderful and sweet cat who has been in our family since New Years Day 2005. You may first notice her unique feature...she only has one eye. We adopted Tiger Lily several months after losing our cat Morrissey to feline leukemia. Tiger Lily had originally belonged to a retired artist, sharing a home with another cat and a peacock. When he passed away, Tiger Lily was rescued by a local no-kill shelter. They had her for almost 7 months, unfortunately no one showing interest for her, when I found her on petfinder.org. She was perfect for what I was looking for. I am glad we were able to give her a good home for the years that we had her. She has been an enjoyable companion.

I’ve last heard that she is doing very well with her new family. They have a bunny rabbit, and apparently they play together. I really hope things go well for then and that Tiger Lily enjoys the rest of her years.

Baby clothes

Zelda has been quite the conversationalist lately. It is so fun to get a peek into her little brain. Yesterday morning when she woke up she had her shirt of the day picked out by the time I opened her door. As I got her dressed she was talking about her belly, then she pointed at my belly, saying "Your belly growing."
"Yes, it is growing because of the baby" I said.
"Does the baby wear a shirt?" She asked
"No, actually the baby is naked"
She smiled. "Silly baby!"

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful time this past Mother's Day. Ryan took Zelda out to buy some potted flowers, which has been the tradition over the past few years. I just adore it. I remember last year Zelda was just learning what flowers were, and she was excited to show me them. This year she was just as excited. Coming in from the garage, she handed me a little flower pot, saying "Here mommy! Look! Flowers!" As I took the pot from her she worked at picking a little flower off the plant, and when she got it off she handed it to me and said "Here you go!". She is so cute! She picks flowers off of our plants in the front yard and hands them to me or Ryan all the time. Good thing the plants she picks from flower a lot, and all year.

For a morning activity we went out for breakfast at Port Canaveral. Driving on the bridges over the water way, Zelda would point out all the boats, and commented on a smaller one being a "baby boat". I have noticed lately that when we drive over the causeways she gets quite excited. This makes me smile as I remember it was one of my favorite things when we used to come visit my Grandparents here when I was little.

We ate at a restaurant on the water, right by the casino boats. One was docking off as we were waiting for breakfast, and without warning blew its extremely loud horn. This startled about everyone, and made Zelda cry. To console her I thought it would be good to show her what it was all about, so we walked over to the balcony to watch the boat be tugged out. I thought she would love seeing the big boat, but she actually loved the 'baby boat' (the tug boat). When it got out of view she said "Bye baby boat!". She waved at some people on the casino boat as it sailed off. Our food was then served so we sat down, enjoying some yummy breakfast and the lovely sea breeze.

The rest of the day we took it easy. I decided to take a day off from all housework. :) Ryan was an awesome help. He & Zelda also bought me the Sims 2, so I dinked around on that for a while. Zelda loved seeing Mommy, Daddy, and herself as a Sim character.

Well, I just heard the garage door open...Zelda & Ry just got home from church. I stayed home because I was exhausted. Gotta keep my rest up until Wednesday. I'm so excited...we'll be having our ultrasound in the morning, going to a free Disney day (they let you go for free on your birthday) then to Wolfgang Pucks. Yay, yay, yay!

Once Upon a Dream, part 2

Here is the video of Zelda singing in the little microphone as I wrote about in a previous post. The second part is a few days later; she is watching her reflection in the sliding glass door. Enjoy!

Once Upon a Dream, part 1

I just saw Zelda do the cutest thing while playing.

She is in her playroom going through her toy chest and she came across a tiny Barbie microphone. She started passionately singing "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, which caused me to look over at her, and she was holding it between her finger and thumb, close to her mouth. It was adorable!

I went and got the video camera just in case if she would do it again, and as I was typing this I lucked out. I got a little video of her doing it until she caught me filming...I'll post it as soon as I can.

Disney!

One of the best perks of living in central Florida is our proximity to Walt Disney World. Being a resident also enables us to discounts, which helped us to get 3 day passes this year. Our first day was used back in January on Ryan's dad's birthday, since people can get in for free on their birthdays this year. We used up our last 2 days in the past month, before it started to get too hot.

So, for our second day, in the beginning if April, we decided to start off in the Magic Kingdom. Zelda starts getting excited when she sees all the Mickey Mouse images on the drive into the park and the parking lot. As soon as we got into the park, she saw the castle, exclaiming "wow!" I told her it was the "Princess Castle", and she said "OH! Princess castle!" We tried to get a few pictures taken on Main Street USA which heads to the castle, but it was very difficult to keep her eyes off it. Our first planned stop was to get some corn dog nuggets which they serve at the end of Main Street, but the second we diverted our path even a few feet from going straight to the castle Zelda started to cry. She got worse when we got into the snack stand, so I told Ryan to take Zelda to the castle and I'd meet them there with the food. We were hungry, and the corn dog nuggets with cheese dipping sauce are so yummy and some of the best things served in the park...one of the items we get every time we go there. I bought some for us (very thankful by this time for having the large stroller, it was a perfect portable tray) and made my way over to the castle. The park was not terribly busy, and when I shortly arrived at the front of the castle I saw Zelda having the time of her life running around with other kids, and in bubbles which a 'cast member' was blowing around. It was so sweet to see her enjoying herself so much. I sat down on a nearby bench and watched her play, and also watched her trying to get right up to the castle. Unfortunately it has been closed off for several years since they did productions in front of it several times a day. She was determined to get up there, though.

After a little while I told Zelda that we were going to go see Pooh Bear. I knew it was the only way I could get her away from the Princess Castle. We walked around to the back of the park where there is a Winnie the Pooh ride. The wait was 40 minutes so we picked up some fast passes and made our way to the other end of the park for Pirates of the Caribbean. When I told her we were going there she was excited and started singing the pirate theme song, which she has learned from a Disney sing along vhs a friend of ours, Jen, bought for her. There was hardly any wait in this line, that is until it stopped a few minutes for technical difficulties. I noticed that the time was running late and if we wanted to get to Animal Kingdom & have a good amount of time to do things there we would have to leave after this ride, so I gave our fast passes for Pooh to a woman behind me and her little boy. Zelda just loved the Pirates ride, and when it got stuck while we were on it she just joined along in the song. After Pirates we walked to a nearby stand where they serve pineapple soft serve in pineapple juice (pineapple float), which is amazing and the other item we always try to get in the park, so we all shared one of those then made our way out of the Magic Kingdom. Towards the exit they had Pinnochio in a little corner for a meet and greet. The line was unusually short (2 people, perhaps because it wasn't very obvious he was there), and since Zelda has recently been introduced to Pinnochio I thought she'd like to meet him. She was happy to see him, calling him "Nochio". She was a little shy, but gave him high 5s, and though she motioned she wanted to give him a kiss, she never quite completed that. She talked all about "Nochio" on our way out to Animal Kingdom.

By this time it had actually been a few hours and Zelda was getting a little tired. She had a 5 minute nap on the drive to the next park, but it surely wasn't enough. Entering Animal Kingdom I told her that we were going to go see dinosaurs and pet some animals. She perked up when she found out about the dinosaurs. So we headed to that first. There is a dinosaur ride that is pretty much for adults, so we didn't go on that, but around that ride are dinosaur statues in the trees. She loved seeing all of them. While she was playing amongst the dinos Ryan went over to ride Everest, which is a killer awesome roller coaster that has the smoothest, craziest drops and eventually takes you backwards in the dark, but with me being prego I couldn't go on it.Video: Zelda playing on the Dinosaur, and saying her famous "Rawr, Dinosaur!"

So while Ry was enjoying that I took Zelda to go see Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore, who were conveniently camped out near the dinosaur area. Animal Kingdom is a great park to take the little ones to meet characters since the lines are not nearly as long as those in Magic Kingdom (we are talking 15 minutes vs 45). Along the pathway towards the character spot they were playing songs from the Pooh bear cartoons, which Zelda and I sang along with. When she saw the characters she got very excited, and talked about each one, saying that she wanted to give them hugs, especially Eeyore, who she repeatedly commented about giving a hug. She got a bit shy when it was her turn to actually go up to each character, but she did quite well so long as I held her and stood between her and the character. After meeting the 3 characters she said "Bye Tigga, Bye Eeyore, Bye Pooh Bear" loudly, perhaps making up for how quiet she had been while actually meeting them. She talked about them the way back up the path, along with singing a bit of the songs.



After this I called Ryan and he was just done with his ride so we were going to meet in a section of the park called "Asia". However, when I got to the bridge that takes you over to where he was we were blocked by people and ropes....a parade was about to begin. I called Ryan and told him it could be a while, and then Zelda and I chilled out and waited for the parade, which started just a few minutes later. Since there were quite a bit of people in the way I put her up on my shoulders (not an easy feat..she wouldn't open her legs to let me do it so it took several tries) She was a bit intimidated by her new position and she held onto my hands tightly, but she was exclaiming "Wow" or "Birdie" or whatever animal based float passed us bye. She got a bit more secure on my shoulders as was evident by her waving at people on the floats by about the 5th one, then suddenly she spotted Minnie Mouse. She got so excited she started waving like crazy, yelling in her cute little voice "Hi, Minnie! Hi, Minnie!". She was now greatly enjoying the parade. Next character that came by was Goofy, and she did the same, but this time waving with two hands "Hi, Goofy!". Soon after followed Donald Duck, and Zelda exclaimed repeatedly "Hi, Duck! Hi Duck!", waving both hands. In a few minutes came her favorite, Mickey, and she got even more loud (I didn't think it was possible at this point), and very enthusiasticly waving with both hands exclaimed "Hi Mickey! Hi Mickey!" She was so excited and having such a wonderful time with this parade, it just made my day. Mickey's float was the end of the parade, so I put her in her stroller and we followed Mickey out over the bridge to Asia, all the while Zelda waved and told Mickey "Hi!".

We waited a little and soon met up with Ryan. As we were walking to the back of Africa, which is next to Asia, we noticed there had been a little bit of rain on the ground. I looked up and saw some ominous clouds not too far away. However I had no idea which direction I was facing so I couldn't tell you if they were coming or going. We caught a little train in "Africa" to a petting zoo, but when we arrived at the petting zoo they had closed it due to the clouds. I was a bit bummed because this was one of the other reasons we specifically came to Animal Kingdom...but they advised us to check back in 15 minutes. There were only 30 minutes until they closed that section of the park for the evening, so I wasn't too sure we'd get to let Zelda pet the goats, but they did eventually open it up. Yay :D So Zelda got to have some fun petting goats and sheep, which were very active since it was close to feeding time. She had a great time with that.

After the petting zoo we headed out of Animal Kingdom to go to Epcot for dinner. The place we like in Epcot is clear in the back of the park, but well worth the walk. It is a Moroccan restaurant, extremely good and quite affordable (most of the food in Disney is way expensive). We all enjoyed some refreshing sawarma, cous cous, hummus (which Zelda loves), pita, and tabbouleh. We then meandered through the nearby 'countries' until we arrived in France, where we decided to splurge one last time and treat ourselves to some French desserts. Kenna was enamored with the strawberry tart that we both shared. We were all beat at this point so called it a day. What a great day indeed!