airplanes!

The boys had a great time at MAPPS with Grandpa, dad, and mom. They really enjoyed the airplanes, they sat in this one several times. They enjoyed the crank radio/light. The other favorite was the two seat anti aircraft gun. One seat/hand crank controlled the gun and one seat/hand crank controlled the movement of the platform.

More National Park pictures

The boys first national park!

The boys visited Carl Sandburg's last home in Flat Rock, NC on the way to Grandparents Ohio. The goats were raised by Mrs. Sandburg. She raised champion goats that produced much milk and she ran a commercial goat dairy.

The boys did well in the house, with only a few trips of the brown carpet. The contents of the house are the same as shortly after Mr. Sandburg passed away. We got to see all 9 bedrooms and most of the rest of the house.

They enjoyed the paths and the goats more then the house. Tyler really enjoyed the goats and petted many of them. Will looked at the goats but didn't pet any of the goats, but did pet a small dog in the parking lot. A lot of the locals were walking their dogs on the paths. Dogs must be on a leash and most of the owners had their dogs sit as we walked towards them. Will stated I like little dogs, and Tyler said he liked all dogs.

The boys now each have a Passport to your National Parks and Kids' Passport Companion Set. The kids companion has a checklist for the parks, by type and places to record all sorts of observations. To check it out go here:
http://passport.eparks.com/store/product/76459/Passport-to-your-National-Parks-and-Kids%27-Passport-Companion-Set/

Trains

The boys enjoyed the new train museum in Savannah. We visited in late February.

National Christmas tree visit

The first picture was the best of 4 attempts by Grandpa Ohio to get our picture with the national Christmas tree in the background. It was freezing cold, but the boys were very excited to see all the Christmas trees. The next picture is of the train and village set up around the National tree. The third picture is the group that provided the ornaments for the Georgia tree. The last picture is of the Nativity scene at the National Christmas tree. Unfortunately it was near the fire pit, that had a very strong odor. The fire was warm, but the smoke was hard to be near.

Character greetings

Tyler loved every character he meet and wanted to keep hold of them for as long as possible. I think he will really be in to autographs when we go back when he is older. Will liked the main characters Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy, Pooh, Tigger (he acts like him) and Piglet. He was terrified of Eeyore. Most of the other characters were okay.

The first picture is from the Animal Kingdom and is their first experience with Mickey close up. The last three are from dinner at the Crystal Palace before we started Mickey's not so scary

Halloween party. The food was okay and the kids were very distracted and it took along time to finish dinner. So one character meal per trip would be fine.

In the third picture cousin Sami is holding Tyler, while cousins Eddie and Jill stand with Pooh. Sami was a favorite person for both Will and Tyler.

sheeps and goats to chase

These pictures are from what Disney calls the affection station at Animal Kingdom. Will use the brush on this goat and then had enough of animals up close. This was the first time we got him to get close to goats and sheep, as he has not done the petting zoo at our local zoo. Meanwhile Tyler thought this was great fun. He not only brushed the goat and sheep that you see in the picture but he also went under the blue ropes around the sheep and wanted to find more sheep to brush. He did this not once but twice, before we decided to just leave the area. When told to leave the sheep area, he said, "but I want to pet them".



The last picture is as we waited for a talk on a small animal and how it is trained. Turned out to be about a turkey that is now endangered because it is not the one that is raised for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.