Pumpkin Farm Fun

On Saturday, we met Russ, Ashley, and Mackenzie at Gentry's Farm for some Fall pumpkin fun.  We wandered through the corn maze where Uncle Russ kept us from getting lost and the Munchkin (Soybean) maze where Mackenzie kept us on track.  Ethan had lots of fun on the hayride to see cows and getting up close with other farm animals after the ride.  We even picked out some pumpkins to take home...we'll carve them for Halloween.  The best part was that the cousins got to have fun playing together!

In the corn maze.

Hey Mackenzie...we could totally be farmers!

With Aunt Ashley...getting ready for the hayride.

A COW!!! MOO!

In the Munchkin Maze.

Here's a cute one of the cousins I stole from Aunt Ashley's site. 

Audition to be Bamm Bamm Rubble

I think his Halloween costume is going to suit his personality very well.  

Fall Colors in Gatlinburg

Last week, we headed to Gatlinburg, TN to take Ethan to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Ethan's 2nd National Park!).  We enjoyed great weather...one warm day, one cool and rainy day that made the leaves really pop with color, and one cold day where we saw snow at the higher elevations.  We did lots of drives through the park and went to three park visitor centers for passport stamps...even the one in North Carolina.  We also did a hike to Grotto Falls and saw some neat historic cabins, a farm museum, and a working grist mill.

We are so lucky that Ethan is a great traveler.  He missed seeing the snow because he was sleeping in the car but otherwise he had fun seeing the pretty leaves and all the unique people in Gatlinburg!

The grist mill at Cade's Cove.

At Cade's Cove

Our cabin -- Mountain Mint

Hiking to Grotto Falls

At Grotto Falls

A little bit of Autumn in the background with a lot of Winter up close

At the Oconaluftee Vistor Center in Cherokee, NC

The ranger gave Ethan a "Friends of the Rangers" sticker to put on his hat

Walking around the Mountain Farm Museum

A pretty drive

We had to stop and show Ethan where his
Mommy and Daddy got married

Of course, we had to spend some time in downtown Gatlinburg too!

Ethan thinks something's not right about that scarecrow.

I love the look on Ethan's face here

Playground!

Ethan loves our neighborhood playground.  

Ethan is Eleven Months Old

Today Ethan turned eleven months old.  I can't believe we've already reached this milestone and that I'm going to be planning a first birthday soon!  He is the sweetest little boy and is getting good at letting us know what he wants (without using words).  Here are some things he's been up to in the past month.

• He has three teeth now (2 on the bottom and 1 on top).
• He likes to grind his teeth - he really seems to love the noise even though Cayne and I hate it.
• He can pull up to standing and "cruise" from object to object as long as he is holding on.
• He likes to give cuddles.
• His favorite game is bulldozing daddy.
• He also likes pushing his walker around while crawling...I'm sure one day he'll try standing up behind it.
• Another favorite game is "Up and Down"...when Ethan pulls himself up to standing when we say "Up" and then sits back down when we say "Down".  This game can go on forever!
• He doesn't call us "mommy" or "daddy" but he knows that's what we are called.  He will "go to" or "come to" whichever one we tell him to.
• His favorite word is "Haa-Dah".  We don't know what it means but he says it alot.
• He loves pointing at new things.  Since Cayne likes to read him The Nose Book, Ethan will point at your nose if you ask "Where is my nose?".  Sometimes he gets confused and points at your eye, but he usually gets it right!  
• He has started eating some mushy finger foods (bananas, avocados, pasta, green beans) and Stage 3 chunkier foods.  He will finally eat just about anything we give him.
• He has started trying to eat everything he finds on the ground...paper, carpet fuzz, dead bugs.
• He went to Disneyworld!
• He likes swinging in our little neighborhood playground.
• He started his Kindermusik "Sign and Sing" class.  He doesn't do any signs yet but hopefully he'll learn some soon! 

Ethan's First Trip to Walt Disney World: Epcot, All-Star Sports, and Time to go home

On our last full day at Disney, we headed over to Epcot.  Ethan fell asleep (of course) just as we entered the park so Cayne and I played around in Innoventions for a while during his nap.  I made my own roller coaster and Cayne made his own video game.  When Ethan woke up we rode Journey Into Imagination (he loved it) and let Ethan make his own figment before heading to Chefs de France for lunch.  The french waiters coo-cooed over Ethan (and Ethan behaved very well) while we ate some delicious onion soup.  Chef Remy from Ratatoiulle even stopped by to say "hello" to Ethan!

Cayne playing around at Innoventions

Ethan loved "Journey into Imagination with Figment"

He loved seeing the Figment posters too

Chef Remy wasn't as big of a hit as Donald, but he was still fun!

After lunch, we walked around the World Showcase and rode Maelstrom at the Norway Pavillion before running into Donald on the way to Mexico.  Ethan loved seeing his buddy Donald again and was even more excited to see Donald on the Gran Fiesta Tour (the boatride in the Mexico pavillion).

Who do you see, Ethan?!

It's Donald Duck!

Since we were right next to the test track after riding the Gran Fiesta Tour, we decided to ride test track again and visit the GM employee lounge with dad.  In the lounge we had a great view of Epcot and a neat view of the inside of the ride too.  Ethan was disappointed that he is still too short to ride but we told him he's halfway there!

In the GM Lounge at Fast Track

You'll be tall enough in the blink of an eye, Ethan

After a stop in the Baby Care Center and taking a while to wander around the World Showcase a little more, we gave Ethan to the grandparents to take to our new hotel for the evening, All-Star Sports, while Cayne and I had dinner in Morocco at Restaurant Marrakesh.  It was a delicious dinner and afterwards we caught the bus for our new hotel.  We had to wait a little bit for the bus, but it was shorter than any of our other bus waiting times and even though the bus was crowded, it wasn't any worse than the Beach Club buses were (hence, we were very impressed with the Value Resort transportation in comparison to Deluxe Resort transportation).

Cooling off and playing at the Baby Care Center

At the China Pavilion 

Model trains at the Germany Pavilion

When we got to the hotel, we still needed to check in.  I waited in the short line for folks who had done their "online check-in" while Cayne went to bell services to pick up our suitcases that we had let Disney transfer for us.  We were very pleasantly surprised to find that bell services had already put our suitcases in our room for us (awesome!) so we didn't have to carry them.  Unfortunately, the crib I had requested in advance wasn't already in our room and it took about 45 minutes for them to bring it.  We picked Ethan up from his grandparents' room and got him ready for bed and asleep in his crib once it finally arrived.

The All-Star Sports room was nice.  It was very small...not roomy but seemed pretty clean and in good condition.  I wouldn't mind staying in one of the family suites at this resort (where you get 1 bedroom with a queen bed and a living room with a sleeper sofa), as long as I had my own car to get me to the parks and restaurants without needing to use the Disney buses.

Our trip home was pretty uneventful.  The Disney Magical Express was awesome again...we got to check our bags at the hotel and then didn't have to deal with them again until we got to Nashville.  All in all, we had a very fun trip!

Time to go home...on the Magical Express

Ethan's First Trip to Walt Disney World: Back to the Magic Kingdom

The cast members at the Polynesian made us feel right at home

On our fifth day, we planned to go to the Magic Kingdom.  As I mentioned, none of us wanted to brave the awful Disney Magic Kingdom Transportation system again, so dad drove us to the Polynesian for a delicious breakfast of Tonga Toast and then we caught the monorail to the Magic Kingdom (much nicer than a bus!).

First ride on the monorail

We headed back for Fantasyland and watched Mickey's Philharmagic while Ethan slept and then rode the carousel, Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, and the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Mouse ears!

Mesmerized by "It's a Small World"

There's even a New Zealand part on Small World...with a Kiwi!

By the time we were finished, we were hungry and took the monorail over to the Contemporary Cafe for a delicious and relaxing late lunch.  From there, we went back to the Polynesian and our hotel to get ready for our early dinner at Cape May Cafe.

The Clam Bake Buffet at Cape May Cafe was wonderful.  Very good food with great variety.  We took longer to eat than we expected and by the time we finished, we only had about an hour before the Main Street Electrical Parade started.  I had to feed Ethan and get him to sleep before we left and even if we drove, I'm not sure we would have made it in time to watch the parade so we decided to save it until our next trip, when hopefully Ethan can stay up to watch it too.

Mom and dad went to walk around the Boardwalk and when they got back, Cayne and I went for a nice evening swim in Stormalong Bay.