3 Weeks with YaYa and Poppy!

Hey everyone! I have been slacking on my blog... sorry. We have been busy having fun with YaYa and Poppy, Going to Disneyland, Visiting cousins in California, Starting School and Turning 5! Here are the pics from all of the above... ENJOY!!

YaYa and Poppy got here on Monday August 3rd and on Tuesday, August 4th, we were in the car on our way to Disneyland. We had so much fun and even got YaYa to go down Splash Mountain, Grizzly Run, and The Madahorn! JT was 1/2 inch too small for Splash Mountain which was a little upsetting, but we promised as soon as he hit 40 inches, we would go back! Here are the pictures from Disney...

MICKEY!
The boys seem pretty happy - they take after their mom... We love DISNEY! And why not, it IS the Happiest Place on Earth! :)

Our First stop... SPLASH MOUNTAIN!
(and we went on this about 8 other times too, but who is counting?)

Unfortunately, JT did not make the cut-off for the height requirement, so luckily there wasn't a line at the Winnie the Pooh ride. He enjoyed it and started what would become his trademark statement at Disney... "I want to do it again!"

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

Sammy and YaYa

JT and Poppy

California Adventure

The scary Ferris Wheel... it swings while you are on it. Not my favorite, but the boys LOVE IT

Electric Light Parade at California Adventure

YaYa and Poppy spoiled the boys rotten - this is just one example of getting them what they wanted. A light up light-saber before the electrical light parade. Of course JT had his broken within 5 minutes of buying it, but it doesn't look to have bothered him much!

Sammy passed out after the light parade, so we went over to Magic Kingdom (Disneyland) and hit a few rides with JT since he had taken a 3 hour power nap he was ready to ride until MIDNIGHT! Gotta LOVE Disney!

Dumbo Ride

Alice in Wonderland Ride.

This was far from a roller coaster, but don't tell that to JT. In the middle of the ride he decided he needed to put his hands up and be a big boy. :) SO CUTE

California Adventure: Golden Gate Bridge

Toy Story Mania Ride

Grizzly Run - This is a picture of YaYa's 2nd time on the ride. The first time she got SOAKED so they bought a poncho for the second time. Next time we go I won't be pregnant so I will be able to go on and witness it for myself!

Sammy... SOOOOO happy.

A Bugs Life Land - bumper cars

Another Bugs Life Ride - look at the hands up! :)

The boys were a little shy to get their picture with Cinderella so Poppy and Dad just HAD to go up there with them ;)

Sammy meeting Minnie. He has always had a little smirk on his face when it comes to her!
JT was asleep.

We took the monorail to Goofy's Kitchen Character Breakfast. The boys thought it was cool.

Goofy's Kitchen- The boys and Pluto

The boys and Goofy :)

The boys and Chip :)

They sang happy birthday and JT was excited about the chocolate Mickey that came on the cupcake. (so unlike him!)

This was our last day, and we were trying to fit everything in, so I waddled my way across the park to fast pass Splash Mountain and who is out but Brer Bear and Brer Fox... the key characters in the ride. Of course the boys were not there, but I had to get a shot of them. Sam was sad he missed it.

This blur is a picture of Matt, JT, Sam and YaYa on the kiddie roller coaster in Toon Town. One of the few cool rides JT could get on.

JT really liked Goofy this time. We couldn't find Donald... here they are at Goofy's house on his chair.

Roger Rabbit Ride

The last time they went on Splash Mountain, JT and I found Tigger and Pooh out for autographs. He seems pretty happy.

Family Photo... we have this of every time we go to Disney.

Disney Slideshow.

After Disney, we headed over to visit our cousins, The Tovens. The kids had a BLAST with all of their "new" cousins. We had a great time and ate a ton of food! They kept feeding us great food that was too good to pass up. I am sure I gained a few pounds of baby weight! It was nice to reacquaint ourselves and hopefully we will all stay in touch now.

This is a picture of everyone together. They are all die-hard Steeler fans and Matt of course was wearing a Bills shirt. Look closely at Matt's shirt in this picture. They made a few adjustments!

Sam and Amber playing in the pool

JT, Sam, Sammy, Amber and TiffanyTony cooking up more food... I think this was the fresh Mahi Mahi he caught!
They were so wonderful to us, they even remembered Sam's birthday and got him his own cake!

And they got both the boys Dodger Jerseys as a birthday present!
It was a quick visit, but a nice one. Here is everyone coming out to wave goodbye as we left at 10:30 (after the UFC fight!)Thanks again guys! We had a great time! Keep in touch! :)

On to Sam's first day of school.... 1/2 day Kindergarten.

Starting out with his FAVORITE breakfast, Cinnamon Rolls.

Next was clean up. (he is going to kill me someday for getting him in the shower! :) )

The Handsome Boy in his first day of school outfit!
Sitting in his classroom. He was a little nervous about starting a new class, but he did great. He really likes his teacher and that helps a lot. He is just a little shy, so it takes him a bit to warm up. :)

After school was over, his teacher walked his class out. She has on the white shirt and black vest. Her name is Mrs. Sanguini. Sam actually had her as a rec class teacher when he was 1 as she was going to college. He was very excited that she was his teacher again.
JT misses him when he is at school
Sam is a great big brother. He let him wear his hat and even gave him the sucker that his teacher gave to his class. :)

Sammy turns 5 and JT's first day of preschool!

The Birthday Boy

The birthday morning table.
Opening presents. The Rocky guys from Uncle Buddy were a hit. Also, Mom and Dad got him Punch Out for the Wii... he LOVES it!

Even JT got a little something. :)
This is breakfast. We always get the kids a cake for the morning. This year, Sam's cake was a hamburger! :)
Happy Birthday to Sammy!
Yum!
Aren't birthdays the best?
Ready for school
JT's first day of school.
School Boys!
Leaving for school
JT's big day. He was excited about school until we got there. Then he realized we would be leaving him there and was alittle nervous. He made it in, but had a hard time saying goodbye to us. He still goes back and forth on going to school, but I think he likes it.
I think I have this same picture of Sam and Matt from last year. :)
JT's teacher is Mrs. Bridgett. She was also Sam's teacher last year, so he knows her. He keeps calling her Aunt Bridgett instead of Mrs. Bridgett. :)
He has 2 buddies in the class too, so the instant friends are a bonus! This is Owen and Jordan.
The birthday dinner... Texas Roadhouse. Sam loves this place, especially for birthdays. They bring out a saddle and they say "Let's give Sam a big Texas sized Yee-Haw" for his birthday. He made Matt do it for his birthday last year!
Of course JT had to saddle up as well!
Birthday treat from the restaurant.

After dinner, we had to go home and play Punch Out. The picture doesn't do it justice. You need to see both Sam and Matt really get into it.

Finishing up the week.

This was P.E. day.

JT's 2nd day of school (eventhough he said he wasn't going! :) )
Friday morning. I came in to find them like this. Sometimes they surprise you!
That is it for now! (Finally) I will try to be better about keeping up on this. It is a lot harder to do longer blogs... this took me 2 days!! Hope you enjoy it!