Collin vs Skateboard

If you're keeping track, round one goes to the skateboard...

You'd think this would slow him down a little.  Or at the very least convince him to wear a helmet.

You'd be wrong on both counts.

But it did inspire mommy to start a new savings account entitled "future hospital expenses". :)

Under the Sea!

Once upon a time, at the end of our really fun vacation to Disneyland, we thought it would be fun to take the boys to Sea World.  Both are fascinated with all things "Under the Sea". 

And while it's true that Collin asked if he ride on the whale's back

And go for a swim with the whales,

And the dolphins...

And the turtles...

The animals he was most interested in?  That would be the pidgeon that kept following him and, more to the point, his popcorn around.

On the plus side, he did offer to share with Shamu and friends, if they'd do this again.

Chip & Dale, Rescue Rangers?

Once upon a time, many, MANY years ago, that was the name of a cartoon starring the chipmunks.  Fast forward more years than I care to count, and it is now the, never to be swayed, opinion of my son.  Nate was totally excited to go to the Bug's Life movie exhibit inside California Adventure.  I figured, it's a movie about bugs in Disneyland, how scary can it be?  My child does not do bug.  And when I say he doesn't do bugs, I mean he DOES. NOT. DO. BUGS. At all.  The sight of a fly sends him scurrying into the next room.  I was, unknowingly, about to take that fear to a whole new level.  You see, the Bug's Life movie is in 3-D.  Thirty seconds in, an ENORMOUS (according to Collin) spider sneezed (I think, the details are a bit fuzzy) sending what looked like a gazillion eyeballs (again, details are fuzzy) flying right at us, and my sweet little boy screamed in terror at a pitch I have only heard once before, (his first night home from Haiti when Tucker came charging toward him) did I mention, we were in the front row?  Being the awesome mom that I am, I scooped him up and bolted for the nearest exit.  While we were in the hallway, trying to concentrate on breathing normally, I heard a door to the left of me open and in bounded (literally) these two.

Chip took one look at the hat Collin was wearing along with the tears streaming down his face, and being the astute little chipmunk he is, correctly assessed that something traumatic just happened.  He quickly grabbed Collin's arm, which I happened to be holding at the time, along with the rest of him, and pulled outside to where he and Dale would be signing autographs.  They made sure he was at the front of the line, and before too long, managed to get him laughing again.  If you ask Collin what happened, he'll tell you that Chip and Dale rescued him from the creepy Bug's Life.  I apparently had nothing to do with it.  Impeccable timing Rescue Ranger, I owe you one!

Making Friends

I know, I know, it's been two months and I'm STILL posting about Disneyland... But you'll be glad I did when you see this...  There came a point  in our trip, about an hour after we entered the park, when Collin pretty much thought that he'd stepped INTO the Disney Channel.  He couldn't have been happier.  See for yourself.

The end result was one, very tired, very happy little boy with a bunch of new friends that he still talks about two months later.

Happy Feet

One thing Collin loved about Disneyland was the music constantly playing overhead.

And sometimes, you just gotta get up and dance...

And dance...

Well, you get the idea.

All I had to do was follow him around with a camera,

And giggle along with everyone else that stopped to watch.

Just keep dancin' little guy!

Chipmunks and Honey Pots

This is probably the cutest hat I've ever seen. But what's a Chip without his equally mischievous side kick Dale?

Ahh, now that's more like it!

The boys wore these hats everyday of the rest of our trip, and solicited quite a few smiles from other park goers. After our early morning pirate scare, I was desperate to show Collin that the rides in Disneyland were not scary. Enter Winnie the Pooh and his Honey Pot ride. After a little coaxing, Collin climbed into a beehive and off we went...

Again...

And again (Nate didn't mind)...

And again... Gotta love that willy nilly silly old bear!

The Happiest Place on Earth... Eventually

Since Collin has been home, he's had a love for all things Disney. This year I decided it was time to visit the magic kingdom in person, so we invited Uncle Brent, Aunt Lolo and best friend Nate to join us, and off we went. On our first day, we ran into these guys.

They seemed friendly enough and, one of Collins favorite shows is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, so we thought Pirates of the Caribbean would be a great first ride. Oops. A four year old Haitian who has never seen a roller coaster ride up close, let alone been on one + a dark tunnel + pirates yelling and shooting guns = the longest 2 and half minutes of my life. Collin was terrified and spent the entire ride with his face in my lap. Good call Mommy, good call.

After our pirate fiasco, I decided that an opportunity to get in touch with his inner Tarzan was in order. If you know Collin, you know he will climb anything that stands still long enough for him to get his feet on it, so this was right up his alley.

Our next great adventure (because he was now terrified of all rides that went through something and flatly refused to go on another one) was the canoe ride.

I had no idea oars came this small but, Collin, a stick and water are always an entertaining combination.

This time was no different. He did manage to hold on to the oar through the whole ride and even did his part when the guide yelled "stroke!" For my part, I managed to avoid his oar coming in contact with my face AND kept him in the canoe. How's that for multi-tasking?