D is for Donovan

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Disney World Adventures

Now that we live in Florida, it has been an absolute must to visit Disney World. Since it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from us, we have made several trips this summer and have now successfully visited all 4 of the Disney World theme parks. So here is a recap of all our exciting Disney adventures.

It all began on May 9 (our 11th anniversary) at Epcot Center...

Donovan still talks about the "Big Silver Ball".

We started off eating lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh.

It even included a belly dance show.

He joined the dance.

Japan World even had a life-size torii just like at Miyajima, near where we used to live in Japan. Epcot was quite fun. Donovan even rode the Test Track race car and loved going into Spaceship Earth (the Big Silver Ball).

It was a long and hot day walking through all the various countries represented, but we all survived.

On our next trip, we visited the Magic Kingdom (the original Disney park).

Cinderella's Castle

Goofy boys.

Donovan loved the teacups after he rode them, but wasn't quite sure what to think before it started.

The Buzz Lightyear adventure was great because Donovan actually got to meet the real Buzz Lightyear.

Goofing around in It's a Small World.

Flying in Dumbo.

Donovan's favorite ride of the day (with maybe one exception to be noted later on). The Walt Disney World Railroad!

Now that the summer had ended, we thought it would be nice to actually stay overnight and go to more than one park in a trip. So we headed back to Orlando last weekend and a wonderful time.

Here is Donovan at our hotel Shades of Green (right across from the Magic Kingdom).

We got to Orlando on Friday night and headed to Downtown Disney after checking in.

We had dinner on a steamboat and then dessert at Ghiradelli's. Mmmm, good.

The next day, we went to the Hollywood Studios park.

Donovan was finally able to meet his absolute favorite movie stars of all time...

Lightning McQueen and Mater!

He was enjoying this quite a lot, when Donovan touched Mater and at that very moment, Mater beeped his horn.

He still had fun in Radiator Springs; he just didn't want to go to near Mater again.

We also got to meet Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc.

and got to ride a tram around the studios.

The new Toy Story ride was quite fun

Donovan showing off the talking Mr. Potato Head.

Donovan's favorite ride of the day was the Tower of Terror. Before he went in it, we just told him it was a really fast elevator.

He did really well and never screamed, but he sure was in a hurry to leave the building. We asked him if he liked the ride, and he said yes, but when asked if he wanted to ride it again, he said no.

After leaving the park, we were able to ride Donovan's most favorite thing at Disney...

the Monorail.

waving bye and watching it leave.

The next day, we headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom and Donovan got to ride another favorite...

the parking lot tram.

The park brought out our wild side. "Roar".

Riding the triceratops (a lot like Dumbo).

Since it was Dan's birthday, we had lunch and cake at Rainforest Cafe.

Happy 35th Sweetie!

On our safari around the park, we saw a lot of animals, but they never want to pose for the camera. This is the best picture I got of the giraffe.

We saw many wild animals and then, in true Disney fashion, got to watch a Mickey and Minnie safari parade.

These have been our adventures of the summer and it was a blast. Seeing Disney through the eyes of a a 3 year old is amazing. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

What is its full name?

The other day, I had an very entertaining conversation with Donovan and it went something like this:

Donovan pointing and asking, "Mom, is that your butt?"

Me, "Yes, but I prefer you call it a bottom."

Donovan, "What is the bottom's other name, is it butt?"

Me, "No, (long pause) it is gluteus maximus."

Donovan, "What name is butt then?"

Me, "Butt is a kind of nickname for the bottom."

Donovan, "So it's full name is Gluteus Maximus Bottom?"

Me, "I guess so."

Then Donovan started marching around saying, "Gluteus Maximus Bottom, Gluteus Maximus Bottom, Gluteus Maximus Bottom!"

This all probably doesn't seem quite as funny written down, but it got me truly laughing out loud.

All of this probably stems from Donovan knowing his full name and now believing that every other thing must have a first, middle, and last name. For instance, our car's name is Shiroi (She-roy-ee -- it means white in Japanese) and Donovan asked me the other day, "What is the car's full name?" I told him, "It is just Shiroi", but he said, "It's last name is O'Neal." He then asked, "What is it's middle name?" Not wanting a long explanation, I said, "It is Mazda." Donovan then stated, "Shiroi (which he pronounces shidowee) Mazda O'Neal; that's a nice name."

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Zucchini Fireworks

Ever since the Fourth of July, Donovan has been watching his own pretend fireworks shows, whenever and wherever it pleases him. He will sit down in the middle of the kitchen or on the living floor and start making booming noises, with the occasional, "look Mom, it's a really big one" or "that one looks like a jellyfish". This would be the result of a nice fireworks display put on in Orange Park this year and us getting great front row seats on the river.

Intensely watching fireworks on the 4th!

The other night, we were sitting down to a lovely dinner of Penne pasta with tomatoes and vegetables (thank you Bertolli) and Donovan was picking at his plate just like usual. Every now and then, he would eat a bite of pasta in between making his fork flying around like a plane or drive on tracks like a train, but the vegetables were staying untouched. Now Donovan has his times when he is a really good eater; those are usually during growth spurts and he will eat anything and everything put in front of him. He eats and likes most food, including vegetables, but like plenty of three year olds, he would rather play at the table, take a few bites, and then announce he is full.

So there sat the zucchini just staring at him. Dan and I tried several persuasion tactics to get him to take a bite of his zucchini (mind you, he has eaten zucchini on several occasions and really likes it). We tried the, "wow this tastes so good" method (yes Mom, I do eat zucchini too), and the "do you want to have to save it and eat it for breakfast instead of cereal?" method. Nothing seemed to be working. Of course, if we really did save it for breakfast, there would be a huge fit about not getting his cereal and it would end with him crying while grudgingly eating the zucchini as fast as possible to get to the cereal and me in a really bad mood. I really didn't want to deal with that in the morning.

After many unsuccessful attempts on our part, Donovan started to "boom" and see fireworks. Dan then asked, "Can you see a zucchini firework up there?" This got Donovan thinking. Dan then told him, "If you eat a small bite of zucchini, you will see the firework." Immediately, Donovan forked a bite and shoved it into his mouth. Then he followed swallowing it with a huge "BOOM". "That's the zucchini firework!" He proceeded to eat every single piece of zucchini on his plate with the subsequent boom and he also ate the tomato and bell pepper. Those made red fireworks he told us. Before we knew it, his plate was empty. After a lot of fireworks going off for the finale, we all cleaned up from dinner - quite happy and full.

Friday, August 7, 2009

The Evolution of Donovan's Hair

Just the other day Donovan got a new haircut. He has had several haircuts in his life, but this was the first time I let him decide how it should be cut. He told the hairdresser, "Make it very short and stand straight up." I have always loved Donovan's hair and the fact that he has had hair since he was born. I also have tended to keep it a bit unruly and long. I think it looks cute that way, but thus is life; the boy grows up and chops off his hair, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.

In my nostalgia, I have revisited the evolution of Donovan's hair through pictures, enjoy.

At birth