Buddies and big girl stuff

Kaelyn has had a bit of a cough that intensifies about triple when she goes to bed.  The other night she kept coughing and coughing for awhile despite us giving her cough medicine.  She woke up several times from coughing so hard and came out while we were still up.  Between that and the fact that it stormed that night, she ended up in our bedroom.  Buster of course, feels like he needs to be with her when she goes to bed, at least at the beginning of the night.  Usually he lays at her feet but I think he must have sensed that she wasn't feeling well and was restless because when I went back to the bedroom later, he was right up near her.

We found these shirts at Wal-mart when we were grocery shopping Saturday.  Of course Kaelyn loved them because they had Chip and Dale on them and when I suggested that we could get one for her AND Megan because they said "Best Friends" she was all excited.  I had them try them on Tuesday afternoon and they both wore them to Chick-fil-a that night.  Kaelyn was so excited (Megan was too according to Rod and Betty).  She (Kay) has never actually had matching clothes with anyone like that before.  They were just so cute!

P. S.  I love the fake pink suspenders on the shirts.  Kay desperately wanted to wear her shirt to school the next day but they have to wear shirts with collars on them.  She was SO disappointed!

This ice cream cone was a pretty big deal for Kaelyn.  :-)  She usually always gets ice cream in a cup.  She struggles with coordination sometimes and she never has quite figured out the way to lick the ice cream and eat it without eating it off of a spoon.  She loves ice cream so much that it usually doesn't bother her what form it's in.  At Chick-fil-a they let kids turn their kid's meal toy back in at the register in exchange for free ice cream if they don't want the toy or already have it.  When it was time for the girls to get their ice cream, Kaelyn informed us that she wanted a cone this time.  And after all, she is getting pretty big - she's about to turn six here in a little over a week.  :-)

As Kay was finishing her ice cream, Megan was headed back to the playground and said, "Kay-Kay, do you want to come play with me?"  Kaelyn said, "Absolutely!"  :-)  She's such a little me sometimes in things I hear her say but I love her enthusiasm.

Mother's Day Tea and Photo shoot

Friday, Kaelyn's class had a mother's day "tea" and lunch.  It was a lot of fun but I am so frustrated with myself.  I took the camera and got several pictures and videos but forgot to get any pictures of me and Kaelyn.  I even thought about it before hand and still forgot.  Other than that, it was all really great.  The kids were just starting to eat their lunches and there was food for the moms.  After we ate, the kids performed "Green Eggs and Ham" - their favorite story/movie.  It was a bit chaotic with 12 autistic (and somewhat hyper) kids but cute all the same.  Kaelyn had two parts to say and she stood up and held up her pictures and said her lines loud and clear.  :-)

Kay with her lunch tray from the cafeteria.  Thankfully they had brought in a sub ring and a fruit and veggie tray for the moms.  The school lunch didn't look that appetizing.  :-)

Kay sitting in her seat waiting for their little performance to start.  Oh yeah, they also sang a couple songs about moms and grandmas.

After the kids were finished, the moms just milled about and talked.  Kay went to her favorite play area in the classroom - the kitchen.  I was able to take some "normal school day" pictures that I would not normally ever get a chance to take.

This was Saturday on our way out to go grocery shopping, etc.  I got flowers, cards, and dinner out.

Mother's day photo shoot - it is what it is. 

Then this afternoon, Kaelyn agreed to and cooperated with a photo shoot.

First attempt at this shot - not too bad but not the best.

Second attempt - I didn't even post.  The wind kept "poofing" my shirt out so our expressions were good but I had my hand across the front of my shirt.

Third attempt at the photo - great one!  Oh wait!  Buster decided to wander into this shot and not showing his best side either.  Oh well, you get the idea.

So I know that it seems like we have most of our pictures taken by palm trees or water but we live in Florida and well, that's pretty much what there is in Florida.

Really like this one and...

... totally LOVE this one!!!

*Long sigh.....*  Once again, a great shot ruined by one small thing - my squinty eyes this time.

By this time, we had lost Kaelyn - as in lost her attention - but I was happy we had a couple decent ones of the two of us.

Kevin just kept taking pictures after Kaelyn wandered off with Buster so what was there left to do but smile and pose?  :-)

So all in all, I had my favorite people and some of my favorite things all weekend long and it was a simple and simply perfect Mother's Day!

Oh, and by the way, I know I'm only an hour away from being late but - Happy Mother's Day to you moms reading this!

"Stuff"

These first pictures are from Animal Kingdom.

This little girl is SUCH an animal lover!  She doesn't always know how to show her affection and interest properly without being overbearing to the animals but it's certainly not because she doesn't want to be nice to them.

This is in the "affection section" at AK.  They have brushes for the animals too and Kay loves to brush them as well.

One reason I love Animal Kingdom - some beautiful scenery.  This is all scenery on the safari.

Ankola (or Watusi) cattle on the safari.  The horns on these cows, while they can be up to 8 ft. from tip to tip, are very light as they are almost completely hollow.

You see him lurking back there?  The cheetah's are usually lying in the shade and are not real easy to see or get pictures of.  When we went by this time, there was some kind of  antelope across a ditch from the cheetah that he was Very interested in.

This is what he was watching.

Interestingly, there are barriers - ditches, fences, etc. - in certain parts of the safari for obvious reasons.  However, Disney has gone through GREAT pains to ensure that none of the "unnatural" barriers can be seen unless you know they are there and are looking for them.  It looked for all the world like the cheetah was going to attack at any moment but what we knew from a documentary we have seen (or a book read or something) is that there is a HUGE ditch (both in width and depth) along with fencing that's hardly seen unless you're looking for it.  People on the safari were saying, "Oh my goodness!  Is it going to attack it?"

Another area of the park and some more scenery around the park.

White rhino

And now Hollywood Studios:

One of the many "citizens of Hollywood" that walk around the "old" streets of Hollywood entertaining, etc.  Notice his banana gun in his holster.  He said it was in case there was any monkey business going on.  They all represent people from the 30's and 40's and any conversation they have with you is strictly "in character".

This picture is amusing to me.  :-)  (Kevin and I both had the song "Stop and Let Me Tell You" going through our heads while this picture was being taken.  I loved it when I got picked to hold a sign for that song.)

Kaelyn "riding" the giant ant on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  Ironically, that movie came out long enough ago that most of the kids playing on the playground, Kaelyn included, know nothing about the movie.  :-)  (Kevin just googled it and he said the [original] movie came out 22 years ago in '89.  Boy do I feel old!)

Kevin back by the Star Tours ride.

Hollywood Studios' replica of the real water tower at Disney's movie studios in California.

Tower of Terror

The park's icon - Sorcerer's Mickey's hat.

Waiting for the Pixar parade.  Kaelyn doens't like to wear sunglasses I think because of the way they feel on her face.  That's why she wasn't looking cool like us.  :-)  Just joking - about the looking cool part.

I LOVED THIS!  A walking Mr. Potato Head character.  This is the first time we've seen him like this.  We had seen this parade one other time but he wasn't a walking character.  His eyes spun around in circles and his eyebrows moved!  So cool!  Okay.... all done with my little kid moment now. ;-)

I asked Kaelyn what her favorite part of the parade was.  I was sure she would say Mr. Potato Head but she said that it was Jessie and Bullseye.  Guess it was just ME having that little moment of excitement!