Justin and Anya

Anya played with her friend Justin this morning. They play so well together and didn't leave eachothers side the whole time :)

3 year check up

Anya had her 3 year check up today.  She was so excited!!  She yelled "that's my name!! Anya!" when the nurse came out and called for her.  She was talking a mile a minute to the nurse and then the doctor.  She got her height, weight and blood pressure taken like a big girl this time.  She also got a special robe to wear with a fire engine and dogs on it.  She really enjoyed it.  There are no shots at 3 years so that made it even better.  She weighs 30 lbs 13 oz (53%) and is 3 ft 1 inch (66%).  She is a very healthy little girl :)

Anya's 3rd Birthday

Today our little girl turned 3 years old! We started the day with some presents. We let Anya choose what she wanted for breakfast (eggs and cheese with milk). We all got ready and headed out to the seacoast. We started with lunch at Markey's in Seabrook. Dwight and I got seafood but Anya stuck to a hotdog and fries although she loved my clam chowder. There were huge striped bass swimming under the deck that we ate on. Anya loved looking over the railing at them. After lunch we headed to the beach. Anya and Dwight made some sandcastles and she collected rocks. She LOVES sand and the beach. We ended the day with ice cream at the Beach Plum. It was a really fun today spent as a family :) Here are photos from our day:

3rd Birthday Interview with Anya

What is your name?  Anya
How old are you?  2
What is your favorite color?   Blue
What is your favorite animal?  Zebra
What do you want to be when you grow up?  A baby
What is your favorite book?  Elmo book
What makes you happy? Silly faces
What makes you sad?  Red
What is your favorite food?  Hot dogs
What is your favorite song?  ABCs
What games do you like to play?  Apple game (hi ho cherry o)

Anya's 3rd Birthday Party

We had a gymnastics birthday party for Anya and her little friends this weekend.  It was a big hit and I think all of the kids had a fun time.  Anya had a blast seeing her friends and she was SO excited for her birthday party. 

She had told me she wanted blue cupcakes because it's her favorite color.  I made chocolate cupcakes, with whipped cream frosting and blue sprinkles.  The paper plates/napkins/balloons were Wonder Pets because she loves that show :)

After the party ended we headed over to visit Marty's grams cottage on a nearby pond.  Here are a bunch of pictures from our day of celebration for our 3 year old.

 

Disney World: Epcot

On our last day, which was Mothers Day, we headed to Epcot.  The first thing was a breakfast with the princesses!  Anya couldn't wait to meet Ariel and Belle.  Once we arrived in Epcot we saw the beautiful gardens since it's flower and garden show time in the park.  I grabbed my camera right away only to realize my battery was back at the hotel being charged.  Dwight told me that after he ate some food he would go back to the hotel and get it for me.  Now, that is one great Mothers Day gift.  He really is wonderful.  I didn't have my nice camera for the princess breakfast but I did have my phone and my video camera so here is a pic of Anya and Ariel from my phone.

 The breakfast was really cute and Anya was able to participate in two princess parades around the restaurant.  I filmed those on my video camera.  The first time Snow White held her hand and the second time Sleeping Beauty held her hand.  After breakfast we walked around Epcot looking at the gardens while we waited for Dwight to return.

Anya's favorite ride in Epcot was the Finding Nemo ride. We actually went on it twice! She also liked the ride in the country Norway. It was a small viking ship that had a small flume ride in it so I was surprised that she really enjoyed it instead of being scared.   The funniest moment was when we rode "Spaceship Earth" which was in the big Epcot ball.  There is a small tv on each car and Anya started clicking away on the touch screen.  Before we noticed she had it in the wrong language.  We ended up not being able to understand one word during the whole ride.  We also went on the ride in Mexico, Imagination ride with Figment, Living the Land and we toured all the countries. 

Here is a slideshow from Epcot!

During vacation Anya tested us with her need for independence (doing every single thing herself and not letting us help). It was stressful at times because sometimes she needs help but will not take it.   She will hold up a good fight with her stubborn ways.  She did take small naps in the stroller which helped with her later bedtime. We definitely made some memories that we will keep forever. I bought her a photo album there that I am filling with pictures from our week. It was a wonderful trip that we will never forget!

Disney World: Hollywood Studios

We couldn't believe how much there was for Anya at Hollywood Studios. When you think of this park you immediately think of Tower of Terror and Aerosmith Rollercoaster which are definitely not toddler friendly rides ;) We headed right to the Little Mermaid live show. It was awesome and included Ariel live singing, bubbles in the audience and swimming fish to Under the Sea. Anya was bopping in my lap to the music. After this we hit up a 50s diner for lunch which was pretty neat. Each table had it's own old black and white tv with shows from the olden days.



Anya was able to meet two characters she sees a lot on the Disney channel, Handy Manny and Jake from the Neverland Pirates..

Handy Manny





















































Jake from the Neverland Pirates

We also went to see Disney Junior Live on Stage. I think this was a favorite of Anya's as well. The characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Jake and the Neverland Pirates were all there. They sang their theme songs and there was even confetti streamers that came from the ceiling when it ended.   Anya couldn't believe her eyes.

Another show we were able to see at Hollywood Studios was Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage. It was a shortened theater production including the famous songs. Anya and I both loved it while Dwight went on Tower of Terror :)

We also were able to see the Muppet 3D movie, which was great. Here is Anya and Dwight in front of the Miss Piggy fountain...

 

We went on "The Great Movie Ride" but we found parts of it were a bit too scary for a toddler. Dwight covered Anya's eyes during the scene from "Alien" lol.   After writing this all down I know why my feet were so tired.. we really did a lot!!  There were even more rides that we didn't go on too.

After our day at Hollywood Studios we had dinner reservations at the Polynesian Resort for a luau. We got to wear leis and eat some yummy ribs and chicken.

I love this last picture because Anya was begging her daddy to dance during the show. It wasn't really a time for people to get up and dance. A slower Hawaiian song came on and he got up and slow danced with her while others were still seated. I wont ever forget it.  I took this picture but quickly got out my video camera instead. After this long day Anya still wanted to go swimming. We told her we could for a little bit. We headed to the pool right as we got home.. got in and fireworks started! How amazing to end the day with fireworks from the pool... it really is a magical place.

Disney World: Chef Mickey's

On Friday we had a day to spend at the pool and we also had breakfast and dinner reservations. Breakfast was at the famous, Chef Mickey's. Once we were there and they started announcing the characters Anya's face lit up and she started shaking with excitement!! It was so much fun to watch her glow with happiness. In some of the pictures you can see a bruise over her right eye. She did that the first night we got to Disney. She was so excited that she was bouncing around the hotel room and fell into a bureau. She is quite the active child which means there are a lot of bruises and scrapes. She is a tough cookie though. This last picture is on our ride to breakfast on the monorail. Who doesn't love a ride on the monorail?..

We also tried to get some pictures before dinner. Our dinner was at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It is certainly a gorgeous hotel. The restaurant was called, Boma, and it was an African buffet. It was different and yummy!

Oh and I can't leave you without this picture of Anya heading to her favorite place, the pool!

Disney World: Animal Kingdom

The second day in Disney World we headed to Animal Kingdom. The first area we checked out was the Dino section and we all went on the TriceraTop Spin. After the ride Anya got her face painted like Tinkerbell.

We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Anya loved the animals, fishtanks and the elephant and crocodile out front. We spent the rest of the day on the safari, the dinosaur boneyard play area, the animal trails, and wildlife train.

Here is a slideshow of photos from Animal Kingdom.

The day before we had spent 12 hours at the Magic Kingdom so I was pretty exhausted after all of this. We headed to the hotel pool to relax after the Animal Kingdom. The pool was Anya's favorite part, we think. She is becoming quite the swimmer!! The hotel had marshmallow roasting every night at 7pm and a movie on a big screen next to the pool once the sun went down. The movies were all Disney cartoons except for the Muppet movie on one night. We loved our hotel, Disney's Caribbean Beach hotel.

Disney World: Magic Kingdom

We are back from our vacation to Disney World! We had such a fun vacation. Anya loved it and she didn't want to leave once our week was up. She said "no I want to stay at Disney". I took tons of pictures as you can imagine so I will divide it up by park.

This vacation was also Anya' first time on an airplane.  She was very excited.  This is how she looked the morning we left for Disney..

.. and here is Anya on the airplane...

The first full day there we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We had reservations at the Crystal Palace for breakfast with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Anya couldn't believe that she could meet them! She bought an autograph book with Nana's Disney gift card and had every character sign it.

It is amazing what a 3 year old can do at Disney. Since she is still technically 2 years old she was free in every park which was a bonus. She was able to go on so many rides. She says her favorite was It's a Small World. It was the first ride we went on. Dwight and I laughed that for once our chatterbox child was speechless. She also went on the dumbo ride, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Mickey's Philharmagic 3D show, Buzz Lightyear, Country Bear Jamboree show, Jungle Cruise, Monsters, Inc., Swiss family treehouse, Carousel of Progress, and we ended the night with the electrical parade. We ended up staying at the park all day!

After the Pirates of the Caribbean ride she chose a sword that she wanted to buy. She cracks us up.

Magic Kingdom was amazing. I found myself getting teary eyed off and on throughout the day. Being in Disney brings back so many childhood memories and to see your child enjoy it as well is wonderful.

Here is a slideshow from the Magic Kingdom...