In October, we went camping at Harrison Bay State Park with my parents for a couple of days.

Will was very helpful with everything from gathering firewood to putting out chairs.

Thomas thought that camping was really fun.

We did a lot of playing, swinging……

and chillaxin!

Will and Honey slept in a tent all night one night! Will called the tent his “clubhouse.”

Having fun with Didi and Jonathan.

We had a lot of fun (even though the last night it started storming and we couldn’t get the awning down and it broke and I thought it had crushed my Mom against the side of the camper!) But if you asked Will his favorite part – I think he would say, “Peeing in the woods!”

We have had a busy couple of weeks around here – full of fun! So, this week on the blog I’m going to be playing catch up and including New York City, Halloween and Will’s birthday party!

Last Saturday – Tuesday we went to NYC to visit friends and have fun. Honey went with us too! Will was overwhelmed and amazed by all the transportation we took – bus, airplane, taxi, train (subway). He even learned how to hail a taxi – it was ridiculously cute.

Bill and Will watching the airplanes.

Nashville wins for the most “kid friendly” airport. There was a playground right across from our gate!

We ate dinner at a pizza place right under the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a great view and the pizza was delicious.

The Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn.

We went to Apostles church Sunday Morning and then ate lunch at a thai restaurant on the Upper East Side.

Will was super excited when we got to Times Square. Can you tell?!?!

After lunch Bill and I went and saw the matinee performance of Memphis on Broadway. It was really good. While we were at the show Will and Honey spent an hour at Toys R Us in Times Square, window shopped several places and then walked back to our hotel.

After the show we ate dinner at P.J. Clark’s. We sat in a closet practically and it was so dark they had to bring us candles so we could see. Will blew out the candles as soon as the waitress sat them down Will doesn’t care where he is as long as there’s a truck and a bump bump. He was playing on the sidewalk as we waited for a table at P.J. Clark’s.

We woke up early Monday morning and went to the Today Show.

You might recognize these two from their national TV debut! Al talked to them before doing the weather at the top of the 8:00 hour.

After the Today show we went to Central Park where Bill and Will climbed to the “top of the rock.”

Will throwing coins into Bathesda Fountain.

After walking around Central Park for a while, we let Will play on the playground. He loved going down all the slides but he wasn’t patient enough to wait in line to swing. Monday afternoon we went to Columbia’s bookstore, shopping in Herald Square and Chinatown. It was a busy day!

Monday night we had dinner with our friends the Sholes’ and Mason’s. James is 8 months older than Will and they a great time playing with each other.

James and Will sitting on James’ big boy bed laughing and screaming as loud as they could.

A couple of mornings we ate at a grocery across the street from our hotel. They had a good, inexpensive breakfast and Will had pancakes, bacon & banana. Our last stop before leaving the city was Books of Wonder where we picked up a signed copy of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

We had a great trip! Who wants to go with us next time?

We have been relaxing in St. Augustine, Florida this week!

Finally! A Walt Disney World report. October 17 -23, the Dixon family loaded up the SUV’s and headed towards Orlando for a week at the happiest place on earth. We had a great time! Here are some highlights from the trip (in no particular order):

Bill, Amber & Will with Mickey & Minnie. Will was not afraid of the characters and it was rare to get a picture where he wasn’t staring at them instead of the camera!

Will loved riding all the rides! He was able to ride most of the rides in Magic Kingdom including: Dumbo, Aladdin’s Flying Carpet, the carousel, Teacups, & Jungle Cruise.

Here’s the whole gang with Minnie Mouse. Their matching Disney t-shirts were SO cute!

Will had SO MUCH FUN! We saw several shows and Will particularly enjoyed Festival of the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

One morning we had breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle – it was really neat. During breakfast we met all of the Disney princesses. Above is Will with Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). At breakfast they gave all the princes a sword and Will has played with it everyday since!

Will and PawPaw on the Kilimanjari Safari in Animal Kingdom.

Our absolute favorite part of each park were the parades! Above Will and Bill are dancing in the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! parade. They take their dancing seriously!

Will and Nonny dancing! One afternoon Will was wearing his Disney shirt with his name on it and almost every character in the parade stopped to say “hi will!’ That was so much fun and probably my best memory from the week!

Aubrey and Mickey at Chef Mickey’s breakfast. Aubrey was so sweet and in awe of all the characters.

Will was in awe of the Mickey waffles.

We had a great week and I can’t wait to go back! It will be extra magical when Will can understand what he is experiencing.

I accidentally posted our vacation pictures on tinyworm! So, for the update – head on over!

Beach Baby Blog  – CLICK HERE

A couple of weeks ago we went to Panama City Beach, Florida with my parents. We even spent a few hours with Dana and the “Locke” family  on Thursday afternoon and for dinner! We have about 100 pictures – too many to post. Here are a few to enjoy.

Will feeling the sand for the first time.

Toes into the ocean.

Will LOVED the sand!

Bill and Will playing in the ocean. Will wasn’t too thrilled about it.

Papa and Will playing in the pool.

Honey and Will swimming.

Fun time at the beach!

Will and I had a staycation last week. I guess it wasn’t technically a staycation since we went to Chattanooga! We had a great and fun time. We started the week by having a Father’s Day cookout with the Dixon family. We had a fun time eating, playing with babies, playing cornhole and riding the Trikke. And Will spent a day later in the week with Nonny and PawPaw. No pictures from the Dixon party Anybody else have any?

Papa gave Will a flat-top – complete with Krew Comb.

Honey gave Will some chocolate pudding “to eat!”

Will had fun playing at the toystore downtown. Here he is riding an air pogo.

DeDe took Will on his first carousel ride. He loved it! He even knew how to hold on correctly.

Taking a second ride with Mommy.

Playing in the water fountain. This is a scream of delight!

We had a great time the past few days in NYC! Will was so great – he is such a city slicker I think it is in his bones. We had a fabulous time mostly eating good food with great friends. Here is our trip in pictures.

Will looking out the airplane window. He did great on his first flight.

Will checked out the “Sky” magazine while en route from Minnesota to NYC. The whole magazine was devoted to New York so Will knew all the hot spots to check out once he got there.

Man, flying is exhausting.

On Saturday night we at at John’s of 12th Street in the East Village. We enjoyed dinner with Jay, Desiree and James Sholes and Pete Little, all of our gracious hosts. Will and James enjoyed catching up with each other over dinner.

Will loved riding on the subway. He especially liked entertaining everyone on the train.

On Sunday we were able to worship at Apostles Church then ate a delicious Thai lunch with our sweet friends Kristian and Katy. It was great to introduce them to Will and catch up a little. Thank you Rose’s for fitting us into your schedule. After lunch we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. You can’t tell from the picture but it was very crowded.

Bill and Will on the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline behind them.

Will and James had a great time playing with each other. Thank you James for sharing all your cool toys with Will!

On Monday we headed to the Central Park Zoo with Desiree and James. Above Will is trying to spot the elusive Snow Leopard. I don’t think it makes much since to have an elusive animal on display but we did see one that was hiding in the corner.

Will at the Polar Bear exhibit.

Will watching the seals play in the water.

Bill and Will checking out the penguins.

James getting a good look at a penguin. Or is it a penguin getting a good look at James?

Fun day at the Central Park Zoo.

Of course, we had to visit Columbia and our old stomping grounds. And we couldn’t leave without a new t-shirt for Amber and Will

We took Will to Toys R Us in Times Square. He wanted everything in the store! Just kidding, but he did like looking at the toys.

Bill and Will in the middle of Times Square. We went down because we wanted to see the new “pedestrian mall” we heard about on the news. That was a little disappointing – it was just a bunch of plastic lawn chairs in one block of road that cars don’t drive on.

This is why I call Will a “city slicker” because he was so good! We went almost all day everyday and Will was happy in the stroller and just went to sleep when he got tired. Thank you Javen for letting us borrow your stroller – it was a lifesaver! It is so light that even Amber could carry Will and stroller down the subway steps.

On Monday night we met Ramona to catch up for a few minutes. Will loved her and really wants her to come and visit him. Actually, he would love for all of his NYC friends to come and visit him!

On Tuesday we headed to Books of Wonder the great children’s bookstore on W. 18th. They have lots of book signings there by famous children’s authors. Will got a signed book about penguins since he saw the penguins at the zoo.

For lunch on Tuesday we ate sushi. Yummy! Don’t worry this was just a cucumber roll – no raw fish.

Then, a quick goodbye to Desiree and James. We had a great time!

We love this city!