Pierogi Fest

Every year, I want to go to Pierogi Fest and it never seems to work out. This year, however, we made it happen! Everybody had fun and there was plenty of good food to go around. The boys even made a new friend!

 Trying to dunk a nun

Raging Waves

This year Mason participated in a program which allowed him to earn a free ticket to Raging Waves waterpark by completing a certain number of hours of physical activity. That kid is always on the go so it was a win-win for us since I normally take him there at least once a summer anyway. This year Daddy and Maddon came with too! We had a great family day at the park!

Kane County Cougars Game

This year Mason participated in the summer reading program at the Naperville Public Library. One week one of his prizes was a family four pack of tickets to the Cougars game. It also happened to be a Sunday Funday and free ice cream day! The kids had a blast! Bonus for Maddon was meeting Marshall from Paw Patrol!

Happy Independence Day!

This year we celebrated Independence Day at the Bolingbrook Golf Club. They put on a nice family festival with food trucks, music, face painting, and inflatables. It was a nice family day!

Daddy's favorite...Cheesies!

Me and my boys

Maddon's First Trip to Disney World

Day 1: The boys have been counting down the days until Disney for quite some time now! They were so excited that the time had finally come. We had to wait in security while both boys' carryons were hand searched so we barely got to our gate on time. The rest of our flight went smoothly with only one quick cat nap by Maddon just as we were landing.

On the plane

On our way to the Mickey bus!

Both boys were so excited to see the hotel. While Daddy checked in, they explored the lobby and got ready to try out the Nemo pool. Maddon got his "first visit" button too!

After a quick swim, and checking out our Nemo suite, we boarded a Mickey bus and headed over to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey's. We've never done a reserved dinner on our day of arrival and we were nervous how the boys would be after a long day of travel. They really enjoyed Chef Mickey's (Maddon was still getting used to these characters everywhere), but both ended up falling asleep! Maddon only made it to dessert! Mason, at least, stayed awake until we took a monorail ride to show the boys around. Needless to say, we tried to make it an early night because we had a big (early) day ahead of us!

Walking to the Contemporary

Chef Mickey's

Meeting the characters

Fun times at dinner

Sleepy times too!

Monorail nap

Heading back to the hotel

Day 2: When we took Mason to Disney World for the first time we had a family photo shoot. We decided to do another one this trip! We got up early and headed to the Polynesian for our photos. Maddon still wasn't too sure about this constant smiling for photos thing, but we managed to get a few cute ones.

After photos we did something else we've never done before...breakfast at Ohana with Lilo and Stitch. We love dinner at Ohana so we decided to try their breakfast since we were already at the Polynesian. It was super yummy and the boys had fun eating with the characters. With full tummies we were off to Hollywood Studios!

Our breakfast spread

Making music while they ate

Parading around the restaurant

Pluto sneaking up on Maddon

So cool to meet Lilo!

and Stitch!!

Arriving at the Studios

The boys LOVED getting to meet all of the Star Wars characters. They met them all, multiple times, on this trip!

Maddon was stunned by Kylo

I think Mason was too

Have you hugged a Jawa today?

Ready for Toy Story Mania!

They were so excited to run into green army men

Waiting to meet Buzz and Woody

Maddon's dream came true here!

While Daddy and Mason rode Star Tours, Maddon and I checked out the Frozen show. I was pleasantly surprised. It was so funny and Maddon loved the snow showers at the end!

We had some time to kill, so we made a stop to see Olaf!

and to watch Muppetvision

Another first of this trip was to do the Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose. We got to have dinner and then received reserved seating for Fantasmic. This was a nice way to go as we didn't have to work so hard for good seats!

At Fantasmic

Day 3: This was a big day (with the potential to be very long)...our first day at the Magic Kingdom! With Magic Bands on and fast passes scheduled we were off for early extra magic hours! The boys were stoked!

Ready to hit the park!

Obligatory castle pictures

Mommy's favorite, Dumbo!

Maddon was all about the princesses so we tried to see as many as we could!

Carousel

Why did I let Maddon drive?!?

Buzz Lightyear ride, always a favorite

We had lunch at the Crystal Palace today with Winnie the Pooh and friends. Lunch was super delicious and Maddon finally started to warm up to this character thing.

The morning took a lot out of Maddon so he took a stroller nap while we waited for the Seven Dwarfs Minetrain to come back on. His timing was great, although we had to wake him up to ride. It's difficult to measure the height of a kid that doesn't want to wake up and stand, but we succeeded and Maddon made it on. We were all so excited to finally ride, and as a family!

In the afternoon, Maddon found the splash area!

Mason joined in the fun too!

We just happened to run into Buzz

The boys found a dance party. We spent quite some time at this same dance party on Mason's first trip!

Another first...Dole Whip!

Day 4: After two park days in a row, it was time for a water park day. Daddy actually came to this one with us so we let him choose which one we went to. Blizzard Beach it was!

At the bus terminal

Mason fell in love with the zip line

Maddon found a tube slide for little guys

Mickey bar!

Giant Jenga with Auntie Erica

Olaf was there!

Dinner that night was at Ohana, a favorite of ours. Mason slept through a lot of the meal, but it was delicious nonetheless!

Day 5: Animal Kingdom was our park of the day. With morning extra magic hours we used the time to head straight to Pandora and ride Flights of Passage before using our other fast passes.

Pandora

Auntie Erica found fancy drinks!

Maddon approved of his!

The safari was our next stop and it did not disappoint!

While Maddon went on a few rides in Dinoland, Mason tried his hand at some carnival games.

While Mason went on Dinosaur and Everest with Daddy and Auntie Erica, Gram and I took Maddon on Kali River Rapids. He loved that he could ride a big boy water ride!

On our way to see the Nemo show

They found Flik

and Pocahontas

We took a bus to Downtown Disney for some shopping and dinner. Of course, the Lego store was our first stop!

We went to T-Rex for dinner. Maddon was amazed and a bit frightened, I think, all at the same time.

Mason had fun at the Coca-Cola store after dinner. We bought a soda sampler to try. 

Giving his expert opinion

He took it very seriously

Maddon wasn't as impressed

Day 6: This was our second day at Hollywood Studios. This time, Gram and Auntie Erica came with us. It was a day full of character meet and greets, some new and some old. We ate at an old favorite, Sci-Fi Drive in, and ended the night at the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert party. This was another first for everybody and proved to be a highlight of the trip. We had access to a dessert party, character meet and greets, and reserved viewing for the Star Wars firework show. Big day for the boys!

Meeting some Disney Jr. friends

Daddy and Erica rode some of the favorites that the rest of us weren't so in to. We took the time to watch the voyage of the Little Mermaid (also nap time for Mason).

Tower of Terror

Rockin' Roller coaster

Star Wars time!

Food break at one of Mommy's favorite places

Toy Story Mania!!

More green army men

They boys were so excited to see Cruz Ramirez from the new Cars 3 movie

Meeting baby Groot

Ready for the VIP Party

#galacticsisters

Both kids loved the firework show (it was awesome)! Maddon didn't want to sit in the special kid's area with Mason. He opted for a bird's eye view from my shoulders!

Snuggling up with a late night snack before bed!

Day 7: This was another Magic Kingdom day, but with the whole family this time! There is so much to do at the Magic Kingdom. Two days wasn't even enough for some of us!

Riding the carousel with Papa Randy and Grandma Connie

More Buzz Lightyear!

Today was the day that Maddon got his ears! Mason still has his from his first trip (he even brought them with us) and it was Maddon's turn to get his. He was so excited!

Both boys sporting their ears!

Everyone got to ride Seven Dwarfs together.

Great time on Pirates of the Caribbean

We had dinner at Be our Guest. We loved it so much in 2013, we just had to come back!

Meeting the beast

Day 8: This day was a total surprise for the boys and I'm so glad that we pulled it off. They had no idea where we were headed, but were super excited when we got there!

At the entrance

So many Lego people to pose with

Mason loved this ride!

Maddon found more friends while waiting for Mason to ride

Giant blocks!

Maddon found his way onto some rides too!

Miniland

More rides

The Ninjago area

Mason even went to driving school

We spent the morning at the amusement park and the afternoon at the water park (didn't really take photos there). The boys topped off the day with a stop at the gift shop! I think they had a blast and were definitely surprised! They're already asking to go back!

All worn out

Day 9: This was our Epcot day and the whole family was there to join in the fun. Test track was one of our first stops. Since Maddon was too short to ride, we did a rider swap on this one. While the first group rode, Maddon and I checked out all of the cars in the showroom. He had so much fun!

First group of riders

My turn!

Family pics

We were able to get fast passes for the new Frozen ride and I'm so glad that we did. It was awesome!

Meeting Baymax

Maddon needed a siesta

This was an attempt to recreate a photo from 2013

Nemo time! Maddon was super stoked!

Bruce ate him!

So many "Nemos"

They thought the aquarium was so cool. It was hard to get them to leave!

We had dinner at the Garden Grill with Mickey and friends!

Joy and Sadness made an appearance!

The boys stopped for some more pics with Mickey and friends

Family pics on our way out

Day 10: We were in need of some R and R by now. Daddy and Papa Randy went golfing while the rest of us relaxed. Our stop was Typhoon Lagoon!

Water slide with Auntie Randa

Mickey raft!

Love this kid!

How'd he get there?

Everyone met up for dinner that night at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. This was the first time that the boys were at this show. I think a fun time was had by all!

After dinner, we made an impromptu stop at the Magic Kingdom to see the new firework show. Maddon thought it was cool!

Day 11: This was our final day at Disney World and we left it relatively open so that we could go do the things we missed or wanted to do again. We split up in the morning: Daddy, Mason, and Auntie Erica went to Animal Kingdom and Maddon and I went to the Magic Kingdom. We met up in the afternoon before heading to Downtown Disney to check out Disney Quest before it closes for good!

Pandora again!

Magic Kingdom!

He wanted to see the Beast. His castle was not sufficient.

He finally got to meet Ariel!

More princesses!

La Fou's brew at Gaston's

Not a fan

He thought the cupcake was much better!

A little splash time!

Waiting for the train

Goodbye Magic Kingdom...See ya real soon!

Checking out all of the Cars at our hotel

Rough trip!

Day 12: Sadly, our vacation had come to an end. We headed home with lots of souvenirs and magical memories. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a good time and is already looking forward to our next trip!

On the plane headed home

Sweet home, Chicago