Pumpkin Carving

After a fun filled day out with Thomas we went home to carve Rand's first pumpkin. Rand was not having it pulling the pumpkin guts out. He made all sorts of funny faces and kept saying how yucky it was. Hans on the other hand loved it. He would have stuck his whole head inside the pumpkin if he could of.

A Day out with Thomas

So... Rand is a little obsessed with trains, especially Thomas the Train. I heard Thomas was making a stop close to Fort Benning (well just under 2 hours away) at the Sam Shortline and I knew Rand would love it!

When we arrived we got a piece of paper where if we got 4 stamps at 4 different locations Rand would get a prize. We were sure to visit each stop to not only enjoy the activity (Music and Story time, Thomas train tables and coloring and crafts, meet Sir Topham Hatt and go to the gift shop) but to get a stamp.

After receiving all our stamps we got to meet Thomas before boarding the train for our departure at 12:45. Rand was so excited to meet Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt. When he first saw Thomas he shrieked with excitement and yelled "It is is BIG THOMAS!"

Rand had such a great time today and it was well worth the trip.

16 weeks Pregnant

I admit I have been slacking on the belly pics. I am really going to do my best to do them during this pregnancy. 

Since this is my 4th pregnancy (1 stillborn at 25 weeks, 1 healthy baby boy and a miscarriage at 11 weeks) I am taking this pregnancy pretty slow. I just finally unpacked and hung up my maternity clothes. I honestly would love to not even put a nursery together until after the baby arrives but rumor has it Rob is deploying right after the baby is born for 9 months so it makes more sense to prepare and get things together before April. 

This pregnancy has been pretty good, besides being nauseas all the time. I am taking blood thinners (baby aspirin and lovenox shots) to help with the autoimmune diease (antiphospholipid syndrome) I have. I also use my fetal heart doppler religiously. The baby's heartbeat is usually high 150s unless he/she is sleeping and it is in the 130-140s. He/she sure likes to move a lot. It gets harder each night to get a good reading since he/she swims away. 

Disney World

During the summer, Rand and I got to visit family and during that time we got to go to King's Dominion. That is where we learned Rand was a bit of a roller coaster junky. 

A couple week ago we learned that Rob had a lot of leave days to use up before the end of November and if he didn't use them, he'd lose them so we decided to take a family trip to Disney World! We knew Rand would have a blast and it would be a nice memory for us before the new baby arrives this Spring.

I bought our tickets at the Fort Benning MWR and booked a hotel at Booking.com. We got a 4 day hopper pass. Be sure to link up your tickets on the Disney Experience website (and download the app) so you can book Fastpass tickets. I only had a couple weeks to plan and many rides were already booked up. Be sure to book them in the morning. After you use up your 3 FP, you get another one to use. As soon as you use that, you get another and so on until their are no more FP slots. 



After some research I decided to buy Magic Bands. You get them free if you stay at a Disney Resort but you can either buy them online or at Disney for $12-22, depending on the color and style you want. You link up your Magic band with your ticket and Disney Experience account and it becomes your ticket and fast pass ticket. You can also use it to get photos from your trip with Disney's Memory Maker. You can also reuse them for future trips. If you are staying at a Disney Resort, the Magic band is also your room key and can be used in place of a credit card for purchases at any of the parks. Oh, another fun feature is that throughout the park and on rides, it senses your Magic Band and your name pops up or is said on rides. Here is what happened during the It's a Small World ride.

We had 4 full days to spend at Disney. Here is how I split up the days along with our Fast Passes:

Monday (8am-7pm)

Magic Kingdom 

Run to the Seven Dorf Mine train!

FP

8:30 Peter Pan 

9:50 The Many Adv of Winnie the Pooh 

11:25 Barnstormer 

3:20 Pirates of the Caribbean

4:40 Mickey's PhilharMagic

Tuesday (Ep 9-9/ HS 9-8) 

Epcot in morning

Run to the Frozen ride

Hollywood Studio in afternoon

FP

4:10 Muppet 3D Vision

5:10 Toy Story Mania 

Wednesday (9-8:30)

Animal Kingdom

FP

11:05 It’s Tough to be a Bug! 

12:35 Kilimanjaro Safaris 

1:55 (Rob only) Expedition Everest

2:40 Adventure outpost meet Mickey and Minnie

Thursday (9am-7pm)

Magic Kingdom

Run to the Seven Dorf Mine train!

FP

9:30 (Rand and me) Winnie the Pooh

9:30 (Rob only) Space Mountain

12:10-1:10 Haunted Mansion

1:30-2:30 Splash Mountain

Epcot

3:05 Sea with Nemo and Friends

7:30 Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot (Minnie, Mickey and Pluto)

We were able to get on all the rides we wanted to and I was so surprised by how cute the Ariel ride was. It was one of Rand's favorites because of all the fish. He hated the Peter Pan ride :( The pirates and indians scared him.  

We saved a lot of money by eating a big breakfast at our hotel and bringing snacks and lunch for Rand. I ate kid's meals, the portions were still very large and the prices were much cheaper than the "adult" portions. We brought water bottles and filled them up throughout the day.

As we pulled up to our hotel, Rob realized it was the same hotel we stayed at 7 years ago when we visited! It was a funny coincidence. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Orlando - Lake Buena Vista. It had free parking and had a free shuttle to the parks. We opted to drive since we didn't like the shuttle times and it was only about a 10 minute drive to the Disney World gate. The breakfast was good and had a lot to offer. Rand loved the Mickey Mouse waffles. The room was nice and we especially loved the balcony where Rob and I could sit and relax while Rand was falling asleep in the room. Bonus was we got to see the fireworks from the park at night. The pool with a water slide was also a nice surprise!

As soon as we entered Magic Kingdom we went straight to the Mine Train. The guys had to wait about 30 minutes but it was well worth it... the wait got over 160 minutes in the middle of the day! Rand got scared of the dorfs but loved the rest of the ride.

Here are some more pics of Rand on some rides at Magic Kingdom.

 We quickly learned that Rand loved seeing all the characters. His first view of Mickey Mouse was during a parade and his expression was priceless! We quickly started scoping out characters for photo ops.

I just loved watching Rand get so excited and have the time of his life this week!

When we first arrived at Animal Kingdom we headed over to Dinoland USA. I highly recommend going to the Boneyard right when it opens. Donald Duck was there helping lead the kids into the play area and gave them all autographed shovels. Another bonus was it was not packed at all! Rand had a blast running around the huge playground. 

We really enjoyed the safari ride at Animal Kingdom. We saw lots of animals like lions, zebras, elephants and much more!   

We didn't get a chance to go to the Lion King show but we did go see the Finding Nemo musical and WOW, What a show! You do not want to miss this colorful musical! The cast was outstanding and I loved watching them manipulate the puppets. 

We so happen to be visiting Disney during Epcot's Wine and Food festival. I didn't get to enjoy the wine but we did get to indulge on a lot of yummy food from all over Epcot. 

Of course Germany was my favorite stop at Epcot. We sat by the fountain enjoying listening to the yodelers eating pretzels and apfelstrudel. I miss Germany so much...

Oh and Rand loved the model trains. It was especially fun because it reminded us of our village back in Germany with the red Deutsche Bahn.

While at Epcot we came across many familiar sites. Here are a couple comparing shots of Rand during our travels in Europe vs the replicas at Epcot.

We didn't spend very much time at Hollywood Studio. We really just went to go on Toy Story Mania and was it worth it! I wish we were able to go on it twice. The line itself was fun to walk through with all the large scale toys.

We had such a wonderful time at Disney and hope we get to come again in the future as a family of four ;)

Here are a few helpful sites that you can get some tips and tricks for your Disney trip:

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/z-popular/linking-disney-military-tickets-and-fastpass-plus-reservations/

http://mousehints.com/disney-touring-plan/magic-kingdom-
touring-plan/

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/ears-of-experience/

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-magic-kingdom-plans/

Pumpkin Picking

On our way home from Florida, we stopped at Mark's Melon Patch to pick some pumpkins. Since Germany doesn't really celebrate Halloween, this will be Rand's first Halloween and we are very excited to experience all the Halloween festivities here in America. 

Mark's has much to offer. It has animals, a maze, a bouncy pumpkin, lots of games and of course, pumpkin picking! They also have tons of great fresh produce like vegetables, honey, nuts and even cotton. 

Picking peanuts off the branches.

 Rand enjoyed climbing on the old tractors and picking the perfect pumpkin with Daddy.

Mark's Melon Patch

8580 Albany Highway
Dawson, Georgia 39842

1hr 15min from Fort Benning

We are pregnant!!!

We have some wonderful news to share!

Rand is going to be a BIG BROTHER!

It terrifies me to share this today, I feel vulnerable and scared... yet, I have always felt led to share my story. Praying for a healthy baby come April 2017

The #randworldtour continues on to Virginia

After spending a couple weeks with my parents in Jersey, we spent a week with my younger sister in Virginia. Rand had great fun playing with his cousin Aiden and LOVED his dog Gravy. 

We weren't there for long but we got to do a lot of exploring around the city of Roanoke. I think my favorite was the park that had a train theme playground and an awesome water works area. 

 A fun indoor activity for a rainy day with the indoor jump park. Rand and Aiden were running around like maniacs and had the best time.

Jersey with the Fam

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting with my parents in Jersey. My parents live in a small town near the Jersey shore and we tried to visit the beach as much as possible. Rand also had a great time just running around my parent's property and playing with his cousin Heath who was able to come down from Brooklyn. 

Here are some of my favorite pics of Rand at my parents house. I do hope we get to visit again soon... but with Rob.

 Rand loved helping Grandpa mow the lawn.

World War II Veterans Memorial Park

While we are visiting my parents, its been fun taking Rand to the parks I grew up playing all. This one park was reconstructed about 10 years ago. The centerpiece of the park is a monument to the Veterans of the Second World War consisting of a bronze statue of a WW2 infantryman, affectionately referred to as the “Grunt,” and seven granite walls dedicated to each branch of the service.

Around the park is a maze of walking trails and a playground with pieces resembling WW2 military equipment.  You can also find some vehicles and equipment from the war along the pathways.

Seaside Beach

I grew up at the Jersey shore and since we lived in Germany, I have have greatly missed the ocean. One of the first evenings we arrived in Jersey, my parents took us out to Seaside to show Rand the ocean. At first, Rand wasn't a fan of the sand but LOVES the water so he gave in to the sand and now loves it too!

We all had to chase after Rand who kept running into the water.