Disney on Ice

We had a lot of fun taking our boys to see Disney on Ice.  We didn't tell them about it very far in advance so it was a little of a surprise for them and they both ended up having a great time there.  Anders was very entertained through the show and Alden was super excited every time new characters came out.  Alden's favorite people in the show were Mickey Mouse, Sebastian the crab and Olaf.  Alden did not really care about the princes and princesses at all (besides a little excitement at seeing Anna and Elsa) but he still enjoyed the whole show.  Anders was just entertained by the music and people moving around the ice.  He did not seem to have a large preference about who was on the ice, only that someone was out there.  We had a great time and had a really memorable time with our kids!

 Anders looking at all the lights on the ice and waiting for the show to start.

 Alden got to pick one treat and he picked cotton candy that came with an Olaf hat.  I was a little surprised he was willing to put the hat on at all but he put it on himself for a little while.

 Mickey and Minnie came out to start the show and Alden was so excited.

Alden was so excited to see Mickey mouse! 

 The first segment of the show was all taken from Aladdin and the boys loved it.  I was impressed with the ice skating camel because that looks like a hard costume to skate in to me.

 Anders was very entertained watching the show.

 I loved seeing all the dwarfs from Snow White come out and skate.

 I have to admit that the number Snow White and the prince skated was very pretty but I liked the dwarfs better.

 Then they did a whole segment from Beauty and the Beast which was really cool!  I love the song "Be Our Guest" so it was fun to see another version of it performed.

 It is hard to see in these pictures, but this was the part when they performed to "Under the Sea" and Alden got to see Sebastian who he was so excited about!

 Alden was very happy eating his cotton candy throughout the show.

 These pictures also did not come out very well, but it was a depiction of part of Sleeping Beauty and they actually had a dragon on the ice for the prince to battle.  Alden thought the dragon was really cool, even if it scared him a little.

 The prince then got to skate with Aurora and they did a very nice job.

 The segment from Cinderella was really funny because of the stepsisters. 

 The last segment was from Frozen and you could tell there were tons of kids in the audience who were really excited for this part!  Alden even knew Anna and Elsa as soon as they stepped on the ice.

 The girl who played Elsa did a very nice job and skated beautifully.

 Alden was most excited when Olaf came out onto the ice!

 It was really fun to see the boys excited to see all the different characters in the show!

Anders was getting really tired and ready for his nap by the end but he was still happy to watch.  It was a really fun outing and I am glad that we took the time to do this as a family.

Anders' Birthday

I can't believe that my baby boy is 2 years old.  It seems like time goes so fast when it comes to my kids getting bigger.  Anders has changed so much in the last year and I love watching him learn and grow but I also feel like I need to make sure that I don't blink so that I don't miss anything.  He is such a sweet little boy and almost always willing to give me a hug or smile which I absolutely love!  Although he is learning how to share right now, and doesn't always like it, he is a really sweet brother to Alden and I know that he is going to be an amazing big brother to his little sister in a couple months.

For his birthday this year we didn't do anything big, we just made him cupcakes, that he picked, and then let him open presents.  We had also celebrated with my family the weekend before so he got plenty of attention for his special day.  He was really excited for Mommy to make him froggy cupcakes for his birthday and it was cute to see how excited he got while I was making them, even if he decided he didn't really want to eat them when I was done.  It was also fun to see him actually get excited about his presents this year!  It is so fun to see how easy it is to bring joy to a 2 year old.  I wish that it was as easy to bring joy into everyone's lives.  I am so excited to see how Anders grows and changes over the next year and I am so grateful to have this sweet, wonderful little boy in our family!

 Anders was really excited when I started making the green frosting for his cupcakes.

 He had to keep pointing to the picture to make sure I knew which cupcakes he wanted.

 Anders loved his frog cupcakes and I thought they came out pretty cute.

 He was very interested in watching Daddy light his candle.  (Yes, we only did one candle even though he is turning 2)

 He was a little confused about the candle at first but liked it when we sang to him.

 Anders refused to blow out his own candle and insisted that Alden do it for him.  He was very happy to watch his brother blow out his candle.

 He was happy when the candle was blown out!

 When we gave him the cupcake to eat he got very cautious and just wanted to inspect the cupcake closely.

 This was the closest he got to eating his cupcake.  He was very happy to look at the frogs, but had no interest in eating them.

 We let him open his presents after dinner and he was very excited.

 We got him this little wooden train since he loves to build and loves trains.

 He was so excited to have it out of the box and start playing with it.

This is a video of Anders enjoying his new train.

 This was the second present that we got him and he was very excited to look in the box and then get it out.

 He was very happy to have Daddy help him.

 Anders had no idea what it was when it first came out of the box because it wasn't put together.

 As soon as he figured it out, he was happy to go down over and over again!

 He was even really good at taking turns with Alden.

Anders loved going down the slide over and over again.  (Yes, it will eventually be an outdoor toy but we let it come inside for his birthday)

 Anders also got to open a couple presents from his great-grandparents and he was very excited to rip the wrapping paper!

 They sent his some cute new clothes that he got really excited about!

Such a cute little boy who had a wonderful birthday!