Atlanta and the Zoo with Da

This is stuff I meant to post in Dec, but I ran out of time. We headed out to the SEC Championship to see the Vols lose. It was a bad game but a fun time. Joey and I didn't have tickets to the game (don't ask) so we went to the Aquarium. It was AWESOME!!!! Here we are at the entrance with lots of "Nemos"

Seeing the beluga whales was awe-inspiring!!! So absolutely beautiful!!!

The seals where fighting and Joey thought that was funny.

He had a blast climbing through the Penguin tunnells and seeing them!!! When he popped his head up I could hear him scream with excitment!

Some pics of us at Fanfare before the game. We didn't stay too long cause it was CRAZY and loud for a little boy.

He thought this sheep was great

Bob, Paige, Bill and Joey

Joey playing at Centennial Olympic Park....it was FREEZING but the kid did not want to stop playing. Very neat to be where the Olympics were played.

Hugging his Uncle Bob. Joey LOVES Bob!!!!

In fact in our hotel room, Poor Bob couldn't go to the bathroom without Joey trying to follow him and call out to him at the door. He would look under the door and say "Where are you Uncle Bob?" We all thought it was so funny!!


Also in December Joey took a trip with Da to the Jacksonville Zoo. And of course they had to ride the Zoo Train!!

And Joey got to feed the giraffes. He still talks about getting to do this all the time. Bill said he wasn't scared at all. He just walked up and gave him the food. A very cool experience.

Christmas Day 2007

This Christmas was SO AWESOME!!! Joey was so very excited for Santa to come and we also learned about Baby Jesus and ate baby Jesus birthday cake that we made together (a tradition from my side). He seemed to really get it all and that was THE BEST!!! Bill and I are so blessed to spend this time with our sweet, awesome, intelligent, full of wonder son. That is what Christmas is all about!!!!! This pic is when he first ran out...he was OVERWHELMED - BUT SMILING!!!!
Right away he ran over to his trampoline and started jumping!!!! He loves to jump on the trampoline at his My Gym Class and was so excited to have his own.
Then he noticed that Santa and his reindeer had come and eaten the goodies we left and as Joey said "Santa's messy"....just like his Da!!
Then of course he noticed the one thing he specifically asked for, his 10 TRAINS!!!

and the musical red caboose!!!! A special favorite.

Opening more Thomas, who is more excited...Bill or Joey : )


He loved his piano and setup his new Disney figures to play and sing to. He sang Rock-a-bye Baby and Jingle Bells...and recently he added Row your boat. He is so cute when he sings!!!!

He absolutely loves his drum set
Viewmaster a big hit and a GREAT restaurant toy!!!

This Candyland Game for Toddlers is great, we play it almost everyday.
One of his favorite gifts was a big bag of costumes that "Santa" bought on after halloween clearance.... I never realized what a hit they would be. Here's Joey in a few that he put on Christmas Day.
Watch out for the dragon, he loved seeing himself in the mirrors.

Is that a T-rex or Darth Joey

Sir Joey the Handsome

Jaws or as Joey calls all sharks "Bruce" from Finding Nemo

He loved his stocking...especially the candy

Then we stopped for Breakfast and ate.....our Disney Gingerbread House and boy was it GOOD!

Christmas Eve

Finally, some pics from our busy but WONDERFUL Christmas Eve! Joey was so excited that Santa was coming and especially that he got to open some gifts : )

Here he is opening the present from Mama and Da. I love how he throws the paper behind him.

Then he helped Da open his present, an automatic screwdriver (boy did Da use it a LOT later on : ) Joey just had to push the button and make it spin. Boys and their tools, doesn't matter the age.

Then he started to open the package he had gotten in the mail from his Grampy and Mimi Zanoni. He was very excited and boy was it packed with gifts.

Opening a Thomas Aquadoodle, a favorite with the Z Boy!

His favorite of the night, a walking & roaring Triceratops. We had to take a break in present opening to play with him.

Then we went to take a bath and get all dolled up for Santa. Here is Mr. Handsome doing one last look over of his gifts before bedtime.

While he was getting dressed Da made a train tunnel out of the presents...as you can see Joey thought it was great!!!

With Mama putting out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. If you look close you can see that Joey is eating the carrots as fast as I can put them out!

Sampling Santa's Cookies. Joey is normally extremely picky but all of a sudden he had to taste each one of Santa's cookies : )

Just look at those cheeks, stuffed full with Santa cookies : )

Of course, he had to wash it all down with Santa Milk...that's what he called it. After he took a drink he rubbed his belly and went "Mmmmmmm, Santa's milk gooooddddd!"

This is Bill explaining to him right before bed that Santa was going to come down our chimney, eat the cookies and leave presents. We even let Joey open the fireplace for Santa (this is normally a don't touch item). Well this was a mistake, Joey kept crawling out of bed and running out trying to catch Santa. He even brought out his wubi blankie, and asst animals he sleeps with Froggie, Rusty, Donald and snake to sleep in front of the fireplace (unfortunately I had put the camera away to work going to bed recon). He got very upset at us for foiling his plan and told us he wanted to "see Santa". Next year we are in BIG TROUBLE!!!!!!!!

Stay Tuned, Christmas Day is next....

A Very Disney Christmas!

Disney is a wonderful place to go at Christmas. For me, I was super excited to take Joey to the Very Merry Christmas Party. They close down the park and sell only a few thousand tickets so the park is not near as crowded and the free hot chocolate and cookies were great. Bill kept saying he was going to try to eat enough cookies to pay for the special tickets, hahaha! Anyway, here is Bill and Joey at the entrance to the party. Joey would not smile for the pic and so we plopped him in the stroller walked inside and.....

The kid fell ASLEEP!!! Special tickets at special prices and he falls asleep before seeing any of it!!!!

For a minute we thought maybe we should just go back the the room and call it a night. Until we walked by Pirates of the Caribbean and saw it was COMPLETELY empty...so Bill and I climbed on board our own boat with Joey still fast alseep on Bills shoulder. The ride was fun and Joey did not wake up once...not even when he got completely splashed with water all over his legs. Later on when he woke up he told us that a "pirate shot his knee while he was asleep" so he must have remembered something from the ride. We laugh because Joey will still tell anyone who asks how a pirate shot his knee and he will point to his knee and say "See right here, a pirate shot me!"

Walking to the Haunted Mansion we stopped for hot chocolate and cookies and ran into some old friends Woody and Bullseye. It did not take much for us to wake Joey up when he saw them.

FINALLY we scored a ride on Dumbo. Can you believe we have been to the Magic Kingdom this many times and never had ridden it. The lines are always WAY too long for a high-energy boy!!

A great smiley face while watching the parade.

Joey and I walking around the life-size gingerbread house. Joey is not usually easily startled but when this door opened he was shocked and so was I!! Can you believe there is a store in there?!

The trains under the trees had to be Joeys favorites, of course. He thought this one at the America pavilion in EPCOT was his Polar Express and he was NOT happy to leave it behind.

Joey was so very extra-special excited to see Scrooge McDuck. We had been watching Mickeys Twice Upon a Christmas and so he was well acquainted with him. In fact, Joey ran up, hugged him and kept hugging for a long time...long enough we had to step in and pull him off.

Then Scrooge started playing with Joey's hat and he thought that was wonderful

It was VERY HOT so we thought Joey might like to jump in the fountains with the other kids...but our little guy mostly liked studying how he could make ripples with his foot in the puddles. I love his little quirks, what a smart boy!!!

One of his EPCOT favorites , the sidewalk lights. He ran and ran around watching these lights having a blast. And yes before you ask he is in PJs, long story involving leaking pee, our last diaper, running out of dry clothes and a lady calling me a racist and saying she was going to beat me up (I am still not sure why she was so mad)...but hey what is a trip to Disney without running into one grouch.

The Disney Santa was the BEST I have ever seen. This is a pic I took, not as good as the professional photos but I think Joey looks huge in Santa's lap. I love this pic because it shows just how tall he got this year.

This was a great photo spot at the base of the main street tree, a bench with Roy Disney and Minnie Mouse. I tried to get a pic of Joey sitting there smiling, but guess what there is a train at the base of that tree so Joey would not turn around, he was WAY more interested in the train...a good memory pic anyway!!!

Joey catching the "snow" that was falling during the light show. Funny feeling for snow to fall when it is in the 80's.

Joey as Boba Fett at the Star Wars Exhibit in MGM

It was so hot that we decided our last day to head over to Blizzard Beach. Joey LOVED it!!! Here he is carrying his tube "all by myself's"

And sliding down all by himself...which incidentally drove me crazy but he loved it!!! He must have gone down this slide about 20 times at least. And has asked to go back ever since.

Sliding down another slide by himself. He also loved floating on the lazy river ride with us.

This awesome pic was taken in Tomorrowland where Buzz hangs out. He was going to take a break and grabbed Joey's hand on the way. Joey was so very thrilled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Magical!!!!

To view more of our Christmas Disney photos visit: http://www.disneyphotopass.com/share.aspx?share=a9c8df68-6b32-4a41-85c7-9c54cae51559&site=WaltDisneyWorld