Happiness is...: Ride the Alligator?

You might think this is referring to some magical ride at Disney...but you'd be wrong. While we were vacationing in Florida a few weeks ago, Owen couldn't get enough of riding the alligators. We rode them in all the airports and every day in the hotel. He would ask constantly "Ride the alligator?" I laughed so hard when I first realized that he was asking to ride the elevator. This was the first of many super sweet and cute things he said during the trip.

Owen was a super traveler. When he would get restless and want out of his seat or stroller, I would tell him what we were going to do and he would sit back down and in the sweetest little voice say "Okay Mommy." And he was content. I can't even count the number of times we went through this routine. And it would be impossible to get tired of hearing his response. During one of these exchanges, I must have said we are going to find a play area, because whenever he was bored in the stroller he would say "play area?" All I had to do tell him were about to go to the the play area. Again I would hear "Okay Mommy" and he was happy for a little bit longer.

When we first told Owen we were going on this trip, we told him we were going to see Mickey Mouse. He remembered this every few hours during the first few days of traveling and Universal. He would look up at me and ask wonderingly if it was time to see Squeaky (a.k.a Mickey) Mouse. When we finally did get to Disney, Owen loved the parade and was definitely interested in Squeaky Mouse, but was most excited about playing with the hula hoops in the middle of the street. They had bean bags to toss into a wooden box (which he slam dunked) and he called it ring toss. We could barely tear him away from this expensive fun and from that point on, he asked repeatedly to go back and play ring toss.

At one point, I took Owen on the Whinnie the Pooh ride while Kip and Aidan were doing some rides of their own. He really didn't know who Whinnie the Pooh was before we got on the ride. During the ride I kept pointing out "Pooh Bear" and Tigger. He was very interested in it all and when the ride was over and we landed in the middle of the end of ride gift shop, he wanted to look at all the stuffed Whinnie the Pooh's and Tiggers. I let him hold a Pooh Bear and the first thing he did was turn him over and declare that we needed to change him! I tried to tell him Pooh was a silly pooh not a stinky pooh, but he only had one type of pooh on his mind. Needless to say, I am a sucker and had to get a pooh bear for him to carry around and cuddle with during his many stroller naps (and also so I would not forget that moment) .

Finally, one of the funniest things he said happened our last day at Harry Potter. We were standing by one of the window displays. It had a Mandrake that actually squeaks like in the movie. (If you are unfamiliar with the Mandrake from the movie, it is a plant that Harry's class has to transplant. When he does, it makes a horrible squeaking/crying noise.) Owen was so entranced with this prop in the window that he just sat and stared for the longest time. Finally, he turned to me and asked "What's in there?" I asked him in return, "What do you think is in there?" His answers were priceless. "Maybe a boy in the flower." And then, "Maybe a bird." He seemed concerned. I think he was worried that the boy (or bird) trapped in the Mandrake might not be able to get out, hence the crying noise. Only through the eyes of a child!