Big Brother Class

Our local hospital had a Big Brother/Big Sister class in December, so we signed Owen up! One of the pre-requisites was that the new big brother bring a "doll" so he could see how diapers went on and how to hold a baby. Owen promptly told Allison that he didn't want a doll, so a compromise was made and after a trip to "Build-a-Bear", we had a brand new.... Dr. Kitty!

The first part of the class was a story time about how to be a new big brother. Then we practiced holding Kitty and showing how diapers went on. Owen learned how he could be a big helper when his little sister arrives.

After that, we went on a walking tour of the birthing center at the hospital. Owen got to see the delivery rooms and the special warming tables for when his little sister is first born. Then we went over to the observation room to see where the little bitty babies stay sometimes.

Finally, he got an official certificate saying he was ready to be a big brother!

Dutch Wonderland Christmas

Our season passes were good for the special Christmas hours at Dutch Wonderland. Unfortunately the night we could make it over, it was really cold! Hot Chocolate for everyone... We all had a great time though. Owen loves the rides so much and they had a few special light shows with Christmas music. Of course we had to ride the train a few times... brrrrr.

They have a few moving displays set up. He particularly like this one with Santa's little helpers.


Our fearless block stacking and climbing little creature.

Driving the Blue car with mommy.

And riding the carousel...

The mini Whip is a favorite!

The latest shoulder mounted portable GPS system.

Strasburg Train Museum

Allison took Owen over to the Strasburg Train museum a few weeks ago. The museum was pretty much empty on a weekday afternoon, so Owen was the chief engineer for the afternoon!

He loves to watch the model trains run....



He looks so small next to this engine from the Bethlehem steel mill.

Babymoon #2

Allison and I decided to get away for a few days to relax before the holidays and the arrival of our new wee one... we wanted to stay in the country for any emergent health care needs, but also wanted to stick with some place warm. We looked around on the Florida gulf coast some to some previous spots we've visited and liked, but pricing took a steep jump during the weeks we were considering for travel. I guess some of it had to do with college bowl games in the region. Anyhow, on a whimm we looked at Disney properties and were suprised to find some very good deals with meal plans included for free...


We ended up staying at the Polynesian resort for 5 days while Grandma & Grandpa Horvath stayed with Owen and Bailey. The high point of the vacation was getting to see the shuttle take-off in the night sky... the low point of the vacation was that it was COLD! It was in the 70's for the first day and a half, but then a front came through and for the rest of our stay, it hovered around 40 in the evenings, and we were lucky if it made it to 60 degrees during the day. So we scratched our "read a book on the beach" plans and made the best of it.


We arrive in the morning and spent the first day hanging out at the resort relaxing in the sun. Here's one of the beaches at the Polynesian. Unfortunately you can't swim in the lake, but they do have 2 heated pools.






Day 2 it was still comfortable, so we used our 1 day park hopper passes to go to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. We ate lunch at "France" and were able to walk on Soarin and most of the other quiet rides that Allison could ride. The park wasn't terribly busy, which was nice. Taking advantage of the lack of crowds, we also checked out the Segway display and got a chance to ride them around the room. Although heavily monitored, it was still fun. Here's a pic of the Epcot ball. They had Christmas decorations in full swing in the middle of November...

Magic Kingdom in the evening was really pretty. Main street was decorated more than usual with additional lights and Christmas swag...

Main street Allison wants to call home.

The castle lights were different than our last visit and very pretty. I guess the intent was to make it look like it was covered with icicles.

Day 3 we relaxed and tried the mini-golf over behind the Swan & Dolphin resorts. Beware if you try the "greens style" more difficult 18 holes. It was by far the most difficult minigolf experience I've ever had. The "greens" were very smooth outdoor carpeting and the balls just rolled and rolled and rolled. We're both pretty competetive in our mini-golf games, but I have to admit we were fighting the urge to huck the putters in the trees!

We had dinner at the steakhouse at the top of the Contemporary Resort. Here's Allison braving the cold on the observation deck!

Day 4 we went over to see the Grand Floridian and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were planning a future trip back to disney and trying to figure out where we might want to stay. In the Grand Floridian Lobby they had a HUGE gingerbread house. Here's a picture and some details about the house.

Over at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we went out to the observation area and were fortunate to see a bunch of the animals close up.

Other than the cold, we had a great time away enjoying some R&R.

Rainbow

We had a full rainbow behind the house earlier this week. It was in the morning right as I was leaving for work. It was raining, but the clouds had broken in the east and the sun was shining through.

Halloween 2008

This year for Halloween, we did a few excursions with our little sherrif. Dutch Wonderland does an annual "Happy Hauntings" for the kids where they rename all the little rides with a Halloween theme and have a candy trail supplied with all sorts of goodies from Herr's and Hershey.

Here's the boy with his bag of loot.

Owen showing mommy where we're off to next on the map.

A sheriff and his trusty steed on the Scareee-Go-Round

Riding the fun slide!

We also have an annual party at church for all the kids. Here's Owen making sure the umm.. hand lands in the pot.

Digging in the pot of gooey for...

A flash light!

The old tradition... bobbing for apples.

New Sheriff in Town

This year for halloween, Owen is going to be a sheriff. The outfit is super cute and he loves it.

Here's the man in action...

Rotor Fest 2008

This all started when Mark sent me an email to this link http://helicoptermuseum.org/ and asked if Owen might enjoy going to the rotorfest this year. I don't think he was aware of our little guy's obsession with helicopters. His day care is at the hospital, so they see a lot of the life flight helicopters fly over on their way to the trauma center. Also, there is a reserve unit in Reading and we see a lot of helicopters fly over during the summer. Anyhow, it was on, so the Horvath's and the Rossney's made a day of it. The boys were in their glory.....

There were 3 or 4 helicopters giving rides around the area, so Owen hung out here for a while and watched them take-off and land. It was the first time he was able to be so close to a helicopter in action and he was frozen in place, taking it all in.

The museum is really nice. They have a great variety of stuff, and a whole area for kids to see how helicopters work. This was a little wind tunnel with a helicopter model on a tether. When they turned on the air, the rotors spun on the model, creating lift, which in turn caused it to "take off".

Here's the boys getting down to some serious business in a Rotorway Scorpion - Model 133. It was a homebuilt model that was introduced at OshKosh in 1967. The tail rotor is driven by a series of belts and frankly I thought it looked a little scary.

Owen & Jacob looking down the TOW missle mounts on a AH-1F Cobra.

The Navy used to have a drone R/C helicopter that would carry a torpedo out to a suspect location of an enemy sub. It was called the Gyrodyne Drone and the museum has a rotating model of one. With two drive rotors spinning in opposite direction, the torque of the system is cancelled so a tail rotor isn't required. It's a fairly complex mechanism and they have handles to control the tilt for each set. The boys.. I mean I enjoyed playing around with this.

Here are the US Army Black Daggers demonstrating a Combat Equipment Parachute Jump.

And their pilot doing a fly-by after the jump.

Here's Owen walking up the inside of a Navy Sea Knight.

What could be better than chowing down on some sugar coated dough, sitting under a helicopter?

The Army's version of the Sea Knight... the Chinook.

There were two Black Hawks that the North Carolina Army National Guard flew up for the show.

Strapped into the blackhawk.

You check under it and I'll look inside!