Ethan read his first book this week (9/19/06)! The book is 32 pages long and is a beginning reader called "Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill." Here he is at home with the book. We are very proud of him!

This summer Ethan and I went to Magic Kingdom with grandma for a few days. We stayed at the All Star Movie Resort and had a wonderful time. It was extremely hot, and we all agreed that going in the fall would be much better in the future. However, grandma came prepared with some water misting fans that helped with the heat. Ethan's favorite rides were the race cars, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority elevated train, and buzz lightyear. He also really liked Stich's Great Escape. Here is a picture of Ethan on the race car ride - notice he is driving! Ethan is also pictured on a car outside of our hotel room. The first evening of our trip we had a great buffet dinner at the Crystal Palace where Ethan got to personally meet each of the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Here is a picture of the gang - After dinner and more rides, we found our places for the 10:00 pm light parade. The parade was a sight to see. One of the suprises about Disney was the entertainment before the parade. The Disney staff entertained the kids with old fashioned games such as jump rope. Ethan played with several other kids for more than an hour throwing a football into an inflatable net. It was really a nice site. He had a great time. The second evening we took a boat to the Disney Campground (Fort Wilderness) on a island in Lake Buena Vista. Here we prepared for a barbecue and country sing along show with all of the Disney characters. Ethan and grandma hit the dance floor! Here is a picture of grandma teaching Ethan a few moves. It was amazing all of the different types of experiences you could have a Disney from rides to hiking on Tom Sawyer Island to taking a boat to a campground for a barbecue.

Here is the picture of the boat we took to the barbecue. We got seats near the front! Here is a picture of grandma and Ethan - tired after a long and exciting day at Disney.
After we arrived back in Clearwater from our trip to Disney, Grandpa Ed and Ethan went out for a bike ride in the neighborhood. Ethan also got invited to explore a fire truck that was in the neighborhood. He got to honk the horn and listen to the firemen talk through the headphones. We had a great trip and look forward to our next visit!!

It has been quite a while since I have posted, so it is time to catch up. Ethan turned five this summer. We had the birthday party at our house and the theme was hotwheels. Mr. Smarty Pants the balloon magician and comedy artist did a show for Ethan and his friends. The big surprise was that Mr. Smarty pants brought Ethan a kid sized race car made of balloons. The other treat was that Grandma Leanna and Grandpa Bond were in town to help celebrate Ethan's birthday!


A few months after Ethan's birthday, he lost his first tooth (May 06). In June, Ethan graduated from montessori school. Here is a picture of Ethan with his diploma and "graduation hat" as he calls it. In August Ethan started kindergarten at a local elementary school. He is enjoying being in a big kid school. He also loves the cafeteria where he usually eats pizza every day. (Hopefully he will grow out of this soon).



We made several trips to corpus this summer and one trip to Disney World in Orlando with Grandma. I will do a separate post for the trip to Disney. Here are some pictures of Ethan and dad having fun on the beach and on the slip and slide at Gail and Grandpa Billy's house in Corpus.