Big Cat Habitat/Gulf Coast Sanctuary

Today we went to the Big Cat Habitat/Gulf Coast Sanctuary. Raul's favorite parts were the camels (his current favorite animal), feeding a bear a hotdog, and the pig race! We actually picked the winning pig on the second race, and Raul won a yellow piggy bank! The third race was a joke, and they used pot bellied pigs, only one of which even wanted to move out of the starting gates (they were so large their stomachs dragged on the ground)! They are currently running the pig races there (usually they travel) to help raise money for their new chimpanzee habitats. Raul also spent a lot of time playing with his Christmas toys, and is now sleeping after another busy day! 

Christmas/Christmas Eve

 We got to Florida Tuesday, and yesterday spent time playing out at the pool and in the house. Raul thought it was funny to send a toy boat floating around the pool, and then throw balls at it as "tornadoes". We tried to get him to nap in the afternoon since we would be up later that night, and busy for Christmas the next day, but he was not interested in napping! At dinner he got to open a Christmas movie to watch, which he was excited about. At bedtime we got to read some of his Christmas books, and then he also watched some of Sprout's "Snooze-a-thon" to help him fall asleep!

This morning he woke up excited that Santa had come, and we headed over to open stockings before breakfast. He was very happy with his presents, and played/watched a new movie while we ate breakfast. Then it as time for the rest of the presents, which he had fun opening! He was a little overwhelmed by all the festivities, but said he got just what he wanted! Now he is taking a little rest playing on the iPad before dinner.

Watching the homemade boat go around the pool

Christmas Eve

Raul peeking in his stocking

 

Holding his foster brother; both wearing stockings! 

Laughing at being pulled out of the stocking 

Early Christmas Celebrations

A couple weeks ago Raul received his presents from The Butterfly Fund's Secret Stocking Project! He was very excited to get two Lego sets, and played with them right away.  Then last weekend we did an early gift exchange with my sister and brother-in-law, as the rest of us came to FL for Christmas. We had a great time, and Raul loved his Hexbug set. He thought it was fun to put his face right up to it to watch them in the tunnel. We have a foster baby with us this year, and Raul has been being a good big brother!

Christmas Tree Decorating

Tonight we all went over to my parents' house to decorate their Christmas tree and make Christmas cookies! This past week was rough. Raul started antibiotics at the beginning of the week due to fevers and increased pain from infection, and missed two days of school because of the pain. His labs from the beginning of the week showed high inflammatory markers, which was likely related to the infection and what was causing him so much pain. Then Thursday night he spiked a fever again, and we both came down with some sort of cold/virus. Luckily things are starting to look up, and he had a great time tonight! 

Magic Kingdom

Today was our final day at Disney! We did a full day at the Magic Kingdom (Raul lasted from when we left the hotel at about 9 until when we got back at around 6:30!). Our first stop was a Pooh and friends character breakfast within the park. Raul liked getting to meet with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore. And with the weather being questionable today, we were glad to have a chance to meet with some of the characters inside since the characters seem to have been his favorite part of the trip! We did end up getting Raul a poncho to keep his bandages from getting soaked during the rest of our day since I had changed them last night, but it only rained hard a few times luckily!

This time he was really into the rides, especially the Speedway and Small World. There is a pink camel in Small World (one of his favorite animals), and we had to ride it multiple times to see it! We also found a giant gold camel by the Aladdin ride, and two camels on a circus train sculpture in the circus area. We went on almost all the rides I had thought he would like. We did the "Jingle" Cruise, which we had not done the night of the Christmas party, and which he liked. They change up their jokes and add decorations around the ride to make it Christmas themed. The only ride we did that he thought was too scary was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, which we did the night of the party. He saw it, and was convinced he would like it, but then thought it was too fast (he liked the part within the mine, though). Overall, he did much prefer Disney rides to general carnival/theme park rides.

We also saw two showings of the Main Street dance party (which was just a parade today as it was raining on and off, so they didn't stop by the castle), and the big parade in the afternoon. They do a great job of giving special attention to children in the wheelchair seating, so Raul had MANY characters coming up to him to dance and give high fives during the big parade! Despite the rain on and off, we had a very successful day at the park!

 

Legoland

Friday was our Legoland day! Raul is fairly obsessed with Lego, so was very excited for this park. He was not interested in doing rides that day, but enjoyed walking around, seeing all the Lego sculptures, and watching some of the rides. We also went to two shows: a comedic fire academy acrobatics show and a pirate themed water ski show. He really liked their indoor area where you could build your own cars and race them down various tracks. He also got to meet two Lego characters, including his favorite: Emmet! They had sculptures of some of his favorite animals too, which includes camels and giraffes!

Mickey's Christmas Party

Thursday night we went to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Party. It was a sold out night, so crowded, but we had a good time. We went in at 4 to do some rides and meet characters before the party started at 7. Raul was a bit overwhelmed at first since he had not really known what to expect, but he liked a few of the rides and got to meet Pooh/Tigger. We had to get seats for the parade very early since it was crowded, but the parade was worth it! A few characters came over to see Raul during the parade, and Santa even yelled down specifically to Raul! After that we stopped in briefly at one of the character dance parties, then went to see the talking Mickey. Raul was a little surprised by the talking Mickey since that was the first time we had seen him, but he liked him! We stayed long enough to watch the fireworks as we headed to the exit, and watched the end of the show from down by the bus stop. Raul was a bit scared of fireworks after the 4th of July, but he liked these ones!