Fall Fun!

It's been a busy fall for the Meiners so far! We visited a local farm today to get some pumpkins. As you can see, Ben was pretty excited! :)

Family shot - we had one taken last year in this same spot - Ben was MUCH teenier then!

Ben and Daddy

Ben and Mommy

Ben and I cheered the Bengals to victory against the Steelers a few weeks ago. Eddie was at the game, but all three of us had matching Palmer jerseys on!

Pregaming...

Who Dey!

Ben went to Kings Island for the first time in September with Grandma, Pappy, GG, and me. Eddie, unfortunately, had to work and couldn't join us. :( Ben liked riding the carousel.
Stay tuned for more fall fun!

Party Time!!!

It's Ben's very 1st Birthday Party!!!!

Once he got going, he really liked the cake!

Ben started off very delicately with the cake, though!

Our family!

Baby's 1st Beamer!

Ben LOVES his Mickey airplane!

Ben's smash cake!

The big birthday cake!

Decorations...

more decorations...

It was a great party!

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!

We can't believe our baby Ben is 1 year old!! Where did this last year go? Enjoy these pictures from his actual birthday!

Ben loves his airplane!!!

Unwrapping presents with Daddy!

Birthday dinner at Chick-fil-a!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy!

Such a big boy!!!!

Magic Kingdom

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what else will!

Ben loved riding Dumbo! He was so close to being able to reach the joystick controller on his own!

Going to see Mickey in 3D in "Mickey's Philharmagic" - such a cute show!

Teamwork, boys! Pull out that sword!

The carousel was a HUGE hit. Ben was a little fussy as we were standing in line, but as soon as that horse started moving, Ben started smiling and laughing. I'm thankful that this ride is available at Kings Island and the zoo!

Waiting to get on Peter Pan's Flight (my favorite ride)!

Early morning picture in the park!

Just got off the Jungle Cruise...

Mickey's mailbox!!

Mommy and Ben in the Happiest Place on Earth!

Getting ready to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets

Keeping an eye out for Mickey during the parade

Ben was such a trooper all week! He powered through the mornings with just a cat nap in the stroller and was good to go until we got back to the hotel around 2. We were so excited by how well he did with being out of his routine! :)

Getting our Mousekateer ears!

As Mickey would say, "we've got ears, say CHEERS!"

Breakfast at Cape May Cafe!

On our second morning, we went to another character breakfast at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. It is a beautiful Disney resort close to Epcot. We'd love to stay there someday!

Ben was trying to give Goofy "5".

It's almost like Ben was thinking "hey, I had breakfast with you yesterday, too!"

Enjoying a Mickey Mouse waffle... and if you know me, I quickly took this picture and then ripped the waffle up into teeny pieces (to avoid my choking fear!) :)

No Mickey at this breakfast, just Minnie, Donald, and Goofy... Ben was a little disappointed ;)

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's!

Okay, kids, we have nearly 400 pictures from our trip to Disney, so I'm posting them in "events." On our first morning there, we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Ben had a good time meeting the characters and eating pancakes.

Ben liked to grab their noses and pet their ears and faces :)

Ben and Daddy with Donald!

Ben, Mommy, and Goofy!

Ben was soooo excited to meet Mickey. We watch "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on Disney channel everyday and Ben LOVES Mickey. When he saw Mickey in person, Ben just had a huge smile on his face and kept grabbing Mickey's nose - and tried to bite it! It was really cute and a wonderful memory for us!

First Haircut

During our trip to Disney World (many more pictures to come!), Ben got his first haircut at the Magic Kingdom! We found out they have a working barber shop on Main Street and decided it would be cute to have his haircut there. Ben was sooooo good and didn't fuss at all. Here's the last picture with his mop of curls :(

First snip! The barber wrapped up some of his hair and sent it home with us (sealed with a Mickey sticker of course!)

The barber put a bench across the arms of the chair so Ben was able to sit in the chair like a big boy. He just sat there and looked around - didn't cry at all!

Ta-da! Look at our handsome kid!

The icing on the cake - ears that say "first haircut"! They were given to Ben as a momento of his big day! So precious!!!!