Rub A Dub Dub . . .

Zach and Kody share a bath after a big day
of playing at Kody's house.

'Big Monkey'

Zach recently discovered the movie "Mighty Joe Young,'' about an abnormally enormous gorilla called Joe that rampages through Hollywood after humans screw his life up by using him as a tourist attraction.

Zach is both fascinated by and scared of 'Joe,' whom he calls "Big Monkey."

He developed this fascination around the same time of our Disney trip, which afforded him the chance to see big monkeys up close at Animal Kingdom.

Disney Trip 2009

We just returned from a family trip to Disney World.

Zach's first visit to the "Mouse House," as he calls it, was full of fun and adventures.

We visited the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

As for the rides, he wasn’t so crazy about them. He was too little _ at 36 inches, not tall for his age but well within the “normal” range _ to go on the roller coasters he wanted to ride and too afraid of the dark to go on the ones like the Haunted Mansion and Pooh’s Adventure.

His favorite part about that trip turned out to be the hotel pool and the gorillas at the Animal Kingdom “Me see big monkey.” That, and meeting the Disney characters he sees on TV in person.

Life's A Beach At Disney

We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney.

While neither Mommy nor Daddy felt like we were on a Caribbean vacation, Zach liked the resort's pirate theme, especially the pool, which has two fun water slides.

Zach Meets Mickey

Our trip wouldn't be complete with out a visit to see the big guy.

That's right, the king of the Mouse House: Mickey Mouse.

As you can see Zach was very enthusiastic about meeting Mickey. (Mickey's handlers gave him a gentle scolding for tweaking the big guy's nose).

Watch Zach meet Mickey on video:

Zach meets Lilo and Stitch

Zach met Lilo and Stitch at Animal Kingdom.

We're not really all that familiar with the pair, but Zach seemed to get a kick out of being the butt (pun intended) of their flatulence jokes.

Zach meets Minnie Mouse

Zach was excited to meet Minnie Mouse at Animal Kingdom.


Really excited.


Who knew he had a thing for Minnie.

We got pictures, but unfortunately no video.

Zach Meets Donald Duck

Watch the video of Zach's meeting with Donald Duck:

Zach Meets Goofy

Zach's favorite Disney character is Goofy.

He usually chooses to watch "A Very Goofy Movie" on DVD after his nightly bath.

Zach got to meet Goofy for the first time at Animal Kingdom.

Here's a look at how it went:

Watch the video of Zach meeting Goofy:

Reel Fun!

Daddy took Zach to a fishing event at one of our local parks.

Zach caught his first fish.

He also took a spin on a swamp buggy and rode a Galapagos turtle.

There was even a baby alligator for petting, but Zach didn't want to go there.

It was a fun day.