smiles

As Christmas quickly approaches I am getting more anxious for this year to finally be over. It's been a rough last few months and I am getting more excited to start fresh in a brand new year.

Thankfully I have this cute little girl to give me the best and biggest smiles to make my days even better.

Seriously! How could you not love that face and just smile?!

orlando :: animal kingdom

Two of the nights we spent at Epcot and Downtown Disney, but unfortuntely I didn't feel like lugging the camera around and have no pictures to show of it. I know, shocking!

But Friday, Wayne had the whole day off and we decided to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.

It was really funny when we decided to eat breakfast at the park. We decided to hit up Donald's Buffet since it had great reviews. Little did we know that it was a character themed breakfast and we would be visited by all the Disney crew.

We thought for sure since we were tucked away in a corner and had no kids with us that they would just ignore us and spend times with all of the families, but no, they shared the love with us as well.

Goofy had a total thing for me. And please excuse my crazy lazy eye I have going on in these pictures.

I really loved riding in the safari ride. A little cheesy, yes, but it was still fun and neat to see all of the wild animals.




The rides were super fun at the park and I love the Bugs Life 3D show. So did Wayne!




Another fun day at Disney. It was such a wonderful place to spend time with your best friend and just be kids again. We had a blast at all the parks and we are so excited to plan a family trip with our kiddos some day. I know that they are going to love it as much as we did!

orlando :: disney hollywood

Our second day at the resort we decided to check out Disney Hollywood Park. It was within walking distance from our hotel, but we could take water taxis as well.

When we walked through the gates, the park wasn't crowded at all. This made a very happy Wayne and very short rides so we could enjoy everything. I just loved walking through and seeing replicas of all the famous movie sets. Plus, this park has some pretty fun rides too, mine was definitely the Toy Story Ride, you play against each other and it was really hard but so much fun!

A great photo opportunity!!


Wayne loved the Star Wars ride. Me, I sat out. I am not a big fan of simulators. I get crazy car sick!


I LOVE the Muppets!

Wayne was pretty excited to get his picture taken with the army guys from Toy Story. I have to admit their costumes are pretty cool. I love how Disney makes you feel like a kid again!

Disney Hollywood also had a Christmas Party and Parade to light up their main street. They totally decked out the buildings with tons of Christmas lights. Our favorite part was when it started snowing. Such a cool addition!

orlando :: magic kingdom and resort

Right before Thanksgiving, Wayne planned a super fun trip for just us two in Orlando. He had a work conference for the first five days, but was done by 3 and so we had the afternoons with just the two of us.

It was the first time we were both away from the kids at the same time, and even though it was REALLY hard for me, it was oh so worth it for the two of us.

Because of Wayne's work conference we got to stay at the Disney Yacht Club and Resort. It was right on the Disney Epcot Boardwalk and was in walking distance to both Epcot and Disney Hollywood. Every night we were lucky enough to catch the firework show from Epcot.

I just loved our resort. Every morning I would walk the boardwalk. They had great restaurants, shops and cafes along the way and then I would head straight to our resort pool. The pool had loads of hidden hot tubs, a lazy river and even a sand island for kids to make sand castles.

Needless to say I would spend many hours just soaking up the sun there.

The pool also had this huge abandon pirate ship with a huge water slide that led to the resort pool. It was surrounded by sandy beaches and was open till late in the evening. All I could think about was how much fun my boys would love this ship. I can't wait to take the kids here and share in this magical moments.

Our first afternoon together Wayne and I decided to attend Mickey's Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. I felt like a kid walking through the gates, I was so excited. I love everything Disney and add Christmas decoration? Double bonus!

We had fun visiting the park and celebrating in the Christmas party. They handed out free cookies and hot chocolate all night and it was fun to see all the characters dressed up.

I love that castle!

I even convinced Wayne to watch the Christmas parade with me!

Wayne has never been to Disney World so it was SO much fun to share in this experience with him. He had a blast! He is even excited to take the kids here, he just loved it!

thanksgiving :: 2011 style

We traveled to Denver to spend Thanksgiving with the Schoenfelds and Friedmans. I took barely any photos, and although we had a wonderful and very yummy dinner I have no photos to show it.

However, we were blessed with perfect sunny weather that made it a wonderful time to spend at the park. So while the turkey was cooking and the men were watching football, the rest of us ventured to the neighborhood park.

We always have a good time when we go to the park.

Chase will always be the first to find the dirt and someone big enough to help him play in it.



We even played a very fun and very active game of freeze tag. Adults winning of course! ;)



Three generations!

Fisher just loves puzzles and he even helped his cousin Emily with a very hard one!

This Thanksgiving I was grateful for my beautiful children I have been blessed with; My amazing husband who has supported and lifted and guided me through some pretty crazy times; my wonderful friends who I just absolutely adore and I am thankful to be blessed to be a part of such a great and wonderful family.

 

It was a blessed Thanksgiving for sure

11:11 on 11/11/11

I enjoyed this exciting moment in time by doing laundry, vacuuming rooms and watching my two littlest ones play together.

Nothing too exciting but still just as enjoyable! :)

read

We love reading in our house. It's one of our favorite things to do around her and our kids just enjoy all the fun stories.

When I couldn't find Chase or Kory during Sabrina's party my bother informed me that they were upstairs reading together.

Chase just loved having Kory read to him. Cousins are just the best!

The other day I caught Fisher sitting on our steps reading to himself. He had a big pile of books and he just sat there, telling stories.

He was telling stories of a bunny.

I could seriously watch and listen to him read all day long.  I am so proud of his amazing accomplishments he has made. He is growing and progressing so much and I just love capturing these moments.