Christmas

We had a nice Christmas. We were able to share it with my dad this year. It was not a white Christmas or even a cold Christmas, but it is always special to be together. Even though we told the kids Disney world was their Christmas, they still managed to get a ton of presents! Trent even gave the boys some of his vintage GI Joe things from his childhood. The kids also had fun working and saving to get presents for each other.We also had fun making a Christmas train this year. The kids each got to decorate their own car and then they ate it on Christmas Eve. Spencer also asked if he could put together our Christmas pageant. He made up everyone's parts and made them practice. It was perfect and he got all of the facts correct! This was Taryn's first year being interested in things. She loved opening the gifts, but was more interested in trying to grab everyone else's stuff! It was a wonderful Christmas! I am also thankful to be able to share these wonderful times on this BLOG with all of my family and friends. Happy Holidays!

Spencer in Blues Clues

Spencer has been in a play through Stage Door Productions called Blues Clues Live- The most Spectacular Place! He had to audition back in early Sept, and he got the part of Horrace the Anteater. He loves his role! He has 2 lines, telling Steve there is a clue on the bed and that he was sleeping. He got a bright orange costume which he loves to show off! He is on stage as Horrace all of Act One. In Act Two he is one of Steve's helpers- one of the kids who gives directions to Steve as to where the clues are, where Blue is etc... He alo had to learn the songs and dances to do. It opened last weekend, and it is so cute. The kids worked so hard on it. THey had rehersals 3 days a week for 2 months to prepare for this. They also walked in the Fredericksburg Parade throwing candy out. He loved it, eventhough it was snowing! Spencer is glad that he did this play and will probably audition for a play again next year.

Tree Hunt

A Holiday Tradition in our family is to go and get a tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We drove about 20 miles out to a tree farm and went on a hunt. The first tree the kids found was too big (see picture). The next tree was too small (see pic) the next one was just right! Dad and kids cut it down, and we were off to decorate it! I love turning on holiday music and gathering around the tree. This year even Taryn could put on some ornaments. We hung our stockings too (courtesy of Nana). It gives a warm family atmosphere. I love this time of year even though it is busy!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was an interesting adventure. The whole week leading up to it we had the stomach flu and then Taryn's turned into influenza. So we did not have the greatest health, but we did have a good day together. Our friends Lynn and her son Luke from where we lived in North Carolina came to share it with us. Luke and Aiden are close in age so it is fun to watch them grow and change together. It was nice to have company. We are usually on our own for Thanksgiving.

Our Disney World Vacation

Our Disney Tip was great! My sister in law Chrystl flew out and met us there which made it so much easier to take 5 kids under 8 to Disney world! It only took us 13 hours to get there, our kids did not even want to stop for bathroom breaks! We started with the Magic Kingdom and there is no way to describe the excitement that the kids had. Even Taryn was squeeling for joy! It was all decorated for Christmas and even when we were leaving that night, they had smow machines going on main street. It was cool! When I asked what the top things were for that day, Space Mountain was at the top (that was my favorite too) and Pirates of the Caribbean, and the jungle cruise. All oldies that I loved as a child! We had fun with the shows and parades too. It was a nice day weather wise, which fooled us into thinking Florida is nice in November. (HA!)- It was in th high 80's the rest of the week- Hot and Humid!







The next day we went to Disney Hollywood studios. I was unsure how this would go because I heard it wasnt as kid friendly, but we really had fun there. My kids (even Madison on occasion) are really into Power Rangers. We were first in line to meet them. The red ranger liked Logan's Power ranger shoes. I told him Logan's favorite color is red because of him. We also saw High School Musical 3 shows which was fun for Madison. We saw 28 charachters at this park with relatively short waits. Everyone who was tall enough except mom(we ran out of time) went on the Tower of Terror. They thought is was awesome!! We also saw Playhouse Disney LIVE, which was huge for my youngest 2. We decided to try a charachter meal, and had a blast with the Little Einsteins. We ended the night with Fantasmic, which is the best Disney show that I have seen!





The next day we went to the Animal Kingdom. It has so hot and humid we felt like we really were in the rainforest! We loved the safari though, the animals did not dissapoint. We rode the Mt Everest roller coaster 3 times (thank you Fast Pass!) In the early afternoon we got caught in a down poor, luckily the KIDS had their rain ponchos, the adults had forgotten their umbrellas. Oh well, it did cool us down!

On the 4th day we did magic kingdom again since we had only done half the park before, and they were going to have a Spectro Magic Parade and Fireworks show that night only. Those were both great and worth staying for. We made it this time to Splash mountain, Thunder mountain, and Pirates again. My 3 year old was asking for the Haunted Mansion again-go figure! We also were able to see some more shows, and meet Tigger, Pooh and Ariel (all after long lines-uugg!)

On our last day we went to Epcot. We were not sure if the kids would like it, but they had added a lot of rides since I went 20 years ago. They loved the mission space, the test track and the Nemo attractions. Actually in Turtle Talk with Crush Madison was picked out for him to talk to. Then he asked where her dad was and he talked with him too. It is cool to see an animated charachter talking with you. By night time we were making our way to the world showcase. Everything was so beautiful all lit up. We stopped in a few different countires to try their foods. I think the kids liked the pastries from France the most! By the time we made it to Mexico, it began to poor rain again, we were pretty much done and it was 8:30 so we were ready to go.

We had been trying to get here for 5 years, and something always got in the way. It was worth it to plan and go this year, it is a vacation we hope to do again!!