Disney World - Part I

Hello to everyone. As you can imagine, we've been pretty busy since our return from Disney World. I have said to many of you members of the "12 month working world" that I seriously don't know how people go on vacation and return to work just a few days later. Ugh!!! We're seriously exhausted! Add to that the girls have been sick nonstop since we returned and getting to blogging has been low priority.

Now that I'm done complaining, let me tell you we had an amazing trip. There are so many highlights that I hardly know where to begin. I'll cover my absolute favorite thing about going in December - it isn't HOT! You don't SWEAT! And, you aren't EXHAUSTED before you even start in the morning. My second favorite thing - NO CROWDS! Seriously, I've only ever been to WDW in the summer and, while the trips have been amazing, we're always hot, sweaty, exhausted, and elbow deep in crowds by 9 am every morning. Not this time!!! The weather wasn't as predictable and way more difficult to dress for (as you will, we're in shorts some days, pants other) but it was so much nicer than dripping with sweat. We had a few warm days of shorts, a day of rain, one really cold day, but mostly just cool days with jackets in the morning and evening and short sleeves in the afternoon. Perfect if you ask me.

We arrived on Black Friday and started the trip by visiting Downtown Disney. We knew it would be too late to visit parks that night but we were anxious to do something! The weather was warm and it was fairly crowded so we didn't stay long - just enough time to check it out, pick up a few things we knew we wanted, and head back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. We stayed at Carribean Beach again this year and, as before, absolutely loved it. We had a room close to the food court, shopping, and a playground, so it was great! And, while we didn't get to enjoy it because it was too cold, they have completely redone their pool area. It was amazing to see the change in just a year!

On Saturday, we headed to Animal Kingdom. While it is always one of our favorite places to visit, it is usually so muggy that we can't stand to stay long. Not this time! It was perfect weather - warm enough for fun without being hot! The girls loved Dinoland. Katelyn noticed that the huge dinosaur was wearing a Santa hat so she had to point this out each time we passed by him that day and the other day we visited AK. Sydney's favorite part was "It's a Bug's Life" - the 3-D bug adventure and Katelyn's favorite part was meeting Pluto and Goofy. It was our first character experience of the trip and she was absolutely thrilled to meet two characters that she knows so well. She really didn't want to leave them. Kevin and I really love the African Safari so that was definitely our favorite part of the day!

We decided to take in the sites at Epcot that night and we were totally amazed at the lights! Everything was so beautiful - we could hardly believe it. There really aren't words to describe it. We ate dinner at The Garden Grill where we Katelyn was again in her glory, as met Chip, Dale, Mickey, and Goofy (again). As you can see by the photos, Katelyn absolutely loved the characters but especially liked Mickey Mouse. When he snuck up on her, she was totally surprised and thrilled to meet him. The pictures below show how happy she truly was to meet them! The pictures also so her decided lack of enthusiasm when meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus in Epcot. In her defense, it was late and she was pretty tired. But, Sydney was thrilled to have them autograph her book - so much so that she couldn't really remember what she wanted for Christmas. Honestly, it was a pretty short list this year!

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Okay, I've only managed to tell you about the first day and this has taken me two weeks to write! Oh well - seriously, I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you about the entire trip. But, here is a link to SOME of the photos from our trip. I have more than 1,000 so I tried to go through them but I still wound up with about 300 pictures in this album. Anyway, we you some time, check out our trip highlights. I'll try to post a few more details when I can!!!

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=ee718e7bd09c207d&sid=8QatGLRu0aM84

Seriously Cute Videos

Okay, we're big fans of Camp Rock. The movie is in our mini-van's DVD player so we watch it at least once a week. So, it is no surprise that Sydney knows the words to the songs. But, when Katelyn started singing along, we couldn't help but giggle. Hope you enjoy!!!

Girls Rule!!!

Here's Katelyn welcoming Abby to her first "Girls Only Halloween Party!"

Once again, the Girls Only Halloween Party was a hit! As usual, we made several crafts. This year, we made modge-podge jars. We used canning jars and the girls glued tissue paper on them to create either a pumpkin, ghost, or black cat. (I'd like to send a big thanks to Ms. Irene for supplying the jars. They were perfect and we can't wait to make some more for Christmas. We'll gladly take more jars!!!) We also made Halloween cards and decorated a pumpkin using foam cut outs.

Sydney & Molly (BFF's) making identical jars!

Emma creating her own jar!

Melody working on her jar!

Some finished products!

Katelyn, Alyssa, and Katie making cards!

This year, the weather put a damper on our usually festive neighborhood parade. The skies threatened all day and we thought we simply wouldn't be able to go outside at all. However, we were able to quickly parade down about half the block but had to make a quick return as the rain was approaching. Thankfully, we made it back inside because the heavy rain began about 10 minutes later!

Katelyn walking with Aunt Amy and Abby!

Crossing the road in the rain.

As usual, we enjoyed some tasty treats. Aunt Robyn supplied the pumpkin cupcakes!

I think the best part for the girls was getting to play together. Since they couldn't go outside, they had time to play in the playroom, dressing up and having fun. They also went downstairs to play in the playhouse. Once they officially put on their costumes, they conducted a fashion show down the stairs so we could check out each one of them. Below is the group photo following the parade. As you can see, we managed to get everyone in!

As always, we can't wait for next year!!!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We're Here!


The pigs were enjoying their pumpkin breakfast! They were looking for the seeds!!!
Katelyn jumping on the hay!


We took our annual trip to North Run Farm and again enjoyed the corn maze, hay ride, and pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful, warm day but, thankfully, we started early in the morning. We begain with visiting the animals and checking out the hay!




The corn maze was more challenging this year than last year (or, at least more challenging for us). Last year, there had been very little rain so the corn was dry and we could see through it easily. This year, with the rain we've received, the corn was tall, green, and perfect for the path!

Sydney, Molly, and Emma on the path.

Kevin punching the cards at one stop. (Notice Molly's crossed arms...)

We also had a few tears along the way - mainly from the tired children. Molly cried because she couldn't punch her own hole in her card and Katelyn cried because I wouldn't hold her through the ENTIRE walk! We should have taken the stroller!!!

We finished up the day by picking our pumpkins. It took no time for Katelyn to find one she liked. Sydney took a bit longer. But, we managed to pick two great pumpkins from the patch and a third huge one from the barn!

This is NOT the huge pumpkin we bought!

Cheer Girls!

Sydney's cheerleading squad marched in the local parade and, much like we're used to by this point, it rained. The picture above is of Sydney, Hailey, and Jenna before the parade. You will notice the bright sunshine - it looked beautiful and was HOT for a late September day!

But, that all changed just as we began to march. The sky turned dark and, before long, the rain began. It wasn't just a little rain - it absolutely poured! Check out the photos below!

Before the Rain!

As the rain began!

As the pouring rain continued!

But, the rain didn't stop us from performing for the judges. Check out our girls in action!

WE ROCK!