I can't believe it is already New Year's Eve! How quickly this time has flown by. It feels like just yesterday the kids were getting out of school for two weeks and now they have to go back to school in just a few short days. But we have had a wonderful time off and a great Christmas. Our first on our own as a family. And although I was a little sad to be without family Christmas Eve, we had a great time creating new memories with just the 5 of us. Here's a little recap:
We met a guy named Santa
And sat in a new chair
Played with a little gingerbread
And made a mess with sprinkles
Caught Daddy frosting cookies
And took the perfect Christmas Eve shot
What a sweet family I have
So very blessed
Santa was very good to my kids
And even Mom & Dad brought some smiles
You think she wanted this?
Bubba charmed my Grandma
(and everyone else)
It was a great first Christmas for the baby. And we had a great one too.
Bad Mommy! With all the hustle & bustle of Christmas, our fun trip to Disney, and the lack of a brain lately, I have neglected to post about our sweet Bubba Boy's progress. You know, as his momma, I think every thing he does is simply amazing. He makes us oh so proud. Except for the time when I took him to his 6 month check-up and they asked us if he was sitting up yet. Huh? I don't know. So as we tried, he just wobbles his roly-poly ole self over and refuses to sit up for the good doctor. Ok, not yet.
Fast forward a month to today- he is now:
I snapped a quick photo (thank you iPhone) and emailed my hubby to show him what our amazing son was doing for the very.first.time. He replied back- "he did that for me yesterday."
As we count down our top favorite things at Disney World, we come to number 5....the number of countries we visited in one day!! I can now officially say that we enjoyed a beer in England and a margarita in Mexico all in the same day. Played with drums in Zimbabwe, watched trains in Germany, and spun plates in China....all in the same day. Yes, we walked 10,000 miles, but it was worth it.
One of my favorite parks of the trip was Epcot. Not only were there fantastic rides (Soarin and Mission Space were our favs!), but we took a long walk around the World Showcase and were able to see 12 countries in less than 3 hours. And the best part about it? All the countries were celebrating Christmas in their traditional ways, so we leaned a little along the way!
Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
There is so much to love about Disney World- from the amazing sites (Cindy's castle is breathtaking no matter what time of day you see it!) to the characters (Mickey will always be my favorite!) to the amazing service you receive (the "cast members" are all so helpful & friendly!). But I wanted to narrow it down to the top things we enjoyed the most about our trip- not just the fun rides, awesome meals, and fun things to see- but the memory-making events that made our trip so very special. And lucky for you, we were able to narrow it down to six. So, let's get started.
One thing we had heard about going to DW at Christmas time was the amazing Christmas decorations- in fact, we watched a show on HGTV that showed how preparations for the Christmas season at Disney begins in May. Every park had an amazing Christmas tree. Each resort that we visited was completely decked out. So despite being in sunny Orlando, we were able to sorta feel like it was Christmas.
So in my Top 6 things we loved about WDW this year......(drum roll please).......the Holly Jolly, It's-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-Christmas decorations.
The Christmas Tree at the Magic Kingdom
On the MK tree, there were these giant strands of popcorn, bigger than my son's head....
Adorable decorations at the Crystal Palace in the MK. All of this was made out of flowers.
Animal Kingdom's tree- all animals of course
The Wilderness Lodge's tree, where we stayed
The kids showing their true colors of the trip...no, they were perfect angels and got along beautifully (cough, cough)
The garland was made out of poinsettias on this tree at Epcot
The tree at The Grand Floridian - all Victorian
This is a life size Gingerbread house that has a store in the back to buy gingerbread shingles. The house was amazing.
These poinsettia balls took over 20 poinsettia plants to make!
A Gingerbread tree at the Contemporary Hotel. Can you see the "hidden Mickey" on it?
And one of my favorite trees...a monorail one!
One of the highlights of the trip was watching the Osborne Family Lights at Hollywood Studios. A family man out of Little Rock, Arkansas started putting up dancing lights each year that began to grow and grow, much to the annoyance of his neighbors. Disney took notice and asked if they could host the dancing lights at their parks. It was by far one of our favorite "shows" of the trip. Here's a clip:
On our trip to Disney, we had the coolest encounters with friends!!! When we first started planning this trip, my sweet bloggy friend, Shawn from Seriously who lives in FL, insisted we had to meet. And even though coordinating was a pain (especially for her- she had to drive over to the World!) and it was a rainy, chilly day, we were able to meet IRL - that's In Real Life!!! And it was so completely worth it. Shawn and I met last spring just through blogging and hit it off immediately. She is so down-to-earth and REAL in her postings and I have enjoyed getting to know her over the past 8 months or so.
Shawn was just as fun-loving and humble IRL as she is on her blog- I think we talked non-stop for 2 hours while we enjoyed a margarita (or 2). Funny thing, while we were there, ESPN was having their college football awards and we were on the lookout for Tim Tebow ( University of Florida QB) and Colt McCoy (UT QB). Unfortunately, they were too busy to hang out with us cool chicks that day.
the iPhone just didn't want to take a great picture that day- we are MUCH cuter IRL!
Being the wonderful Florida host & friend that she is, Shawn came bearing gifts for me & my family!!! She made this wonderful picture of my babies is going on my wall next to my bed. Isn't it "darling"?
And she brought yummy candy treats for the kiddos and a whole tin of freshly baked monster cookies- I had just commented on how yummy those sounded to her recently and she made me a whole batch!! It was a perfect treat to have in the room!
Shawn, you are just as wonderful in person as you are on your blog!! I enjoyed meeting you and love that we hit it off so well!! Thanks for making the effort to come over and meet!! And thanks for all the great goodies!!
Ironically, while we were there, one of Sissy's friends from her class at school and her Girl Scout troop was there with her family- so we met up at the Magic Kingdom and let them give each other a hug!
So fun that it really is a small world after all, isn't it?
Well, I have come out from under my pile of laundry and managed to cook dinner for the family tonight. So, I gave myself a few hours this evening to go through the pictures from the trip. And yes, there were over 500. I picked out a few of my favorites to share, as I was excited to show y'all how much fun we had. So, just a quick few to give you a taste. I'll be back later to tell you some of the fun stories we have from the trip. Pictures can't fully descibe all the excitement, but I think these do a nice job - just look at the sparkle in the kids' eyes, the post-ride enthusiasm, and the excitement of just being there. Enjoy.
(look who is riding in the front car.....that's my man!)
