The Happiest Place on Earth!!

Getting Ready to Go! The kids are standing under their letters they recieved from their favorite characters and the advent calander we made to count down the days till Disney! Anticipation is awesome!

Passing through Vegas. Here we are at the M and M factory.

Goofy's Kitchen! So much fun! We started our week off with a character breakfast before our kids even got to enter the park. It was a perfect way to begin the magic! Belle and Aurora were everyone's favorite. They spent a lot of time talking to my kids. What a riot! The food was great too! Now onto the parks! Whohoo!

 The Jedi Training Academy. Not only did one, but both of our boys got picked to be trained in the ways of the force. However, a disturbance in the force is felt by their Jedi Master and out comes Darth Vader and Darth Maul. So awesome! Each of our boys got to test their skills with the lightsaber against Lord Vader! We had been dreaming of this event in particular since Luke was a baby. We had seen this and couldn't wait to one day bring our kids back to see it. So perfect!

Characters!! We had great luck to get so many characters and wait in almost no lines at all. Lily was apprehensive of characters in full costumes. But she loved the Princesses. Minnie scared her half to death. She still talks about that. Too funny!

The Princess Breakfast at Ariel's Grotto! So awesome! The original idea was just for the girls to go, (Mom, Grandma and Lily), but after Goofy's Kitchen everyone wanted to join in the fun here too! I love Ty's face with Belle. He really liked her. She gave him a big fat kiss on his forehead and he didn't wipe it off all day! The Princesses were so adorable with all of my kids. Lily was beyond exstatic! She was so intensely excited. Priceless!

Here is a random selection of some of my other favorite photos. It is so hard to try and capture it all in one blog post. But truly is was a perfect week! We loved getting to share it with Grandma and Granpa. Such special memories that will last forever. Thanks Mom and Dad for going with us and making it that much more special. Jake and I kept saying on the way home, there was nothing I would change. It really was perfect. The best week of our life, topped only by our honeymoon, also spent in Disneyland! Truly the Happies Place on Earth!

(To see the pictures up close just click on them and it will bring them up so they are easier to see.)

Roughing It

We were supposed to go camping with the Speredons the last week in August. But of course as luck would have it, after waiting all summer for a weekend that worked it was supposed to rain all weekend. So the group opted to not camp in the rain and instead to have a "campout" in our playroom. We still roasted marshmellows-just in a firepit instead. And we still went fishing, which was going to be the Saturday afternoon activity. I was kinda bumbed it didn't work out...next year hopefully. I am not an outdoors girl. I am much more of a hotel and dinner and a movie kind a gal...so is my husband. But, we want our kids to have those experiences. Next year we will be more prepared. But they had lots of fun and didn't seem to care. The kiddos.
Roasting marshmellows.

Playing in the rain.
Fishing. We caught three fish.
Ty liked it more than Luke. Luke was a little hesitant when we caught the fish. All the wriggling around made him nervous.
Tres LOVED it!

Florida Vacation

In the airport waiting to get on the plane! What a goofball!

So tired after the beach.

Lily did not love the beach the first time we went. Finally she fell asleep. So cute!

Uncle Ben, Daddy, Luke and Ty building a sand castle.

Ty and I made sand creatures.

Ty by our sea creatures.

Lily and Nee-Nee.

Lily getting her "Coke" fix from Nee-Nee. Hopefully she doesn't go through withdrawals since I normally don't let my kids have it.

Playing outside.

Everyone. Notice Luke behind everyone else. He is like a fish. He LOVES the ocean. He could swim there every day. Plus he is really good at it. Thank you swimming lessons. The floaty was just for precaution.

Tyger. Liking the ocean better when he can do his own thing with all his floaties on.

Learning to like the ocean. The second day at the beach we went to a more shallow low wave area. The kids liked it much better.

Relaxing with Nee-Nee and Papa.

Fishing with Papa off the back deck. The boys loved it!

In about 5 minutes they caught 4 fish!

We had a great week. Thanks Nee-Nee, Papa and Uncle Ben. It was great to see you!!

Batman, Dinosaurs, Tearful Goodbyes

We met my sister, Heather, and her kids in Indianapolis on Tuesday. It was great day. We went to The Children's Museum there. What an incredible place. The kids had a blast together. Luke absolutely adores his cousins. They in turn are so sweet and loving to him. They are like the big brothers and sister he doesn't have. Oh how we will miss them all! It was too hard to say goodbye. I can't even articulate how much I will miss you Heather. xoxo to the kids. Lots of Love to you. Thanks for a great-but sad, day!