Disney World Day 1: Animal Kingdom!

We left for Disney a month ago today.  Just writing that makes me sad.  We had so much fun, and I always hate the passage of time after a vacation.  Following it up with Christmas helped some, but now it's all just so depressing!

We changed our plans up a bit and left first thing Friday morning (before 6:30! A miracle for us).  We were planning to leave Friday afternoon after school, then stop in South Carolina overnight, but Brian was too excited.  Really!  He wanted to get our vacation going, and leaving early gave us an extra day in the parks.  It didn't take much convincing to get me to leave earlier than planned!

Leaving on Friday morning meant we made it to Orlando by 8, checked into a small hotel for the night (the same hotel Brian stayed at when he was there for work last month), and left for the Wilderness Lodge first thing in the morning.  It was only a 10 minute drive. Our room wasn't ready, but they took our bags and the Concierge helped me add an extra day to our Park Hopper.  We asked the kids where they wanted to go, and Wyatt's excitement to get to Animal Kingdom spread to the other kids.  We decided to head there with no fast passes planned (although I did book one or two on the bus ride)!

Finley spent most of the week taking her shoes off.  Even on the colder days!

Our first day was a Saturday, but the park didn't feel very crowded.  The very first thing that we did was stop and get the kids their Wilderness Explorer guides.  The Wilderness Explorer program is new (since our last visit), and they had the best time earning badges.  Especially Wyatt!

We got to see all of the animals on the safari.  It is something that makes everyone happy!  Wyatt soaks in everything he hears about the animals, and I'm pretty sure he makes mental comparisons between what the safari driver tells him and what he learns from Chris and Martin Kratt and Jack Hanna!

The Wilderness Explorer program was so much fun for them.  They learned a lot, and they earned a badge at the drums, which are always a favorite...

Especially for Daddy.

We also went to the  Festival of the Lion King that afternoon - always a fun show for the little ones!

And Baba got everyone some Mickey Mouse ice cream!

I was a little anxious to get back to the hotel room and get settled for the week, so we left around 4.  Something about 6 people, 6 suitcases, a few backpacks and bins, and STUFF  just made me want to get organized!  The two little ones were also pretty tired!

They needed to  put on their best animal faces, we had a week at Disney to attack!

Christmas Day!

These three made sure that Christmas started bright and early!

They found their Duffy's and they were ready to start the Christmas festivities!

Finley didn't wake up until 8:30 (!!!) on Christmas, and I didn't rush to wake her.  But in hindsight, I wish I had gotten a picture of the four of them!

Both sets of grandparents and Katie and Bella came over for breakfast and present opening.  Finley woke up and opened her presents and then decided to stake her claim on the gingerbread house.

She's also obsessed with the Elsa slippers that Katie got her for Christmas!

Brian always takes the kids to buy presents for each other.  They have a lot of fun choosing the "right" presents for each other.  They know each other so well! Finley started trying to change her baby doll's diapers last week, so Reese picked out a Baby Alive for her.  Of course, she also chose another set of diapers, too!

We spent the afternoon at home and went over to Brian's parents for dinner.  Brian and I both started to feel bad that night, but it wasn't until the next day that he was diagnosed with Pneumonia!  Definitely a sick holiday - I feel like we're still recovering a week later!

Christmas Eve!

After we got home from Mimi and Baba's, we prepped for Santa's arrival.

But first I'll hit the rewind button to Sunday night.  Brian was starting to feel crummy, so I let him nap for a bit before we went to the Holiday Lights at the Beach.  I thought it would be fun to make Reindeer Food with the kids.

Yeah. Hudson kept "missing" the baggie as he tried to dump oatmeal in,  Finley didn't bother aiming for her baggie.  Instead she dumped her oatmeal in Reese's hair.  Since there was already oatmeal in her hair, Reese decided to throw some sugar in for good measure (so the reindeer could find her obviously).  It was chaos.  But still so fun!

On Christmas Eve, we dumped the reindeer food out for them to find.  Hudson missed out on the fun because he was sleeping.

We set out the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer, but Finley took off with the carrots!  She can't be trusted!

Once the kids were asleep, Brian got to work getting the presents from us out for the kids.  How adorable are their matching Duffy's?  They really got hooked on Duffy while we were at Disney World.  Wyatt, who is especially into Hidden Mickeys, loves that Duffy's face is one!

While Brian worked on the present mission, I got to work frantically cleaning (because a house should be clean if it's going to be trashed the next day right?), and then got the streamers up on their doors!

While it doesn't keep them in their rooms until we get them, it does at least make it a little harder for them to escape in the middle of the night!

My 12 foot tree.  It is a beast to get up (and I told Brian I wasn't going to do it this year since we would be in Disney World for so long), but goodness gracious it makes me happy!  Brian already had my presents under the tree.  The bottle of wine shows how well he knows me.  Ha!

Santa came!

I love the way my house looks and feels all lit up by twinkle lights!  It always makes me sad to take it down mid January. Ha!

Christmas Eve at Mimi and Baba's

We spent Christmas Eve at Brian's parents house this year.  The cousins were ready to have their gift exchange before Santa came to town!

Piper and Colin both helped their little cousins open their presents.  Finley is obsessed with that baby doll and Hudson hasn't stopped playing cars all weekend!

 Piper and Reese exchanged art supplies (for Piper) and Lego Friends (for Reese).  And I just made weird faces in the background.

 Wyatt got his first set of Star Wars Command and has amassed a small army of them.  There are a lot of different sets!

 After everything was open, they quickly got to playing!

 And sharing some ice cream together on the porch!

We all had to leave early though - it was time to get home and prepare for Santa's arrival.  Or in Hudson's case, fall asleep at 5:30 and not wake up until the next morning :)!

Military Aviation Museum

Brian and I have talked about taking the kids to the Military Aviation Museum for quite awhile, but it was an event Thanksgiving weekend that finally prompted our first visit.

There were trains.  There were planes.  We thought there would be Santa flying in on a plane, but we were wrong.  We still managed to have a lot of fun!

They all loved listening to how the trains worked.

 And checking out the planes!

 Wyatt was especially eager to run from plane to plane so that he could read about the plane and which war and types of missions it was flown in.

 Obviously, they assumed that this was Captain America's plane.  Because why not?

 All my "Jeep Buddies" in front of an actual World War II Jeep.  Brian's grandfather was a Transportation Officer during World War II, so all of the kids were excited to learn about the Jeep!

They also have a dinosaur display at the museum that the kids needed to check out.

 Wyatt was obviously in future paleontologist Heaven!

We had a really fun time - maybe next year we can actually make it on a day that Santa flies in!

Thanksgiving Before Christmas, right? Right.

So our December has been like most people's December...eventful!

We spent the first 6 days of it at home, then went to Disney World(!!!!) for the next nine days, and we've been home trying to cram every wonderful part of Christmas into the time we had left.  And then we figured, all that we need now are some coughing children, a sicky wife, and a Pneumonia diagnosis (Brian!).

Before I get to our super fun Christmas recap, I should probably start with Thanksgiving, am I right?

We spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with Brian's parents and Allison and the kids.  There was delicious food and a lot of cousin time, which everyone loves! We either didn't take the camera out or forgot it?  I'm guessing we rushed out the door because Brian worked that day and I forgot it.

We spent Thursday morning at home watching the parade, and then made our way up to Richmond to my brother's house.  Marc and April hosted Thanksgiving again this year, and they had a huge, fun crowd! 

 Daddy and Wyatt kept busy at the pool table.

I can't believe how big this kid is getting.

 And Finley, Hudson, Mason and Reese kept busy with crafts!

 The whole Thanksgiving group!

November Little Things

Time to play catch up.  Again.

Hudson passed out on the couch after the time change.  Whenever we fall back I think about the night I spent with him in the hospital when the time changed, and how they never actually fixed the clock in my room.  Between the post baby fatigue and pain, the medicine, and the nurses in and out, I don't think I got any sleep that night and I remember being so confused.  I guess my little guy can't hang, even though he was born in the middle of it!

 

These two love to hold hands in the car.  Don't worry - we were still in the driveway!

No school on election day means I get to bring four kids with me.  At least they were well behaved!

Marvel Universe Live came to town, and they were so excited to see their favorite super hero LIVE.  Betcha can't guess who their favorite is!

My new niece will be here next month, so Reese and I traveled to Richmond for April's shower!  She got so many adorable things, and I'm so glad they live close enough for a quick visit after the baby comes.  Anytime all 4 of us kids are in the same place at the same time we get a picture.  I'm thinking our next gathering will be at Matt's wedding in March!

Everyone in this house loves Star Wars Rebels.  Even Finley stops what she's doing to watch.  I think that there will be some very excited people in this house when the new movie comes out next December!

After parent teacher conferences at the preschool, Reese voiced some concerns about Hudson's letter knowledge.  She claimed that it was time he got a Phonics book, and he needed to start recognizing his letters.  So she made him some worksheets, a few matching games, and quizzed him after she got home from school everyday.  For the record, I am making none of this up, and if you know Reese, you are probably not surprised by it at all.

My mom watched the kids so that Brian and I could sneak away for an overnight trip to Williamsburg!  We did lots of shopping, lots of eating, saw Gone Girl, and made it to Colonial Williamsburg!

FQB is a polka dot lover!

Hudson got his Phonics book just before Thanksgiving.  It's so fun to look at pictures of them all when they got their book for the first time.  Wyatt was 4 year, 6 months old, Reese was 3 years, 8 months old, and Hudson was exactly 4!  Hudson is also the first kid to come home and tell me exactly what he did in his Phonics book each day.  He's quite a reporter!

Hopefully I find time to blog this December.  It's shaping up to be a little busy!