December!

Week 80 - What a fun, warm week down here in Louisiana!  It was an uneventful week with still trying to get back in the swing of things and get then house ready for Christmas.  We had a mom's day on Saturday!  It was fun to catch up with a good friend over lunch and we even stole a few minutes to shop!  When we got home, we had a few minutes to hang out and wait for Santa to come around on the firetruck!

 

MV and Ed had their Girl Scouts Father/Daughter Dance. 

 They had so much fun, but the girls didn't dance with their daddies...they just danced around with each other!  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall!

 

 

 

Week 81 - More of the same.  MV rode Jack at riding lessons this week.  He is usually used with the older/more experienced riders, I guess MV is really coming into her own.  Jack loves to jump and he does a great job!  He is a horse that really makes his rider work!

Week 82 - The week of Christmas Parties!  This was an insane week!  Both kids had their parties on the same day - oh, and so did my class!  I was able to take a few minutes to go by John Bay's party!  The kids had such a fun time and they had a yummy breakfast thanks to all of the mommies!

After John Bay's breakfast and my class breakfast, we headed to Mary Virginia's school for her program and party!  Each1st grade class sang a Christmas song and then the kids did the ABCs of Christmas!  MV was by far the loudest of her group, but she said her lines perfectly! 

 It was time to party!

The class parties were chaos, but very exciting! 

School is out for Christmas break and we are ready to head home!

Tree Farm

Week 79!  We are back from Disney and back to reality!  Just a quick note...we do not want to be back - we still want to be in Florida! 

MV had a field trip this week to the Christmas Tree Farm.  As you can tell, it is quite warm in Louisiana!  We had so much fun making ornaments, playing at the petting zoo and taking a train ride.

 

My favorite part was watching the kids pick out a tree.  They each had an opinion about the qualities that the tree must have or not have.  Once they narrowed it down to three, they had a vote (they had to run to their favorite tree)!

They picked their tree and cut it down and then it was time to haul it to the truck!

 

What a fun field trip to help us get in the Christmas spirit (especially since the weather wasn't providing the inspiration!)

 

 

Disney

Week 78 (con't.) 

Disney World, here we come!  I think that the kids were more excited about getting on an airplane than they were about the trip to Disney World (at least until we got there).  Once we arrived at our hotel, the kids were dressed up and ready to hit the parks!

We rested for just a few minutes and said hey to Gigi and Jaja and then we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  The kids had no idea what to expect and I think that they were a little overwhelmed when we arrived!

This was after their first glance at the Magic Kingdom and Cinderella's Castle!
 

We ran down Main Street and headed for the roller coasters!  Thunder Mountain was first on the agenda and by far the kids favorite ride!  We only had a couple of hours in the park before it was time for dinner, but we wanted the kids to have a little fun after traveling all day!

It was time for dinner with Chef Mickey and the gang!

John Bay really got into the napkin twirling!

The kids loved meeting Mickey most of all!

Hollywood Studios - Day 2

After reading every blog I could find about Disney, we were off to Hollywood Studios with my game plan in hand!  Everyone laughed at me, but by the end of the day, they realized that I had done a good thing!  As we entered the gates, Ed took off for Toy Story (as recommended by every blog I read) and the kids and I headed to meet Woody and Buzz!  

After some fun with the gang from Toy Story - the green army man was JB's favorite, we headed to Tower of Terror.  I guess my research didn't pay off here...I didn't know exactly how the ride was going to go and boy did I mess up here....

This is JB looking up at the ride before we got on.
Now, he was excited about it until we got to the top (13 stories up) and the lights went out!  As soon as the lights went out, he screamed "I don't want to be here" which made all 20+ people laugh and then the ride dropped!  He was a good sport about the whole thing, but he DOES NOT want to ride it again, EVER!  Then it was time to head back to Toy Story to ride!  This was one of my favorite rides of the whole trip!  I was amazed at how cute the ride was - it was fun for all ages!

We tried just about all that we could try in Hollywood Studios, the Chinese Theater was next on the agenda, which was good, but the kids were bored.  Then MV and Ed headed to the Rock n Roll Roller Coaster.  They loved it!  MV was not scared of anything the whole trip!  She was a trooper!

We met lots of characters (this is the only one I included - I was already picture crazy!) and saw all of the sights, MV danced in one of the street performances and we ate lots of yummy food!  Lunch at Pizza Palace (from Toy Story) was very fun, but the Micky Ice Cream was the best treat!  

Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe!  (We didn't get in too much trouble and everyone ate their veggies.)

Epcot - Day 3 - Thanksgiving Day

Again, my research paid off...as soon as we got in the park, Ed headed for Soarin for a fast pass while we headed for Mission to Mars.   MV and Ed practically walked right in, no wait (JB was too short to ride, but they had a great playground where we could wait).

We took the boat ride in The Land Pavilion which was amazing!  We loved the greenhouse and seeing all of the vegetables and plants!  Then it was off to Soarin!  What an amazing ride!  We all loved it and the effects were crazy!  

Thanksgiving lunch at the Coral Reef!

Off to the countries...the kids were too tired to spend much time in the countries, but we were able to have a little fun in Canada and England!

I was worried that the kids were not going to enjoy Epcot, but they surprised me!  They are still talking about it and how they want to go back to the "Big Golf Ball."

Day 4:  Epcot/Magic Kingdom

We started the morning with the Princess Breakfast in Epcot!  Both kids loved the idea of eating in a castle, but JB was not sold on the Princesses!  He wanted nothing to do with them...

MV was a little shy at first, but then they called out everyone for the Princess Parade and she was ready to go!

Her favorite Princess, Ariel!

Magic Kingdom

The kids were all smiles once we got to the Magic Kingdom! We ran into some friends from Birmingham and this made the trip even more exciting!

JB and Ed on the People Mover

Everybody loved the teacups!

The boys took off for a little Fantasia while the girls went shopping around the castle!

We had so much fun around the Magic Kingdom, I couldn't even begin to describe it all!  The kids made it until late that night trying to ride every ride they could from the Race Cars to Space Mountain to Dumbo and Pirates of the Caribbean, we tried to do it all!  I think you could spend a whole week in the Magic Kingdom and still not do it all!

Animal Kingdom - Day 5 

Once again, I am going to pat myself on the back...my research was a great success!  Ed ran ahead to Expedition Everest for lots of fast passes while we headed to the Safari ride.  The kids loved the Safari and watching all of the animals.  I was shocked at how close we were to all of the animals.  Our truck even had to stop for a rhino crossing! 
We loved Animal Kingdom!  Expedition Everest was a favorite!  I just wish that JB had been tall enough to ride, but he had fun anyway!

Not only did we have fun on the rides, the shows at Animal Kingdom were amazing!  I love Nemo and the kids loved It's a Bugs Life!  Two very cute shows - I just hate that we missed Lion King...we were ready to get back to Magic Kingdom (we just saved it to do next time)...

 

It was time for more fun with Mickey...riding the rides and seeing the shows!



 



We made our way to dinner at 1900 Fare!  This was our last night in the park and by far one of my most favorite character dinners.  The kids loved meeting Cinderella, the wicked step mother, the wicked step sisters, and of course, Prince Charming! 

The boys loved the Step Mother, Lady Tremaine!  JB was not quite sure what to think!

And JB loved Anastasia!  He kept looking around the restaurant for her throughout the whole meal!

 

We were sad to see the week come to an end, but we are looking forward to our next trip to Disney!  We had an amazing week and it was fun to spend the holidays with Gigi and Jaja!  We were all exhausted and ready to be back in their own beds!  It's time to get ready for Christmas!

Getting Ready!

Week 78:  We took a break away from packing to have a little playtime with friends!  We headed down to Pretend Play, one of our favorite hangouts!  The kids love using their imaginations to come up with some outrageous scenes!

I am going to continue the week in our Disney post!  I have to find our Mickey shirts and get packing...

Thanksgiving Feast

Week 77:  We are in the final countdown for Disney World!  The kids are trying to get through their last week of school and so is this mama!  All of us worked hard to get in the Thanksgiving mood and finish up all of our school projects and festivities!  Ed and I took turns going to school Thanksgiving parties this week!  Ed went to MV's school luncheon.  The kids were precious and were dressed up in their Indian costumes.

While they were having a yummy Thanksgiving lunch, I had my class feast.  A feast with a room full of 2 year olds is definitely something that everyone needs to experience (but once is enough)!

Friday, John Bay's class had their feast.  Now, a room full of 3 and 4 year olds is something too!  I will say that they were all very well behaved and so much fun to be around!  He has such a cute room and a wonderful teacher.  I couldn't ask for a better group for him!

After the party we headed to the playground to meet up with some friends.  The weather has been so pretty down here, we had to make the most of it!  We played outside until it was time to pick up Mary Virginia!

We did not have our horseback lessons on Friday, so we took things easy and had a relaxing night at home with dinner and a movie!  This was the week that we found out that they were closing the doors for Hostess...and there would be no more Twinkies!  Ed made a quick stop by the store to pick up a box - the kids had never tried them!

On Saturday, we hung out with some great friends!  They are so much more than friends - might as well call them family (and way down the line we may be related...they are Whatleys after all)!  It was time for a little LSU football!  Since Auburn hasn't had much of a season and we are in Louisiana, it was time to cheer for the purple and gold (but just this once)!  MV has found her a new buddy!  I guess John Bay won't let her boss him around anymore - she has moved on!

(Cousins??)

As the weekend is coming to a close, we are hurrying around the house to get packed!  We are ready to go to Disney!

Veteran's Day Program

Week 76:  What a fun weekend!  Mimi and Balba came to visit and to celebrate all of the birthdays!  Ed and Balba were able to go to the LSU/Alabama game.  I think they were exhausted from all of the fun and the walking!  (Balba was very happy about the game!)
We had Parent/Teacher Conferences this week for Mary Virginia's school.  I am always proud of both kids, but I also love to get feedback from their teachers!  MV is doing wonderful, just as I thought!  She loves school and loves her teacher!
On Friday, MV's school had a Veteran's Day Celebration and lunch.  Ed was able to go to school with MV for a picnic lunch and then watch a program to honor our Veteran's.  Of course, we forgot to take pictures!
John Bay's school has been celebrating community helpers.  Although he loved the firemen, he has not stopped talking about riding the police motorcycle!

It was another fun week of school, activities and horseback riding!

Halloween

Week 75:  This was a fun week for us!  We celebrated John Bay's birthday over the weekend with Gigi and Jaja, the kids found out about our trip to Disney World, and we were looking forward to all kinds of Halloween fun! On Sunday night, we had Trunk or Treat with our church.  The kids love going and playing out at the church property with our friends!  It is also a safe alternative to trick or treat!

Mary Virginia's school had DARE week to go along with the Halloween celebration.  They were creative in the dress up options - as much as you can be when you wear school uniforms! There was red day, hat day, jeans day, school spirit day, and of course "Say Boo to drugs day".  For MV's birthday, I was able to take the day off of work and have lunch with her.  I love to watch her with her school friends!  All of the kids wanted to tell me about their day and which costume they were wearing.  After lunch the kids made a circle around MV and sang "Happy Birthday", she acted embarrassed, but I know she loved it!

(Hat Day)

Then it was time for trick or treat!  They were not happy only having candy from Trunk or Treat...we had to make another round!  (We had the neighbors with us, so that made it much more fun!)

On Friday, we kept up with our same old routine...we headed back to the barn.  MV is still doing great and JB loves to play in the dirt!

After an exhausting week, we were looking forward to the weekend!  Mimi and Balba were coming to visit to celebrate birthdays!