Magic Kingdom, Day 1

 A great benefit of going to Disney in January is the lack of crowds.  It was wonderful being able to go on rides easily and especially having the characters available, usually without lines.  Addison adored every single Disney character.  She would give them so many hugs and talk to them and tickle them and kiss them.  The whole trip was worth seeing her little smiling face looking up at all those characters.

These are the bears from The Country Bear Jamboree.  Addison fell in love with them and I think they fell in love with her too.  She ran up to them during their parade and would not stop hugging them and dancing with them.  The cast members were laughing that she was so enamored and just let her stay with them.  She kept telling them, "I love you so much!"

One of my favorite Disney moments to date.  

Luke's first time riding Space Mountain!!!  Yay, Luke!  Luke loved it, I on the other hand realized I am getting old.  

Luke's other favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean.  He was dressed like Jack Sparrow all day and got lots of attention for that.

We decided to see the Princesses because there was no line.  Well, Luke decided he didn't want to this year...until he walked into the room and saw the beautiful princesses.  Look at his face.  He was completely smitten.  He stared at all the princesses with googly eyes.  

Getting autographs.

More smiles for the princesses.

Love.  Addison was singing to Cinderella, "Cinderelli, Cinderelli!"

I just love how the princesses stay in character and take so much time to talk to the kids.  It is just such a magical place.

Click on this picture so you can see it bigger.  Addison couldn't believe she was seeing Mickey Mouse.

I love this picture because it expresses how everyone feels after 10 hours in a Disney park.  Yes, I think my almost three year old is flipping me off on the way to the monorail.

It's good to be 3

Addison turned three while we were at Disneyworld so we celebrated a couple of days early with my parents after our day at Hollywood Studios.  My parents brought her a Princess cake and she exclaimed, "A Birthday cake just for me???"  

She then proceeded to pick up each princess ring and lick off the frosting.  

Can't believe this cutie is three already.

Celebrating with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jon.

Opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa.  Addison loves this penguin and named him "Pepito."

Disney, Hollywood Studios

Mimi so excited!

Our favorite ride, Toy Story Mania.

Getting ready to watch the Beauty and the Beast Musical.

Addison's highlight was having lunch with the Disney Junior characters.  She LOVES them and danced with June from Little Einsteins.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the day too since they are in Florida for the winter.   

Grandpa and Luke on the Toy Story ride.

Amelia and Grandma having fun.

This Toy Soldier scared the pants off of Luke.  Luke was poking him, thinking he was pretend, and all of a sudden the soldier jumped and grabbed Luke.  Luke almost had a little 6 year old heart attack.  We had a great day at Hollywood Studios :)

Disney...the arrival

The Disney trip had finally arrived!  As we were driving to Orlando we tricked the kids and told them very seriously that Disney was expensive so we were going to stay in someone's basement instead of a hotel.  We said we'd have to sleep on the floor but we insisted it would still be a great trip.  Amelia and Luke nervously agreed.  When we got to the house, we told them to tip toe inside so we don't disturb the owners.  And then we told them the whole house was ours!  They flipped out running from room to room.  

A room for Princess Amelia.

Our number one Mickey fan.

A bunk room for the Lego fan.

The kids couldn't believe the house and were so excited.  It had 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, all decorated Disney.  It also had a great game room with pool table/air hockey/ screening room and it's own pool and hot tub.  It was hard to convince the kids to go to the parks, they just wanted to stay and play!

A Sneak Peak!

This was the first day at Disney, first 2 minutes in the park.  Addison's face sums up the whole trip for us.  Lots of smiles, hugs and laughs.  I will post a mega sized post soon but first I have to go through our 800 pictures.  You all know I exaggerate but nope, not this time, 800 pictures.  Snapfish LOVES me.  More to come:)

Sock Hop

Amelia's school recently had a Sock Hop for all the students that met their Accelerated Reading Goal.  Amelia looked adorable in her poodle skirt (the skirt was mine when I was Amelia's age).  She enjoyed root beer floats and learning how to hand jive and twist.  

These are the moments I live for...I had been out of town for a few days and upon my return, Addison was so excited and happy.  She continued this love fest with me the whole next day repeatedly saying to me, "Mommy, you are my best friend."  "Mommy, you came back!"  "Mommy, I missed you."  All of these were of course music to my ears but then she pulled out the big guns.  My sweet two year old put her little hands on my face and said,

"Mommy, you are my happy."

New boat crew

We took the boat out the other day and guess who got to come along?  

I LOVE Wrigley's expression.  

Our house from the water.  Perhaps the zoom lens would have been appropriate.  Whoops.

This girl loves her boat and beach.  

The best first mate.

Brownies take over WLOX

Cutest Brownie ever.

The girls got a tour of WLOX and then got to watch the news at 6pm LIVE!  Here are the girls in front of weatherman Mike Reader, clearly getting breaking weather news!  The girls got to see lots of neat behind the scenes spots like the make up room, editing room, and lots of historical tapes like the Katrina closet (filled with two weeks of video tape of the weeks Katrina hit and WLOX went live 24/7 for two weeks).  

Getting all settled in for the live news.  The girls were perfectly quiet, I on the other hand, got a coughing fit that sounded as if I was going to cough up a lung right on the set. I was escorted to a secret area off set where I got to watch the live news on a t.v. instead.  FAIL.  

Anchorman Jeff Lawson teasing and joking with the girls before going on air.  He was real sweet with them and talked to them during commercial breaks and even mentioned their troop during the news.

The girls with Mike Reader and Jeff Lawson.  The gentleman even stayed after the news and answered every question the girls asked.  Pretty nice considering it was their "lunch break" and they usually head home for dinner until the 10 o'clock news.  Amelia is on the far left (Mr. Reader went and got her a box to stand on so she wouldn't be so short).

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa!

We were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa stop in Mississippi on their drive to Florida.  We were able to celebrate Christmas, albeit a week late.  Our Christmas decorations were looking a little, well, dead but it helped keep the Christmas spirit and excitement alive.

The butterfly cross stitch Amelia made for Grandma.  She has been working on it on and off (sometimes very off) for about three years.  She is almost done, alleluia.  

Luke with Iron man from Grandma and Grandpa.  He made himself a headband with a strategically placed gift ribbon.  This picture I am sure will also be used as blackmail when he is a teenager.

Addison and Grandma playing Cabbage Patch Kids which Grandma definitely enjoys as much as Addison, if not more;)

We love Grandma Nancy.

Addison's Big Belly Bank from Grandma and Grandpa.  

Grandma showing off her tennis platter and silver bracelet.