New Looks for the New Year

Happy New Year!!

Happy Holidays!

Disney for Christmas

On the way to the airport for our 6:30 am flight. The kids were beyond excited for this vacation. Spencer had been counting down the months for the past year.


































On the sixth day of trip. Everyone hit a wall this day at MGM. The babies had it made in the stroller.



















Preston enjoyed himself all week. Some nights he melted down but he always woke up ready for more.





































King Louie was our first encounter with a Disney character. Spencer ran straight to him and hugged him. Jack was interested but didn't want to touch him. Spencer wished the characters could talk to him. He is convinced that he didn't meet the "real" Mickey at Disney World bc the real Mickey would have talked to him.






















Spencer has trouble falling asleep at home, so we expected this trip to be difficult at naptimes. Several days he didn't get a nap. Sometimes the grandparents took the babies back to the hotel for naps and Jeremy and I would stay at parks with Spencer so he could do and see more. And four nights we closed the parks with Spencer so he was a tired boy by day five. Thus at the end of day five--he crashed, on the bus ride back to hotel.

















Aidyn was terrified of all characters. But by the end of the week she became more playful around them, actually chasing some of them. She still didn't want them to touch her but she would allow them to be nearby.
























Thanks Ann for convincing us to attend the character meals. The food was good and the kids enjoyed the characters coming to our tables. We had several great meals. Our favorites were the Biergarten in Germany bc the kids got to dance and participate with the German band; and the best buffet was at the Beach Club Resort.
















































































































































Our last morning at hotel. Kids were sad bc we were packing to leave. Fortunately their grandma is an early childhood specialist and she made the tears dry with her songs.



We had a wonderful week at Disney World. The crowds were few. Many times we were able to walk directly onto our favorite rides, especially during the Extra Magic hours and the Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. We are all spoiled now and will be booking future trips for the same time of year. The Christmas decorations were beautiful. Mary Alice captured many of the decorations. To view her great shots and read her detailed take on our week, please visit her blog
And Chet, Dusty, Mary Joyce, and Katherine were able to join us one evening for dinner. To see Dusty's pics of the kids together, please visit her blog

Disney

To all who have emailed or left messages, the trip was wonderful. I will say more about it when I get my pictures together. Jeremy is out of town for five days of seven and he has the camera attachments for our computer so it may be awhile yet. Plus I only took about 20 pictures from the seven days of Disney bc my FIL and SIL took like 2000 and so I'm waiting to get some of their best pictures to compile them in order.

But for now I can say, we are all (kids included) trying to figure a way to make it back to Disney for another Christmas trip next year. It was the most fun we've had in years. Spencer's preschool teachers said he couldn't stop talking about the trip this week--telling everyone his favorite ride was Pirates.

Why the fingers?

dean and spence, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Why do little kids do this? I did it too so I can't complain too much. Any time Spence doesn't like that lots of adults are looking at him, he sticks a finger in his mouth. Dean's mama captured this great looking duo.