Christmas 2009

Before I blog about Christmas, I thought I'd show you Spencer's snowman. Those are not child-bearing hips-they are drink holders. Because every snowman should have drink holders (I love Spencer).

Traditional lining up on the stairs w/ the pjs everyone got for Christmas Eve.
Christmas miracle? I'm not sure if it was Christmas spirit or legos, but we had to capture this moment.

Snuggies-My kids are obsessed w/ these things, so I bought them each one. Actually, these are "cuddlies", but they were only $4.99.

Eddie was able to get the present out w/out even unwrapping.

Believe it or not, this jersey was the most expensive present under the tree. It also costs more than any article of clothing I own. It's all he wanted.

This should tell you more about my husband's sense of humor, than my love of Twilight. I got a complete set of "Twilight Cups". Take that Crate and Barrel.

I promise Riley and Scott were there, we just never really took their picture. Merry Christmas everyone.

Disney-the rest of it

We took well over 300 pics for the week. I'll try to limit it to just our favorites.

My favorite part of the entire week was watching the boys in Jedi Training. Awesome!

Thunder Mountain-which Eddie kept calling "lightning hill". Eddie loved being able to go on a real roller coaster and I lost count how many times we rode it.

Eddie was freaked out on the "Tower of Terror" the first time, but then decided that he loved it and went again.

The Lights!

We loved how easy it was to get Eddie to sleep every night. The poor kid never ate dinner.

Cliche family pic

Best Pic ever!

Spencer finding a paintbrush on Tom Sawyer's island. You can trade it in for a "golden ticket"-which lets your entire family to the front of the line. Since crowds were so light, we kept it as a souvenir.

Meeting Mickey and Minnie-all the characters were so great. They really took time w/ us and tried to interact with us.

Eddie getting pick to join the Pirate league. Jack Sparrow was amazing-looked and sounded just like him.

Dining at the Crystal Palace w/ Pooh and his friends.

I made Riley go meet the Princess, b/c I told her I didn't get to take here when she was little. She's glad she did. Belle's our favorite.

Watching Eddie drive

Tacky tourist shops

The Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom

Scott's expression in this pick (I wonder where Eddie gets it?)

Coming home to 17 inches of snow.

Epcot

Norway

Germany

We picked Epcot first, b/c we thought Eddie might like it the least of the parks. My favorite part of the day was the weather. Seriously it was 80. We were also thrilled that it wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. We didn't really even ever have to use fast passes.

Fish are friends, not food

"Club Cool" where you get to try soda from around the world. All I can say is Italy has some nasty soda.

This is what I looked like most days. Scott got a guide book and we followed it religously. It gave us lots of inside hints.

Operation Disney Day 1

Scott took all the kids shopping on Saturday, so I could pack their clothes. We got up super early (3:30 am) to pack up the car. We woke up the kids and told them we were going on a surprise trip. We gave them a clue and hour to guess where we were going. I think Riley figured it out, but was afraid to say, in case she was wrong. Scott collects state sign pics and he was able to add 3 more to his collection.

We stayed at the Summer Bay Resorts. I was nervous trying to pick a good place. We scored! We had 3 large clean rooms (each w/ it's own TV), a full kitchen, and 2 large bathrooms. The resort itself had several heated pools too. I loved the towel origami. The best part was it was only $299 for the entire week. I think we'd pay that for one night at a Disney resort and we'd all be in one room.

I think he's just happy to be out of the car.

Forever Family!

I spent last weekend in San Antonio to watch my niece become part of our forever family. It was a great weekend, even if it was colder than Maryland.

Macey's Parade

Anyone who makes it to the end of this post earns a gold star. Our parade experience began Wednesday as we watch them blow up all the balloons. It was fun be behind the scenes.

They were handing out balloons.

We told Riley to look tired. Check out what time we go to the ferry.

These are our good friends the Birds. Poor people had to deal w/ 2 strollers in the most stroller un-friendly place on the planet.

I couldn't believe how early it got crowded. Luckily a guy started a fight, and so the police took him and about 10 of his friends w/ him, so we had a great spot. Eddie of course had to go potty and we had to wade through a sea of people to stand in line for 30 minutes. Luckily we got there so dang early, we still made it.

I thought this was a great crowd shot.

Spidey looks like his flicking Scott in the head.

Click on this to see it bigger. I loved the hats.

Bob looked really old, but it was great to see him in person.

There's a party in my city and yes DJ Lance is really that skinny. Hope someone fed him a lot of turkey.

This group was called the "purple pedalers". We think a bunch of seniors just wanted an excuse to wear purple and be in a parade.

My favorite-I think it's the ears.

OUr favorite float. It's Emily Hughes and she actually ice-skated around. How cool is that?

SANTA!