London's Birthday Getaway

London had an amazing birthday "weekend". We drove down to Disneyworld on Friday afternoon where we hit Hollywood Studios and then stayed at what is actually considered a hotel:) We woke up early the next day and hit the Magic Kingdom! It started out rainy and not so busy but as soon as the sun came out, so did the crowd! So we left early and headed home to open presents and have cake. London got spoiled by everyone, thank you for all the gifts!! She loves her new books, dollhouse, lipsticks, blender (she won't stop making juice for all of us!) and glitter jewelry! Then of course on to the Sunday birthday dinner....she got her spaghetti and meatballs and we finished with cupcakes with all the neighbor friends outside where we played for hours. Happy Birthday, London!! WE LOVE YOU!!

London Luscious Locks

Oh how we love thee, London
Let us count the ways...
We love how you wake up in the morning and say you need a snuggle.
We love how you smile when you do something naughty and say "sorry mommy, sorry" and we know you really don't mean it.
We love how much fun it is to play pretend trips to Disneyland together and fly on the airplane to pick everyone up.
We love how you negotiate. Like when you always need a drink before bed and when I say 1 sip, you say "just 2...or 5."
We love how you attack daddy when he comes home with loves and kisses.
We love how you have to have either frosting, syrup, or ketchup for dipping.
We love you how you have to do everything Max is doing.
We love how you sing the alphabet and skip only a few.
We love how you can't stop yourself from shaking your bum whenever music is playing, no matter how discreet you try to be.
We love your cheek patting and full mouth kisses.
We love how you toot in the line at Disneyworld and say "I did it!"
We love how you cover your face when someone tries to talk to you.
But most of all we love that you are in our family!!
HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, DUCHESS!!

Safety City Field Trip

Max's class went on their first field trip this week and I got to tag along. We went to Safety City where they learned about fire safety, car safety, and helmet/bike safety. They got to do all sorts of cool things like ride in a fire truck, spray the fire hose, and watch the "egg demonstration" where they each got their very own helmets!! It was so fun to get to hang out with the kids and get to know each of their cute little personalities. Max sure loves his kindergarten class!!

End of soccer

This week marks the end of soccer season...phew. I don't know if I could have gone on for another week! Max sure loved his team (the Brick Walls...excellent on defense...not so great on offense...) and how random that 5 out of 6 are in our stake so we'll be seeing more of them I'm sure!!

Ward Trunk or Treat

Max and London had a ball at the Ward Trunk or Treat...London even let me wash the pink out of her hair from the fall festival so that we could glitz it with gold and curls for her Belle costume. Love it!
Max's costume, on the other hand, I bought too big (and of course they were out of the smaller size when I went back) but we convinced him it was supposed to be big. I'll have to alter it before we do the school parade and actually go trick or treating. Isn't he the cutest Luke Skywalker? Or Obi-Wan? He can't decide. We'll just go with Jedi til then.


London with her friends

Max, Isaac, and London


We invited Austin's family to come along and we had such a good time with them. London loves Austin's sister, Brooke, and they were twinner Belle's...so cute!

Fall Festival

We had such a fun (and full!) weekend! We had Morgan all weekend so we took advantage of all the exciting things going on around town. Saturday morning we went to a BBQ hosted by the head of his department and the kids were on cloud 9 running from pool to basketball court to playroom to swingset. After dragging them away kicking and screaming, we headed over to Max's school for the annual Fall Festival. There was a cake walk, bounce houses, obstacle courses, hair painting, bean bag tosses, and lots and lots of sugar. Needless to say, the kids were out the next day with runny noses (courtesy of swimming in their underwear at the BBQ I'm guessing...) and little head colds. Hope they recover quick because the next 2 weeks are going to be twice as bad!! We can't wait!

Eating sugar from a tube...

Max loved seeing his teacher, Ms. Anderson..made it all worth it!

Getting ready for some pink...which she won't let me wash out.

Getting loves waiting in line for the bouncey slide

Just bouncin' around!

Day at the museum

Max rarely gets to see his good friend Austin anymore so this week I made sure we snuck in a playdate. Since we were already out and about after school, I decided to take the kids to the Florida Natural History Museum. Austin was quite the expert and made sure Max and London saw each and every detail and it was so nice for me to just sit back and watch (yes, sit my lazy butt down and rest my swelling feet). We spent the entire afternoon exploring, learning, and having a great time. We'll be heading back soon for sure!

When NOT to go to Disneyworld

If you're thinking of hitting Disneyworld, definitely don't go the weekend they are celebrating their 40th birthday. And definitely don't go to Epcot when they are having their Wine and Dine festival unless you want to expose your children to what is as close to a bar as Disney can pull off. While we still managed to have a lot of fun we definitley are going to check the calendar for any events before we head down again!

We did get to meet Timon...that was the only new character out even though we were told many times how ALL the characters were out and about because of the 40th birthday celebration.

London's favorite ride...Teacups!

Max and London got to see some pretty wild animals over at Animal Kingdom...they even liked the retired Porcupine and Skunk.

Morgan got to dig into some Fish and Chips over at Epcot while the kids rocked out to some live band jamming out over in England.

Oh, yea, Max and Morgan got stuck at the top of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and had to be escorted off. We at least got a free fastpass out of it!

Watching the 40th Birthday celebration...I even caught Morgan singing along to "When you wish upon a star"...sniff sniff.

To infinity and beyond! We did get on Toy Story in under 20 minutes...that must be a record!! We rode twice in a row!

We're running out of new places to take photos apparently...

Big girl!

I told London that she would get a fish if she would stop wearing pull-ups at night. Worked like a charm! She responds very well to bribes. Er, I mean rewards. Welcome to the family, Cici!

Back to back soccer games

Yes...that's Max's team in the neon green...isn't he lucky?! He is loving his team and loving these soccer games. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to get Morgan there with us and London sure loves when he spins her around. And I love that the nights are getting cooler and sitting in the breeze relaxing is about all I can do after 5:)