Princess Belle

Eliana's favorite princess right now is Belle. On our first day at Disney, we read the schedule and saw that Belle had a storytime and so the girls wanted to go to that. One thing we didn't know was that Eliana had drawn a picture of a flower to give to Belle if she saw her. Well, after the storytime, Belle had to "rush off to the castle" so she couldn't stay and talk with people. A while later, the boys were off on a ride and the girls wanted to watch Belle's storytime again.

Eliana had her picture all folded up and ready to go, just in case!

To: Belle

From: Eliana

This time, Belle didn't have to rush off after the storytime...

So Eliana got to give her the drawing. We were so glad she was able to.

Rollercoaster Fun

Eliana had a blast trying the rollercoasters while we were at Disney. If you need someone to ride a rollercoaster with, Eliana is fun to sit with. Here is a video of her first ride on Thunder Mountain Railroad. She just screams and squeals with delight the entire time. We went at night so the video is pretty much all black, but it's too funny listening to her screaming the whole time. There are a few times when you do see her face, so it proves that she's having a blast. Watch close a little after 1 min. 40 sec and 2 min 9 sec. She also gets concerned that I have my camera out at one point and tells me firmly, "Mom, put your camera away!"

After this ride, Joel rode with the kids while I watched Karis. Just before it was their turn, Eliana said to Joel, "We'll surrender." Joel didn't really know what she meant until she demonstrated by putting both arms straight up in the air, which is what you do when you surrender -- and when you ride a roller coaster.

DW

This post is long in coming - We went to Disney World the week after Thanksgiving and had a blast! The kids had such a good time and survived even though we were at the park early and left late every night for a week. Here's just a few pictures to document our very fun trip with just some of the rides and some of the characters we met.

In front of Spaceship Earth

At Epcot's World Showcase, they had a Kim Possible mystery system with a loaner cell phone. The kids had fun finding the clues in the different countries.

Eliana keeping track of Karis.

If front of the "Tree of Life" in Animal Kingdom

Caleb liked to study the map and figure out what he wanted to do next.

Walking together to the next ride.

We sat in on some classes that showed us how to draw Disney characters. At first Eliana was a little sad that her drawing didn't turn out just like Mickey, but then we decided it looked like it could be Mickey's cousin!

Good job Joanna! We had so much fun, we ended up going to 4 or 5 drawing classes.

They met the new princess Tiana from "The Princess and the Frog."

Peter Pan too! The kids thought he was funny.

Karis riding on the carousel.

Karis enjoyed the rides too!

The castle was beautiful at night.

The Toy Story 3 ride was so cool!

Christmas lights galore on a street at Hollywood Studios. The lights on all the buildings danced to the music and they had fake snow falling.

The girls got to meet Tinkerbell and some other fairies.

Karis got a kiss from Tinkerbell.

Having fun.

On the train.

Sleepy head!

Mickey's huge hat at Hollywood Studios.

Getting ready to go to Mars.

Our last night at the castle.

We watched Steamboat Willie, the first sound cartoon. Caleb loved it.

After we got home, we watched Modern Marvels: Disneyworld. It was amazing to see how everything works behind the scenes.

Indoor fort

We made this fort a while back for the kids with pvc pipes, and they used blankets to cover it up. My mom and I sewed some curtains for the walls during our Christmas break. I think it turned out great. Thanks, Mom!

Peek-a-boo!

Little bit of snow

We didn't get as much snow as some people, but the kids enjoyed it.

Building with blocks of snow.

"Snowhenge"

New doll

Thanks to G&GH. They sent Eliana her very own American girl doll. She was so surprised and loves it!!

Reading to Cousin Sam

It was quiet reading time one afternoon when the cousins were over. Here's a video of Eliana reading to Samantha.

Christmas surprise

Just love the faces on my kids when they open gifts!

Annual Christmas cookie painting

The kids really enjoy "painting" cookies every year. We make lots of plates of cookies to give out and they enjoy decorating each cookie for a specific person.

Here's a few little ones to start.

Icing is ready to go.

The kids worked hard for a couple of hours and got a lot done. Notice no Karis - she was sleeping!

Joanna

Caleb

Eliana

Mmmm. Yummy!

Candy Cane Lane

We drove down a local cul-de-sac that goes all out with the Christmas lights - They've called their street Candy Cane Lane.

This is Caleb's favorite house - notice the runway!

The reason for the season!

If you give a mom a muffin

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her
she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook
("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse
that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her
that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are... If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
~author unknown

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