Hollywood Studios

On day two in Disney World we went to Hollywood Studios. It was the only day of bad weather we had the entire trip, but it rained pretty consistently the entire day. The kids LOVED the Disney Junior show and the grown ups enjoyed riding the Tower of Terror. 

This moment was easily the highlight of Max's day!

Grandpa and Alia sporting rain gear and big smiles!

Lunch time! 

Mike & Sulley were one of the highlights of the day too!

Max managed to fall asleep on the tram while we were doing the back lot tour. We were right in the middle of the part where there are loud explosions and a fake storm when he fell asleep. Impressive!

The weather finally cleared as we were getting ready to leave. There was a band playing and we had a little mini dance party to end our day. Awesome!

Reading Charlotte's Web with the kiddos before bed :-)

Disney World

We had an outstanding day in the Magic Kingdom. We were able to ride just about everything on the kid's which list (some things more than once) and met several characters. Alia was VERY interested in them ... Max, not so much :-)

on the ferry headed into the Magic Kingdom

I  have a picture of me in front of this very spot when I was about 7 years old. I couldn't resist taking a picture there with my little girl!

Daddy, kiddos and Grandpa ready for a day of fun

sporting her "first visit" pin

The first character Alia met was Cinderella. She was totally star struck. It was adorable!

Next on the agenda was Sleeping Beauty. She was very sweet and chatty. 

Alia was very quiet and shy.

What would a trip to Disney World be without Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream treats?

That's a lot of fun for one day. The little man needed a little power nap.

being silly while we waited in line for the carousel

It was Alia's favorite and she rode it 3 times!

Florida

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to Florida. My father-in-law spends every March in Estero Beach (Fort Myers area) in a condo. We spent a time at the beach, the pool and took a road trip to Orlando to get in some Disney World fun as well. 

Sand angels = Lots of fun!

It just so happened that my grandparents were staying in a time share about a half a mile down the road from Grandpa Max's condo, so we were able to get a short visit in with them before they headed north.

We spent our last three days soaking in the Vitamin D and enjoying perfect weather. We watched three perfect sunsets from the balcony as well. The kids enjoyed performing for us and being silly while we waited for the sun to set. 

 A few photos from our walks and play time on the beach ...

Snowmaggedon 2014

As many of you know, we don't get snow often around here. The last time there was a good snow was when Alia was born in December of 2008. The city is ill-equipped to deal with it and it generally shuts the entire city down. On Thursday, February 6 (while Max's class was on his field trip) the snow started to really come down, hard and fast. By 11:30 most local school districts had made the decision to close early and try to get kids home before the roads got awful. Pretty much the entire city left wherever they were and tried to get home. Jason was no different and ended up in his car for nearly 3 hours trying to get the 6-ish miles or so back home. Craziness!

There was no school, gyms were closed so I didn't have to teach, everything was at a stand still for the whole weekend. Schools were closed Friday & Monday and we spent a lot of time hanging out at home. We did get outside to play a little bit, but we don't own any snow gear so the adventures outside were fairly short. 

Thursday - noon

Thursday - evening

Playing outside in the snow on Friday

We tried to make a snowman but the snow was very light and powdery and didn't pack well :-(

using garden tools to play in the snow

our little "Olaf" the snowman

When you are cooped up in the house for a few days, things start to get interesting ...

Mommy teaches everyone how to use the dust buster and the Swiffer ...

And this guys sense of humor gets even more silly!

Class Field Trip

Max's Preschool class went on a field trip to Papa's Pizza to celebrate the end of their study of the five senses. They got to tour the kitchen, play in the play area and eat pizza of course!

Adorable 3 year old kiddos waiting for the tour of the kitchen.

playing in the ball pit

saying their little class prayer before eating

The best part - eating the yummy pizza while Mrs. Franklin read a story. Max put everyone else to shame and had 4 pieces of pizza. He was the last one left at the table. That's my growing boy!

Time To Update

Time seems to be going by faster than I can catch it these days. I blinked and we were already 6 weeks into the new year. I'll do a post or two to get you caught up on the happenings here at the Douglas house.

Max has suddenly taken quite the interest in writing, doing "homework" and reading me stories. He drew me a picture at school, this says "Max, Mommy". He did that all by himself. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Max and his best buddy Landon try to do a play date together once a week. That way the boys get to play and one mommy gets a morning off while the big kids are at school. This play date was at the Children's Museum. 

Eilee spends most afternoons with us. She and Alia love playing together. In this picture, they were cuddled up in the chair at Grammy's apartment. 

Grammy (my mom) moved here mid-January. It has been so nice having family near and has already saved my rear a number of times. 

I've been learning how to crochet. My first big project was this blanket for Alia. She picked out the colors :-)

She loves it and carries it with her from room to room.

Then of course, Max needed a blanket too. These are the colors we picked out to match his bedding. I'm nearly done with it. Next on the project list are a bunch of baby blankets for expecting friends. 

Fortunately, or not, depending on how you look at it, we got a new garage door recently. We didn't enjoy spending the money but we do love having a safer door that actually works and is VERY quiet.