Camping

When Bryan mentioned to me last week that some families were going camping, I have to admit that my first reaction was not one of excitement. Personally, if we are going to spend a night away from home, I would rather go to some hotel or Grandma's condo on the beach....not camping. I guess since I had never really been before, I just had bad expectations. But, things started looking up when I was preparing for the trip and Bryan told me not to worry about anything, he would take care of it all. Groceries, gear, everything. All I had to do was get the girls things together. I like the sound of that!!

And that is how it went. The kids were occupied the whole time with their friends, the men cooked every meal. Bryan set up the tents and I didnt have to do anything...not even wash the dishes after we ate! (He cooked us steaks and snow crab claws...how is that for camping food?) The only thing I really did was make s'mores. Rough, I know! This was Chloe's spot for the evening. Right in front of the fire!

One couple was there who dont have children at home anymore, so they brought their toy instead...They gave the kids rides all day and all night...it kept them entertained for hours!

The men cooking dinner...they even made a bunch of cobblers for dessert.

Saturday, the boys brought out thier toys. Bryan got the tiniest little pistol I have ever seen. We were sitting there making fun of it, saying if he ever pulled that out on someone, they would just laugh at him...until he shot it and it shut us up...that thing was loud. I even tried to shoot it and my ears were ringing for ever. Thats the last time I ever make fun of a pistol again! We all said how we wished we had been able to do it for a few more days. It ended up being a lot more relaxing than I expected!

Disney

My best friend of about 25 years was in town doing Disney with her family. I was not about to brave the parks with the girls...way too busy for me. So instead, we opted to go to Disney's Marketplace for lunch and shopping. I ended up getting down there a few hours before she did, which was fine. We walked around, shopped, had lunch, the kids rode the train, and we finally got to see some of Bryan's work from the past year!

This was one of several things that Bryan had been working on at Disney this past year. I was impressed seeing the final project! This one was taken from behind the bandshell... And this is obviously the front.

When Lisa and her kids got there, the first thing was of course, the train again, and then off to Goofy's candy shop! The time spent was short, but it is always so good to see her and the little ones!

Christmas

Christmas came and went with very few pictures being taken. Christmas day, my mom and her husband Mike came out. We had our traditional Swedish meal that I grew up with and Bryan does not like very much, but he got over it! The kids got way too many toys, as usual! Even baby Melick got gifts. "Santa" had left the baby a "Bass Pro Shop" t-shirt in my stocking!

The next day, Bryan's family came out and we did Christmas all over again...with way too many gifts and so on!

It ended up being a great weekend, though.

Maybe next year I will take more pictures!

School Christmas Programs

Each of the girls had Christmas programs at school...on different days. Hana's was first. Of course, we had to do a short photo shoot in the car before we went in to see her performance!

When the kids started lining up, I noticed right away that there were LOTS of parents in the room and Hana was in the second row, right in the center. She is NOT a performer. She doesnt like the fact that people look at her. I told her, no one will be looking at her, they will be looking at thier own kids. But, sure enough, right after I snapped these pictures....

...she started crying. Not horribly, but enought that her teacher felt bad and let her come down. So, needless to say, I ended up watching a bunch of other kids singing Christmas songs that day!

Maddison was next and I wasa so nervous that she would end up doing the same thing. She ended up being in the very back...so far that she couldnt see anything, which helped her not be nervous, but I could hardly see her either. I was able to to get a few pictures of her before she was blocked by all the others. The whole time, she just smiled and waived!!!

I did, however, get the cutest little Pratt boy in front of me singing...little Anson. So, since his parents were too far away and couldnt see him, I snapped a few for them!!!

And of course, Maddison and her "BFF" Zoey had to pose for a bunch of pictures!

Chloe helped me make cookies this morning. She was so proud of herself for cracking one egg. Then she tried another and it went all over. She told me I am better at it and I should do it! She looked cute though and I was so proud of her for not crying because of it. Major accomplishment!

ICE

Every year, Gaylord Palms has what is called "ICE". It is where they turn the convention center into a wonderland of ice sculptures...and the whole place is cooled to a chilly 9 degrees. We had never been, but this year, Hana had heard about it and that is all she wanted to do for her birthday. Bryan and his dad and brothers wanted to go camping, so it was just the girls! My mom, Bryan's mom and sister, his brothers girlfriend, Millie, and my girls and I! It ended up being more amazing than I thought. It was so cold though that by the end, I was done taking pictures and didnt want to take my camera out anymore, plus Chloe was cold and crying and I was busy holding her, or passing her off to someone else. It was fun, though, and beautiful. And, afterwards, we all got hot chocolate!!!How nice was it that they provided jackets for everyone!!!Everything was life-size, or larger! It was amazing the size of some of these sculptures.The gingerbread house that the kids could walk throughThey even got to go and sit on Ice-Santa's lap.This tunnel was all icy branches. It was beautiful.At the end of it all, there were Kleenex stations everywhere for those runny noses with this sign...

Thanksgiving and Hana's birthday

The girls both had Thanksgiving Feasts at school this year. They were on the same day, but instead of lunch, Maddison had a break-feast, which was a nice change. I went to her class first, ate, listened to them sing and then headed right on over to Hana's class. They had a cute little play that they did along with songs. And then we ate again!!

Thanksgiving day was interesting. I knew that the flu had been going around school and I always dread this time of year because of it. Thanksgiving morning, Bryan's family came in and we drove up to Longwood to have dinner at the Marriott with his grandparents and the rest of his family. The whole morning, Hana kept saying her tummy hurt. I kept asking if it felt like she was going to throw up, but no, it just hurt. We drove almost an hour, got to the hotel, stepped out of the car, and she threw up all over the parking lot. I felt so bad for her. So, the rest of the family went in to eat while Hana and I sat in the car for the next 2 hours. She was fine until the drive home, where we had to stop several times for her. Poor thing.

Friday was Hana's birthday, so along with Bryan's parents at our house, my mom and her husband Mike came for the day. We fixed our typical Thanksgiving dishes, Hana felt better, and it ended up being a great day!

Until Sunday came along and everyone in the house, and those who had come to visit on Friday, were sick with the stomach flu. Ooops!

Halloween

This was was real low key. I was feeling horrible and had no desire to make a big deal about halloween. Costumes were not planned real well. It was not as exciting as usual, but the kids had a good time anyway, I think.

Maddison had a pumpkin patch at school where she got to go and pick out a pumpkin and carve it. She met up with her best friend, Zoe.

Both Maddison and Hana had activities at school that they had to dress up for. They had a parade around the school. Hana's class had to dress up as a character from any Dr. Seuss book. She chose Cindy Lou Who. I decided to dress her up as the one from the movie, not the book. Her hair was so long that it still had a few inches hanging down after it was done. (we got it to stand up even higher than this picture) And, surprisingly, there were several other girls at school with the same hair!

Maddison's class dressed up as crickets from the book "The Quiet Cricket". They all made thier costumes in class, so I was happy not to have to do anything! They all looked so cute!

At night, we went to church for "trunk-or-treat". Of course, no pictures were taken by me. Hana stayed dressed as Cindy, Maddison wanted to be a fairy, and Chloe was a witch. Maybe next year we will make it more exciting!