Disney World

Grandpa Stan and Grandma Elaine took the family to Disney World for Christmas on November 16-21. There were a total of 17 of us, which included 3 babies under age 2. The preparations started about a week before...well I wish I started a week before. I had really good intentions, but I started a couple of days before we left. Brad insisted that we were bringing WAY TOO MUCH stuff, I felt we need everything. We packed the van with 4 suitcases, 4 carry ons, the stroller and Livi's carseat. I was exhausted already :)

We flew out of the cities so we drove down the day before (I was able to sneak a little shopping in at the outlet mall on the way). Woke up at 4:30am so we could catch the shuttle to the airport to get our 8am flight. We slept with the girls in our room and with Livi's cold and Makynna's snoring I don't think Brad and I got more than 3 hours of sleep. Not a good way to start the trip... We made it past security...thank goodness we only have to do that twice on the trip! I'm pretty sure the people behind us weren't very impressed with our lack of knowledge on how and what needed to go through the scanner (who knew the stroller PACKED with stuff had to be folded and sent through....not us).

We board the plane with few problems and before we knew it we were in the air. The girls were very well behaved - I was worried about their ears, but they seemed to be ok. We landed at noon and were at Disney by 2:30 or so. We stayed in the Boardwalk Villas which were in walking distance of Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We couldn't check in right away so we decided to go to Epcot for a few hours. ...no nap for any of us...still had a lot of patience though (not sure how).

One of our first stops was at the Nemo ride, Makynna really enjoyed this one. She lists it as one of her favorites.

Makynna and Livia in the shark outside of the Nemo ride.

The next morning we had our first of three character breakfasts. This was something that everyone enjoyed. The food was awesome and the characters went from table to table for picture opps and fun. This one had Lelo and Stitch, and Pluto and Mickey Mouse. We had to get up "super early" again, but it was worth it.

John and cousin Wyatt with Stitch.
Makynna with Stitch. She was in heaven and was really enjoying meeting the characters. She loved them all. I was a little surprise due to the fact that she doesn't like Halloween with all the scary costumes - I guess these weren't so bad. :)

The mom's with the little ones and pluto. Becky and Josie, Carson and Makynna, Me with Livi, Sarah with Owen. (L-R)

Pluto "trying" to get Livi to come over to him. She wanted nothing to do with a puppy THAT big! Sorry Pluto.

John and Wyatt with Pluto.

All of us with Mickey.

After the breakfast, we were off to see Magic Kingdom.

This was Makynna's first stop, she REALLY wanted to see Ariel. Even with the 45 minute wait, Daddy took her. When I first told her that she would get to meet most of the princesses she said, "They're REAL". Oh, she was just amazed that they were real! Livi and I went on the carousel and the Dumbo ride while we waited. When Makynna was done we all went to purchase the signature "mouse ears". All three kids got some. Fun.
That night we went to a Pirate Ship fireworks show. We were able to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Skee. We took a boat out on the lake by the Magic Kingdom and watched the fireworks from there. They had some that looked like falling stars and were playing "Make a wish upon a star..." Grandma told me afterwards that Makynna told her that she made a wish and that her wish was to get a Minnie doll. The morning that we were going home she woke up and found a Minnie doll laying next to her. When she asked me if I got it and I said no, she KNEW that it was her wish coming true. She was so excited and wanted to tell ANYONE that would listen. She still talks about it. It's true, Disney really is magical!
After the pirate show we were able to meet Robin Hood. He wasn't all that excited to stand next to John, he said he he though John was a pirate. He was very animated. :)
Afterwards, Bob and I took Alex and Makynna to see the princesses. Unfortunately they were not there (to late), but we did run into Donald Duck.

The next day was our trip to Sea World and the ocean. We rented a 15 passenger van. ***thanks to our friends, Rick and Brenda for the tickets***

Feeding the dolphins was AWESOME!!! We were able to touch them and everything. This is John feeding one. Makynna was a little tired to start the day. She didn't want to feed them, and then when we had to go she started crying. Well, the person that was working there told her to come with her. She told the dolphins to come over and they started talking to Makynna, they did tricks and she told us to cover our eyes and then say "boo". When we did, the dolphins made a noise like they were screaming (like we scared them).

The dolphin show.

Shamu show, both shows were so fun.

Makynna and Alex on the kids rides at Sea World. This one made Makynna's tummy feel funny.

Makynna and Alex on the Shamu roller coaster. She wanted to ride with Alex and not mom. She's gotten so big since last summer at Valley Fair and she didn't want to ride hardly any rides.

Bob, Alex, me, Makynna in front. Wyatt, Becky, Livia and Shane in the back.Well, the trip to the beach wasn't what I was hoping for. We went to Daytona Beach after Sea World and got there around 6pm. It was already starting to get dark, it was cold, and very windy. There was NO ONE and I mean NO ONE on the beach but us. John and Brad did take off there shoes and go in the water, but Makynna wanted NOTHING to do with it. The waves were probably 6 feet tall. Yikes.

Next day was another character breakfast.

Makynna with Goofy.

Off to Animal Kingdom

Tree that has one of every animal species carved into it.

We all went on a African Safari, this is some of what we saw.

Makynna with Baloo and ?? (can't remember)

Next day...character breakfast.

Makynna, Livia and I with pooh.

Sorry Tigger, Livi still doesn't want anything to do with you guys. Can't you see, she's trying to eat?

Makynna with Alice in Wonderland.

Off to Hollywood Disney...

At the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playland.

Livi by a blade of grass.

These were the green soldiers from Toy Story. It was so cool how much they looked like the toy, fun to watch them too.

Mickey's magical hat at night.

Thursday night we had tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom - it was so much fun.

At the parade, I really like the toy soldiers. They were so in sync and some of them had horns that they played.

At the parade, I told Makynna to wave at the princesses and they might wave back. Well, some of them did. She felt so special that they were waving right at her! They were here!

Cinderella's castle at night, just beautiful.

Grandpa Stan and Grandma Elaine - Thanks for a wonderful trip and lifelong memories.

The five of us.

I just liked this picture of Brad and Makynna. (He has John's ears on...)

John....kinda wish I had one of these at home. :)

Livi - enjoying every minute.

Makynna with Sleeping Beauty.

Makynna with Cinderella. It was funny because the princesses were all calling Makynna "Princess" She asked her what kingdom she was from. :)

Us with Mickey after a LONG day!!

Livi said that we were there LONG enough, but would like to go back when she doesn't need a stroller :)

LONG...overdue post

Busy...busy...busy. I apologize for not getting to this sooner. We have been super busy at work with all the election stuff going on. Our office is in charge of sending out all the absentee ballots for the county, not to mention all that came in and voted early. It was a long night on November 4, but the result will be one that I will remember for a lifetime. Not only do we have our first African American president, but we (the State of MN) have a close race for US Senator. We had 4 million votes cast with only approximately 450 separating Norm Coleman and Al Franken. This means a recount of all the ballots....did I mention, it's a HAND recount. Each ballot cast will have to be separated by hand and then counted by hand to verify the votes. In Clay County (Moorhead) there were almost 30,000 ballots. So while I'm thrilled that we had a 96+% of registered voters who voted on November 4th, I cannot imagine recounting them.
Luckily for me I will be gone when the recount will take place. We are now a week away from Disney World! We are so exited! ...and a bit nervous, Livi isn't the most patient child. I FEAR the plane ride there. I'm one that likes to be prepared, but tends to procrastinate. So have I packed yet? No. Does that stress me out a little? Yep. I know I'll get it done, but it won't be without a little sweat and worry.

This is a picture of John and his girlfriend, Larissa, at the homecoming dance. The quality isn't the greatest because I scanned the photo in, but they look so cute together. She came over this past weekend, to "hang out" and watch a movie. Very nice girl, but I'm not ready for John to date. How has 14 years gone by so fast??
Hockey is now in full swing. Practice 4 days a week and games on pretty much every Saturday and Sunday. How I wish the driving age was 14 in Minnesota!! ...I can't believe I just said that...
I just drove by the gas station yesterday and gas is at $1.89 a gallon. John made the comment that he doesn't remember it being under $2/gal. Hopefully it stays for awhile. John is also busy with Confirmation, which means sermon notes, volunteering, reading the lessons during church, tests and hopefully a bit of fun mixed in. He hasn't been complaining about going lately, but I figured out that Larissa goes to our church. hhhmmmmm.... whatever works, I guess.
This is a picture from our window at the resort that Brad and I got away to. ***Thanks again Mom!!!*** the view was awesome! The trees were turning colors and I was wishing I could stop and take pictures of everything. It was truly breath taking. We both got massages while we were there, for the first time, it was so relaxing. It was funny though, because from the moment we left home we felt as if we were missing something. It took 5 minutes to pack, we didn't have to stop on the way down, we didn't have to plan around nap time, and it took less than 5 minutes to get a table at a restaurant. It was great to catch up and enjoy some us time.This is Livi after bath, pretty "innocent"....

This is her getting a "little" annoyed with the camera. She has changed so much the past month. She is practically running without fear. She is so different from Makynna at this age, such a dare devil. Climbs on everything, digs in everything, and is very opinionated. She does share in Makynna's love for books. She constantly is wanting to sit down and read a book. From the minute we get home she has a book in her hand and is literally chasing me around the house. If we would read to her 24/7 she would be in heaven! She likes to turn the pages, point, and ask "What's that?" to everything. She has started saying "No, don't" to Makynna. It's pretty cute, and much better than the normal screaming when she doesn't like what big sis is doing to her.

Makynna's pumpkin face that she drew.

The end product with Daddy's work next to it. She carved it all herself, and was very proud. She continues to love preschool and has a great time. The stories are great. She also has gymnastics on Mondays, dance on Tuesdays, and cubbies on Wednesday. She's at the age where she gets up in the morning and asks "What do I get to do today?", instead of the "What do I HAVE to do today" that is the common response from her big brother. A couple of little stories with her: I picked her up one day and she told me that she could spell her name backwards. I said, "really". Thinking that she really didn't know how to spell it backwards. When I asked her to do it, she did. Then I got to thinking that maybe they practiced it in school, why I don't know - you would think it would be hard enough for them to figure out how to spell their names the right way. So I decided to test her, I asked if she could spell John's name backwards, N-H-O-J she says. Ok, that's a short name...so I asked about Livia, A-I-V-I-L...I'm pretty much speechless at this point. I, yes I, really have to think about how it goes and my four year old has no hesitation in her voice. I don't know what kind of use this has in everyday life, but I was impressed. She also likes to add. 3+3, 2+4....anything that she can use her fingers for she can figure out. I think that's pretty good too!

We have had some issues with nightmares this past week. Sunday night she woke up around 4am and said that she had a bad dream. Normally, I stay with her awhile and she falls back to sleep and is fine. Not this time, she was terrified. Will not lay down, nothing. She wants to sleep in our bed, which I wasn't about to give in. But after 1/2 hour of trying to convince her that she was ok, I let her sleep on the floor by our bed. She still didn't want to fall asleep, and was up every half hour until we got up. We figured out that the dream that she had that night, had to do with going to the park with John and a robot picked her up and put her in it's mouth. She hasn't watched any shows with robots, so I'm not sure where it came from. ...other than my roomba (robotic vacuum) that she is freaked out by... We have be fighting with it all week. She doesn't want to go to sleep, because she is afraid that she'll see it in her dreams. The next night she DID sleep with us (just so we could get some sleep too) and the second she fell asleep in our bed, but Brad took her to her room after she fell asleep. She's a little better now, but it took A LOT of convincing.

Makynna in the leaves.

Livi - that first flash gets her :)

Candling Makynna's ears. Makynna has a huge fear of doctors and her ears. Ever since she was 2 and had to get them flushed, she has NOT wanted anyone touching her ears. Not good, since she has a huge ear wax problem. This was the first time that we had tried this, you would not believe how much wax came out of those little ears. Gross!! but, she says she can hear better :)

Makynna's cross that she made at Sunday School. Their 4 year old faith milestone is celebrated by making a wooden cross necklace. She is very proud.

I promise to post after our trip. Hope all is well with everyone.