Disney World 2012

During Adam's glorious five weeks of paid unemployment, we decided to take a little family vacation to the happiest place on earth.  We packed up the new minivan and drove 14 hours to Orlando where my parents and brother Dallin met up with us for a few days of fun at Disney.  The weather was beautiful, the park was uncrowded, and a great time was had by all ... but especially by this little princess!  Here comes a huge amount of photos from our trip.  (When I asked Charlotte why she was twirling her hair in this picture, she told me she was trying to make it curly like a princess's.  Of course, all she managed to do was make a huge tangle.)

 
Mission #1 on Charlotte's Disney agenda: Meet as many other princesses as possible.
First stop: Cinderella.

Belle 

(A minute later, Grey yanked on the skirt of the small table behind him and everything on it went crashing down.  A classic Grey move!)

Rapunzel

Merida

Ariel.  Whew, mission accomplished!

Uncle Dallin got in on the princess action too and got his picture taken with all of the ladies.  (Something to hold onto during those two long, cold, loveless years that are coming, Dal.)


Is this not the cutest little Mouseketeer you have ever seen in your life? (It was a battle to keep the hat on him, but Mommy won most of the time we were at the park.)

Hitching a ride

Meeting Mickey and Minnie

Charlotte was thrilled to meet Mickey and Minnie.  Grey wouldn't go anywhere near them but couldn't stop staring at them.

We interrupt this slideshow for Fred and Myrtle's "How Old People Can Get Around the Park" Lesson #1: When your teenager poops out and refuses to push, grab hold on the back of someone else's Rascal.  (My mom just had back surgery and my dad has a bum knee.)  Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Charlotte tries out a little archery while we wait to see Princess Merida.

Meanwhile, Grey finds a dangerous ledge to climb up on.  Somehow, I still manage to take this beautiful shot of my very handsome little man.

The kids' favorite ride hands-down: It's a Small World.  We rode it multiple times.  They still sing the song over and over, every day, all day.  (My least favorite song now: It's a Small World.)

The kids' second-favorite ride (that we also rode multiple times): Pirates of the Caribbean.  Grey tries to figure out how to use his new pirate telescope that we bought him in the gift shop.

The kids and Grammy break for frozen lemonades while Adam and I go off to the Haunted Mansion.

Best picture of us from the park.  Trust me when I say that it was very hot and the shadows were doing us a favor here.

Grey conked out for a while in his stroller while Charlotte and Daddy went to ride the race cars.

(You can gauge the level of humidity that day in Florida by the serious frizz in my hair.)

Fred and Myrtle's "How Old People Can Get Around the Park" Lesson #2: Employ child labor.  Kids will do anything for candy.

Enjoying the Lion King show.

One sweet, sweaty little boy.

The whole crew enjoying lunch in a retro diner at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  The food was delicious, the waitress was obnoxious, but the most memorable part was ...

... that Grey blew out of the second of the two outfits Ariel had packed for him that day and was then forced  to wear Charlotte's extra shirt that had "Princess" in big, pink sparkles across the front.  Grey freaked out as soon as we put it on him and wouldn't calm down until he got it off.  So Grey spent the next half hour sans clothing in his stroller until we bought him a new pair of pajamas with cars on them.

This picture pretty much sums up how Grey reacted to every single character he met at Disney World.  

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The single exception was Cowboy Woody.  Grey gave him a big hug, even though he wouldn't let Buzz Lightyear go anywhere near him.

Charlotte, of course, was thrilled to meet two of her favorite guys.

Thanks for the great memories, Disney!  See you again in a few years.

Now We're Sure ...

... that it's a girl!  I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog, but I couldn't wait to share this little picture of Baby Eleanor's profile.  Isn't she cute?  She's looking healthy and measuring right on track for her March 1st due date.

Here Comes Baby Girl #2!

Because I'm lucky enough to have a good friend who is also an ultrasound tech, we got another peek at our newest little peanut today and it looks like Charlotte and Grey are going to be getting a little sister in another 25 weeks.  We are so excited to have another little princess joining our family and hope that Charlotte will be ready to share the throne!  Here are a few more pics from the ultrasound.


You can see baby's face head-on here, and quite frankly, she looks a little scary.  BOO!

A sweet, tiny little arm, hand, and fingers.

If you look closely at the movie, you can see Baby practicing sucking with her tiny lips.

Tiny Dancer

A few weeks ago, I asked Charlotte if she wanted to continue with gymnastics or if she wanted to try ballet. She immediately replied, "Ballet.  What's ballet?"  Lucky for both of us is that she seemed to love her first ballet class on Tuesday.  While I was worried she would miss gymnastics, I guessed that my pink princess would very much enjoy anything that let her wear her favorite shade from head to toe ... and I was right!  She enjoyed the whole hour and got really upset when the class ended.

(Still needs some work on that landing!  Looks like she has to go or something.  She obviously inherited her mama's grace!)

First Day of School 2012

                

Charlotte started her second and last year of preschool yesterday.  Unlike the first day of school last year, Charlotte ran straight into the classroom and never gave me a second look.  She couldn't wait to paint, color, play with play dough, and do all of the other fun stuff that her teachers had laid out.  And she can't wait to go back tomorrow.  I guess my baby girl loves being in school as much as her mom does.  (Another Ph.D. in the making?)

Happy Birthdays 2012

                             

            
In August, both of my sweet babies had their birthdays, Charlotte on the 17th and Grey on the 22nd.  I figure that this is probably the last year we will get away with combining the birthday celebrations into one long week of adventures so we definitely made the most of it.

The festivities started with a trip to the Disney Store at the Woodlands Mall on Charlotte's birthday.  She got to pick out a new princess dress and matching shoes (she insisted that I take a picture of the shoes) and a couple other little things, including a soft Cinderella doll that she sleeps with every night now.  Then we went out into the mall and the kids got to ride the carousel.  Charlotte was scared of the large animal figures but Adam finally persuaded her to get on it.

That afternoon, we indulged in Charlotte's favorite summertime activity: swimming!

(Grey is pretty fond of it too.)

For some reason, she always says "One, two, three, CANNONBALL!" before she jumps in.  I can't figure out where she picked that up.



After the pool, we went home and celebrated Cha-Cha's birthday with some fancy cupcakes.  She picked out a red velvet one.

Grey Looking Cute While Getting Dirty Eating Cake, Part One

On the Sunday that fell between the kids' birthdays, we had a small family party for the kids.

Of course, any party that includes our Burr cousins must include a musical performance!

Aunt Ash and her Bubba

Unwrapping the loot

Sharing a cake.  I was trying to restrain Grey from blowing out his candle before we were done singing "Happy Birthday" to the kids.  I failed!

                                Grey Looking Cute While Getting Dirty Eating Cake, Part Two

Grey's birthday dawned with a big surprise awaiting him in the family room: a new trike just his size with a handle so Mommy and Daddy can push and steer him around.

Grey's birthday started out with a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to enjoy all of the dinosaur bones.  We were feeling brave and decided to also take the kids to a planetarium show.  Grey loved it.

Unfortunately, Charlotte did not.  Charlotte started shrieking almost as soon as the lights went out and I had to hold her in my lap and cover her eyes for the rest of the show.

After the museum, we enjoyed a picnic in Hermann Park followed by (what else?) a ride on the little red train.  Despite the fact that he was pouring sweat, Grey loved it.



That evening, we capped off the festivities with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.  The kids can't get enough of this place.  And I've eaten enough Little Caesars lately to not choke on the pizza they serve there, so a good time was had by all.



When we got home, Grey went Round 3 with birthday cake, this time with one of his very own made mostly of ice cream.  He knew exactly what to do when he saw those candles.

Happy birthday, Sweet Charlotte and Grey!  Please know that your mommy loves and cherishes each of you even though she was too lazy this year to post all about your birthdays individually.  Next year I'll do better!