Disney 2011

Finally getting around to blogging about our Disney trip over Christmas break! We left in the afternoon of Christmas Eve to drive down to Florida. We decided to drive through the night - then the kids sleep a lot of the way. Christmas Eve was a great time to be on the road as there was hardly any traffic. Jeff said it was almost eerie the lack of traffic on the way down. We couldn't even find a McDonald's open to have dinner so we picked up a few things at a gas station and continued driving. The kids did great as usual - they are such good travelers! We checked into our hotel near Downtown Disney, changed into shorts and t-shirts and then decided to walk around Downtown Disney while we waited for our room. We ended up eating dinner at T-rex - a dinosaur themed restaurant - Andrew loved it!!!

Here we are eating under the jellyfish!

Andrew and daddy outside of T-rex.
We spent a lot of time at the Lego store and Andrew used his Disney gift card from santa to buy some dinosaur legos. Here are the kids in front of the Lego store. The sculpture behind them is all legos!

We headed back to our hotel so we could get a good night's rest!

Critter Barn

We went to the Critter Barn with friends over spring break. The highlight of our time there was helping with feeding the 17 baby goats that were born this spring at the critter barn. They told us to get in groups of 4-6 kids and they would bring us a baby goat and a bottle to feed them with. It was so much fun!

Here is Elyse feeding the baby goat - she was so excited!

Andrew's turn . . .
All the kids by one of the goats that we fed.

Elyse also liked holding the bunnies.
It was a nice day so after the Critter Barn we went to a nearby park so the kids could run around and play. It was a fun day with friends!

Fun in Terre Haute

We went to Terre Haute, IN to visit my grandma and my Aunt Chris over spring break. The weather was beautiful there! We went to the Children's Museum, saw The Lorax, spent some time walking and riding scooters around the neighborhood and enjoyed playing at the park! It was in the 70's and sunny so we tried to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine. As always, it was great to spend some time with my grandma and my aunt! Here are a few pics from our time in Terre Haute.

My grandma decided not to join in on the silly face picture.

Elyse and Andrew enjoy some time at the park. This park is within walking distance from my aunt's house and the kids love it!

Lunch with Great Grandma.

Elyse in a bubble at the Children's Museum.

Elyse climbs up into the tree house at the Children's Museum.

Andrew liked shooting the nerf balls with the air guns at the Children's Museum.

Our tradition on the way home from Terre Haute is to stop for dinner in Monon, Indiana at The Whistle Stop restaurant. It is a restaurant that has several train tracks mounted from the ceiling with multiple trains that run on the tracks. Plus, the parking lot is full of train cars, railroad crossing signs, etc. The kids love it! Unfortunately, we were traveling home on Monday evening and they close at 3pm on Monday - we were all so bummed! We stopped a little later at a subway and dairy queen that were together in a gas station - so the kids were excited to get some ice cream after dinner.

It was a fun little getaway!

Happy 5th Birthday Andrew!

Well - it's been a while since I've posted anything . . . since the the last time I posted it was around Elyse's bday - guess I'll post about Andrew's bday.

He wanted a dinosaur birthday party. He loves Dinosaurs! When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted - he said he wanted a cake with a Carnataur (a type of dino) on it . . . ok - we'll see what we can do about that. I called my friend Cindy and she delivered! Andrew loved his cake!

It was such a beautiful day when we had his party that we all sat outside while Andrew opened his presents. Here he is opening his Lego City Airport. He loves to play with Legos and will sit for hours and build things.

Waiting to open all his presents!

He has been going to preschool 2 days a week this year and loves it. We just had his preschool conference and he is doing great and is very ready for kindergarten. They tested him on his numbers, colors, letters, letter sounds etc. and he knew almost all of them! He forgot a few letters and a few letter sounds but that is it. And the teacher said he sits and listens when it is time to listen and plays well with the other kids. She had no concerns with him academically or socially - so it's off to kindergarten next year! It will be quite and adjustment as kindergarten will be all day, every day next year! He is excited to ride the bus with Elyse and to go to the same school as her. We'll see how long his excitement lasts once school starts in the fall!

He also just had his 5 year old check up and continues to be a healthy boy. He weighed 42 lbs and was 43 1/2 inches tall - a growing boy for sure!

Video of Elyse getting her kittys

"The Best Day of My Life" - Elyse

We all know how much Elyse LOVES kittys so we finally gave in and got her a real kitty! Actually, we decided to get 2 kittens - then they can play together and keep each other company when we are not home. It was a friend of Misti's whose cat had kittens and we visited the kittens several times but Elyse did not know that one day 2 of the kittens would be coming to our house to stay!

Here is Elyse opening the box, actually the kittens "popped" their heads out of the top of the box before Elyse had a chance to open it.
I think Elyse thought that Uncle Ryan and Aunt Misti had brought them over for a visit. We finally told her that the kittens were ours and they would be staying at our house. Upon hearing this news, Elyse proceded to jump up and down and exclaim - "This is the best day of my life!".


Here is Elyse with Tiara.



And here is Elyse with Princess before heading to the bus stop for her first day of school. She had to get some kitty cuddles before leaving for school!
The kitten are about 8 weeks old. They love to run/roll/jump around and play with each other and then the next minute you look over and they are sleeping next to each other. They are sooo cute and Elyse just adores them. She really wants them to sleep in her room but for now we are keeping them in the laundry room at night until they get used to the house. If you would like to see more pics of the kittys - you can click on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150293005392368.352604.559977367&l=77e07e8ec3&type=1

Tulip Time

We had a fun but busy Tulip Time week! The weather forecast did not look good at the beginning of the week but thankfully it rained mostly at night. We were able to go downtown for the parades on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday is when they have street scrubbing before the parade. I took both kids to street scrub and we met up with Tric, Christopher, Jamie, Jacob and Ashlyn. Here is a picture of the kids (minus Andrew) ready to go!
Here is Elyse and Andrew scrubbing the streets.

My mom took our chairs and blankets and saved a spot for us along the parade route. Once we got to her the kids were tired and ready to sit down. So, we sat down with my mom and watched the parade. Jamie, Jacob and Ashlyn sat by us too.

Thursday is the kids parade. This was the first year that Elyse could march in the parade and I volunteered to march with her class. It was a very hot day but the kids did really good. They were so tired by the end of the parade!! Here is Elyse and I waiting for the parade to start.


My dutch dance group opted not to dance this year but a friend of mine needed a sub in her group a couple of nights. So, I volunteered to dance with their group a few times. Jeff took this picture of the kids and I Friday night when we all went downtown and I had to dance.

My friend Melissa met me downtown this past week to take a few pics of the kids in the park with the tulips. Here is my favorite of the 2 kids.

To see my other pics from tulip time - follow this link.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150180453912368.319141.559977367&l=bd40e850bd