We just got back from a week in Orlando with my parents, and we had a fabulous (exhausting) time!
The resort was beautiful and kept the kids entertained, with 7 different pools, several playgrounds, and a mini-golf course. Emily and John perfected "speed" mini-golf, while Sam mostly liked rolling the ball down the course. Emily loved lounging in the pools in her turtle float, and got brave with her swimmies. Sam apparently is a doggie-paddle natural! Looks like they can both take swimming lessons this summer.
Monday we checked out Islands of Adventure. Harry Potter World is incredible! The kids gnawed the heads off their chocolate frogs and were amazed by the Hogwarts Express and, of course, the castle. My parents swapped child-wrangling with us, so we all had a chance to ride the Hogwarts castle flying/video/crazy cool ride. And we got my mom back on the Dueling Dragons roller-coaster. She went on it twice. Go Mom! Dr. Seuss World was mostly a hit, especially the train, merry-go-round, and face painting, and both kids had serious fun exploring the Jurassic Park playground. Sam took a nap in the stroller while Emily ran through fountains to cool off. By 3, the kids were ready to head back to the condo for a swim.
We had a lovely lunch with Great-Grandma on Tuesday. The kids were excited to visit, and Grandma even decorated her house with pictures Emily had made for her.
Wednesday were were off to the Magic Kindgom. We arrived in time for the opening ceremonies (OK, my mom and I dragged us all there well in advance of opening time, but hey, you want to be the first on the carousel!) and the kids loved seeing the characters singing and dancing at the train station in front of the gates. We headed right back to Fantasyland for rides on the carousel, Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Dumbo. Sam loved the all the rides, but Em was a bit "nervous" on the darker Peter Pan and Pooh rides. Then it was time to meet Princesses, defeat Zurg on the Buzz Lightyear ride, and crack up at the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show. Sam conked out in the stroller while Emily rode the Magic Carpets and explored the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse a few times. We all survived the Jungle Cruise and another round on the Carpets. We saved the best for last - the Dreams Come True Parade. We were right up front and the kids were so excited to see all of the characters. Many of them came right over and gave Emily and Sam high-fives or waved to them from floats. Snow White even blew Emily a kiss! After getting the kids settled with my parents at the condo, John and I went back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner, a few rides (though Space Mountain broke when it was almost our turn!), and the Electric Parade. I dragged John into the Tiki Room show, for which he may never forgive me.
We all recovered by the pool on Thursday and then went out for a fantastic dinner. Sam fell asleep on the way there, but stopped screaming after about 15 minutes and was actually pretty happy for the rest of dinner :-) My birthday dessert was pretty fabulous!
On Friday we checked out Downtown Disney. We had a blast exploring the Lego Disney scenes, picking out "prizes" from the shops, and digging for dino bones at the T-Rex Cafe. Sam wanted to stay there for lunch, but it was a little (ok, a LOT) too noisy and dark for Emily, so she and John had a nice quiet lunch while my mom and I took Sam into the T-Rex Cafe. He loved it! Once the metor shower started though, and the dinos all started roaring, and the mammoth started trumpeting, I knew it was a good thing Emily wasn't with us! Craziness!
Saturday was another relaxing day by the pool, with a visit from my Aunt Bette and cousin Journey. It was great to see them both, and we had a nice time catching up.
I put some of my favorite pictures into the post, but you can
see all them here.
Merry Christmas! Emily and Sam woke up bright and early Christmas morning and couldn't wait to see what Santa had left in their stockings and under the tree. Nana and Grandpa slept over on Christmas Eve to watch the kids tear into their presents. Emily said the sleepover was her favorite part of Christmas this year! We spent Christmas Eve with the Russells, and a special guest - Santa! 
This month we had fun at our elementary school's new playground, hosted a holiday party with my high school friends, and decorated our Christmas tree. We lucked out with a warm and sunny day for picking out our tree, and the kids really enjoyed the tractor ride down the big hill to the parking lot.
And for Thanksgiving round 2 - fabulous dinner hosted by Paul and Christine. Sam was in a silly mood, and Emily loved the kids' Charlie Brown Thanksgiving menu.
This has certainly been one bizarre October! But even a snow storm two days before Halloween and the rescheduling of trick-or-treating couldn't ruin our spooky fun. Since we couldn't go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, we invited the cousins over for an impromptu party and indoor trick-or-treating. The kids thought it was pretty awesome. To get ready for Halloween, I took the kids on an eerie trip to the zoo and we made lots of crafts, including some haunted houses and a creepy gingerbread house. 
We did a lot more in September than have birthday parties for Emily (although both of her parties were awesome!). The kids had a crazy amount of fun drawing train tracks all over the driveway and riding their bikes on them. Emily is getting really good at maneuvering and Sam loved having a "caboose" hitched to his bike. We also took the kids to Halibut Point in Rockport where we all had a blast climbing on the huge rocks by the sea.
We celebrated Emily's birthday (again) with all of her friends at the Discovery Museums. Pizza, cake, boat building experiments, and plenty of time to play in the museums with her buddies. We have one lucky 5-year-old!
Happy Birthday to my awesome daughter! I still can't believe Emily is 5, but, as the mountain of presents can attest, she definitely had a birthday. Thanks to Uncle Paul and Caroline for being the paparazzi and thoroughly documenting the day.
August was a month of day trips - Davis' Farmland and Mega Corn Maze, Canobie Lake Park, the New England Aquarium, the Acton Children's Museum, and a friend's lake house. Good times! We certainly found a lot of ways to entertain the kids this summer!
The Rasoulpour family came to visit in August, and fun was had by all! 6 adults, 7 kids, and 1 bouncy house - how could we not have a fabulous time??
Enjoy our pictures!
Enjoy our pictures!
