Family Time!

Sully joined us for a picture

Craig's cousin Jessica, husband Matt and kiddos Matthew and Makenna had their First Disney Trip in November. We went to meet up with them, since the last time we had seen them was when Kenna and Evelyn were young toddlers, and I was pregnant with Sofia. We had an awesome time-we love giving the girls time with our families!

Disney is renowned for their everyday magic you come upon in any of their parks and resorts. I am going to start this post with my favorite time from this visit-maybe my favorite interaction yet...

 Yes, that is a Green Army Man running away from our children. And yes, they loved every minute of it-I wish I had it on video! When it was our turn to meet him, all 4 kids went forward at the same time, pens and autograph books extended. I said (quietly, I thought) "jeez, guys, attack!" and well, that began the interaction of a lifetime. GAM (green army man) stood bolt upright, shaking. Looking all around him, as though searching for enemy troops and then took off running! He hid behind the trashcan you see in the background, shakily peering out from behind. Matthew, being all sweet, amazing little boy (I mean it Jess-Mattthew is awesome!) he pulls out his finger gun and starts "shooting" at GAM. After several minutes of this kind of hide and seek, we had Matthew tell him to come on out, it is safe, we surrender, we got his autograph and some priceless pictures!

 Notice GAM christening Matthew with the Bunny Ears-a little payback, I think!

Of course our little girls were instant BFF's. Sofia really took to Matthew and Matthew equally to Sofia. He helped her to navigate through Honey I Shrunk the Kids playset, and later wrote about her in a class assignment (precious!).

 It was very hard to get a picture of the kids here-so much to do, so little time!!!

I am still working on the selfie, maybe by the end of my #yearofdisney I will finally get it right!















There were lots of characters to meet, of course-We finally met Doc McStuffins!!

To Infinity and Beyond!!

All four of our kiddos waiting for Disney JR Live on Stage

And, of course, being that it was November-IT'S CHRISTMAS AT DISNEY!!

You can't really tell, but there are 4 very excited children standing in front of Mickey and Santa.

 The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (did I get that right?) is UH-MAY-ZING! If you can get here by January 6 (I believe that is the end date) you can still see it, if not, it's well, lights out. To make way for expansion of themed areas here at HS, this is the last year they will be displayed. I wonder if Disney will have a clearance sale on used lights?

I will have more and better pictures in my next entry (I will have my "good" camera for that trip). Not that that matters-photos just can't do it justice. Both of my little girls are still in awe and talk about it almost daily!

Now I wouldn't truly be a Disney fanatic if I didn't introduce every single person I met to the Hidden Mickeys. Ok-so I am not a crazy lady who walks around anywhere (not even Disney-unless the opportunity presents itself!) spouting "Have you heard of Hidden Mickeys?", but I love sharing that game. I did just that with Matthew and Kenna-and they played the game the rest of the trip. For those of you not in the know, Hidden Mickeys are characters (usually Mickey represented by the 3 circles for his head and ears, though many characters have been spotted) that are craftily hidden in the imagineering of each ride, area, etc. A classic example is in the Haunted Mansion banquet scene, the three plates at the far left end of the table. Check it out sometime. Hidden Mickeys come and go, but there are thousands across the Walt Disney World Resort and Parks.

I found this one inside the Muppet store

 And after a long day of no naps (yikes!) for the 3 year old, it was time to bid our family farewell and head for home. Needless to say, Sofia did not even make it to the car before passing out!

#yearofdisney

#disneylife

Thanks guys! We had a GREAT time hanging out with you!