Friday, December 31, 2010

the Magic Kingdom

Our big gift this year was a day at Disney World's Magic Kingdom
for the four of us... Thank You Mojo & Dado!
To make the most of it, we got there very early and went straight to FantasyLand to ride all the fun kid rides: Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Prince Charming's Carousel and Mickey's 3D movie!















Next we were off to Frontierland
where Hamp and Dad did some target shooting...

... and we absolutely couldn't miss the Country Bear Jamboree (which Dad and I both remember from our own childhood Disney visits!)




Then Dad got a chance to ride both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain (below) roller coaster rides:
While I took the boys exploring on Tom Sawyer's Island! (where they spent most of their time in the fort fighting off bad guys...)















After all that exploring, we made our way to Adventureland where we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean, entered the Enchanted Tiki Room, climbed through the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House and dodged wild animals and head hunters on the jungle Cruise!


After a nice lunch on Main Street, we headed to Tomorrowland to see Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc., the Carousel of Progress and race some cars on the Speedway!

One of the neatest adventures of the day was running into my best friend from college! Well, I admit it wasn't completely random but still fun to meet up after 9 years in front of Cinderella's Castle of all places! (and judging by the picture, it seems that some things never change... thank goodness!)
The afternoon was a little more crowded, still quite cold, and full of silliness ~ mostly from overstimulation! The most impressive part was that despite the cool temps and long day o' fun for everyone, no one ever whined or fussed!
We hung around the park until we had exhausted all the rides & attractions that we could possibly want to do (notice there was no Haunted Mansion or Flying Dumbo mentioned... that was a big no thank you from the boys!) So we decided to end the day with what else... the Hall of Presidents!
Although Dad and I found it pretty interesting from an historical point of view, clearly the boys were not as impressed with the Presidential presentaion!
Once Sam got comfortable at the Hall, there was no turning back... he stayed asleep on my shoulder, then in the stroller:
Of course, Sam woke up on the way out of the park ~ and then Hamp fell into a deep sleep in the car on the way home... obviously I think the day at Disney was not only exciting it was exhausting! Hamp never even woke up from the car to the bed... but Sam was awake enough to enjoy his souvenir ~ a super-special Mickey Mouse balloon!



















It truly was a Magical day...

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas celebration

Well, Santa Claus found our Florida retreat this year!
The boys have apparently been very good this year ~ not only are they able to spend a week at Mojo & Dado's house for the holidays, but then St. Nick manages to leave them exactly what they asked him for... and then some!
First, there was a veritable city of Playmobil left out that kept the boys entertained until the grown-ups could wake up enough to open presents and take pictures:
When Santa's gifts were opened Hamp got the football he wanted and Sam... well, Sam got exactly what he has been talking about for two months: a fushigi ball!
(if you don't know what it is, that's ok. It's obscure ~ leave it to Sam to pick something like this! ~ and if you ask Sam he'll tell you "it's magic".)
Of course, Santa wasn't the only generous gift giver this year...
There were wii games (that have occupied all three of my boys well this week!), plenty of fun and thoughtful little gag gifts and apparel items, more MagFormers for the boys, and lots of great stocking stuffers: But perhaps my favorite gift is the Barbie Doll that Hamp and Sam got for me!
Eventhough Uncle Alec & Aunt Jei couldn't be with us in Florida, they certainly filled the room with the spirit of Christmas ~ their generosity and thoughtfulness was overwhelming as the boys played the wii and the grown-ups opened gift after gift and laughed and cried and laughed some more!
I had to include this photo of the big boys demonstrating to Uncle Alec on the phone how the FLARP or "noise putty" works... in case you're wondering, it sounds like passing gas and everyone thought is was very, very funny. We're so mature:
THANK YOU ALEC & JEI for the wonderful Christmas celebration ~ it could have only been better if you had been here in person... we miss you!
What a precious day we spent together ~ and that's only the beginning! Much more adventure to come here in sunny (but chilly!) Florida. Until then, I hope you had a very merry Christmas and are planning for a very happy New Year!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

pre-Christmas

The Sunday before Christmas, we were lucky enough to have a little celebration at home!

~

The boys received gifts from Yaya & Papa
that they patiently waited all week to open. They were thrilled to get fun new books...
... and new games:
Sam loved his new kaleidescope...
... and we all enjoyed a nice morning that found us
playing games all together and reading books!
Thank you Yaya & Papa!
We will miss you this year ~ LOVE YOU! ♥

great ski day!

Twice in one week! So far... a great season!
We hit the slopes again on Saturday and this time, little Sam really got the hang of it:
With just a little more coaching from Mom and especially the instruction of our friend John he was skiing all on his own by the second run!
He was comfortable skiing to Dad ~ and they made a really cute pair of mountain men!
Then after a few times getting to Dad and he was ready to play "follow the leader" with Dad as the leader...

... and then Sam wanted to the be the leader!
While Sam was showing off his new skiing skills, look who we found catching a day on the mountain before his busy upcoming weekend!!!
Hamp had a great day, too ~ he got to ski several runs with his buddy Carter and I only ever saw him when he was hungry or tired!
But there was one moment when all four of us were on the same hill at the same time and I thought, "wow! Look at this ~ we are all skiing together!"
Amazing.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

the big show

So then there was the evening performance of
"Christmas Around the World"...



Hamp's so funny ~ he told me that by the end of the show he had to go to the bathroom so bad! (I think that's why there were no hand movements in the ending?!) He also woke up the next morning and said, "that was fun last night, mom" ~ so he may have garnered some positive experience out of the whole production... despite all the yawning and goofing off!
I think it may be safe to say that group artistic performance is not going to be Hamp's area of success. Then again, he may surprise us! He is only 6 years old, afterall...

Of course, there was much socializing after the show:


It was a fun family night and a very nice Christmas treat.

Have a great weekend! Stay Warm!!