Other Magical Memories

Buzz at Downtown Disney

Aubrey petting the Lego doggies. 

 Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival:

The boys went fishing one morning!

Lily Kate's moment of the trip: She got to meet Peter Pan!

Lily Kate got to talk with Crush in Turtle Talk with Crush

Snow White told her to eat only green apples- no poisonous ones!

Aubrey wanted to "hold you" the elephants and giraffes on the Kilimanjaro Safari.

 Stroller Shots:

Lily Kate held Simba up (like Rafiki does) so he could see the Festival of the Lion King.  I didn't get a picture, but it was a precious scene.

"Up and Down"

Aubrey loved the Main Street Electrical Parade:  She kept yelling "Hi Nocchio" as Pinnochio went by, she also loved how Pete's Dragon kept sneezing.  She made friends with all of the people sitting around us, but giving them all high fives and hugs.

"Four-year-olds shouldn't ride Splash Mountain." - Lily Kate after she rode it with Pa & Mommy.

Our last night, we were fortunate enough to have a Date Night.  Pa & JjaJa took the girls swimming and had a picnic dinner while we got to enjoy some fine dining and an amazing view at the California Grill on top of the Contemporary Resort.

Sunset from the Observation Deck 

Scrumptious Molten Chocolate Cake

You can't tell but the Magic Kingdom is behind us :)

"Everybody Grab Your Chum Chums"

Magic Kingdom- A Day of Firsts

The first day we went to Magic Kingdom.  The girls had a lot of fun, and experienced a lot of firsts:

LK's first ride- Teacups

AJ's first ride: Winnie the Pooh

First time for all of us on Dumbo

1st Character we met: Mary Poppins

AJ loves "MeeMouse"- but was not so sure about her in person!

Group Shot!

First Princess Encounter:

3D glasses for Mickey's PhilharMagic 

First Waffle sandwich w/Nutella -DELISH!

We Made It

Stephen had a Practical Peds conference at Disney World last week.  His parents agreed to come along to help with the girls, so we decided to make a vacation of it!  We made the drive down with just 1 stop...I couldn't believe it!  We were all ready to get out of the car after 8.5 hours in it.

Dinner at Captain Cooks at the Polynesian

Lily Kate's first ears 

Pa & Aubrey walking back to our room

We loved staying at the Polynesian Resort (Thanks, Practical Peds for the awesome room rate!) We could see the Castle from our room and were able to watch the fireworks every night from our patio.  It was awesome.  Except we could also hear the ferry horn go off every 30 minutes.  Aubrey called it: "Noise" "Beep Boat".  We did get used to it as the week went on.

View from our room- (blue blob is the castle)

We all agreed that our favorite meal there was dinner at O'Hanas.

Aubrey enjoying a fistful of noodles 

The girls checking out a baby bunny

The girls loved all the wild life around the hotel- birds, bunnies, ducks, lizards.  I loved swinging in the hammock on the beach while Lily Kate made sand angels in the sand.  Both girls also loved the pool- they said it is heated- but that water was freezing.  It didn't deter my little fishies :)

20 Questions

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was such a great idea.

Source: reavespartyofthree.blogspot.com via Tracie on Pinterest

Here is Lily Kate answering her 20 questions :)

Favorite Outfit & Special K :)

Birthday Girl

Each year on her birthday eve, I write a letter to my daughter letting her know all the ways we love her and special facts about her from this year:

Lily Kate,

You are turning 4 today, it is so hard to believe!  You are growing up so quickly.  You are such a big helper- you enjoy helping in the kitchen, doing your chore (picking up Reese's stray food and putting it back in his bowl) and helping Mommy do dishes.

 You always have a song on your heart- whether it's And Jesus Grew or a made up tune- you love music.  You got to take art classes and gymnastics this year and you excelled at both of them.  You are a great big sister- you try to include Aubrey when you play and try to set a good example for her.

 You have a great sense of humor and love making others laugh- you use silly faces, witty comebacks and just being goofy.  You have a hunger for learning- you love reading library books, learning Bible stories and we just started working on writing letters (you already recognize many of them, but have asked to learn to write) and rhyming.

You still love Star Blankie but you have stopped sleeping with rain sounds.  You definitely have a sweet tooth- your favorites are ice cream, brownies, cake, cookies and M&Ms (okay so you like all sweets).  You are very sweet natured and you are always looking out for others.  You love your newest cousins- Mercy and Chloe, you always ask to pray for Unca & Rachie, and you gave away all the money from your piggy bank to help the people in other countries who don't have any money.

You take really good care of your baby dolls and stuffed animals- you love to play "mommy."  Your favorite movies are Tangled, Lady & the Tramp, and Cinderella.  you chose a princess theme for your birthday party this year and chose to share your party with Reese since he didn't have one (which greatly limited the guest list).

You bring so much joy to our lives.  I'm so thankful God gave us you!

We love you,

Mommy & Daddy

Lil

This post just makes me smile- much like the precious child I'm posting about.  

She brings such joy to our lives.

Lily Kate helped us out by dressing herself:

 Socks with sandals, t-shirt over long sleeve t-shirt, shorts over pants.  

She must get her fashion sense from me!

The only kind of mustache for princesses- a fudgesicle one!

Party Time

Does this hat look too big?

Cheesin'!

Busy Bee

What has Aubrey been up to this week?  Here's the week in pictures:

Huge shout out to Ella Wallace (her cousin) for the awesome car (Christmas gift!)

Keeping up with the Joneses

I got to keep the Jones kids for a few hours last week.  The kids all get along really well making my job fairly simple.  Here are some precious shots I got:

Lily Kate, Elliot and Isabel

Who doesn't like to play in a cardboard box?

Aubrey & Ben

We have the best neighbors in town!