It's Christmastime!

The day after Thanksgiving is always our day for putting up the Christmas tree, lights and other decorations.  Nathan was asking all day long when the tree would be ready for ornaments!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is always our day for visiting Santa.  And this was the first year EVER that I forgot my own camera, so I only have the one we purchased!

This morning, Clover showed up!  Looks like he was trying to bust out of the box overnight.  The kids were very excited to see him!

I can't believe it's already this time of year (don't I say that every year?)!  Looking forward to a fun Christmas season!

Painting pottery!

Gaga took us to paint pottery today.  The kids love painting pottery, and we thought it'd be a great time to do Christmas stuff so we'll have it back in time.  Gaga and I do ornaments, Madison does a Christmas plate, and what does Nathan do?  A shark.  Complete with blood.  Couldn't talk him into doing anything else.  Boys!

Can't wait to get them back to see how they turned out!

Disney World...headed home...

This week has flown by!  I can't believe it's already time to drop off our suitcases and head downstairs.  We don't forget to grab the chocolate stash though.  Every night, it's their favorite thing to do...go around and steal all the chocolate from our beds!

As we're waiting to drop off our luggage, I snap this picture.  This pretty much sums up the kids on this trip....they ran everywhere, especially around the hotel!

We ate breakfast, and then played in the arcade a bit.

We saw preparations for a wedding...so neat!

Last stop at our hotel fountain...they loved waiting for us here since they always got down first.  They felt like big kids this trip going up and down the elevator by themselves!

Our hotel...so pretty!

Waiting at the airport.  Sad our trip is over!

We are so blessed by Nana and Papa for allowing us to experience this once in a lifetime trip TWICE!  I know we would have never been able to go if it weren't for them.  We made so many memories together, and I know the kids will never forget these past two trips.  We laughed, we screamed, we had fun, we yawned, we ate good food, we yawned again, but we made the most out of every day!  It's an exhausting trip, but so much fun, and I'm so grateful that my kids got to experience Disney World at the perfect ages.  Thank you so much, Nana and Papa!  We are so thankful for you and for all you did for our family.  We love you both!

Disney World...day 7!

Our last full day at Disney World...we got up early while Nana and Papa slept in so we could make the most of the day!  This view is absolutely beautiful though...so peaceful.

I didn't get the entire gingerbread house in the photo, but this is a real gingerbread house with real candy!  They do it every year at the Grand Floridian for Christmas.  The kids think it's pretty cool (and would love to eat it)!

At Epcot...

We rode Mission: SPACE, Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, and the Gran Fiesta Tour.  We had to stop by our shark and get a picture!

And our troll (we had our picture taken by this same troll on our honeymoon)!

After lunch, we catch a bus over to Animal Kingdom.  We can't let our last day get away without riding Expedition Everest again!  This picture makes me smile....I love my sweet family.

Favorite ride...EVER.

We rode it three times again...I think I'm getting too old for this stuff!

On our way out, we went to the 4D show - It's Tough To Be a Bug!  It was really cute, and fun!

Madison and I didn't get the "silly face" memo here!

Waiting for our bus to Hollywood Studios.  Another favorite part of Disney for the kids...all the rails to hang on!

While we were out getting sick riding Everest over and over, Nana and Papa were hanging with Olaf!

We met up at Hollywood for dinner, and one last ride on Tower of Terror.  Madison actually got brave and held her arms up this time!

Michael and I got to see a fireworks show walking back to the room.  The kids had ran back to the room already, Nana and Papa were at the hotel store, so we were the only ones who saw it.  We had a great view, and no fighting crowds!

Packing up tomorrow.  :(

Disney World...day 6!

We started off our day with a boat ride over to the Wilderness Lodge for breakfast at the Whispering Canyon.

Nathan got a little gift from the boat driver.  His patch wouldn't fit over his head though!

This hotel is really neat.  We had to get another picture at the totem pole!

Big kids riding by themselves...headed to Magic Kingdom one last time!

We rode Space Mountain first...Mommy got stuck on another car though!

Mad Tea Party next, and the kids made us sick!

Tomorrowland Speedway...these kids had a hard time driving!  Not looking forward to them turning 16!  :)

We rode the People Mover for the 2nd time today...it's a nice and relaxing little ride, and for some reason the kids love it!  So we take advantage of that.

Space Mountain one more time!

We surprised the kids with Splash Mountain one last time.  Even though the sun was setting and it was getting cooler, we broke down and rode it!  They absolutely love this ride, and have been asking all week (even when it was 40 degrees and windy)!

We also rode Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and climbed the Swiss Family Robinson tree house today.

At the end of our day, we went back to the hotel, put on warmer clothes, and headed back to Magic Kingdom for the Christmas parade!

The kids love watching the parade.  Madison loves taking pictures of all the floats and characters!

Some light-up toys for the night!

Even though we're exhausted, we're sad tomorrow is our last day!