Christmas #2

Tonight we had another Christmas party. This one was with my mom's side of the family. I love getting together with them because there are always laughs, good food, laughs, games, and more laughs. Tonight was extra special because my Aunt Eva is back from Japan. Yeah! Grace entertained us all with her funny antics. She ended up being the messenger and delivered things to everyone in the circle. She's trying to bring something to me in this picture.

I know that this picture doesn't go with the party but it was too cute not to blog about. This morning while I was drinking my first cup of coffee I heard these two giggling uncontrollably in the bedroom. The next thing I saw was the two of them wrapped up in their bath towels. They looked hilarious and were still giggling when they came out. I am so blessed that they get along so well. It really does my heart good to hear them laugh together. I pray that they will always find joy in one another.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all remembering the CHRIST in CHRISTmas. It is the best gift of all. Our Heavenly Father loves us enough to share himself with us. The gift of Baby Jesus, our Savior, is the best gift we will ever receive. I pray that CHRIST will fill your hearts and homes this CHRISTmas season.

Since we didn't get home until late last night we celebrated our Christmas today. Abby was beyond excited to open the presents. Grace wasn't sure what was happening, but she was sure it was exciting! After all, Abby was giddy, so she should be too!
We started with the stockings. Abby dove right in, but all Grace wanted was Abby's wrapping paper. She had no interest in opening her own. Good thing she has a big sister to help her :) Then we went to the presents under the tree. My parents joined us for the afternoon. We opened the presents and then made a breakfast brunch.
Abby really wanted to be the first one to open a present. Since Grace had no idea what was happening, we let Abby go first. Her excitement and smile kept getting bigger and bigger as the day went on.

Grace was more enthralled with the boxes and bows than she was with the presents. Who needs toys when you can be entertained with a cardboard box? She fell into this one several times.

Still smiling!

I absolutely love her face in this picture. She was thrilled with her new Polly Pockets. It's times like this when it's fun to be her mom.

Grace got a new doll. We haven't named her yet. Any suggestions???

Ahhh...in love already!

Littlest Pet Shop after Littlest Pet Shop after Littlest Pet Shop......

This one made us laugh out loud! Grace got some new bottles, blankets and food for her doll. She immediately wanted the bottle open and she quickly stuck it in her own mouth! Too funny :)

Don't you all wonder what's in this present???

Grace got a new book from Nana and Papa. It's a lift the flap book. She was so happy. She been into reading books lately. Or rather I should say she's been into turning pages.

Here are the girls in the middle of all the Littlest Pet Shop "stuff".

Tonight during dinner Abby asked if she could pray. She prayed from her heart and thanked God for sharing his son with us. And then thanked him for giving her such a loving family who is just perfect for her. She's right. Our family is a perfect fit.

Shells, shells and more shells!

We made it home from Florida last night, but we were busy all day. We had to be out of our room by 10 in the morning but our flight didn't leave until 6 at night so we had lots of time to kill. We headed to Downtown Disney first and spent quite a bit of time there. Abby loved Lego World and build a little toy car that she raced again and again. After a quick lunch we headed to the St. Pete airport. On the way we stopped in Clearwater to visit the beach. Abby loved it! She stepped right in (soaking her socks and shoes) but she didn't like the taste of the ocean at all. But the shells made a big hit and were everywhere. We headed down the beach and went exploring for all sorts of great finds. We took several small shells home with us. Abby loved searching for all the shells. Grace loved the beach too, she was just a little upset that we wouldn't let her run down the beach alone. We held tightly onto her hand. :)

Abby and Papa, her explorer partner.

After the beach we headed to the airport. Abby got to play with Papa's hat. Doesn't she look great? Grace did so well on the ride home. We did give her some Benadryl and she slept for most of the flight. We got home late last night and it felt so great to sleep in our own beds. It's so fun to go away for vacation and it's so fun to come home.

Momma, I did it!!

Abby has been trying and trying to learn to tie shoes. She's been working hard on it at school and tried non stop on vacation too. Nana, Papa and Mom all worked with her and she got it! Watch out if you come near her with tie shoes, she's likely to untie them and tie them again and again for you. Guard your shoes carefully :)

Sea World Take 2

I know...I didn't update last night and I know that you are all waiting for your daily installment of the activities in our life. Hehe! :) The internet was extremely slow last night and it was taking forever to download all the pictures so I gave up and went to bed. I finished it this morning, so enjoy! We headed to Sea World for our second visit. We started with a pet show with cats, dogs, pigs, rats and even a skunk! It was cute and both girls were enthralled. We were a little slower on this visit because we didn't feel the frenzy to get everything in. It was another sunny day, but there was quite a breeze and it was only in the low 60's. We all had our coats on.

After the pet show we wandered over to Happy Harbor, which is a play area for kids. On the way we saw a beautifully landscaped area and stopped for a family picture. Yeah for family!!

Yep, she loves Florida! Yep, she loves vacation! Yep, she loves Sea World!

Happy Harbor was filled with kid rides, carnival games, and a huge climbing section. We talked Abby into going on the Shamu Express (which is a kid sized roller coaster) and the Lobster Ride (which pulled her high in the air and then dropped her slowly). She didn't like either one! She screamed and cried on both. But good for her for trying them. Secretly I was rejoicing because I HATE roller coasters too, so it's nice to have another one on my side :)

Grace has been such a trooper this whole trip. She has tagged along with us to every show, she has watched as we all went on rides, she has put up with getting in and out of the stroller again and again. Today must have been enough because she fell asleep during Shamu's Believe show and slept for several hours.

Abby has been begging for a Shamu stuffed animal so today before we left for the afternoon we headed to the Shamu gift shop and she picked out her favorite. She slept with it last night and it has been with her ever since.

Sea World turned their Arctic area into a Polar Express simulation ride. At the end of the ride you were in the Arctic exhibit and Santa was waiting for you. Abby was quite shy, but did manage to ask him for a unicorn pillow pet.

We went back after dinner for another round. There were lots of trees in the lake and we watched a Sea of Trees Light Show. It was so good. The trees lit up and the lights were dancing with the music. I know the picture isn't that good, but there were so many trees and it really was beautiful.

This is Shivers, the polar bear, and Abby was so excited to meet him! He was the most animated creature we ran into all day.

While we were waiting for our last show, an ice skating show, we entertained Abby with this huge Shamu statue. She loved climbing all over it.

Poolside Fun

It was 73 degrees and sunny today! We started the morning out really lazy. We made scrambled eggs with toast and sat around in our pj's for quite a while. Then we got motivated and did a little laundry. It had gotten to that time of the week for us to tackle a few stains. We're so blessed to have a laundry room right in our villa. Then after a little more grocery shopping and some lunch, we put Grace and Nana down for naps and headed out to the pool! It was so much fun! We played and splashed and Abby made new friends. I was even able to sit in a poolside chair and read a book. Ahhh....another great day! After the pool we headed out to Don Pablos for dinner. It's a great Mexican restaurant. Don't you love this pose of Grace with her hands behind her head? It's like she's reminding me that she's here in Florida to relax. :)

Here's my swimmer! She stayed in the water for over two and a half hours. I think she might have turned into a dolphin or a mermaid.

This is a picture of our pool side area. It was huge. There was a sand box play area in the middle of those bushes and a restaurant under the green roof. This is also only half of the pool area. I couldn't fit all of it in my camera.

Here's another section of the pool. This is the section we hung out in because it had the water slide. Abby went down it with me first and then tried it on her own. It was such a fun slide!!! We went on it again and again. It was quite fast and dumped you right into the water.

There was also a shallow pool for the kids. Abby made quite a few friends and spent the last hour playing with them. She walked right up to them and said, "Hi, my name is Abby and I'm five." It worked because they all hugged each other when we had to leave.

Dare I say that there's a little sunburn on me? We're waiting for our shuttle bus to take us back to the villa.

On the way out for dinner I saw a cute bench and quickly grabbed this photo of the girls. Don't they look so happy? Family and vacation does that.

Dolphins, Stingrays, Shamu...Life Rocks!

Wow! What a day!! We headed out to Sea World at 8:30 this morning in order to be there in time for the 9:00 opening. We got great parking and since we had already purchased our tickets, we were able to walk right in. We headed straight to Dolphin Cove. We wanted to feed the dolphins and thought our chances were better earlier in the morning. We were not disappointed. It was great! Abby and I both were able to feed the dolphins. Here we are waiting for the trays of food. Abby was a little nervous, but did great when the dolphins were there.

I know that you can't see us in this picture, but we are there, right behind this family. Each person was given a tray of 6-7 fish. The dolphins headed straight for us. They must be used to this :) Abby grabbed a hold of the fish tail without hesitating and the dolphin was right there to eat it. As you hold the fish you can reach out and pet the dolphin on his chin. I did pet the dolphin, but Abby didn't want to. She did however, grab hold of my tray of fish and feed that one to them too. She loved it!

After feeding the dolphins and the dolphin show, we headed to the sea lion and otter show. It was hilarious!! Then we stopped to get our picture taken by this bush. If you look closely, it's shaped like a sea otter. Cute!

Can you see the excitement on Abby's face? She was happy all day long. I was so excited to be able to give this to her. She really had a great day!

Here we are hanging out with Shamu!

We headed home around 1pm for lunch and naps. Everyone, and I mean everyone, took a nap. Then we grabbed dinner and headed back to the park for the evening shows. We went to a Sesame Street show and then Shamu's Miracle show.

Here we are on the walkway to Shamu's stadium. The trees behind us in the water were so beautiful. The whole park was decorated for Christmas and really pretty.

While waiting for the Shamu show to begin, we headed over to the sea creatures carousel. Abby chose to ride a dolphin of course! When asked at the end of the day about what was her favorite part, she replied, "DOLPHINS!".

After a great day, we all came home smiling! The best part is, we can go back again later this week!

Let's go exploring!

Today was another great day. Both girls woke up early and were ready for breakfast. Since we had gone grocery shopping last night, we were all set for breakfast. All I wanted was a cup of coffee with my hazelnut creamer. Ahhh....
We spent the morning being lazy. When Grace went down for her morning nap, Abby wanted to go explore the resort grounds. So I grabbed her hand and off we went. We found so much! There were little lizards, shuffleboard, basketball courts, 2 swimming pools, a fitness center, little palm trees, hammocks, and even a kid play center. By the time we got home, I was tired, but Abby apparently had more energy because she jumped into the whirlpool tub. And as soon as Grace could whip her clothes off, she joined her.
Then we had lunch and Abby wanted to go exploring again. This time we took the shuttle bus to the resort next door that is connected to ours. All I can say is WHOA! This place was awesome. There were 4 heated pools with water slides, water fountains and even a small kiddie pool that would be perfect for Grace. I'm sure we'll head over there later this week.
When we got back, I was given the best gift. Dad drove me to the outlet mall and left me there. Alone. Yes, alone. I had an hour and a half to do some shopping without anyone hanging on my arm and begging for a snack, or a diaper change, or screaming out of boredom. I was amazed at how fast I could move without both girls with me. I was able to find a few things and I'm even going to use my new jacket tomorrow night.
After a dinner at Logan's and some fun laughter at home, both girls are tucked in and I'm drinking a glass of wine. Yep, another great day. Abby absolutely loves the water. I bought her a pair of earplugs yesterday because I'm worried about her getting another ear infection, and she seems to be doing well with them.

These two crack me up. They just love each other so much. I am a blessed momma of two beautiful girls!

Isn't this picture funny? When I took it I thought Grace was trying to strangle Abby, but really she's trying to hug her really tight and giggle at the same time. Now if I could just get her to look at the camera, we'd be all set.

Yes, it's only day two of vacation and my dad is already vacuuming the villa. I don't know why he tries so hard. With two girls around things get messed up pretty quickly. But it is nice to have a vacuumed spot for 10 minutes or so.

On our first exploring outing we found a small playground. Abby was so excited that she jumped right on the slide. Only after she went down it did we discover that everything was still wet from the morning dew. Her pants were soaked. Good thing we have a dryer in the villa!

Here's Abby hugging a palm tree. Florida is so great!