Christmastime!

Well, we survived Christmas, only to be socked with some stomach bug nonsense yesterday.  Here are a few pictures of the fun. Kate is a big fan of Christmas. We even watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer last night. Again.

Here's Kate's stash from Santa. I think she did ok.

And Mason's. Look at that. No pink. Beautiful! My eyes seriously need a break.

Don't worry. Foster got a couple of presents too. Here he is about to devour a gingerbread man (who isn't actually made of gingerbread)

So far the scooter has been used more for sitting.

Don't you love it when you spend all this silly money and they spend most of their time playing with the $2 gifts? Like this Snow White Pez dispenser, or the jump rope or flamingo pen.

Mason checking out his toys.  Don't worry. Kate promptly confiscated 80% of them for her own use. I swear that if I was able to see into the future, we would have bought toys for Mason, given them all to Kate, and then given M some shiny bows and wrapping paper.

The chair was a big hit. Now he doesn't have to share with Kate. Who, by the way, won't share.

Then it was off to Granma's and Grandaddy's house for more fun.  Present opening was often a bit chaotic.

A cool new puppy from the Leaches.

Mason and Dad hung out. M promptly fell asleep after I took this shot.

A book and an awesome cupcake hat from the Tills.

Enjoying her cousin Lauren. Likes Lauren a whole lot. Think if she knew that L lives just across town at CIU!

It was a fun and actually relaxing weekend. Now, how long will Kate be celebrating Christmas? We play with the Fisher Price Nativity all year round, and I suspect she'll be asking to watch Rudolph on a nightly basis for at least the next few weeks. That's ok. I don't think anyone will complain around here!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

What a fun Christmas Eve!  The children are currently nestled snug in their beds, and Don and I are officially tired of wrapping presents! Kate even helped earlier today.

Me: Kate, can you hand me a label for this gift?

Kate: Mommy, they're right there. You can reach them.

We started the afternoon's festivities at Nan and Pop's.

Kate: Are we going to Nan's to get presents?

Me: Yes! We're headed there now!

Kate: Yay!! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!

And there were lots of presents to open!

Mason really got into the unwrapping.

And the presents too!

Then off to my Grandmother's house for the annual event.  It's a new generation of Fraylicks out there - the great grands (minus the 2 that live in Japan).

Ellie, Kate and Mason.

Mason eyeballing Ellie's binky (he has one just like that).

Family photo.

 On the way home we looked for Rudolph.

Me: Do you see Rudolph's red nose?
Kate: No, I only see white noses.

Putting out the reindeer food.

Photo Shoot

We went to Picture People for a little photo shoot several weeks ago.  We had a groupon. They got a couple of good shots, but we've clearly been spoiled by my friend Shannon.

Disney Wrap-up

Here are a few more pictures of our time at Disney.  It was a great time had by all. So great, in fact, that one of Kate's toys decided to stay behind.  More on that another day.

When you wear a pin that says "Happy Birthday," everyone at Disney is programmed to tell you happy birthday. And bring you cupcakes. For breakfast.

Standing in front of the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Pooh's house in a big tree was the only thing she kept asking to go back too.  Who can blame her? It was a cute little house!

What do you think? Don makes a good pirate, no? The dread locks are a nice touch.

Sometimes the lines were long.

But it was usually ok because you got to see cool characters like Daisy.

Did you know Snow White could fire a rifle?

She enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Island and Fort, but the light-up shoes started to get uncomfortable about this time.

Watching a parade. Interesting sock style going on here.

This was often the scene once we got back to the room.  Every day Kate picked out a set containing a small princess and all of her clothing and accessories.  She was such a good girl for the entire trip. NO meltdowns or toddler tantrums.  She was always in great spirits and listened well. Whose kid is this?

On Saturday night we went to Mickey's BBQ to celebrate her birthday.  I said "Hey Kate! You can go dance with Minnie."   She waltzed right up through the crowd and danced right beside Minnie.

And here's the Mickey Cake she's been talking about for months.  It's getting late and she's getting tired in this photo. Really, she loved it. :)

It was a cake to feed 10-15 people. Obviously we shared, and still brought a lot home. Kate also sat on it (in the box), so it's pretty lopsided now.

 The plan on the last night was to watch the fireworks from the hotel balcony.  We stayed at the Contemporary Hotel, which I think was the original Disney hotel. It sits right next to the Magic Kingdom.  Space Mountain is literally in the parking lot.  Means we had a great view for the fireworks.  Too bad Kate never saw them. Please notice those little pink cheeks. She and Don both had a virus for the 3 days we were there.

Beautiful! The sound for the show is also piped right into the hotel, so we could hear everything as if we were in the park.  It looks so far away here.

And what trip to Disney is complete without Mouse Ears? Kate picked princess ears, of course. Mason was a little more traditional.

She calls them Bride and Groom ears. Silly girl.

 Since this trip we've also celebrated two birthdays and our anniversary.  Now we all have colds (except for M, but I'd bet he's up soon). I'll catch up with posts one day. December is crazy!!!

When You Wish Upon a Star

This trip to Disney was all about princesses.  That's why we were there, and they didn't disappoint.  If you want to really see the characters at Disney, book a character meal. You don't have to wait in line, and if we hadn't booked those meals, we would have only seen Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald, and the Princesses (minus Snow White) in parades.  We also missed all of the Winnie the Pooh characters because we didn't book the meal. And for our nearly 3 year-old it was all about the characters.

Saturday morning we went to have breakfast with the princesses.

On the way in you get to meet Cinderella and have a photo taken with her.

Once inside the castle (which does actually look like a castle on the inside), the princesses went from table to table chatting and signing autograph books (more on that in a bit).

Ariel (The Little Mermaid) was there. And no, I have no idea why Kate looks like she's in pain.

And Belle. Who, according to Kate, "wasn't wearing a beautiful dress."

Belle really liked the light-up shoes.

Don voted Jasmine "Princess that looked most like a normal person."

 And what princess breakfast would be complete without Sleeping Beauty?

When you come into the restaurant they give the kids a wand and a "Wishing Star."  Then later during the meal they ask you to pull out your wishing star, close your eyes and wave your wand, while saying the magic words: Bibiddi Bobiddi Boo! Kate took this part very seriously.

Then, when you open your eyes, little lights flash and twinkle up in the rafters, so it looks like the wishes are up there floating around. Here's Kate in awe of the floating wishes.

It was great fun (and the food was good too)!

 Oh yes, autographs...  One way to get the characters to hang out with you a bit longer is to have them autograph a little book.  Here's Snow White chatting with Kate and signing the book.  Opposite each signature is a place for a picture. Should be a fun little souvenir.

Stay tuned for our Disney wrap-up post: cake, dancing, fireworks and guns!