Putting up the Christmas Tree

Brian and I would ideally put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving (or as soon as we can after). Since we were gone, we put it up as soon as we could after we got home. Austin just loved helping with the ornaments....and did much better this year with spreading them out. He still wanted to clump them a little bit, but it was fun no matter where he put them! He even got to help Daddy with the star!!!

Visiting Little Rock Part Two

After the Arkansas game, our visit was a little more relaxed. We got to spend some time with Yaya and Bobo and Uncle John. The family all got together for dinner with Craig and Ruth Anne and their kids, Aunt Nancy, and Grandmother and Granddad. Austin got to help Yaya put up her Santa tree while Mommy and Daddy went to dinner with friends...and then bowling afterwards. We had a lot of fun visiting everyone, but 5 days just isn't enough when you don't see everyone very often!

Visiting Little Rock Part One

We left Missouri to fly to Little Rock early on Friday morning after Thanksgiving. The idea was to get to Little Rock before the Razorback game started. Brian had invited all his friends over to his parents house to watch the game and he was really excited about being in AR for the game since it's always a big game to watch.

Well, American Airlines had other plans for us! The flight that was orginally a direct flight to Little Rock was rescheduled to fly through Dallas instead. So, we were leaving 5 minutes earlier than planned, but arriving in Little Rock 3 hours later than orginally scheduled. That made it so that we weren't getting there until after the game had already started! Needless to say, Brian wasn't happy! We discussed a few options and found out that it was impossible to do anything else other than get on that plane and be late.

Everything became better when we got to Yaya and Bobo's house and it wasn't even half-time yet. People had still come over to watch the was having a great time....and we just joined right in when we got there and didn't even think of the late arrival the rest of the night. The game proved to be a GREAT one...with Arkansas beating LSU and kicking them out of the #1 spot!

The gang after the football game

This is what it looks like when 4 toddlers try to get onto a piano bench at the same time!!!

Austin taking care of his future wife...sorry John, we'll make sure he treats her like a Lady!

Watching a movie ... aren't they so cute!?!

A picture of Hope and Austin gets taken every time they are together at this piano....

Austin with Lisa and Hope with Stacy at the end of the night.

Visiting Missouri Part Two

While in Missouri, we went out to Dittmer to visit Grandpa and Great-Grandma Frede. I'm not kidding when I say that Austin is a country boy. It turned out to be a GREAT day and we were able to be outside most of the time while visiting. Austin had a great time seeing his Grandpa and I know Grandpa had a great time seeing Austin.

While we were there, Austin got to pet the horses that live there and he even rearranged Grandma's lawn ornaments. I think we all got a kick out of him when he saw two frogs in two different places and decided that just wasn't right. He took the smaller frog and put it next to the big frog and said that the baby frog needed to be by his mommy.

Grandpa and Austin playing tug of war.

A hug before we leave.

Grandma gets a kiss too.

Feeding the horses some grass.

Right before we left...had to get one more picture with the horses.

Visiting Missouri Part One

After leaving Disney World, we flew to Missouri to visit family there! Austin did a great job on yet another flight!

Austin loves being out in the country. He would play outside all day long if the weather was good. Papa has a tractor and Austin just absolutely loves this! No matter where we are, if this boy sees a tractor, he points it out and says, "Look, Papa's tractor!!!" This applies to even those riding lawn mowers that he sees people using.

We also had Thanksgiving in St. Clair and got to visit with the Todisman side of the family. We had a lot of fun visiting Nana and Papa and Aunt Amanda, Uncle Jimmy and the rest of the family in St. Clair.

Austin and Papa on the tractor

Austin and Aunt Manda...they were outside playing in the leaves.

Papa and Austin playing around.

Nana and Austin making Mommy's birthday cake.

Austin and Nana playing with the water at the Magic House

Playing with Papa again...that IS what Grandparents are for, right?!?!

Uncle Jimmy tickling Austin before bedtime!

A last kiss before bedtime for Nana....

Disney World Day 5 - Magic Kingdom...Last Day!!!

We get to Magic Kingdom for our last and final day. We went on a safari boat ride, then rode on the Magic Carpets and while we were getting off of that ride, we realized that Aladdin was also on the ride with one of the kids! So, we followed them back to the line to get his and Jasmine's autograph. I'll tell you, Aladdin was a little weird, but very "cheerful!" Austin got their autograph and pictures and then we went to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.


After leaving the tree house, we were going back over to the other side of teh park when we saw that a show was just about to start in front of the castle. I'll tell you, it was COLD this day and we were going to get sweatshirts RIGHT after this show!

This year at Disney World was the Year of a Million Dreams. The show was about that. Basically, this year, Disney tried to make as many dreams come true as possible. Dreams as small as a cupcake to as big as helping to open a park was made possible.

We passed the Car ride again....Austin got to sit in the car sitting outside the ride. We were on our way to Mickey's Toon Town Fair to ride a kid roller coaster.

Goofy's Barnstormer is a kid roller coaster that lasts about 15 seconds, but was still fast enough to make Austin a little scared. He didn't cry, but definately didn't want to go back on it!

We also visited Mickey and Minnie's Country Houses. It was pretty neat to see the oversized cartoonish furniture and decorations!

We went on the Car ride AGAIN! Mommy went this time....and Daddy took pictures.

Then, the last ride we went on was Buzz again! Gotta love those good rides that makes the kids happy!!!

Oh, and Austin finally got behind the bars to pose with Buzz's archnemesis.....Lord Z-something....Brian and I can't remember his name at this exact moment!!! LOL

Overall, Disney World was GREAT!!!! We think Austin was a GREAT age to go this first time. He had fun and was able to ride quite a bit of rides and loved the shows! We can't wait to go back another time in a couple of years!!!!

Day 4 Continued - Pool and Very Merry Christmas Party

So, like I said, we went back to the resort, got Austin a nap and then let him go to the pool. He has a very friendly personality and the whole trip was trying to talk to both adults and kids. While at the pool, he made a friend with another little boy and they played the entire time!


After the pool, we went back to our room. On the way there, we go through the 101 Dalmations part of our resort. Austin loved climbing on the Dalmation Puppy and I thought it was a pretty cute picture!

So, after we got back to the room, we waited for Austin's babysitter. We hired Kids Nite Out to provide a babysitter for the night so that Brian and I can go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party by ourselves. She showed up 15 minutes late, but waived the transportation fee that they usually charge, so that made us happy. We felt entirely safe leaving Austin with this lady and he was perfectly happy making another friend!

We leave and finally get to Magic Kingdom again and get our wrist bands for the Party. Basically, they close the park at 7pm and only allow those who purchased the Party tickets to be there. The crowds are small and the waits for any ride was almost non-existant. I think the longest line we waited in was for a PhotoPass picture in front of the castle.

Speaking of the castle....it was GORGEOUS!!! It looked like a sugar cookie all lit up with the pretty lights!

During the party, they have different stations where you can get the most wonderfully tasting sugar cookies and hot chocolate (they also have apple juice and apple slices for those health conscious people!)

The Christmas Party isn't only about no waits and cookies....they also have a different parade and several different shows that are Christmas themed. Two times during the night (the party ends at midnight), they have special fireworks as well. It was a great night and Brian and I had fun being by ourselves with no stroller or cranky toddler!

Disney World Day 4 - Magic Kingdom

Wow...Magic Kingdom is definately a 2 day park...or MORE! I will probably have 3 posts about this park because it is just so big and so awesome!

Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It promised to be a cool ride and Austin was excited about it! You get into these space ship things and you have a lazer gun and try to shot at some targets. At the end of the ride, they have the scoreboard to see how good you were.

After Buzz, we rode the cars. Austin loved these. Daddy drove the first time and Mommy drove the car behind them.

Then, Austin and I rode a spaceship ride. It went a lot faster than the dinosaurs at Animal Kingdom, but Austin still really liked it.

After the spaceships, Austin wanted to ride the cars...AGAIN! So, Daddy rode, while I took pictures. He got to drove this time, but didn't like it too much according to Daddy. They are a little hard to steer and if you don't do it perfectly, they bump against the middle track.

Here's Austin at the sword in the stone behind the carousel. He tried to pull it out, but I guess he's just not the choosen one!

Then, we went on the Carousel. It was pretty cool and Austin did a great job staying on his horse by himself. We went on "Its a Small World" but didn't get any pictures. He liked that ride, Brian said it was easier to not be annoyed by the song when you are busy pointing out all the little details to a 2 year old.

After a little while at the Magic Kingdom, we left to go to the Contemporary Resort to have lunch with Mickey and Friends. We went to Chef Mickey's for lunch (still considered the breakfast buffet at 11am if you ever go to Disney World...much cheaper than the dinner buffet). Austin had a GREAT meal and got to meet his favorite characters again! Goofy and Donald were there too, but he doesn't like Goofy and Donald scares him sometimes too. He's still pretty impressed by Minnie. Of course, he is noticing girls a lot lately....he'll look at a pretty woman or girl and say, "Mommy, I like her...she's pretty!" I'm not sure if I am prepared for all of this when he gets older.
Then, he met Pluto....his all-time favorite for right now! It was all smiles and lots of hugs!

Then, came Mickey!!! What a great meal and so totally worth the money! Not to mention, the food was great and it was all you can eat! Did you know that they make waffles that are shaped like Mickey? hehehe...even at our resort for breakfast they had that!

After Chef Mickey's we went back to the resort for the rest of the afternoon. Austin was starting to get pretty tired by this time of the vacation, so we figured an afternoon at the hotel would be good. We thought he'd like to spend a little time at the pool as well.