Giraffes, Whales and Tigger Too

November has been a crazy busy month for us and December is looking to be the same.  I am not complaining though, because we were very fortunate to get to go to Walt Disney World for a few days.  Nanie and Papa had a condo in Orlando so we tagged along.  Keith was a bit hesitant about taking Grace since she is only 20 months old, but she LOVED the whole trip - amusement parks, pools, animals, oh my!

Already people watching!

The parks were already decorated for Christmas.  

Grace's very first ride.  Aladdin.  This was the first of many rides that we went on. After this she quickly figured out how fun the were and would start chanting 'Ride, Ride, Ride' when she spotted on she wanted to go on.  There was a perma-grin on her face on every ride.  Only once was she a bit scared.  

Mad Tea Party - spinning was fun!  

Keith was very excited to get to meet Jiminy Cricket - Grace wasn't as sure about him.

Recently, my Great Aunt Irma passed away.  She absolutely adored Grace even though she never got the chance to meet her.  I completely believe that she is looking over Grace from Heaven and this was confirmed when I saw the name of our Safari boat at Disney - 'Irrawaddy Irma'

This was her face throughout most of Animal Kingdom on the Safari ride.  We did it twice as a result.  She loved looking at all of the animals while on what she called the 'Choo Choo'.

No trip would be complete without a custom Minnie Mouse hat.  Too bad she wouldn't wear it until after we got home.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

Unfortunately, my camera broke the morning we went to Sea World, so I don't have any pictures, but the Dolphin Show was everyones favorite.

Here are a few things that I learned on the trip.  20 months is a great age.  We brought the stroller and lots of snacks.  When Grace got tired, she took a nap in the stroller and we would ride non-toddler friendly rides and trade off watching her.  We didn't have to worry about melt downs or having to leave the park in the middle of the day.  We tried to get to each park as soon as it opened and left in time to make it home for and early dinner and bed.   We also stuck to the parks where it was geared more to stuff she could do as well.  As long as she was engaged in what was around her she was very happy.   November was a great time to go as well - less crowded and great weather.  We didn't have much more than a 25 min wait, which Grace didn't even mind.  

We can't wait to go back again.  Thanks Nanie and Papa!

Happy Halloween

We may not really decorate for Halloween around here yet, but we do dress for the holiday.  Grace was all ready last night for All Hallow's Eve.  Of course she really doesn't know what Halloween is all about - CANDY of course, but she does get the fact that I have been dressing her up for some reason.  

After I got a sewing machine last year for Christmas and started to learn to sew, I decided that I should try and make her costume.  When I was little my mother and aunt would make my halloween costumes.  I actually won quite a few Costume contests as well.  These are a few pictures of me and my sisters when we were little for Halloween.  

Well here is our Little Red Riding Hood this year.  I am very happy with how it turned out and I think she is just precious.  And like her mother, she has already won 2 costume contests this year.  I think it has more to do with her cute smile than the costume though.  

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!!

Girl's Trip

Last week, Keith went to Chicago for a work/birthday trip.  He had business in Chicago and stayed to go to a football game at Northwestern.  As a result, Grace and I decided to head to Atlanta.  It turned out to be the perfect time of year to go.  The leaves were changing and it was gorgeous there.


I finally decided that Grace's shaggy mullet was way over do for a bit of a trim so she had her first haircut ever.  We went to this cute kids place that had cars, planes, etc to sit and tv's of cartoons to watch.  Grace definitely wasn't sure what she was in for, but once she had a sucker there wasn't much more than a whimper of complain.   She did great.  Of course it doesn't look like a huge difference, but it is much more cleaned up and I was shocked at the amount of hair on the floor.

All Dolled up!

It wouldn't be a trip to Atlanta without hitting up a few of the local favorites.  We tried out a few new restaurants - HD1 - hot dog restaurant from Richard Blais was very tasty for lunch one day.  Our new favorite though is the Howell Mill Food Park that meets up on Tues and Fridays each week.  About 10-12 food trucks all converge on a park with a handful of picnic tables.  All sorts of cuisine from Korean tacos to Po Boys to Panini's to straight up gourmet food to ice cream  - well you get the drift.  We got a sampling of the goods and shared.  It was delicious.  I have already decided that weather permitting we will go back in December.  

We also visited Scarecrows in the Garden at the Botanical Gardens.  Grace was thrilled when we let her loose in the Children's Garden.  

Must try out the slide a few hundred times!

So Big!!

I had been trying to take pictures of her behind the waterfall and about the time I realized I had a wrong camera setting and everything was black, Grace decided to climb in the pool of water.  She had one foot in until Grandpa came to rescue - more like Pull her out.  As you can tell she wasn't happy about not being allowed to go in for a swim.

It was a great trip.  Grace is such a fabulous traveler. Stay tuned since we are off for more adventures in Florida later this week.  

Pumpkin Patch 2011

The Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch is a local favorite.  We came here last year as well with the CECPTA.    It is a great patch, with lots of pumpkins, photo ops, bounce house, maze, hayride, etc.  It was very different with a toddler this year that was excited to just run around everywhere.  I tried to keep up but taking her picture has definitely become a challenge.  If anyone can recommend tips to get a 1 yr to sit still and smile I am all ears.  Actually any tips for photographing a 1 yr old are welcome.

She is getting good at these peak throughs though!

State Fair of Texas 2011

One of the reasons that my parents stayed in Dallas after Keith and I got back from Mexico was so that we could all go to the State Fair.  I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our day at the fair, but especially Grace.  Of course we did more than just these pictures - dog show, visitings the cows, pigs, etc, food galore....

On the Dart with Grandpa.  She had a blast and ended up falling asleep the minute we got to the fair.  

First Merry-Go-Round ride.  

Little Hands on the Farm was a huge hit!

Feeding the chickens and collecting eggs

Milking the Cows

Planting the seeds

Driving the Tractor.  I love this picture.

I can't wait to go back next year.