Trip To Florida Part One / Islands of Adventure

In the middle of December we took a trip to Florida! We were worried as usual about how the littlest member of our family would do on the plane. He did just fine but thank goodness I packed two full backpacks of snacks and toys because by the time we were landing we had just started to play with the very last thing and his attention was about to be lost! Whew close call!
We got our luggage and fancy rental car ( we must have gotten mixed up with someone special because we got a super upgrade) and headed to Granny and Grandpa’s house. We were going to spend the night there and visit for a couple days before heading to Disney.
After we were all unpacked and stretched our legs we went to downtown Winter Garden for some yummy Italian food and yogurt . The town has changed so much since I was younger. It has a very pretty main street area where they had a concert and christmas lights going on . It was such a nice night outside and Nolan had Granny walking him all over the place to keep him entertained. It was getting late so we headed back to get the boys to sleep. This was the hardest part of the trip. The boys both like to be in their own beds with their normal routines of sleeping. They were both sleeping in the same room at Granny’s house and I just didn’t know how this would work. Well it didn’t. Nolan ended up on the floor in our room fighting his sleep like usual. He finally got to sleep and we were good to go !
The next day we woke up and headed to Islands of Adventure!
The little ones were a bit cranky so we headed straight towards the area with rides for little ones. We finally got to Dr. Seuss Land!!! It is so fun and I appreciate it much more now that we have the boys with us. We ran through a little Whoville maze , Rode One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, the Dr. Seuss Carousel, and the Cat and the Hat Ride! That place was awesome! I wish I could live in Suessland. On our way to the next area we also go to meet the Mayor of Whoville! Nathan was much more interested in him than Nolan. Mr. Mayor tried to talk to him but he wouldn’t even look at him.

The next “ land” we went to was the Superhero area! We stopped to eat a quick bit in the Fantastic Four restaurant. As we were leaving guess who we ran into?! ..... Captain America!!!!! The boys rushed over to take a picture with him. They were both excited and thought he was so cool . As we looked over to our left we saw Wolverine ! This place was loaded with super heros. We must have gotten there right in time because as soon as we were done with Wolverine all the superheros hopped on their cool motorcycles and rode right by us! Since we were right next to the Spiderman ride we left Nolan with Grandpa and his popcorn and headed in . Nathan was a little scared but wanted to be brave so he could tell his friend Brady all about it when he got home. Thank goodness Brady is a spiderman fan or he would have not gone on it.
He got to put on his 3-D glasses and help Spiderman fight Dr. Octopus and save the city. We could tell he was very nervous but he tried it and that is a big step for Nathan. He actually liked it but said he did not want to ride it again :)

We left that land and were headed towards Jurassic Park! Kyle took Nathan to see if he was tall enough to ride it while we stayed back and watched the brave people flying down the drop into the water. Nolan loved watching this and thought it was soooo funny. He would say “ You hear it!? “ while holding his hand up to his ear every time one was coming. Nathan and Kyle headed back towards us. Kyle said Nathan was to scared to ride. He said he didn’t want to get wet. After a while of trying to bribe him Kyle went to buy him a poncho so he would keep dry . They ran into a Jurassic Park tour guide who told Nathan all about the ride and how nice the dinosaurs were. The whole reason Nathan finally got up the nerve to ride was because of him. He had him convinced he would love it. We of course jumped on our 2 minute window of willingness to ride with Nathan! We loaded up and told him step by step what would happen. When the big T Rex came we told him to close his eyes if he wanted but we were about to drop. WHOA! we sure did drop! He was laughing and thought it was so fun. I was so glad he actually liked it and didn’t run off screaming. On our way out we passed tour guide Jason who wanted to check on Nathan and see how it went. Nathan told him how fun it was and Jason said to come with him because he had a surprise for him for being so brave!!! He let him pick any dinosaur off the shelf in the store to take home with him. Nathan was so excited and it made him feel so special. He even took a picture with his friend Jason and his new dinosaur.

We walked around the rest of the park and over to the Harry Potter area! Kyle and I got to leave the kids with Granny and ride the new Harry Potter ride. It was so cool and made me wish I knew a little more about Harry Potter, I have a feeling it would have made a lot more sense. The also had a wooden roller coaster by the big one that we all could ride. Nolan had a face of panic the whole time . In his defense it did go a bit faster than we had thought.

The boys were getting very tired so we decided to head on out. It had been a long day and we were ready for dinner and showers.

Looking back I can’t believe all of this was just one day of our super fun / exhausting trip.
I need a nap just reading it.
:)

Boys Christmas Pictures

Who wants to see some of the cutest boys ever in Santa hats?

Pictures from Disney.

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Disney! Actual stories and more pictures to come. :)

HEB Christmas Caroling.

Nathans class had a field trip to HEB to tour the store and sing Christmas carols last week! I was so sad because Kyle and I had to go out of town for business and it was on the same day :(
Luckily we have amazing friends and family who covered the whole time for us.
Mimi and Nolan met up with the group at the store for the tour . Our awesome friend Kelley was at the store waiting for the class so she could document and video everything! She was so sweet to make sure to write down every detail so I didn't miss a thing. I am so grateful my boys have such sweet and caring people in their lives to do these things for us!

Kelley wrote this perfect and funny email to me as soon as she got home from the trip. I am just posting it here since it has all the details from the day!

Nathan did so good!!!!!! He stole the show!!! Of course, he knew all of the words, and those moves, boy does he have some MOVES!!!! I literally had to hold my mouth closed but I was chuckling so hard as I was watching him perform. HE IS AWESOME!!!

After singing a couple songs, they lined up for tour of the store with a super sweet lady. The first stop was watching them make homemade orange juice. Then the tour guide proceeded to show them the new food chart and teach them the importance of eating healthy food. Next up was the fresh fruit stand and all the kids were amazed at the samurai skills of the pineapple chopping lady. After that they all stood around the frozen fish cooler before looking at the fresh fish. This is where Nathan asked his teacher what those little pink things were. When she replied, "shrimp," he laughed and said, "hey, I like to eat shrimps!" Get this: the night before someone accidentally knocked over the lobster tank, they all fell on the floor, and the tank was destroyed! Since there were no lobsters to touch, they each got to touch a shrimp instead, good substitute, huh! After his turn, Nathan giggled and said the shrimp was slimy and cold. After all the seafood excitement, we went to the Tortilleria and watched them make fresh tortillas and even got the sample a warm one. Then we marched through the bakery and floral section and made our way to the cereal section. Here, the tour guide talked about the importance of a healthy breakfast and named off all the healthy choices. Nathan raised his hand that he liked all the healthy stuff and not the Pop Tart! hahaha! The exact opposite of what my kids would do! Next, we went behind the sausage section and she actually let the kids stand in the 3 below freezer. Poor Nathan cried and wanted no part of this so we stayed outside with Mimi and Nolan. Afterwards, he changed his mind and wanted to go in but they had already locked the door. Lucky for us, the next stop was the dairy cooler. A good compromise! Nathan said he was freezing in there so I can't imagine what he would of done in the real freezer!!!
After some more marching, we went to the pharmacy. Sorry but this is where Nathan sold you out. She asked how many times a day they brushed their teeth and Nathan shouted, "Once!" heheheh! Lastly, they paraded in front of the check-out lines and waved at all the people. When they were done, they had big surprise...the HEB Buddy!!!

It really was so cute. I had no idea that a field trip to a grocery store could be so fun and interesting!

I was laughing so hard when I read this. The best part was we were in a meeting reading over some not so funny stuff so it was obvious I was not reading the same thing as everyone else.

Kelley also videotaped the singing here :
http://youtu.be/bUtt88wMYsA

And here are the pictures she took! Seriously how awesome is she!

Thanksgiving

These posts are way out of order. I am trying to catch up and realized I completely forgot Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of yummy food and family fun .
WE started the day watching the Thanksgiving parade on TV. It seemed I was the only one interested this year. In the kids defense it was not very entertaining this year for some reason. It is was a very laid back and fun morning. After hanging out for a bit we got dressed and headed to Mimi and Papas house for the good stuff! Mimi had been cooking all morning and it smelled delicious. We all settled in and ate and ate and ate. After lunch we all rode around the golf course looking at the new houses and trying to walk off the turkey we had all eaten to much of.
When we got back we opened up some silly string we had brought! WE had it left over from Halloween that we never used. The kids and Chad went to town! It was so funny because Nathan was laughing so hard thinking he was really getting Chad but it was the other way around. Nolan was having a hard time pressing the button but with a little help from Kathy he was right there in the middle. For some reason the only pictures I have from Thanksgiving were from the silly string fight. It is okay though because they were having so much fun and love their "uncle Chad". He is a pretty fun guy!
After Kathy loaded the boys up and took them to the park for a while. It was nice to relax and talk with everyone. When the came back they were so tired and ready to get to bed.
It was a very nice day full of great food and family. What more could you ask for? :)

Christmas Play

Nathan and Nolan had their Christmas play tonight at school. It was so sweet and the boys were adorable.
We started the night off by meeting Kathy and Richard for pizza . After we were all stuffed we all headed over to the school. Nathan was ready to go into his class but Nolan was not. Nolan kept saying " I no go to school" I am pretty sure he does it out of habit becuase this is what he says everytime he goes to school.
We found our seats and waited for the show to start. The first group was the older group with Nathan's class! He was right in the middle which was perfect since he really like to get into it. He did such a great job. They sang two songs and he was very serious . After his class moved up to the top of the seating area and continued to sing along with the other groups. I am certain Nathan knows every Christmas song there is . He really loves Christmas.
After two more groups Nolan's class was up . He was so cute walking up to the stage . Once they got him into his spot him and his little friend kept pointing out their moms to each other. They went back and forth with Nolan saying " that's my mom!" and she wold point out hers. It was pretty darn cute. Once the song started Nolan wasn't really into it. In his defense he told us he was not going to sing before we went. At one point he looked like he was going to fall asleep. ha ha ha h. He was so funny making all his different faces.
The grand finale was all the kids singing Feliz Navidad. While Kyle was filming Nathan he caught Nolan getting down ! It is so funny becuase it lasted for about 15 seconds and then he went back to being completely bored about the whole deal.
They both did such a great job . I love getting to see them with their school friends and showing off all they have learned.
Here are some videos and pictures from tonight