The Spitting Donkey...

The kids had so much fun here at the "spitting donkey" and of course they got to get wet. It was a good time to take a break from walking and it was fun to see how much they enjoyed this!

Disney World Part II

Entrance to the Magic Kingdom.

Boat ride!


Train stop

This was one of Caitlyn and Micah's favorite rides. The only ride that they did multiple times with their Daddy!

Disney World's Hollywood Studios

4 am wake-up call!

The kids did really well considering the timing of our travels. We woke up at 4am for our flight and once we got there we spent the late afternoon/evening at Hollywood Studios.

This was Micah's all-time favorite show of the trip. Surprised?

It was a stunt show and he is still talking about the things that he saw here...

Micah enjoying the show in Daddy's lap...

We ended the evening at the light show...

and of course couldn't help but stop for a picture or two on the way out...

Now this brought and exciting start to our day...

We don't always get to see snow where we live! Boy, were the kiddos excited when they woke up to this sight on our back porch. Yes, Caitlyn pointed out that I was wrong when I said it doesn't really snow here. I don't know exactly when I said that (most likely it was sometime last winter). She really seems to have a good memory and I am sure that I said it at some time when we were going over the seasons or something because this is a rare sight for us indeed. It was also just enough snow to keep my kids excited and hyper for what seemed like the rest of the day! They played outside until they were cold enough to come in warm themselves by the fire. Caitlyn kept asking if she could keep some snow in a cup- she just didn't want it to melt.

As you can see in the first picture, Dakota wasn't too sure about it at first and kept coming to me saying "Up!" After a few moments, when she realized how much her siblings were enjoying it she decided to get down and join in on the fun.

Contrary to yesterdays 80 degree weather, it is feeling like Christmas time today!

Singin' Jingle Bells

This year as I took pictures for a Christmas card, I thought it would be fun to have the kids sing "Jingle Bells."

Some of these pictures crack me up with each of their expressions...

Yes, my goal was to have these COMPLETED before our trip and in the mail, but it didn't work out that way with everyone being sick.

I took these before I left and I always have the goal of going through pictures and organizing them in order of which I took them...

So, before I get to go through our Disney pictures I needed to sort through these...

Oh yeah, and make a Christmas card.

(I like Micah's expression here)

If anyone needs an idea of how to get a group of kids focused on something while you take some pictures...



"Jingle Bells" seems to work really well.

Ahh, yes, this is a family classic as well. I love Micah's expression here and somehow we lost part of Cassidy.

And We're back!

Well, today I think the lack of sleep from the last five days has caught up with all of the kids and reality has hit.

Some things I have learned from the days away:

It's easier to walk 10 miles in a day than it is to watch these four kiddos...they really keep me on my toes;)

And, it's much easier with two... but a whole lot more fun with four!

Spending time with family...and missing family all at once!

Greg and I spent the last five or so days at Disney World with Caitlyn and Micah. It was a great time together and very much a successful family trip packed with many memories. In fact I took so many pictures I am just going to make a book.

It was great to spend time with the two older ones. I cannot believe that they are old enough to ride HUGE roller coasters! How did they grow up so fast?

It really is the perfect time of the year to go. I have never been to either Disney park, so this was a first visit for me as well as my two kiddos. I must say that I am normally not a huge fan of theme parks but we all had blast together.

It really was amazing.

We did miss the other two though and talked about them often! In fact it was a blessing to see that Caitlynn and Micah were just as excited to return home and see their younger sisters as much as they were about going to Disney World. At the end of the last flight Caitlyn blurted out,"Yeah we're home! We're in San Antonio!" That got a few grins from the people surrounding us on the plane. And while we were waiting for Daddy to pick up the car Micah said he was going to give "a great big bear hug to Cassidy and Dakota." Well, then he went on to ask if Dinosaurs gave hugs because he thought the dinosaur he saw at Disney World was "huge (er)" than bears and he wanted to give them a "huge, gigantic hug."

Yeah, the trip was a blast and I will post more pictures and memories soon, but there really is nothing like being together as a family.

And since I have been up since 1:00am our time, on only 4 hours of sleep, I think I will be making my way to bed!