Trip to the Fort Worth Zoo!

We made an impromptu trip to the Fort Worth Zoo today. Well, I say impromptu because I didn't know we were going, but apparently Tony had planned it in his mind! It was a nice surprise all the same! We got a family membership to the zoo as an early Christmas present (thanks Mom!) so we got our picture ID's out of the way this time. It was about 55 degrees out today, so a little cool, but not too bad. Our first stop is always to see the Flamingos. Daniel was very excited and running from exhibit to exhibit having fun. This was Arianna's first trip to the zoo and she seemed to enjoy looking at the animals. There was a new penguin exhibit that we all enjoyed. Of course with the cooler temperatures, there were some animals inside staying warm, but we saw plenty!

Daniel's favorite animal this trip was the Black Rhino and Arianna really seemed to like the Penguins a lot! As we were driving home, Daniel said, "I like that zoo, but I like Disney's Animal Kingdom much better"...well, who wouldn't??

Can't wait til next time...let's see if he remembers that I promised we would ride the train and the carousel next time we go...(my guess is that yes, he will call me on it!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we give thanks for our wonderful families and friends- we are blessed to have you all as part of our lives. However you are spending the holiday, we wish you a safe and happy time! Here is a picture of two of my biggest blessings!

While we are talking about Thanksgiving... Check out this awesome Thanksgiving cake created by one of my best friends! Sharon is extremely talented and equally generous with her knowledge and expertise. This is the cake she is taking to their family celebration...hope my family doesn't feel too cheated tomorrow when all they get are a couple of pies!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Random Pictures

Here are a few random (but oh so cute) pictures from the past week! I hope that you all have a great weekend- whatever your plans may be!

P.S. I opened up the comments to you all, so feel free to leave a comment whenever you like and let me know what you think! (just click on 'comments' at the end of each post).

A little Disney fix

Just when I needed a little Disney fix, our Photopass CD was delivered by the UPS guy (I think he has our address memorized by now!). So. I threw together a few pages of some of our best Photopass pictures. (Ok...so part of it is that I am procrastinating on the cake I need to do today!) Can't wait to start planning the next trip... but I think the Incredible Hulk cake is calling me now....

How many trips???

Tony and I were talking about how it's hard to remember what Daniel was like at the age of 2- it seems like so long ago! Which brings up a good reason for the thousands of pictures and videos we have! I love, love, love looking back at them from time to time! I looked back at one of our first trips to Disney with Daniel and realized how different he is...yet he is the same. He's older, taller, smarter, funny and energetic... yet he has the same smile, laugh and beautiful eyes! He also makes the same face when he does his "silent cry"(ha).

Well, anyway... I decided to put a page together from all of our trips to Disney. This really shows how much he has changed over the past 4 1/2 years....and how many times he has been to Disney! Thank goodness he loves it as much as we do! To date, he has been to Disney World in Florida 9 times, Disneyland in California 1 time and on the Disney Cruise 4 times! He's not too far off from us...we've been to Disney World 11 times, Disneyland 2 times and the Disney Cruise 6 times!

Of course this wouldn't be complete without showing Arianna's two trips to Disney. I have to laugh that she was so bald back in May. She didn't quite know what to think on that trip- just stared at them. On our October trip, she was very curious. We have some pictures of her smiling and kissing/ touching their noses- very cute! She has 2 trips under her belt and many more to come!

Happy Friday!

I hope that you all had a great week and have an even better weekend! Whatever your plans may be...enjoy! Just thought I would share some pictures from our little "photo session" yesterday. We had fun with it and the kids did great! We also shot some holiday pictures that I'll share with you later.... Happy Friday!

Ta-Da!

Today was Daniel's final class for the Fall session at the Little Gym. They invited the parents into the gym to watch and video/photograph the kids. Each of the kids did a routine on the floor, high balance beam and uneven bars. Then they had a little ceremony where they each got medals. After the ceremony, it was free time where they could show us anything that they wanted to do. Tony switched around his schedule and worked from home today so that he could go and watch/ video. It was a cute ceremony and they all did great! I really think that this class has been great for Daniel and he loves it! We're going to do it for at least another session and see how it goes! Here are some pictures from his final class performance.

And these pictures are from his medal ceremony. He was so excited and proud! He wanted to make sure that he could take the medal home with him too! At the end of class, they got stamps on their feet that said "#1". He even asked if Arianna could have a stamp too- her feet were a little small, but she got hers too! Congratulations Daniel!!

Little Aggies

Well, the football team isn't doing so hot right now, but these are still two of the cutest little Aggies I've ever seen! We're really hoping basketball season proves to be great! Thanks to Cathy for the outfits- I love them!!

Another month!

Is it just me, or is time just flying by these days? It's hard to believe it's already November! Good thing I'm about half done with Christmas already- my goal is to be done in the next 2 weeks so that I can really enjoy December! It will be a busy month for sure with Arianna's FIRST birthday, my birthday, Christmas and all of the festivities in between!

I have been told many times that when you have the second child, you don't take as many pictures and you don't record or remember when they achieved their milestones like you did with the first. I am definitely trying to prove them to be wrong at least in my case! I LOVE keeping track of them monthly and frequently look back at the changes and growth!

In late October, Daniel was 4 years and 5 months! He is getting so big- definitely getting taller! He is learning so much and his confidence has really grown the last 6 months. He is a tremendous help and an awesome big brother!

Arianna turned 11 months old earlier this week! I can't believe she's almost ONE!! It has really gone by fast. I remember being pregnant with her and starting with the contractions about this time last year! She is so much fun right now and her smile can light up any room- it melts me everytime! She is very curious and active and loves her big brother very much!



I can't say that I take less pictures now...you can ask Tony how many backup hard drives we have just for pictures and video- actually I think he's looking to buy another one soon! I thought about having you all guess how many pictures I took on our recent vacation, but it's really an embarrassing amount. We had our regular digital camera, a waterproof digital camera plus we used the Disney Photopass service where their photographers take pictures. Then of course there were the portraits I purchased on the ship....oh my! Go ahead and take a guess if you like....

Vacation Part 2

If you got through part 1, I'll warn you there are a lot more pictures to come. But if you don't want to look through them, all ya gotta do is hit that red X up there on your browser :-)

Onto part 2 of our vacation...a 4 night cruise on the Disney Wonder out of Port Canaveral FL. When Daniel woke up and saw the ship in front of him, he was very excited! We got there around 3 and did not have to wait... because basically we were the only ones there! Most people get there quite a bit earlier, but hey we got there in plenty of time for the safety drill at 4:00 and sail away at 5:00!
That evening, we headed down and got some pictures with Captain Mickey. We watched "The Golden Mickey's" which was a great theatrical show!! The ship was already moving like crazy and unfortunately I wasn't fairing so well. After a few more pictures, we headed to dinner at Triton's. My favorite thing about this meal is the Creme Brulee for dessert...oh it is good!! We ordered our meal, but before they even had a chance to get it, I couldn't take anymore! I grabbed Arianna and headed to the room while Tony and Daniel stuck around to deal with dinner. The wait staff offered to bring it to our room, but Tony opted to come up and we ordered room service. By the time he got to the room, I was fine and it didn't bother me the rest of the trip! After we ate a little, Arianna and I crashed and Tony took Daniel to the Oceaneer's Club to play around for awhile.

One of the things I love about having a balcony is watching the sunrise over the ocean! After getting ready, we headed to the Disney Vacation Club Reception and then off to breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet for some Mickey Waffles! We also explored the ship and went to the Castaway Club Reception for repeat cruisers where Tony won a clock! We ate at Triton's for lunch and Tony ordered the wonderful Angel Hair Pasta dish- yum! I was all about the desserts- loved the white chocolate cheesecake! Daniel enjoyed his ice cream too! We caught the early showing of "Toy Story Musical" which was new for us and it was cute. After a few more things, we headed to the room for a little nap!

Tonight was "dress up night" and we were having dinner at Animator's Palatte- our favorite of all! They put on a show that is really neat! Before dinner, we went to the Buena Vista Theatre and watched the movie Wall-E...FINALLY!! It was really cute and we'll definitely add it to our collection! We took some formal pictures that turned out pretty good also. After dinner, we did some shopping and explored the ship a little more before turning in for the night!

We docked at Nassau in the Bahamas on Tuesday. Tony and I enjoyed being out on the verandah at we pulled into Nassau. The sea was a little choppy but it was beautiful! We had decided to stay on the ship in Nassau this time- which was a first for us. The kids are too little for some of the excursions we would want to do and honestly, after the taxi ride we took on our last cruise, neither of us was ready to relive that again! We decided it would be a nice day to stay on the ship and swim and just have some fun! After breakfast, we met up with some characters, played ping pong, played in the arcade and had a little pool fun. It was Arianna's first water adventure and she loved it! Daniel played in the splash area with her and then headed to the Mickey pool with Daddy. After lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet, they were wiped out and took a nap.

Tonight was the big Pirates in the Carribean Party! The show for the evening was a comedy act that we weren't interested in so we hung out in the room and did some more ship exploring. We ate at the same restaraunt as the night before, but with a different menu that was presented on a treasure map! The food was good, but the ship sure was rocking A LOT! Luckily I didn't get sea sick again although a lot of people must have with all the empty seats at dinner! We had the late seating for dinner which was 8:15 and usually wasn't over until 10ish. Right after dinner, they were having the big Pirate party with a huge dessert buffet and fireworks. Daniel really enjoyed it and couldn't stop talking about it all!

Wednesday morning, we pulled into Castaway Cay, which is Disney's private island. It is beautiful!!! I was very excited to get out there as this would be Arianna's first beach/ ocean encounter and I was hopeful Daniel would like it much better than the last time. We waited around and ate breakfast at Triton's which was a sit down vs a buffet...so that Tony could get pancakes and french toast that isn't on the buffets! The things I do for him! When we got back on the ship in the afternoon, we played some arcade games and played in the pool. We grabbed some food by the pool and watched Daniel play in the pool.

Unfortunately, tonight would be our last night, so I took some time to get our things packed and ready to go. We had decided that since we didn't care for the restaraunt that night, we would eat elsewhere. I can't remember what we had- but it was probably pizza or chicken strips. Tony decided that we would go to the restaraunt and order dessert since we needed to give them their tips. I had mentioned being disappointed in not having the Creme Brulee so he brought me 2 from the other restaraunt!! Oh it was good and we tipped well! They had a big "Til we meet again" party with last minute pictures and all. Afterwards we let Daniel play in the Oceaneer's Club before turning in.

Tony and Arianna hung out on the balcony while I got ready. When I told Daniel we were leaving the ship that morning, he actually cried... oh that made me sad! We had decided to skip breakfast and head out as soon as customs had cleared the ship which was about 7:30. We went straight to our car and loaded up. Again, Daniel was sad that we were leaving. The drive to Disney World is about an hour and when I told him we were taking him to "The Hat" before the airport, he was thrilled! We had an agenda... we got there a little after 9am. Tony and Daniel headed to ride Star Tours while Arianna and I headed to Toy Story Mania and got fastpasses to ride at 11:45. We waited for the guys and then we grabbed a bite to eat at ABC Commissary. We finally found where Mike and Sulley were hiding for some pictures. We hung out and waited for our turn on Toy Story Mania... right at 11:45, we went through the line and I guess the wait was about 15-20 minutes- not bad for this ride. After that we headed to Downtown Disney for my last Earl of Sandwich (sniff sniff) and last minute shopping. We stayed there until about 4 when we were off to the airport for real. The kids quickly passed out in the car. We grabbed Burger King (the things we do for Daniel) at the airport and caught our flight at 7pm. We landed about 9pm with 2 sleeping kids! The trek back to the car wasn't too bad and we were home by 10:30pm! Exhausted, but with oh so many memories!!

Vacation Part 1

It already seems like a long time ago since our vacation (it has been 2 weeks)! I know that people question why we go to Disney so often....but it's just our thing. We really enjoy it and it feels like "home" to us! Which is why we bought into Disney Vacation Club timeshare- to ensure we can continue to go for years to come!! Since our first trip in 2000, we have gone during October every year. Once I got pregnant with Daniel, I started squeaking in other trips here and there. Since 2004, we have gone twice a year- once in October and the other time has varied from February to May and June. Somehow we lucked out in 2005 and Tony was sent to a conference in Orlando- that was great! We both would love to make it back out to Disneyland in California...if only airfare would cooperate (cuz driving ain't happening!).
For the first part of our trip, we went to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Our timeshare "home resort" is Saratoga Springs and it is absolutely beautiful!! For the last few years, we have found it much easier to rent a car and once we are in the car, it just feels like home- we know our way around there (well for the most part).
We got a few comments on how well behaved the kids were on the flight. I told one couple that while we are blessed with well behaved kids, I know there limitations and plan accordingly. Even with a layover, the flight over was uneventful. We got our rental car and were on our way. The kids quickly fell asleep which wasn't a bad thing! We made it to the resort about 2pm and got all checked in and headed to the Boardwalk for the Disney Vacation Club reception.

We then headed to "The Hat" also known as Disney Hollywood Studios (or still MGM to us). I prefer for the first park experience to be Magic Kingdom, but my guys like MGM so what can I say?? From then on, it was a whirlwind trip! We were constantly on the go! On our past trips (even pre kids), we have always taken mid day breaks back at the resort to recoup. That seemed to be thrown to the wayside this trip and while we had a lot of fun, we were tired!! Since we have park hoppers, we kind of jumped back and forth between parks and went to 2 and even 3 parks in a day. So, I'll just give some highlights of each park with those pictures! At the parks, we averaged walking about 10 miles a day....

Disney Hollywood Studios (I still like "MGM" better!)...

Favorite rides:

1)Toy Story Mania- this is by far my favorite ride right now! It is so fun!! The first time I took Arianna with me and Daniel rode with Tony. I think the other two times, Daniel and I rode together and Tony had Arianna. It's such a fun ride! I think Arianna just got mesmerized by all of the lights and action!
2)Star Tours- this was a first for Daniel and he LOVED it...loved it so much I think that over the course of the trip, they rode it at least 5 times! It is a simulation based ride which is not my thing, but luckily Tony loves them!!

Favorite shows:

1) Playhouse Disney- just a fun show with all of his favorite characters! He also finally got to meet Handy Manny outside the show.

2) Indiana Jones- he loves this one! I gave Tony my tip from May of going in right before it starts and not being crammed in the middle of the rows- worked great!

3) Muppet Show 3D- we didn't do this one in May, but he talked about it a lot..so we made sure to do this one and actually watched it twice! It's funny watching him duck and move when the 3D stuff is coming at him!

Of course there were some favorite meet and greets with our Toy Story and Monsters Inc favorites and a stop at Pizza Planet!

Next up we have Magic Kingdom- my favorite! They opened early on Thursday so we headed there before our breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We also spent the evening there for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Favorite Ride:

Buzz Lightyear Spin- we rode this one at least twice and one time, we were given "Year of a Million Dreams Fastpasses" which meant we could go straight to the front of the line for some of the more crowded rides!!

Favorite Shows:

1) Mickey's Philharmagic 3D- Daniel hated this one on a previous trip, but loved it this time so we saw it twice! It's a really cute show!

2) Monsters Inc Laugh Floor- another favorite of Daniel's

We also did some trick or treating, saw some characters, watched the Boo to You parade and fireworks and I'm sure we ate something somewhere along the way!


Epcot is another favorite of Daniel's (hmmm... I'm starting to think they are all favorites!). We always have to do the character meet and greet and character corner for Mom! We love the Living with the Seas with Nemo and Friends- very cute ride...although I have to cover his eyes at the "scary part". Turtle talk with Crush is fun- maybe next time he'll get to ask a question. We enjoyed walking through the World Showcase a bit and seeing the different countries. It was the Food and Wine Festival which was very nice, but VERY crowded since there are a lot of locals that come.

The last park was Animal Kingdom. Now since this park is animal based, it closes earlier than the other parks. In the past, this has always been a half day at the most for us...well, not this time. We were there from 8 until about 5! We finally got to see the Jungle Parade though so that was great!! One of our favorites is the Kilamanjaro Safari and it did not disappoint! We headed over the Camp Minnie Mickey for some character pictures. We had planned to get the scrumptious breakfast pizza at Pizzafari, but wouldn't you know it, we missed breakfast by about 5 minutes! So, it was pizza again...looking back, we had a lot of pizza (Tony's favorite?). We headed out to Rafiki's Planet watch to the petting zoo, which Daniel loved. We tried to see Nemo the Musical, but the line was very long. We did try the new Yak & Yeti Asian counter service and it was pretty good. After the parade we called it a day!

Sunday morning, we were all packed up and ready to go! We loaded up the car and headed to Epcot/ MGM and Downtown Disney before getting on our way to Port Canaveral for our Disney Cruise. We were exhausted and ready for some relaxation on the cruise!!

Happy Halloween!

What a jam packed week of Halloween Fun! This was the first year Daniel was really interested in "Halloween" and it seems we went all out! Where to start....

Right after vacation, we jumped right in with decorating popcorn balls and baking cookies- yummy! Sunday the 26th, we went to a costume birthday party for our neighbors cute little Pirate! Then that afternoon, we went to our neighborhood "Halloween Extravaganza" where they had games for the kids to play for prizes- Daniel did a mean "limbo"! They also had a chili cookoff, hotdogs and pumpking carving. It was a fun little carnival!

We had Daniel's normal Wednesday tumbling class and then on Thursday I finally made it around to start the pumpkin carving- I was determined to do it this year!! On Friday morning, we were invited to a Halloween Party Play Day at a neighbors house. They played games, had snacks and had a great time! We tried to get a few of the older kids to play "Pass the Pumpkin"....well, it was passed around once and they exclaimed "Can I have my candy now?" and they were done with the game...it was a nice try though! There was a hunt for candy that was crazy fun for the kids!!

Then on Friday night, we tagged along with some neighbors and their kids as we made our way trick or treating down our street. Daniel did very good with the "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" (although he could have been a little louder). At one point, I asked if he was ready to go home and he said "No, I have to get more candy for Daddy"- how sweet was that?? The candy stash was a little heavy so I had to provide some assistance there! Arianna just took it all in and was content to follow her big brother around! We finally made it back around to our house and "Batman" wanted to help pass out candy. I really think he enjoyed that more than the trick or treating! At one point, there were kids on the other side of the street and he yelled "Candy over here" to get their attention- it was really cute! Once the candy was gone, we were done and got to go to dinner!

Then on Saturday the 1st, we went to a Halloween party at the Little Gym. They had a really good turnout for his age group! They had games set up where they could win prizes and they could also play on some of the gym stations. There were a few games during the night as well. He really enjoyed himself and it was fun to watch! We replenished with some snacks and a few pictures. As soon as the party was over, he declared "Halloween is over" and wanted his costume off!! It was a busy week, but we had a great time!!

Here are a few pictures- hope you enjoy!!

(Oh and if you are confused on what costume he wore this year...well, that's because there were 3! We had his Batman costume from last year and this year we added a Star Wars Jedi and Incredibles "Dash". Mom found the costumes cheap and couldn't resist! We'll get a lot of play time out of them anyway!)