Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful holiday and the girls really enjoyed themselves.  They saw all of their in town family and had a blast.  At each new destination, they didn't want to leave.

They ended up with a lot of Barbie stuff.  They now own a Barbie Beetle, a Barbie Corvette and a Barbie Camper/RV.  So, we just need to get Barbie her driver's license and we're good to go.  :-)

Thanks to everyone for all the generosity through the season, and Merry Christmas to All....and to all a good night (it's been a long day!).

Still Cruisin' ...

Still on the Day at Sea.  Just palying around on the balcony taking some shots of the girls with the beautiful Atlantic Ocean in the background.

More Cruisin'

This post starts out with the Pirates in the Caribbean party.  Fun!  Everyone got dressed up in our group (except for one - every party needs a pooper right?).  I bought the girls these T shirts before the trip in a small size so their bellies would show and then I shagged them with scissors.  We all had a great time.

 Duckie even made it to the pirate party!!!

Now, we're on to the last day of the cruise.  It's the day at sea, so we finally got to spend some time at the pool.

The Mickey pool:

Disney Cruise 2010 - Third Day

The previous post was still the first night (and thanks to Hurricane Igor - barf bags in every bathroom - that's just about all the photos I took that evening).  We did go to the show the Golden Mickey's that evening where I saw many people running up the aisles and out.  The ship was definitely a rockin' that night.  Ick.  Thankfully, Kaitlyn and Nicole seemed fine, but I certainly had issues.  I didn't get sick, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. 

The previous post also had photos from the second day aboard, which was our Atlantis excursion day.  I didn't take the camera to Atlantis, so there are no photos from there.  Then, back on the ship for the fancy dinner that second evening.

This next post finishes the fancy evening and takes us into the third day aboard.  This was our Castaway Cay day.

 Because Kaitlyn missed the Princess Gathering, we had to make efforts the remainder of our time on the ship to find photo opportunities with the princesses.  We got Belle here outside the Disney theater. 

 Out of the various shots in this pose, believe it or not, this was the best one without Kaitlyn not even looking.  You didn't want to see the facial expressions on the other shots.  Not good.  :-)

 Waking up to find the ship in the Castaway Cay port.  How gorgeous!  And this time our state room was on the opposite side of the ship, so we got this awesome view.  Last year, our view was the gangway and the other side of the pier where they had all kinds of construction going on to dig a port for the much larger ship premiering soon - the Disney Dream.

 That's the Flying Dutchman ship used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

 A beachy photo op with Chip and Dale.

Brett with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Disney Cruise 2010 Continued

 Having fun on the deck of the ship.  Still the first afternoon after we set sail.

 First morning on the boat.  There was a Princess Gathering.  Where is Kaitlyn you might ask?  Well, you should ask Daddy who wouldn't answer the state room phone for (at least, no joke) the EIGHT times I probably called.  I did say this was the first 'morning' so I'm sure we all know what happened.

It turned out that it was just me and Nicole.  She met Snow White, Belle, Tiana and Cinderella.

 Mickey on the night with the formal meal.  Nice tux!

 Minnie in her Sunday best for the formal night too.  :-)

Dare I Say It????

Over the past week, I cannot recall a single Kaitlyn potty accident.  Speedy and his merry band of elves reporting back to Santa really have 'scared the crap out of her.'  HA!  Keep it up Kaitlyn!

And I can't sign off on this post without mentioning that Nicole is always fantastic and uses the potty.

Santa sent another note to our home on Friday afternoon via Speedy for potty praises.  This time Speedy was allowed to give the girls a gift from Santa.  They got one of those plastic candy canes that's filled with Hersey's kisses.  They loved it.

Thanks Santa!

What's With Wednesday?

I've got another Kaitlyn story.  In school, they have learned about the days of the week, and for whatever reason, Kaitlyn has taken a real liking to Wednesday.  Here are some examples.

Potty Story
Kaitlyn still has trouble using the potty for #2.  Beyond that, I'd say we're potty trained, but that's obviously quite an obstacle, but at least that's something that only happens once a day, so we deal with it and move on.  I have to say, I'm surprised that it's lasted this long.  Once we got past c-diff, we picked back up on potty training in early July.  I never thought this would last this long, but I digress....that sets up the story though.

In an effort to get this licked, we've pulled out the big guns for Christmas time and told Kaitlyn that Santa's elves are watching and reporting back to Santa and want her to use the potty.  Prior to Christmas time, I'd say we were having close to zero success on our potty issue.  The elves have helped.  She has used the potty at least 5 times in the past 2-3 weeks.  We have an Elf on the Shelf too.  The girls named him Speedy (because those elves are quick).  Speedy even left a note for Kaitlyn one evening after she used the potty the prior day to tell her that he reported immediately back to Santa how good Kaitlyn had been.  She was so excited that she even took Speedy's note to school to show the other boys and girls. 

A day or so later, she had an accident again.  I always talk to her about her accidents and ask her why she didn't tell an adult, etc, etc, etc and I encouraged her to use the potty tomorrow.  She told me that she didn't want to use the potty tomorrow.  She would use the potty on Wednesday!  :-)

PaPa Story
PaPa was over the other evening and Mike was at home with the girls.  He was about to walk them two houses down the road to look at a neighbor's Christmas lights, so they all four went.  Apparently, Minnie or Daisy darted across the road while a car was approaching and Kailtyn went running into the road too.  PaPa yelled at her, which of course made her mad.  So, PaPa stopped yelling and more calmly explained to her how dangerous that was, etc and that he was just trying to keep her safe.  Didn't work...Kaitlyn remained angry with PaPa until he left.

So, I get home later and hear the story.  I reiterate that PaPa loves her and was just trying to keep her safe.  And then I ask her, "So, do you still love PaPa."  She replies, "No, I don't love PaPa.  I will love him on Wednesday."  :-)  Say, what???  Too funny.

Mike Story
We went to see Santa Saturday morning.  Kaitlyn told Mike that he wasn't allowed to come.  A confused Mike asked her why he couldn't come.  She replied that he couldn't come today but that he could come on Wednesday!  He said, "Oh, ok.  I'll come with you on Wednesday."

Better Late Than Never

Here are the first of the crusie photos.  As I downloaded them, I noticed that we shamelessly had taken about 500 PHOTOS during that one week of vacation.  So, there should be a lot to share.  Definitely not going to get to them all in one post, but here's a start:

 Boarding the ship.

 Having lunch while they get our luggage to our room.

 The Bon Voyage party begins as we set sail at 4pm.  Grandma and Brett clapping along.

 Mommy with Kaitlyn.

 Nicole dancing.

 Kaitlyn and Nicole dancing and clapping to the music.

 Mike with Nicole.  And you see that Jumbotron in the background.  Alyson and Kailtyn were on that at least three times during the party.  We were dancing and having a great time and the camera guy noticed!  (And during the day, that screen shows Disney movies so you can watch while swimming or lounging out in the sun.  The guys particularly liked that they showed Monday night football on that screen too.)

Brett with Kaitlyn.

Cute Story

I've been meaning to write this down somewhere so I don't forget it later in life.  Kaitlyn will definitely want to hear this one!  This blog is the perfect place.

A few weeks ago, I was pulling in the driveway with the girls after work.  It was maybe a week after Halloween, and we had put up orange and red lights for Halloween.  Now, they were taken down and Nicole immediately noticed when we pulled in.  "Where are the lights?"  I told her that we took them down but not to worry that in a few weeks there would be much better Christmas lights up.  She refused.  She didn't "want" Christmas lights.  She didn't "like" Christmas lights.  She wanted Halloween lights.  Knowing that I wasn't going to win this argument, we dropped it and went inside.

Maybe 15 minutes later over dinner, I thought that I'd try to hype up Christmas a little more.  (What parent needs to hype Christmas by the way....don't think I'll ever have to do it again...it's having quite the impact this year?)  Anyway, I start to talk to them about the events that lead up to Christmas.  I mention the twinkle lights all over town that we get to look at.  I mention that we'll go sit on Santa's lap.  Then, I feel like it would be bad parenting to not mention the real reason for the holiday, so I talk about how it's exciting and fun to go to church on Christmas Eve and sing songs to celebrate Baby Jesus' birthday.  The girls both get excited which makes me feel good.  They even ask if they get to sing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus.  How cute.

Ok, so we move past church to the rest of Christmas Eve...the putting the cookies and carrots out, getting in our Christmas PJs and going to bed.  Then, Santa comes while we sleep, and when we wake up, we run downstairs and there are lots of presents to open.

After my story, I feel good, and Nicole has forgotten about Halloween.  But I want to make sure that the real message of the holiday was received and that they know this is really all about baby Jesus.  So, I ask them, "What is Christmas for?  Why do we celebrate Christmas?"  They both got it right...Baby Jesus' birthday!

Long story getting longer, and you're wondering where is the cute or funny part, right?  Well, here it comes.

Another 5 minutes or so goes by and I want to test them again to make sure they've got it.  So, I ask again.  Here's how that goes:

Nicole:  It's not a birthday.
Me:  Yes it is.
Nicole:  No, it's not a birthday.
Me:  Yes it is.
Nicole:  If it's a birthday, then it's my birthday.
Me:  No it's not your birthday.
Nicole:  Yes it is.

At this point, I'm frustrated and decide to move to my other kid.  So, I turn to Kaitlyn and ask:

Me:  What is Christmas about?
Kaitlyn:  (drum roll please) It's Chuck E Cheese's birthday!!!!
Kaitlyn:  (immediately following that statement)  No, whose birthday is it?  (At least she recognized that Chuck E Cheese wasn't the right answer!!!!)
Me:  Baby Jesus
Kaitlyn:  Oh yeah, Baby Jesus.

So, that will forever be the joke in my head:  that Christmas is Chuck E Cheese's birthday.  And truly, you can see how she would get confused.  Say them over and over and back to back.  The "Jesus" kind of sounds like "Cheesus" ie. Chuck E Cheesus.  Cute, cute, cute!!!

Cagle's Dairy Farm

Still no cruise photos.  Sorry.  The problem is that they're still on my camera.  Once I get them downloaded, that's half the task!  Enjoy these photos instead. 

Last weekend, we went to Cagle's Dairy Farm.  I really wanted to do a corn maze with the girls (which was nothing like I pictured it to be).  The girls still had fun, but I think I pictured in my head a real maze where there's only one way in and one way out and you actually hit dead ends and stuff.  Mike said I guess I was picturing something like The Shining.  Yep, that's a lot more like what I thought.  This was more like a plethera of trails through a field of corn that intersect often.  No real "wrong ways" in this maze.  Anyway, it was still fun.  We didn't make it to a corn maze before Halloween, but this one is open still through this weekend, so we made sure to get up there last weekend.

They also had a jumpy pillow.  It was awesome.  HUGE!  And adults could jump, so I bounced for a few minutes too. 

Finally, for an additional fee, there were pony rides.  What a bargain at FIVE DOLLARS EACH!  Geez...for a 5 minute ride.  Whatever.  And once the kids see the ponies, it's really hard to say no.  She was cash only too, and I NEVER have cash, but by some miracle, I had $11 in my wallet, so the girls lucked out.  I grabbed my blackberry and snapped a few photos to commemerate the expensive experience.  :-)  We hadn't even brought our regular camera.  Didn't figure this would be a photo op, so I was glad I had the blackberry. 

Oh, and on the way home, we ran out of gas on I-575 South!  Too funny!!!  We both couldn't help but laugh.  How does that happen?  Mike apparently knew the car was low from the day before, but we both swear that the whole way up to the Farm, we never once heard the car beeping at us and definitely not after we were done with the Farm to start our way home.  When the tank is literally almost dry, why wasn't the car doing all kinds of warnings????  Seriously...like blinking, beeping, whatever.  I was proud of us for handling it so well.  No one even "blamed" the other one.  :-)  And in case you're wondernig who walked the 1.2 miles back to the on ramp to a gas station, that was me.  Despite all kinds of childhood warnings about strangers, I think we figured it was more likely for someone to stop and pick me up on my way back to the car and drive me.  And I was right...after I got the gas, I literally wasn't 20 feet on to the on ramp to start my treck back to the car when a mother and daugher stopped.