Black Friday 2012

Black Friday started fantastic.  We headed to the Toy Store downtown where we heard Santa read a story.  We had lunch and did a little shopping.  We had naps at home.  And then we made turkey sandwiches for dinner, loaded up the picnic bag, and drove up the winding Big Thompson Canyon in order to see the Parade of Lights in Estes Park--that's when Black Friday got truly ugly!  Grace fell asleep on the ride up the canyon.  When she woke up she said she was hungry.  I handed her a turkey sandwich and after a few bites she threw up everywhere!  It was so pitiful.  Estes Park was packed.  We couldn't find anywhere to stop.  We finally parked in a "police only" spot.  I took Grace into a bathroom that is "green" so it had no paper towels to clean her off.  I had no spare clothes for her so I stripped her down, put her snow pants on her and then put my winter jacket on her for a top.  Mark cleaned the car as best as possible and then we headed back down the canyon with Grace asking--"But why can't we stay for the parade?!?"  She seemed better when we got home--nothing a few Pedialyte popsicles can't fix!  Always an adventure!

5 months

Laura celebrated five months at Hollywood Studies with a candle in an amazing pastry (don't worry--I ate it for her!)  We took the other pics when we got home.  Growing so fast!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving 2012 was the first that we spent away from either of our families.  It was a quiet day.  Some skype in the morning, trying out avocado in the afternoon, followed by dinner with my cousin Joey and her family.  

 Not a fan of avocado!

My first turkey--not bad looking!

 Cuties!  Laura, Grace, Alice, and Richie

2012 certainly gave us a lot to be thankful for!

Bouncer--November 21, 2012

Also on our list of things to try when we got home from Disney was our Bouncer.  Grace had spent many hours in the bouncer and we knew Laura would love it to.    Of course she did!

Sweet Potatoes--November 20, 2012

After getting home from Disney we decided to start veggies and fruits.  First up was sweet potatoes!

She wasn't quite sure at first but she certainly warmed up!

Doggy

We were so excited to get home to our puppy!

Disney--Last Day!

Our last day in Orlando started with a breakfast at Hollywood Studios with the Disney Jr. characters.  Over the last year, Grace became a really big fan of many of these characters so this was a fun breakfast!

 Jake!

 Special Agent Osso!

 June form Little Einsteins

 Handy Manny!

 Hanging out in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area

 Seeing Beauty and the Beast on stage

 A stop in Epcot again

Look who decided she could sit up by herself!

Disney was a phenomenal trip!  I was excited from the beginning but Mark and the moms were skeptical but we had so much fun, made so many great memories, and the smile on the girls' faces was worth every penny.  Of course we'll have to go again in a few years when Laura can remember it!

Disney Day 6--Hollywood Studios

Friday we headed to Hollywood Studios in the morning.  It was a fun day.  They have some great rides and shows there and we got to meet Mickey!

Friday night I had my CSU party and my Purdue party to go to.  Mark joined me.  We were able to shuttle to Epcot and then snack our way through Epcot to the conference hotel.  It was fun to have a mini-date night!

Disney--Day 5--Hollywood Studios and Epcot

My conference started on Day 5 of our trip.  I didn't have anything until the afternoon so we packed up and headed to Hollywood Studios in the morning and then took the boat to Epcot and then I broke off and went to the conference.  Grace was able to track down Belle in "France."  We met up at the conference hotel for dinner and many of my friends got to meet Laura and see how much Grace had grown since we left West Lafayette.

 

Disney--Day 4--Happy 4th Birthday, Grace!!!

Grace's 4th birthday will certainly be one filled with amazing memories.  It started with some time spent hanging out with the extended family before they left.  We got some great pics of Mama with her four little ladies.  How cute are they?!?

Then it was breakfast by the pool.  Grace and Aly had a great time bossing Katie around.

And KynKyn was her cute little self.

After some tearful goodbyes, it was off to the magic kingdom for lunch at Cinerella's castle.  Of course Grace had to wear her Belle dress. 

Getting some pixie dust in her hair...

Before heading to meet the princesses!

Lunch in the castle was really fun.  The princesses came around and said hello (except for Belle who wasn't there that day--of course!) and each spent quite a bit of time with us.  We got wands and stars to wish upon and to top it off it was a great dinner!

Laura loved them!

and they loved Laura as evidenced by the kiss marks on her forehead!

And then she was done! 

The rest of the day was spent hanging out around the Magic Kingdom followed by watching the fireworks display--amazing.  

As for Grace--we cannot believe how quickly her being three went.  So many changes--learning to write her name, becoming more independent, developing her social butterfly side, and showing us her caring side as she became a big sister.  What an amazing little girl we have!