First Trip to Disney World's Magic Kingdom!!!!

It always takes me so long to get this updated when we do something. I think it is because we are always doing something ! HA!

Well, two weeks ago we were able to go to Magic Kingdom for free. Thanks, Kelly!

What a blessing our lives continue to be. God sure does take care of us.

Anyway, our journey included Nana, Aunt Laura, Taylor, Kelly, and Danny(Kelly's boyfriend).

It was difficult to keep up with the kids and stay on top of taking pictures but thanks to Kelly and Aunt Laura, we were able to walk away with some great picture memories.

Our journey started on the monorail, where Sydney, Parker, Patrick and I were named co-pilots for the monorail. We got to sit up front with the driver.

**This is a picture of our family with Chip and Dale. This was when we first walked into the park. (these were the only characters we waited in line to take pictures with)

**Parker was so happy to hang out with the chipmunks. Can you tell?

**A family pic in front of Cinderella's castle.

**First ride we went on was Snow White. We didn't think the kids knew "scary". Well, we find out that they do. Parker did not like it at all!

So we opted for a happier ride....Dumbo! Here is a pic of Daddy and Parker.

**Nana, Mommy, and Sydney on Dumbo

**Weeeeeee!!!!!

**Sydney, smiling for Aunt Laura!

**Parker catching a ride with Taylor.


**This is us waiting for the Spectro Magic Parade, definitely a highlight of the day. I think this was Sydney's favorite!

**This is Taylor sharing her popsicle with Sydney. Yummy!


Following the parade we watched the fireworks. I think this was Parker's favorite part. He kept saying, "Boom, boom!"

Finally we stopped by a gift shop, where Sydney got her very first stuffed Minnie Mouse and Parker got his very first stuffed Mickey Mouse(at a discount of course).

Overall it was a great day. The kids were much better than we anticipated. They never did take a nap so it was no surprise that 4 minutes after getting in the car, they were both fast asleep.

Visiting with Family

The week before Halloween was bitter sweet....
We said our goodbyes to Grandpa Jensen(my Grandpa and the kids Great Grandpa).
Instead of a sad goodbye, in honor of Grandpa(Vic), we had a "Vicnic". This was appropriately named by Aunt Jan. Vicnic was a cookout and gathering of friends and family at Oscar Scher park in Osprey, Fl. Oscar Scher was was one of Grandma and Grandpa's favorite places to go. Swimming, camping, canoeing, all the wonderful outdoor things that they loved so much and passed onto me. Anyway, we got a chance to see family we had not seen in a very long time and some we had never met. Like I said bitter sweet. This is a picture of Parker meeting his third cousin, Sarah, for the first time. He was smitten. And another picture of Sydney with Great Grandma and Aunt Bobbie.














After we left Oscar Scher, we went to Patrick's dad and stepmom's house(aka Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt)to stay the night. Grandma and Grandpa took Parker and Sydney for another trip to a pumpkin patch and then onto a park on a nature walk by the lake. These are pics walking to the pumpkin patch, Parker walking hand in hand with Grandpa, and all of us by the lake.

Halloween

Well, we went back and forth on whether or not we would even dress the kids up for Halloween this year. Would they really care??? We couldn't figure out what costumes to pick and we were also concerned about how hot they might be. Last year's cow costumes were adorable but they cooked in them. Well the weather turned cooler so we decided to get them dressed up.

Don't know how, when, or why, but Parker LOVES Elmo. Whereever we go, he always manages to find something with Elmo on it. You should have seen his face when we tried on this costume. He was so proud to be wearing it. He grinned from ear to ear. For the whole week before Halloween, he kept going into our closet to go get it. Sydney is not really into anything yet but I found this adorable Ladybug costume. She was not so sure when we first put it on but when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was sold!

On Halloween night, Nana joined us on our journey around the neighborhood. We thought we would wheel them door to door in the wagon but they showed us just how big they are and walked up to the door(well sometimes Sydney held Mommy's hand for moral support). The first one or two houses they weren't quite sure what was going on but by the third house they got the hang of it. We visited approximately 10 houses and then returned to our house to hand out candy.

I have included two short video clips of the kids in costume.
So glad we decided to dress them up. They really enjoyed it.