Orlando Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation to Orlando Florida, over Thanksgiving and the first week of December.  We visited Disney World and Universal Studios, ate a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal with the Sims, enjoyed the heated pool at the resort we stayed at, and savored our time together.  Here are the first few days, I'll post more as I find the time during this busy season.

November 25th -26th

 We started traveling Monday morning.  The kids woke up to Christmas decor and stockings on the couch.  Inside the socks were Disney slippers and a ticket to go to Disney World.  The ticket requested that they leave photos for Santa on Christmas Eve to show the fun they had on the trip.  We drove 6 hours to a Wakula State Park in Florida.  We stayed at an old lodge that evening.  The next morning we had breakfast in the dining room and then left for Orlando.

Kids glad to be out of the car at Wakula Lodge

November 27th

 We spent our first park day at Islands of Adventure, a part of Universal's theme parks.  The kids had a great time, and used plenty of energy.  Eric absolutely loved the Spiderman ride, Wendy liked the Dr Seuss Carousel, Zachary liked getting wet at the Jurassic Park play area, and Hyrum liked being a part of everything.  I liked the play area as well, because I could sit and rest while the children played.

The family, sporting the matching t-shirts I made for the trip.

Veteran's Day Patriotic Program

Zachary participated in the 2nd Grade Veteran's Day Program.  It was very well done and when Zachary was focused enough he sang every word.  It is always fun to see the kids perform at school and they are always so excited.  Below are pictures of Zachary with his friend Reed, Zachary's class with Mrs. Peeler on the left and the music teacher Mrs. Harrison on the right, and Zachary singing in the program.

Halloween

What cute little people.  Eric chose to be Spiderman again (the third year in a row).  The costume has definitely been well used Thanks Mom :)  Wendy was a ballerina, princess, fairy (although her wings only lasted for about 5 minutes).  She was excited to have her hair done, wear lipstick and fingernail polish.  Zachary was Harry Potter.  His friend from primary was Hermione and they were excited to see one another.  Hyrum was a lion (another well used costume).  

The kids have been counting down.  They loved to change the Candy Countdown blocks, thanks Larae.  We went to Trunk or Treat at the church on Wednesday and then tonight we went for a short while.  It was a great Halloween fun.

Making do without Water

 Saturday evening I had a luxurious bath.  Kyle came in to wash his hands and discovered there was no water pressure.  Upon researching the cause he found a swamp in our front yard and water coming out from under the garage.  He quickly turned off the water and we were without water until Tuesday afternoon.  We did save the water in the tub for flushing toilets, and we had our water storage, so the only thing that was really missed were showers.  Kyle also bought paper products so we did not have to do dishes.
When they came to fix the problem it ended up that the pvc pipe in the yard had completely cut in half where it joined the copper pipe going into the house.  It was a muddy fix and Wendy had to put her boots on and get involved, Hyrum followed her example for a short while, but was not as excited about getting dirty.  I was grateful to have water for a bath after their playing in the mud :)

Kyle's Birthday

HAPPY 33rd BIRTHDAY!!!

 Kyle had a birthday at home, although it did fall on a Monday.  The weekend before our house started having some issues, see the post about no water for more details.  I had a field trip with Wendy so Kyle stayed home in the morning to wait for the plumbers and insurance people.  When we got home he decided that it was his birthday he might as well take the entire day off.  We enjoyed having him at home.  When the kids got home from school we opened gifts, the one pictured below is my favorite.  Everytime the kids asked him what he wanted for his birthday he replied with spanking them, so he got a padded spanker.  We then went to dinner at a buffet, Kyle could have his sushi fix.  At home we sang Happy Birthday, and had small slivers of his cake.  We were all already quite full.  Happy Birthday Kyle!

October Park Trip

We had a great time at the park during the kids Fall break, at the beginning of October.  As a mother it is always a treat when your kids play well with one another or with other kids at the park for an extended period of time.  This was such a time :)

Wendy's Fieldtrip

 Wendy went on a field trip to the Fire Station.  She saw firemen, and fire trucks.  Her favorite part was going into the fire truck.  It was fun to see her interact with all the kids in her class.  She is such a petite little cutie.  Hyrum was also able to tag along and enjoyed it.