December 2011 Recap - Part 2

After we returned from our too short vacation, we quickly got in the swing of things as the holidays approached. 

We decorated our gingerbread village...

The kids were very excited to get dressed up for their Christmas program at school.  Tyler had a 'real tie' to wear, and was really into that.  You could tell he felt like he looked good.  Alyssa had been asking me for a couple of weeks if she could wear her dress and was pretty excited when she finally could.  Of course, we can't get the two of them together without lots of laughter...

December 2011 Recap - Part 1

We started our December with a very fun trip to Disney World with some friends.   The trip was a bit of a reward for a busy year and for mommy working some extra days during the year.  We spent 6 fun days riding (and re-riding and re-riding) the rides and exploring the parks. 

Our first day was spent at Hollywood studios.   One of our first stops was to visit Lightning McQueen and Mater.   2 years ago when we were here, Tyler was so excited to meet them.  He was so chatty and bubbly and couldn't wait.  Even in line he was excited.   Then it was our turn.  And it all changed.  He wasn't excited...he was running in terror in the other direction and looked like this...

But, he was just 23 months old then, and a lot can change (thankfully) with time.   So, here he was a big 4 and, again, so excited to see them!  He was chatty and bubbly in line.  He couldn't wait... 

And it was finally our turn...

Things went much better this time!!

Some more of our favorite moments from the trip...

Enjoying the lights at Hollywood Studios

 Meeting the princesses, especially Cinderella (she wrote Tyler a special note with a big lipstick kiss)

 Bruce the Shark...

 A glimpse of our girls in 10 years driving.  Yikes...

 Tyler

 Being silly...

 On our favorite ride - Thunder Mountain Railroad.   We rode it more times than I could keep track of.   As in, 6 or 7 times in a row one night alone (skipping the parade that mommy kind of wanted to see) - just like what I did with my brothers as a kid.

 hanging at the beach at our resort

We had such a good time.  It was a great way to kick off our Christmas celebrating...

November 2011 Recap

November proved to be just a busy as the rest of the year. We had a lot of fun though! We started off the month with a trip to see our Colts at Lucas Oil. This was Tyler's first time at a Colt's game, and our first chance to see a game in the new stadium. No, they didn't win that game either, but it was fun for the kids. They were really excited to go see it in person. Alyssa even made her own sign to hold up and cheer with.

Of course, we had to get some popcorn, too.

Since it was such a nice day, the big window was open and we had a great view of downtown.

Little man also found his new favorite shirt - one with a tie already on it. He feels pretty cool when he wears it.

The leaves finally came down as well, so we finally had enough to make a big pile in the yard. The kids always look forward to jumping in them.

Of course, November isn't complete without Thanksgiving with our families. First we traveled to Michigan to celebrate with Mike's family...

Tyler showed Grandma and Grandpa how to use the ipad.

Back at home, Alyssa showed off her Thanksgiving hat she made at school.

And then for the big day, she wore the Turkey hat

The kids had fun 'hanging out' with Uncle Tom