Happy Thanksgiving 2010

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We did. It was low-key for us for once. We had lunch at my parents house then actually got to come home where we hosted Thanksgiving dinner for Denny's parents, Ann and Mallory. It was so nice to not be running the streets going place to place. Emerson had a "Journal of Thanks" that she made at school and her homework for over the break was to have her friends and family fill out her journal with their thoughts on Thanksgiving and what they are thankful for. She got into her assignment for sure and it made Denny and I realize what we are the most thankful is probably what we take for granted most often.

I will try and do a better job of posting and I have lots to post, but am short on time to sit down and do it. I have been so crazy busy with cookies the last few weeks any spare time I have had has gone to baking or decorating. I am not complaining, just wondering what I have done to myself and if I should hire a crew to help. Emerson told me to tell Eli, our Elf on the Shelf, to ask Santa for help. Needless to say there are no elves in my kitchen right now. I delivered 12 dozen this morning and will mail or deliver a remaining 5 dozen this week. Grateful to have the business, but frightful of getting it all done and balancing this with family, Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, the laundry, sleeping... Luckily, Denny is a great Dad and has taken up the slack the last few days.

Will post more soon. I hope.

Her favorite

As part of our Princess Lunch at the Castle, they took professional pictures with Cinderella. The pictures were delivered to our table while we were eating lunch. The Castle was fabulous, the lunch was great and the experience was wonderful. Emerson barely ate anything she was so excited. She even passed up a cupcake. Now you know she was preoccupied!

The reason we went

The Princesses...

Fairy Godmother

The Fairies

Magic Kingdom

Here are just a few of what we took. I will post Emerson and Princesses after this. I think it needs a post all by itself!

The Wicked Stepsisters were my favorite by far. They were SO in character, so funny and a bit nasty.

This was waiting to go into the Castle for the Princess Lunch.

Tangled is not even out yet, but Rapunzel and Flynn Rider were making the rounds at the park. I stood in line the longest for the girls to see these 2.

The castle was so cool at night. This was Sunday night and the park had already closed and we were being escorted out after dinner thru the park. The castle looked as if it had ice all over it. SO AWESOME!

And there is still more to come!

More Downtown Disney...

LOTS more to come!

Disney Part 1

To get thru all of Disney, it will take several posts. We had a fabulous time and I think we enjoyed it just as much as Emerson. We only did Magic Kingdom and are pleased with that decision. In 2 days we did it all and were at the park as the gates opened in the morning and as they closed every night. I have very few memories from when I went as a kid, but it is so funny how you are impressed with completely different things as an adult and a parent. The only way to describe the park was Magical. I know everyone describes it as such, but it really is. Everything about the park was wonderful. The employees greeted you with a smile and seemed to want to be there. There was always someone to help and they actually knew what they were talking about. The place was spotless and so well kept. Emerson loved every second and was so excited to see and ride and watch everything we could. Of course, her favorite was, It's A Small World! But she also enjoyed see all the characters and having lunch in the castle with Cinderella and other princesses. She was so good on this trip and thanked us over and over again when we got home.

This is the morning we left and we kept it a secret until we were getting it the car. She seemed excited, but did not really grasp what we were talking about. Our trip overlapped with Rachel, Lee and Katherine's trip, so she was also excited about getting to spend some time with Katherine at Disney. This is in the Lobby at the Polynesian.

We arrived in Orlando around lunch on Friday, so we headed to Downtown Disney to get that out of the way. We did some shopping, early dinner and bed at a reasonable time to get ready for the next 2 days in Magic Kingdom. Everything was decorated for Christmas, so it made thing that much more exciting.

Halloween 2010

After a year of talking about being Dorothy, she finally got her chance. Her is the Wizard of Oz crew. Our friends the McDermotts dressed up as well. Alex is the scarecrow, Isabelle is Glenda, Cherie is a witch and Gwendolyn is the Lion. Emerson had a ball and completely gets the whole trick or treating thing. She would have done the whole neighborhood if we would have let her.

I have not heard any planning yet for next Halloween, but I feel confident she is already planning what next years costume will be.

Dunham Carnival

Saturday was the Dunham Tiger Carnival and it was a first for us. Emerson was very excited about attending and she saw all her friends there. Her favorite part was riding the ponies which she did several times.