Winston’s 2nd Bday!
So big!
Here you are opening your BIG present!
Big water slide!
Slide time!
BBQ Time!
Presents!
Beach Trip!
We went to Hilton Head in April. Here are some pics!
Ready to go!
The boys found a climbing tree
Winston got some green glasses!
Elliot’s 5th Birthday!
We had Elliot’s 5th birthday extravaganza this weekend! We had lots of family up to visit!
Elliot’s Kinex and his new slide bed!
We had a fun party at Wallabies!
We had Secret Life of Pets cupcakes courtesy Mary Phillips!
And an ice cream cake. 5 YEARS!
Winston finally tried the slide near the end of the party!
Elliot was a little tired by the end of the party…
We had some friends over afterwards.
Lisa gave Elliot a funny game called Toilet Trouble that looks like a potty and squirts you occasionally. Ick!
We hunted for some Easter eggs today.
Winston did a little reading before his nap!
JCPenney Photos 2017
Both kids really like Hot Tubs! In fact, Winston caught me with my swimsuit off to a new years party and he was sooo mad he could hardly get the words out. So he shouted “Blah blah blah blah HOT TUB!” So now we all say that.
Disney World 2017!
It snowed the day before we left for Disney. Winston was not that into it at first.
After a nap, he was ready to play in the snow!
Sledding!
Sledding with the neighbors!
Stopped at Subway on the way to ATL.
Travel guitar
Studying up on Disney movies
We stopped in ATL and stayed with Gabi and Tom.
Playing in their back yard
Uncle Art met up with us the next day
Tired Frederick kids (Art and Tom had worked over night!)
Steak and Shake for dinner!
The view from our Animal Safari hotel room
Waiting for the bus to the Magic Kingdom
Cinderella’s castle!
Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrow Land
The People Mover in Tomorrow Land. The rides travels all around Tomorrowland and through Space Mountain, which was shut down at the moment for repairs so we got to see Space Mountain with the lights on!
Race cars. Winston did not get to drive which made him sad.
Mad Tea Cups!
Winnie the Pooh ride. Everything at Disney is a show, including the lines for the rides! There were neat Pooh things for the kids to check out while we waited!
Magic Carpet ride. Not the best use of a fast pass, but I was still getting used to the system. Honestly, we did not need the fast pass system that much. The lines were not bad in January!
Swiss Family Robinson Tree House
Off to dinner
We ate at the hotel restaurant the first night, which was a buffet that served a mix of Africa and India foods. It was delicious! Logan and I tried and new food for us called Bobotie and it was yummy!
We went to see “Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular”, which was a firework show held at the Hollywood Park. I though it was really neat but it scared the kids.
Here we are back on the bus to Magic Kingdom
Another try at the Cinderella Castle picture. There was always a lot of sun in out eyes in the Sunshine state.
Breakfast at Belle’s Castle
Some manly men
Space Mountain
Logan and the kids checked out the Little Mermaid ride
Elliot’s favorite ride was Splash Mountain. It was Satisfactual!
Haunted Mansion. Elliot wanted to go so we took him. I think he was at a good age where the scary stuff was mostly over his head.
Jungle boat ride full of dad puns!
We went to the Animal Kingdom that evening
We had a really good dinner at Yeti and Yak with seared ahi tuna nachos. Then we got free pretzels because the stands we closing. We went on a night time safari and the lions we really active. Winston was yakking, but when they roared, he shut his yap pretty quick. Might be a basic human instinct.
The next day we went to Hollywood!
I took Winston to meet Minnie and Mickey while the others went on the Star Wars ride. Winston was delighted! He shouted “Minnie!” and “O’Toonga!” (his word for Mickey).
Selfie with C3PO
Elliot choosing his light saber. Logan asked when they would get to put the Kyber Crystal in, but the lady told him that Master Yoda had already taken care of that…
BB-8 Ears!
Toy Story area and ride!
Meeting Pluto
These are not the toddlers you are looking for!
Waiting for the Disney Jr. Live show!
So excited!
Souvenirs!
Lunch!
Ears!
We headed back for a nap for Winston and pool time for Elliot.
We ran over to Epcot for dinner. I made a reservation for early (like 5ish) at the Japanese restaurant which is on the far side of Epcot. Then we missed the bus. Then Elliot had to pee. So Logan, Winston, and Art ran on while Elliot and I followed quickly behind (you get charged a fee for missing reservations). I did go ahead and get his picture in front of Epcot center.
Japanese! Elliot ate out of a Bento box shaped like a monorail!
They had an awesome Japanese store with HUGE Pocky!
Large outdoor train set
We saw Chinese acrobats. The whole time this gy was balancing on this chair Elliot was shouting, “That doesn’t look safe!”
Epcot!
Off to the Animal Kingdom the last day!
Art and I rode the Mt. Everest roller coaster, complete with Yeti attack!
They we all rode some flying triceratops.
Winston got picked up like a kitten.
Elliot and Winston escaped some dinos!
Art, Elliot, and I about to ride a scary dino ride. Elliot sweetly asked me afterwards why I cupped my hands over his eyes. It was scary!
Dino playground
A big concrete tree!
Riding on a train to Rafiki’s conservation area
Yak and Yeti again. Delicious!
We went to Epcot that night. Elliot got bored listening to a cover band in the Brittish area so I took him to a toy store, where he got to meet the real live Alice from Wonderland! Elliot was star struck!
We ate Moroccan for dinner
Stopped to take a picture in China
And met a troll (aka love expert)!
We had a wonderful trip! And on the way back, we got to stay with Tom and Gabi again!
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Christmas 2016
Been pretty wiped out. Will post more soon.
Ok, here we go.
Christmas robes!
Christmas morning!
Christmas cousins!
Christmas fort!
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Christmas at Grandma Nell’s!
Halloween 2016
We had a fun Halloween extravaganza this year! First we went to the Gatlinburg Halloween costume contest! The Dyer family showed up in Alice and wonderland theme! Slappy was the Mad Hatter and Gam Gam the March Hare.
Elliot and I were the King and Queen of Hearts
Logan was the caterpillar, Winston a card guard, Linzy the Cheshire Cat, Hank and Ollie Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Ian the White Rabbit
Charlotte as Alice!
We went to the Jonesborough Halloween the next night.
Elliot as Mickey Mouse
Winston as a pirate
Me as Donatello
Logan as Kirk
Marm, Gingy, and Grandpa (taking the pictures) went too! There were lots of neat costumes and fun trick-or-treating! We had a blast!
Winston and Elliot meet a mummy
Elliot drives a firetruck!
On actual Halloween, Elliot was Mickey, Winston a choo choo conductor, and Logan was Kirk.
Mickey
Conductor
Trick-or-treating. I decided to push the stroller rather than carry Winston. We made it up and down our block.
When we got back, Logan had a carnival set up for us in the dining room! Our neighbors stopped by to play and we listened to the kids Halloween list on Amazon Music! All in all a good Halloween!
Asheville Trip 2016
We took a short vacation to Asheville, NC last week. I just got off of night float and we needed an easy vacation. Since Asheville is an hour a way, we made the trip!
Here we are exploring the hotel. Winston got pretty brave about the hotel while we were there, such that once when we were headed to the elevator, Elliot and Winston ran ahead of Logan while I went back to the room to get something. Logan caught up with the boys just in time to press the elevator door button and open the elevator that Winston had boarded all by himself! He (and we) were a little more cautious after that…
We ate Brazilian Steak House for dinner which went very well with kids. They had cheese cubes, cracker and fruit on the buffet. They bring the meat right to you, which was entertaining. Plus, the kids ate free!
Here we are getting a cookie at the double-decker bus. It was decorated for Halloween!
Here are the kids that night at the hotel. Elliot tried to jump between beds without success.
We went to the Biltmore the next day.
The view was amazing!
They had started decorating for Christmas!
Lots of stairs to climb
Halloween room!
Me and a wolf out in front of the Biltmore
Cornelia Vanderbilt and her dog Cedric
Winston at Cedric’s tavern
Elliot enjoys a sorbet after lunch
Winston at the playground
Winston means Wine town
Grape juice for all at the Biltmore winery!
Back in Asheville that evening…
We found some statues of kitty cats!
Elliot, Winston, and tapas at Zambra! They were more into the chicken tender plate that the more interesting stuff. Oh well, more for Logan and me!
Back at the hotel we relaxed with our various screens.
The next day we checked out the Sierra Nevada brewery, which was delicious! Logan got a slap bracelet koozie, which was the prize souvenir of the trip! Then we headed to Gatlinburg to see the Nicely’s and start our Halloween celebration (coming soon!)