Thanksgiving 2010

Our little turkey. So cute we could eat her up. We decided to eat the other turkey though, because it looked pretty good too.

Mike claimed this the best turkey I've ever made. It was pretty good. I wanted to try a few new things this year. I brined the turkey and then put a rub on before I cooked it. I made a sweet potato dish, a zucchini gratin, and stuffing with sausage, apples, and mushrooms. It was all pretty good and everything but the stuffing will make it on next Thanksgiving's menu. It was just the 6 of us this year. It was a lot of food for just us to eat!

Halloween 2010

We got back from Disney World in time to celebrate Halloween. We carved pumpkins after church on Sunday.

Haley did the cat, with a little help. Maya's is the traditional jack-o-lantern face. Caleb's is Blue's Clues. Mike's is the Monsters, Inc. pumpkin (inspired by our Disney trip!).

Here are our cute trick-or-treaters. Maya is a mermaid (you can't see her tail), Haley is a witch (same costume from 2 years ago), Caleb is Woody, and Brooke is a pea pod (it was also Haley's costume as a newborn).

Disney World - Miscellaneous

Our hotel had 2 great pools with water slides and splash pads. We were able to swim several times. It was definitely hot enough!

Brooke was such a trooper. She just went along with the group, doing whatever we did. Here she is with my mom at the pool.

Every morning all 4 kids end up in bed with us, and that didn't change on vacation!

We really wore Caleb out on this trip. He threw plenty of tantrums and fits out of pure exhaustion. He fell asleep once at dinner and once just sitting on the couch. Poor guy!

Our hotel had a large metal Mickey Mouse ear thing that we decided to take pictures on the last day.

We had such a great time in Disney World. Thanks mom and dad for such a great trip. One of my favorite memories was the last night. We all stayed up late to watch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom (which you could see from our hotel). They were absolutely amazing. After that we went down to a little beach area on the lake by our hotel. We watched an electric boat parade they do every night as well. It was so fun to sit on the beach with our feet in the sand.

This last picture sums up our feelings about this awesome Disney World trip!

Disney World - Hollywood Studios

There are lots of great shows to see at Hollywood Studios. I remember the Indiana Jones show from when I was a kid and we were able to see it again this time around. They always ask for audience participation for one part of the show. My mom surprised us all by volunteering and she got picked!

I think Indian just shot the bad guy in black in this picture. My mom is one of the extras in the background.

My mom is the one looking at the fabric.

Close up

Dark photo of Indiana running from the big ball

Indiana climbing a rope

The kids loved all the shows we saw - some of the favorites being The Backlot Tour, the car stunt show, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, the muppet 3D movie, and more that I can't remember right now! We all loved the Tower of Terror ride. Many of us rode it several times. Caleb would have ridden it 3 times, but on the 3rd time through he apparently wasn't tall enough. He must have shrunk! The rock n roller coaster was awesome too. Only Haley was tall enough to ride it and we really had to talk her into it because it goes upside down. She loved it after she got the courage up to do it! The new Toy Story Mania ride is also at Hollywood Studios. The line for that ride got up to 80 minutes during the day. Luckily we got fast passes for that one and only had to wait a few minutes! Caleb could have done that ride again and again.

Disney World - Animal Kingdom

We also had a great time visiting the Animal Kingdom park. We started off the day with the safari ride where you see all the animals. It was early in the morning, so the animals were out and ready to be seen!

We also did all the shows and rides there. 2 of the favorites were Expedition Everest (roller coaster where you go backwards in the dark) and Kali River Rapids (traditional water ride). Haley did not ride the water ride. Maya did and got completely soaked from head to toe and loved every second of it! We ended the day by eating dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was a buffet and everyone tried lots of new delicious foods. Mike claimed they had the best ribs he has ever had!

Disney World - Magic Kingdom

We were able to visit the Magic Kingdom several times during our trip to Disney World. We stayed at the Contemporary Resort, which is only a 10 minute walk to Magic Kingdom. Between all our trips we saw everything, and did some things twice!

This is the whole group after an ice cream break. Most of us got the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. I remember those from when I was a kid.

I think Caleb (and his shirt) like his!

The girls met Stich outside the Buzz Lightyear ride. Caleb unfortunately missed Stich because he was riding Buzz Lightyear for probably the 3rd time.

One evening I stayed home with Caleb and Brooke while my parents, Mike and the girls went back to the Magic Kingdom in the evening. So beautiful!

One great memory from the Magic Kingdom - Splash Mountain. Haley, my mom, Mike and I rode Splash Mountain together. We got absolutely, totally soaked. Most of us were glad because it was unbearably hot that day. Haley however hated being wet. She cried and complained the rest of the day. She avoided all wet rides after that.

Disney World - Epcot

We were amazingly fortunate to spend a week in Disney World. My parents took us from October 23rd to October 3oth. We had the time of our lives. The kids loved it and are already planning our return trip in 5 years.

We spent the first day at Epcot. The kids quickly found the water play area. All the parks had an area similar to this. Maya and Caleb loved to get wet even with their clothes on. It was so hot and humid while we were there, I could have done it too. Either wet with sweat or water!

At Epcot the kids met many Disney characters.

Goofy

Donald Duck

Minnie Mouse

Pluto

And of course, Mickey Mouse!

We also had a great lunch with some Princesses. The girls were in heaven.

Ariel

Snow White

Princess Aurora

Belle

We stayed at Epcot until it was nearly closed, doing every ride and attraction possible. It was great!