Christmas Card 2012

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A Regular Morning at Our House

The Nutcracker

This year Jim and I decided to take Charlotte on a special night out to see the Nutcracker.  I have always loved it and was excited for her to see it the first time.  We got all gussied up and got a sitter for Oliver and off we went for the night.

It went wonderfully and Charlotte loved it.  We feel fortunate that she enjoys theatre and other things so much.  She loved every show we saw at Disney and other shows we have seen.  So cool to be able to experience these things with her.  I have a feeling our wild man little guy will not love this stuff as much but I guess time will tell.

Charlotte was fully smitten by Clara by the end of the show.  She loved her dress, her nightgown, her dancing.  Afterwards we had the opportunity to meet  her and have cookies and cocoa.

Something else cool, they were having a raffle for some various items and we let Charlotte put some tickets in.  She really wanted Clara's nightgown and we found out a couple days later that she won!  so cool!

Dancing for Santa

Charlotte's dance class had a holiday performance for Santa.  It was in Grimes at the community center.  

I was waving to Charlotte like a fool.  She said to me after "Mom, I just couldn't wave at you, I need my hands for dance moves".  

They learned the dance on Thursday and performed it on Sunday.  

They did AWESOME!  All of these girls are in the 3 year old range.  

They all blew kisses at the end.  It was so cute.  

There are two Bitty Ballerina classes and these are the only two that were able to make it from the day time class.  Dance buddies.

Here is a video of the performance.

Garden Dancers

On December 1st we attended a dedication put on by the funeral home we worked with for the girls of these beautiful garden dancers.  We had been looking forward to it for awhile thinking it was going to be a  lovely dedication in the garden, something celebratory to remember them by.  Unfortunately it didn't quite go like that.  I am not sure exactly what we didn't like about it, but it just wasn't what we were thinking it would be.  Very mournful, sorrowful, and just a giant downer.

Don't get me wrong.  It's sad.  It's hard.  The hardest and saddest thing we have ever been through.  We didn't need a reminder of that.  We were thinking it would be something beautiful and spiritual.  Even at that, we couldn't argue with the beauty of the garden dancers.  They are simply awesome.

When we brought them home Charlotte wanted to put them in our front yard near where she likes to play the most.  We couldn't argue with that, they look wonderful there.

Magic Kingdom Again

Our last full day we headed off to Magic Kingdom.

When we very first got there, Snow White was signing autographs.  We thought this was pretty amazing since we happened to forget her autograph book the first time we met her, and she is rarely at the Magic Kingdom, seemed like the Disney Gods were shining on us already!

And immediately we were met by another parade.

The kids and I sat and watched it while Jim went and grabbed some Fast Passes for some rides that afternoon.

When Jim got back we grabbed a quick picture of those of us that were awake and then headed to our lunch reservations.  

We got to take the monorail to lunch which Charlotte thought was pretty cool.

Lunch!

Monorail on the way back.

Back at the park and ready for fun.

He pretty much hit us the whole time.  He was tired of being held for sure.

We quickly got in line to ride It's a Small World.

I wonder how much they make on the money ppeople throw in the water?

We rode some more rides like Peter Pan, Tea Cups, and the Carousel.  We also saw Mickey's Philharmagic.  Eventually we wandered over to New Fantasyland which is very cool.  

We visited Ariel's grotto where we met her.

After a bathroom break and a snack both kiddos were asleep so we had a picture for ourselves.

And since Charlotte was sleeping I met Gaston for her ad had him sign her book.  He is hilarious.  Watch out Jim...

As the evening set we visited Frontierland and got caught in the middle of a street show.  Then we rode the Magic Carpet ride and got some snacks, and walked through the castle.  Eventually we were back over in Fantasyland for the Dumbo ride.  We had Fast Passes for the ride but since Oliver was finally napping we didn't use mine.  While Jim and Charlotte rode the ride and then got in line to ride the Barnstormer (a new roller coaster) Oliver and I wandered around.  While wandering we happened to spot a family of four searching frantically for a Fast Pass that one of their little girls had misplaced.  I was very excited to give them our fast pass so they could go ride the ride.  So fortunate!

After the Barnstormer and some more fun we debated getting a spot to see the parade but decided we would take advantage of the short lines and ride some more rides.  Charlotte wanted to ride It's a Small World again.  The line went quickly but we had fun posing for pictures.

When it was time for Fireworks we decided to watch them from Fantasyland.  We were looking onto the side of the castle and it was weird when the fireworks started going off because they were shooting off on both sides of us.  And very close!

When the finale started it got so bright around us that it totally messed with my camera settings.  I think it's crazy that it got so bright it blew everything out! (yes, I am a camera nerd).

And with that we were back to our hotel for our final night. 

Actually, as I look I realize that is the last picture we took from vacation.  The final day ended up being a bust.  I thought it was a fluke when Charlotte woke up at 3am puking, but I quickly followed suit.  We were just supposed to get packed up and head to downtown Disney for the day (we had already gone there after Animal Kingdom), but instead we puked.  A lot.  And flew on planes.  And puked.  Ick.