Little Did I Know

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Final Days

6:12 PM

We've had some busy days to tie up our vacation... we're on our way out of town tomorrow after breakfast.

Olivia had another day of skating.

Yesterday we went to Give Kids the World Village to visit. WHAT A WONDERFUL AND AMAZING PLACE! We first were blessed enough to go there as visitors for a week during Olivia's Make a Wish Trip in August 2008. Families can go back and visit any time they'd like and participate in any or all of the activities whenever they visit... just can't spend the night or take part in a meal. :)

We went the morning they have horseback riding. The kids LOVED it, especially since Liam who was too young in 08 to ride!

The men who brought the horses said Olivia was a natural... :)

Braeden was shy, but finally gave the photographer two thumbs up! They take photos of everything when you stay there, and then give you a CD of the pics when you leave. They got my email to send us these...

Liam was on cloud nine!

After riding, the kids got "Official" cowboy certificates and hats!

We found the paver that Grandma and Grandpa donated money to have put in...

Got to see the new pool/water area - amazing! but no pictures :( - and the new Garden of Hope (this pic does NOT do it justice - gorgeous!)...

Rode on the train at the Station building, inside are toy trains, boats to drive, games, etc...

After GKTW, we headed to Downtown Disney for lunch and a little shopping. Grandma and Grandpa got Braeden a basic lego set for Christmas, we've only had Duplos until now, and we got some more at the lego store to add to it.

The olders and I shopped around and each spent a little money on a special something. We had fun watching the "animals" at Rainforest Cafe! (Though we actually ate at McDonalds!) :)

Today we started off at Krispy Kreme, then went to Chuck E Cheese. We played first and then had our lunch... it was nice and not too crowded...

Later Olivia and I went to do some shopping. The kids each got a little money for clothes for New Year's, so we hit the deals and found some great ones! Olivia spent her $20 on a shirt and two pairs of knee highs at Gymboree, and a shirt, scarf, and mittens/gloves at Gap. I found the boys matching shirts, some shorts, and a few other things at Gymboree, and even got myself a few things at Gap. Gap had adult clearance an extra 40% off, and kids clearance an extra 25% off. Weird!

We've had a great vacation. Tomorrow will be hard. The kids are already so upset to be leaving and say off and on, mostly Braeden, that they aren't getting in the car, I'm making them leave, etc. How to explain when Braeden says family doesn't leave, that we actually see a lot more of our Grandparents than some? Hard to "make" them go. Will be a sad sad morning!

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Saturday, December 26, 2009

7:25 PM

Another great day in FL! I got up bright and early, my one early shopping day of the year, and headed to Target. I love all their Christmas toys they have each year and always stock up the day after Christmas for next year's stocking stuffers. After a bunch of great deals, I picked up Olivia and we went to get my hair cut. Then we headed to the mall to spend some money which was again burning a hole in her pocket! She had decided to use Christmas money to get her ears pierced (again). The first time was a birthday gift and she ended up taking one out at school, so I left them out. I'm hoping she's learned her lesson and leaves them in this time! :)

We girls had lunch at Panera and then headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's.

The kids got a few outdoor toys for Christmas so we spent some time outside playing today...

Olivia did great on her pogo stick!

Santa gave each of the kids a skateboard and they were in heaven, having wanted these forever! :) I have it on good authority that Santa and his wife got great deals on these! :)

Unfortunately we all have pretty sore throats which is not much fun right now. Braeden seemed to be the worst and during dinner just did not want to eat, asked to be carried, and was almost moaning aloud... oh wait, he was moaning! :) We took his temp and it was a whopping 103! Poor guy, no wonder he was moaning! Praying it's short-lived and that the Motrin kicks in quick!

It was a long, but good day... and we had one tired pup who crashed hard about five minutes after being sent to bed...

Off to Krispy Kreme tomorrow for breakfast and another day of ice skating for Olivia! :) Good night!

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Christmas Donation

1:55 PM

We do a lot of donating, service, and other projects around Christmas time... but today's has to be one of my favorites this year!

It's been around a year that I decided to grow my hair. One of my "talents" is being able to grow hair quickly. :) I thought I should put that to use, grow my hair and donate it to Locks of Love... and today was the day it was long enough to cut. My budding photographer Olivia (she got a small Disney digital camera for Christmas and LOVES it - a great deal I got this past year for about $2.50!) took some pics of the day for me!