Disney Day 1

I'm going to attempt to post all of these today so that I don't get busy and totally forget to get it done.  We got back from our vacation on Sunday and have been desperately trying to recover from the lack of sleep we got while we were there.  Mike and I seem to be taking a little longer than the kiddos who seem to be constantly running in circles around us.  I digress...

Day 1 we spent at Hollywood Studios.  We did this knowing there wasn't much to do there so we could ease into the Disney thing.  Hollywood Studios also happens to be where all of their Disney Jr. stuff is, so that made the decision easy for Logan, who was on the hunt for Doc McStuffins...who we never found.  So, we started our day at the Disney Jr. show.

Here are the kids in line:

And in the show:

After we left the show we headed over to meet Mickey in the animation studio.  Both kids were so excited when we talked about seeing Mickey and could hardly stand being in line, they kept yelling things at him hoping to get his attention.  Logan sprinted up to  him when it came our turn.  Brody wanted nothing to do with him.  

We had to stand with him as far away from the characters as he could get if we wanted him in any of the pictures.  They're fun in theory--terrifying up close.

Logan also got to meet Jake, I'm pretty sure she has a crush.

And we found Minnie, too!

We stood in line for the Toy Story ride for an hour + only to have it break down.  Sad for us but Logan was consoled by heading over to Andy's room where she got to meet Buzz and Woody.

There were lots of fun photo op areas in line, which was good, otherwise we'd have no pictures of B.  

I didn't realize it while we were there, but they actually took the pictures on Andy's bed!

At this point, Mimi and Granddaddy had arrived so they got to get in on the photo action, too!

That afternoon, we headed back to the hotel so Logan could have some pool time.  The first place we stayed had a pool with a giant slide and Logan had been dying to try it.  She had a great time--Mike froze!  Thankfully, they also had a heated kiddie pool, so that's where she spent most of her time.

They had a fun photo prop by the pool, too.

We had dinner at the house of blues that night and got ready to head to Epcot for day 2!

Post 600--Mini Photo Shoot!

Wow!  600 posts!  I can't believe we've gotten this far.  :)  I didn't have it in the plans, but Logan came out of her room after her nap in this outfit and asked if we could go outside and take some pictures.  Who could refuse that?  I snapped a few and then she got silly and said no more.  So, here's what we got--

Brody briefly wanted in on the pictures.

And then sweet Logan asked me to take one of she and Brody so that we could remember them sitting together.

This lasted all of a second before a bug became more interesting.

I have several pictures from the trip I'll post soon!

OB Days 3-4

I wanted to make sure to go back and get the rest of our Outer Banks pictures posted but just haven't had the time to sit down and get them all up.  But, here they are!  We really, really enjoyed hanging out with the cousins.  It's fun to have kids who are similar in ages.  Though, having 4 kids 3, 2, 1 and none together was a little nutty at times!

Logan and Abby:

All four together (and yes, this was absolutely the best picture of all of them, ha!):

Before Mike had to head back home for school, we took the kids mini golfing.  Logan hit TWO holes in one on her first mini golfing trip ever.  It was impressive.

Brody and Logan have such a special relationship.  It was such a joy to capture this secret telling moment between them while we were there!

The kids and I stayed for another day and a half after Mike left.  We enjoyed going crab watching one evening.  We all took flashlights and had the kids look for the scurrying creatures in the sand.

Brody was still not thrilled with the sand but tolerated it for a couple of pictures.

Our last day there, Lindsey and I took the older kiddos to a beautiful beach.  The waves weren't quite as violent and there was a ton of white sand for them to build in.  

I think we could have easily spent all day there if we hadn't left the babies with Jeremy.

Little model.

I loved watching Logan explore the beach in her floppy hat.

They had a small aquarium and gift shop on the pier so we took them up there for a quick peek before leaving.

And, of course, the trip wouldn't be complete without trying to get some shots of the kids together outside.  

 I'm so thankful that we were able to spend some time together.  It was fun making memories.

OB Days 1-2

We are spending the week in the Outer Banks with Mike's sister, Lindsey, and her family.  They rented a nice beach house in Kitty Hawk and we're enjoying our time together.  The house isn't right on the beach, though, there is one across the street.  The picture below is from the porch and if you squint hard enough, you can see the water on the other side of the highway.   It's really quite beautiful to sit out there.

We took the kids to the beach yesterday morning.  We found one a little ways from us that is much calmer than the one across the way.  The kids were able to play in the water and build sandcastles.  Logan was fearless and loved the sand and the water.  Brody had some texture issues with the sand and didn't want to be put down.  Though, we did set him down to snap a quick picture of the two.

This morning we went to a boardwalk and walked around.  We stopped in some of the shops and the kids had fun trying on hats.

It was so peaceful to walk and watch the water. 

Logan is enjoying all of the time with her dad while he's here.  He'll leave tomorrow afternoon so he can get home for class and then we'll follow on Friday.

 

I'm not normally big on nature photography but it was such a gorgeous morning and the splendor of creation was begging to be captured.

 

And I have to plug our Ergo here because it's been so nice to be able to walk around and not have to carry him in our arms or lug a stroller.