Christmas was great this year. The girls are in the prime time of enjoying Christmas. They definitely understand what's going on, but no one is too cool for all the fun yet. The beginning of December started off a little rough with the second round of sickness working its way through the family (even Mom and Dad got pretty sick). Very fortunately, everyone started to feel better right before Mimi and Papa came out to visit. They flew out here the week before Christmas and Uncle Trey also flew out a couple days later. It's been a couple of years since Trey's been out here, so the girls had a great time showing him all their toys and just hanging out with him in general. We also got out a bit to check out the local attractions.
One day, we headed down to Denver to check out the Denver Museum. Trey hadn't been there since he was just a little kid, so he had a great time checking it out. We didn't get to see much since we got out a little late, and Emily ran out of steam shortly after noon.
The city sets up an ice skating rink every year around Christmas. Papa, Uncle Trey, Dad, and the girls headed there the morning of Christmas Eve while Mom and Mimi did some prep work for Christmas. Kara had taken ice skating lessons a couple of years ago. She was a little rusty at first but was skating all around by the end. Emily tried to skate a bit at first but ended up just letting Dad pull her around in a sled. We were the first ones there, but within 30 minutes the rink was packed with people enjoying the nice day and the skating.
Emily learned the words to several Christmas carols - Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer were her favorites - and would sing them over and over again for everyone. Kara enjoyed teaching Emily alternative versions of Christmas carols ("Jingle Bells, Batman smells..."). We bought a little bear that plays a version of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" that Emily loved to dance to. Unfortunately, we never could get a good video of her dancing. Maybe next year.
Christmas day was a blast. Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy came over early in the morning to get the day started. The girls got some amazing gifts this year from Santa. Emily was still a little slower with opening presents. She always wants to play with her new toy, while Kara is definitely at the age where she just rips into all her presents.
The girls are already planning for next year!
Kid quotes:
"We need to keep up appearances... for Emily." - Kara, as we were putting out cookies and milk for Santa. I think she's on to us...
Emily started a dance class this fall at the Tara Cluck Dance Center. She's been having a blast, and enjoyed going to class every week. The dance studio puts on a Christmas recital every December. Her class did a tropic themed dance to Mele Kalikimaka. She did a great job. She got a little starstruck at the beginning of the routine (check out the video below), but she recovered and finished strong. She had such a great time, she wants to take another dance class this spring!
November was a bit of a rough month. Kara came down with croup the second week of November and missed the whole week of school. Fortunately, she started feeling better just in time for her birthday party. Unfortunately, Emily started feeling sick just as soon as Kara started feeling better. We were supposed to travel to Mimi and Papa's house to visit for Thanksgiving, but Emily was a miserable mess. She had croup, a stuffed nose, and just generally felt terrible. The worst part was the lack of sleep (for everyone). She would wake up crying at least 2-3 times a night, and nothing Mom and Dad could do could really help her. She consoled herself by going through about a box of tissues every couple of days (we went through a lot of tissues). It would have been miserable trying to travel with such a sick little girl, so we we decided to cancel our travel plans at the last minute and reschedule for Spring Break.
We took advantage of being home the long Thanksgiving weekend and got the house all decked out for Christmas. Dad even got out and hung up lights outside!
Kara came down with croup and missed the entire week of school before her birthday party. Fortunately, she started feeling better the day before the party, so we were able to have the part as planned. Kara had her party at Jump N Rope this year, which is a local jump rope gym. The gym was great about planning games and activities for the kids. The kids all had a great time running around during the party. We finished off the party with some pizza and pumpkin muffins.
Kara finished up her first season of soccer. She had a lot of fun and actually scored a couple of goals (we won't discuss the goals she scored in her own net). She's looking forward to the next sport season!
Emily has been having some issues with sleeping recently. She will often wake in the middle of the night and tell us she just doesn't feel like sleeping anymore, which is very bothersome when it's 2 am. Hopefully we figure this out soon!
Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We spent most of the month preparing for Halloween. We made a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins and spent the Saturday before Halloween carving pumpkins. The girls both ran the Monster Dash this year. Kara ran the half mile with Dad, and Emily ran the quarter mile with Grandma. It was a fun time.
Each girl designed her own costume this year. Kara decided to go as a Magical Cheetah and picked out leopard print shoes, pants, and dress. She also got some fire wings to complete the ensemble. Emily wanted to go as Sparkle Girl and put on some pink pajamas that were covered in stars, sparkly shoes, and finished the costume with a glitter covered mask. On the day of Halloween, though, Emily kind of changed her mind and didn't want to put on her mask for her school Halloween show. For Trick-or-Treating that night, Emily completely gave up on Sparkle Girl and opted for a witch costume instead.
The first weekend in October, we headed out to California for Cousin Travis' wedding to Dani. It was the girls' first trip to the west coast, and they were very excited to check out the beach.
The wedding was on the beach near Watsonville. We were able to rent a place right on the beach not far away.
We flew into San Jose with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy. While Grandma and Grandpa went with Uncle Arch, Aunt Amy came with us to check out Henry Cowell Redwoods California State Park, which was awesome. The redwoods really are amazing. It was the first time any of us had seen them, and the girls had a blast walking the trail and checking out the trees. While at the visitor's center, Kara learned about the animals that live there and about seed size of different California conifers. Afterwards, we drove to our condo, unloaded, and met up with everyone for dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant. There was a group of sea loins loittering around the fishing boats. That would be our closest look at them this trip, so thanks for pointing them out Uncle Arch!
Sleeping has always been an issue on these trips, and we were pretty concerned since the girls were going to share a room at the condo. The first night Emily popped out about 10 times to talk with Mom and Dad, but eventually calmed down and went to sleep (Kara was very quick to settle down), though the girls did wake Dad up at 5 am because, as they said, they just couldn't sleep any more! The second night was better, and the third night was no problem at all. Hopefully, sleeping on vacation will get progressively better...
On Sunday we drove to Monterrey for the morning. We walked along the oceanfront and through downtown. We didn't go inside the Aquarium, but we did check out the observation deck. For lunch, we ate at a place that hung over the bay with great views. A big sea otter was kind enough to entertain us too! He was very close and fun to watch. We also saw seals a bit further out. Emily was pretty worn out after lunch, so we headed back to Watsonville.
That evening, there was a wedding rehearsal at the campsite followed by a cookout. Travis and Arch grilled out and had a great spread. The girls had a blast playing with Langdon, Dani's nephew. They also had games set up, which were a hit. The bonfire was also fascinating to the girls, along with being able to stay up a bit after the sun went down!
For Monday morning, we took it pretty easy and just headed down to the beach. The water was quite cold, but that didn't stop the girls from running right in (though Dad wasn't too happy about hanging out in the water). Kara spent most of the beach time just running around in the waves. Emily ran in the waves but also played in the sand for awhile. We were able to see a few dolphins in the distance from the condo too!
The wedding was beautiful. The ceremony was on the beach with the reception up the hill at the campsite. Travis had asked if the girls could be a part of the wedding. The girls were supposed to walk down the aisle in front of the bride with a sign that said "Here Comes the Bride". Emily was pretty excited about it up until the time it came to actually walk down the aisle with the sign. She ended up just walking behind Kara while Kara held the sign.
The reception was awesome. It was catered from a a food truck. They had also set up games for the guests and had a S'mores cookout for dessert. The girls had a good time playing with their new friend Landon. And wouldn't you know it, Kara caught the bouquet. Oh, boy!
September was a pretty exciting month. We got peaches on our peach tree (first time since 2012), so we spent all Labor Day weekend picking, peeling, and freezing peaches. If you visit, I hope you enjoy peach desserts!
The girls quickly fell into a routine with school. Emily was pretty gung-ho about preschool at first, but she started getting separation anxiety after the first couple of weeks. She would be fine right up until the time that it was time for class to start. Then she would grab onto Mom (and Dad the one time he dropped her off) and sob until we would peel her off and run off. Fortunately, the teachers told us she'd be fine 30 seconds after we left, though she always seemed a little upset when we picked her up. She seems to be getting better about it, though.
Kara, of course, is loving school. She runs off to get in line everytime we get to school, never with a glance back. She's also been enjoying playing soccer this season. At this age, it's mostly just the girls running around in a big cluster after the ball, but Kara has fun.
Emily started a dance class (see the video below). She's only gone a few sessions, but she seems to love it. She likes to show off her dance moves whenever she gets a chance. Emily is pretty into board games. Her favorite these days is Chutes and Ladders, but she also enjoys Memory, Candyland, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Chess (she's just learning how to set up the board and how the pieces move).
Emily quote:
"I'm just not thinking about it." Emily's response when someone asks her to do something she doesn't want to do, like clean up after herself, say good game when she loses, or get ready for school.
"I did a great job today, give me a high five!" - Emily to her dance teacher after class one day.
This was a month of first days of schools! Kara had her first day of first grade on Thursday, August 18th. Kara is really excited to start another year of school. Emily had her first first day of school this year on August 31st. She is starting preschool at the Rec Center, which meets for a few hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. That means... Mom actually has time to herself on a regular basis! So exciting!
Mimi came out to visit us for a couple of weeks this month. We got to hit all kinds of sites around the city. We hit the Celestial Seasonings factory, Denver Museum, which was awesome as always, the Hammond Candy factory, the Denver Aquarium, and afternoon tea at the Huckleberry. It was quite the whirlwind visit!
Kara started playing soccer with some of her friends from teeball. So far she's having fun, but it's mostly just a bunch of the girls running around after the ball. But she's having a blast! Kara also lost her 3rd tooth. We think she looks pretty cool with the gap in her smile. :-)
The summer is just flying by. It seems like every weekend is jammed packed with activities, and we still aren't getting everything done that we want to.
The first weekend of July, we headed down to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to check it out. While we were there, we got an annual membership to the museum. If anyone wants to meet up there, let us know! Both girls had fun, though Emily was ready to go back home well before Kara had seen everything she wanted to see.
Kara stayed up for the first time this year to see the fireworks on the 4th (they start around 9 pm). Emily went down at her usual bedtime (and thankfully stayed asleep through the fireworks), but Kara stayed up and watched Zootopia with Mom and Dad. There's a local fireworks show that we can see from our backyard. After the movie, we got ourselves set up in the backyard and enjoyed the fireworks show. We eventually got Kara down to sleep around 9:30. We paid for it the next day, though, as Kara was quite grumpy and moody since she didn't get enough sleep. Maybe someday we'll be able to do exciting things with the kids without worrying too much about sleep.
We went up to Breckenridge for several days later in the month (separate blog post to follow soon). We attempted to do our annual backyard camp-out the weekend after we got back, even getting as far as getting the tent set up, but Kara had a bit of a melt-down as were getting everything ready. It was probably too much excitement. We'll try again in August.
Kid quotes:
- After dinner one night, Emily chose jelly beans as her dessert (the girls get a small dessert if they eat all their dinner). Mom said Emily could have 3 jelly beans since she's 3 years old. Emily grabbed 4 jelly beans, and Dad pointed out that Emily was only supposed to get 3. Looking very innocent, she quickly popped one into her mouth and showed dad the 3 left saying, "look there are 3."
- After our 4th of July grill out, Mom said, "Wow, I am stuffed!" Emily promptly replied, "We don't having stuffing, we have bones inside!"
- We've been having some minor issues with rabbits eating things in our garden. Emily noted, "Something's eating our plants like bunnies... or sharks..."
Breckenridge was a bit of a blur this year. We went up the first part of the week this year, instead of the last half of the week like we usually do. Our plan was to head up Sunday after Emily's nap. Unfortunately, Emily decided that she wasn't going to take a nap, so at 3, we just packed everyone in the car and headed up. We hoped that maybe she would sleep in the car (she didn't) or at least that she'd be tired and sleep when we got there (that didn't happen either). After we got there and got unpacked, we grabbed dinner at the hotel restaurant and then tried to get the girls to wind down for bed. After a quick bath, we tried to put the girls down together in the same room (gotta give it a try). Kara was actually pretty good and tried to go to sleep. Emily, however, kept popping out of bed to check on Kara and everyone else in the other room. Around 9, we gave up on the experiment and moved Emily to the other room. Emily just didn't sleep well at all that night, tossing and turning, and waking up hysterical in the middle of the night. So, our trip didn't get off to the best start...
Sleeping, in general, was a bit of a struggle the whole time we were up there. Mom swears that the people in the unit above us were doing construction with power tools and work boots every night until 11 pm. Luckily, Kara and Emily generally slept pretty well after the first night. Mom and Dad, however, had trouble sleeping every night.
We didn't get a lot of hiking in this year. We went on a short hike near the lodge the first morning, but that was about it. Kara was really enthusiastic about hiking, and Emily was a trooper. We hiked until Emily said she wanted us to carry her, and then we just headed back. We did get a lot of pool time in. We went just about every morning. Kara had a great time practicing her swimming skills. Emily mostly enjoyed just being in the water and occasionally jumping in to Dad.
We also made our annual trip up to the top of Peak 8 to check out the Breckenridge Summer Fun Park, which was a bit of a bust. We bought the pass for Kara this year, so she could do just about anything. She did the bungee bounce and the alpine slide (with Dad). We also bought a limited pass for Emily. She got up on the trampoline for the bungee bounce, but decided she just wasn't into it and backed out once they tried to put on the harness. Unfortunately, the roller coaster they have up there and the zipline were both down, so all the kids funneled into the kids ropes course. After waiting in line for over an hour, Kara got to go down the kids zipline (which was about a 15 second ride). By that time, it was almost noon, and Emily was done. We just headed back to the hotel and took it easy for the afternoon.
We ended up cutting the trip a little short. We had planned on staying Wednesday night and heading back Thursday morning, but since Mom and Dad were sleeping so poorly, we just headed back home Wednesday afternoon. The drive back was uneventful.
It has been a pretty rough month for Mom and Dad's grandparents. Dad lost his grandmother, Great Grandma S, who died on June 18th. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years, and couldn't put two words together towards the end. While she was still mentally with us, she adored Kara. We had given her pictures of Kara as a baby that consistently got lost (which was one of our first clues her mental facilities were degrading), though she used to tell us that someone was stealing the pictures because Kara was just so cute!
Mom lost her Grandpa, Great Grandpa H, who was also suffering the effects of Alzheimer's. He broke his hip in June and never quite recovered. He suffered a stroke on the morning of July 10th and died later that day. He only met Kara and Emily a couple of times, but he thought they were both pretty awesome.
We've had a pretty rough start to summer. Kara had a make up T-ball game the first week of June. About halfway through the game, she started complaining to Dad that she was feeling hot. He thought she was just a little warm because it was hot outside and told her to drink more water. When we got home, she still said she was hot. Come to find out, she had a fever of 103°F! She was supposed to have another game that Saturday, but her fever was just not going down and she developed a pretty rough cough. We took her to the doctor's office after about 5 days of 100+°F fever where she was finally diagnosed with pneumonia. Once we got Kara on some medication, her fever went down after a couple of days, and she started feeling much better. She was supposed to go to music camp the second week of June. Camp Oonie Koonie Cha is a music-centric camp for kids. The theme this year was the Old West, and Kara really didn't want to miss it! Fortunately, they had some openings the next week, and Kara was able to change weeks when she felt better. Kara had a great time at the camp and intends to do it again next year (the camp next year will be jungle-themed). She also attended a rock-themed birthday later in the month where the kids could get on stage and sing Karaoke. Kara had a blast getting up and singing songs (there were a lot of Taylor Swift songs and other singers Dad has never heard of).
Emily's also had a rough start to summer. Early in June, Dad took Mom out for a nice dinner for her birthday and left the girls with Grandma and Grandpa S for the evening. Soon after Grandma had put her down, Emily got her foot stuck in one of the slats on her toddler bed. Apparently, she got it really stuck, and it took quite the effort for Grandpa to get her foot out. After that, she refused to get back into her toddler bed, so Dad had to take the bed apart that evening, and Emily just slept on the mattress. Compounding Emily's issues with her bed, she simply hasn't been sleeping very well recently (even before the bed incident). At least twice a week, she'll wake up crying hysterically in the middle of the night, and no matter what Mom and Dad do, she won't calm down. We're thinking this is just a phase, but we'll see...
The weather, in general, was quite warm for the month of June, but not too hot. We got out the sprinklers a couple of times. By the end of the month, things were looking up, so let's hope we continue to have a fun summer into July!
The fundraiser for Kara's t-ball team was selling tickets to a Rockies game and letting teams walk around the field before the game. Kara had never been to a real baseball game, but she was excited! It was Dad's first time down on field level at Coors Field (and Kara's, obviously). It was a fun experience, and the Rockies even won (beating the NY Mets 4-3)!
Kara wrapped up her first year of real school at the end of the month. She's excited to be a first grader next year! She's got a busy summer planned with several camps lined up.
Emily is a pretty mild-mannered 3-year old. She has the occasional melt-down, but her worst days are nothing compared to Kara when she was about the same age. Emily is continuing to develop her voice and is getting better at communicating what she wants, which isn't always easy with a big sister like Kara who is very opinionated herself. One of her favorite things to do is to sing the alphabet song to us. She still has a little trouble with the middle (L-M-N-O come out ellam minnow), but she's getting better. She can pretty easily count to 20 and can identify all the numbers up to 10 (though she sometimes gets 6's and 9's confused). All in all, she's a pretty awesome kid.
Early May, we got out and started up our garden for the summer. We planted a couple different kind of tomatoes, zucchini, beans, and pumpkins. We'll see what comes up!
Kara (completely unprompted by Mom and Dad) decided to start writing her own comic. The first three issues of Jack Skeleton are below (with translations for those who have trouble reading the writing of a kindergartner):
Comic 1
Jack Skeleton
Jack’s New Friend
Jack’s New Friend
One day when Jack was at school… “Hi”
He saw a new monster! “Awoooo!”
And the new monster was scared!
When it was recess time…
The new monster just watched!
Then when Jack was playing… “wee”
He saw the swings…
And when he was on he saw…
The new monster!
Then he said, “Would you like to be my friend?”
And the new monster said, “Yes!” And so they did!
Comic 2
Jack Skeleton
Jack’s Problems
Jack’s Problems
One day at school… “Hi, hi.”
Jack fell! “Whoa!”
Then he got up… “Oof!”
And told his friend
And she said… “Watch where you are going.”
So he did…
But bonked his head! “Ow!”
Then he rubbed his head…
And told the teacher
He said…
You must be clumsy, Jack.
Jack said… I guess I am and he went to play!
Comic 3
Jack Skeleton
Jack Gets Angry!
Jack Gets A-N-G-R-Y-!
One day at school… “Hi!”
Jack said something mean to ghost. “I hate you!”
And ghost said…
“Hate is not a nice word!”
But Jack wasn’t listening!
So ghost told!
And the teacher had a chat with Jack!
And Jack said he was sorry to ghost. And so they went to
play!
Kara tested for her Brown belt recently. She's come along way since her Yellow Belt Test. Her forms have really improved, and she's kicking with a lot more power. Her kick for breaking the board (Part 6) was particularly impressive. This belt test included some sparring with the other kids. She did pretty well the first round, but didn't do great the second round. But she had fun!
Enjoy!
Part 1 - Exercises
Part 2 - Practicing Kicks
Part 3 - Demonstrating Forms
Part 4- Sparring Part 1 (Kara is in the blue)
Part 5 - Sparring Part 2 (Kara is in the blue on the left)
April was a pretty crazy month as far as the weather went. It did the typical Colorado thing with flashes of warm weather followed by huge snow storms (our biggest storm dropped almost 2 feet of snow). The girls and Dad were able to get out and make a pretty awesome snowman.
Kara joined a T-ball team this spring, which was her first organized team sport. Dad volunteered to be an assistant coach (mostly just keeping the kids entertained while the head coach actually teaches the kids how to play). Dad might be having more fun that Kara! For Kara's Opening Day, the league put on quite a show that even Dinger (the Colorado Rockies' team mascot) attended. So far, Kara's only had a couple of games (we had a couple of our games rained/snowed out due to bad weather),
Emily picked up a little bug our last day in Disney, which made the travel day home quite unpleasant. Unfortunately, she continued to have a snotty nose and a cough after we got home. Dad came down with the flu a few days later, Mom came down with a cold a few days after that, and Kara finally developed a barking cough a few days after that.
Emily seems to be fine now, but the rest of us are still fighting the cold. Good fun!
Emily's birthday was the weekend after we got back from Disney. It was a little subdued since we were all a little sick, but we still got a cake, of course! It's kind of hard to believe Emily is 3 years old already!
We got 2 separate heavy snow storms later in the month. We got about a foot on March 18th, which happened to coincide with Kara coming down with the cold. She wasn't too sick to go out and play, though. The weather warmed up right after that and all the snow had melted by the time the second storm came in on March 23rd. The second storm came in fast and furious, and we had 21" of snow on the ground by that afternoon. It was Kara's spring break, so she didn't get a snow day, but that would have been her third one this year. Crazy!
Unfortunately, the second snow didn't melt quite as quickly as the first snow, so we had to do our Easter egg dyeing and Easter egg hunt inside. It's not quite as fun as outside, but the girls still enjoyed it! Emily knew what was going on and jumped right in searching for the eggs (stopping to open up each one as soon as she found it). Later in the day, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Easter dinner.
Emily is starting to develop into an annoying younger sibling (Tyler's words). She routinely does things these days purely to bother Kara. She's also developing a bit of a rebellious steak. She enjoys running away and slamming doors when Mom and Dad are trying to get her to do something (like get dressed). She's landed herself in time out a few times. Fortunately, she continues to loves hugs and cuddles and is still very empathetic and sweet.....80% of the time!
Kara is loving school and all the learning and friendships that go along with it. In fact, when we got back from WDW, Kara said she enjoyed the trip but wished she hadn't missed a week of school! :O Her written stories are getting more nuanced these days, and she's started story-boarding a motion picture involving unicorn superheros. There are also 3-D paper mock-ups involved. She has requested a videocamera, so stay tuned. She's a hoot!
We decided to take advantage of free admission to Disney for kid's under 3 by taking a trip with the family to Disney World in Florida at the end of February with Mimi and Papa (right before Emily's 3rd birthday). We made a similar trip with Kara right before her 3rd birthday (Blog post of Kara's first visit to Disney). To get the girls in the Disney mood, Mom set up an awesome scavenger hunt (see the video below) on Valentines Day. That day was exactly two weeks before our flight to Disney World. Mom and Dad figured that was plenty of time for the girls to get excited about the trip but not so much time that the girls would pester us with questions about how much longer until our vacation for too long. It worked perfectly as Mom and Kara were able to scout out some of the rides and watch some Disney videos to get prepared and Emily had time to get used to the idea of meeting characters.
Sleeping was a bit of an issue for the first several nights. It was the first time we'd all shared a single hotel room and the first time we'd traveled with the girls since last summer. It seems Emily likes to talk to herself a bit before she goes to sleep. The first few nights, our bedtime process was a cycle of Emily talking a bit, Kara telling her to be quiet and go to sleep, Mom and Dad telling Kara to leave Emily alone, Emily then talking to Mom and Dad, Kara getting annoyed, and so on. Plus, Emily kept waking up every so often and getting up to check if everyone was still there (and waking everyone up in the process), but we got it figured out after the first few nights (thankfully!).
We signed up for a Disney Photo Pass, which was great since we got some good group shots. Emily was a little camera shy at the beginning of the trip, but she warmed up toward the end. We picked out the best for the trip photo album, but here's a link to all the photo pass pictures.
It was quite an eventful trip. Even though we didn't go into a Disney park every day, the trip seemed to fly by and we were always busy!
We hit Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral our first day. It was a favorite visiting place while we were temporarily living in Florida. Kara enjoyed checking out the Rocket Garden, the play area, and the Space Shuttle exhibit. The girls also got to meet Robonaut, which was awesome. Robonaut is a humanoid robot (his twin is currently on the International Space Station, ISS) that you can interact and talk with. By the end, Emily was exhausted and a little cranky (since we'd stayed through her naptime and she didn't sleep too well the night before).
The rest of the trip was taken up with Disney. We hit all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios) plus Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney). It was a whirlwind trip. We did a couple of character breakfasts: Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary with Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie and Cinderella's Royal Table, which is a restaurant in Cinderella's Castle with Cinderella (of course), Ariel, Jasmine, Snow White, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).
Kara enjoyed doing all the thrill rides. Her favorites were Tower of Terror, Test Track, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Star Tours (a ride with C3PO as a guide on a tour gone very wrong, which Kara, Dad, and Mimi ended up doing Star Tours 4 times in a row since the line was almost non-existent and the ride is a little different every time), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Astro Orbiter. Kara also really enjoyed Spaceship Earth, though she said she was disappointed that it wasn't a real spaceship. Mom and Dad were a little concerned that Kara would be scared on Tower of Terror, but she said it wasn't nearly as scary as the Haunted Mansion ride.
Emily was a little small for the big rides but really enjoyed meeting the characters. Her favorites were Goofy, Baymax (who she calls the puffy robot), and Tinkerbell. Emily was just in awe of Tinkerbell and just thought she was the coolest person ever. Emily also really enjoyed Frozen Sing-A-Long. Emily did enjoy some of the rides like Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, Dumbo, it's a small world, and Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.
Unfortunately, Emily started to get a sniffle on the last night, so she didn't sleep well, which made for a very unpleasant travel day. But we all made it home safe and sound. I think the girls are ready for their next Disney adventure!
We decided to take advantage of free admission to Disney for kid's under 3 by taking a trip with the family to Disney World in Florida at the end of February with Mimi and Papa (right before Emily's 3rd birthday). We made a similar trip with Kara right before her 3rd birthday (Blog post of Kara's first visit to Disney). To get the girls in the Disney mood, Mom set up an awesome scavenger hunt (see the video below) on Valentines Day. That day was exactly two weeks before our flight to Disney World. Mom and Dad figured that was plenty of time for the girls to get excited about the trip but not so much time that the girls would pester us with questions about how much longer until our vacation for too long. It worked perfectly as Mom and Kara were able to scout out some of the rides and watch some Disney videos to get prepared and Emily had time to get used to the idea of meeting characters.
Sleeping was a bit of an issue for the first several nights. It was the first time we'd all shared a single hotel room and the first time we'd traveled with the girls since last summer. It seems Emily likes to talk to herself a bit before she goes to sleep. The first few nights, our bedtime process was a cycle of Emily talking a bit, Kara telling her to be quiet and go to sleep, Mom and Dad telling Kara to leave Emily alone, Emily then talking to Mom and Dad, Kara getting annoyed, and so on. Plus, Emily kept waking up every so often and getting up to check if everyone was still there (and waking everyone up in the process), but we got it figured out after the first few nights (thankfully!).
We signed up for a Disney Photo Pass, which was great since we got some good group shots. Emily was a little camera shy at the beginning of the trip, but she warmed up toward the end. We picked out the best for the trip photo album, but here's a link to all the photo pass pictures.
It was quite an eventful trip. Even though we didn't go into a Disney park every day, the trip seemed to fly by and we were always busy!
Day 1: Kennedy Space Center
The morning after we flew in, we headed straight to Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral. It was a favorite visiting place while we were temporarily living in Florida. Kara enjoyed checking out the Rocket Garden, the play area, and the Space Shuttle exhibit. The girls also got to meet Robonaut, which was awesome. Robonaut is a humanoid robot (his twin is currently on the International Space Station, ISS) that you can interact and talk with. By the end, Emily was exhausted and a little cranky (since we'd stayed through her naptime and she didn't sleep too well the night before).
Day 2: No park day
We took our second day relatively easy without a park visit. We started off the day with a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary hotel at 9:30. We got to meet Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie. Mom and Dad were slightly concerned that Emily would be afraid of the costume characters, but she seemed to warm up to them quite well. After breakfast, we did a little shopping at the Contemporary hotel and then took it easy back at our hotel, Shades of Green. That night, we had a fancy dinner at Sanaa in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They have African animals (like giraffes, wildebeests, and other exotic animals) wandering around the grounds. The girls had a good time checking out the animals before dinner.
Day 3: Magic Kingdom
On day 3 we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom. Mom made reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table (which is a resaurant in Cinderella's Castle) to meet all the Disney princesses. We got to meet Cinderella (of course), Ariel, Jasmine, Snow White, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). The upside to having breakfast at the castle with the princesses (other than eating in the castle with the princesses) is that we get into the park before it officially opens. We headed straight for Fantasyland and got to check out some of the kid-friendly rides there (Winnie the Pooh's Adventure, Dumbo, it's a small world). After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a little break. After a quick nap for Emily (and a little quiet time for Kara), we headed back to Magic Kingdom. Our second time around, we checked out the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which is a very popular new attraction. It was a fun roller coaster. Kara loved it! We also checked out Mickey's Electric Parade, which both girls enjoyed. After that, Dad and Papa headed back to the hotel with Emily while Mimi, Mom, and Kara hit the Haunted Mansion and the nighttime fireworks show.
Day 4: Animal Kingdom/Disney Hollywood Studios
The next day took us to the Animal Kingdom. As soon as we got into the park, we headed straight to the Wild Africa Trek safari, which always a cool ride to check out. The morning just flew by, and after only a couple of shows, it was time for Emily to head back for naptime. Kara stayed at the park with Mom and Mimi before they all headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios.
Once Emily woke up from her nap, Dad and Papa headed back out with Emily to meet with Kara, Mom, and Mimi. We first checked out the Muppet show, which both girls thought was awesome. Dad, Kara, and Mimi then headed to Star Tours (a ride with C3PO as a guide on a tour gone very wrong), while Papa, Mom, and Emily headed over to the Frozen Sing-A-Long. Papa, Mom, and Emily missed their FassPass window, so Kara, Dad, and Mimi ended up doing Star Tours 4 times in a row (the line was almost non-existent and the ride is a little different every time). We stayed late at the park that night to check out the Fantasmic show.
Day 5: Disney Springs
After two days in a row at the parks, we decided to take it easy and headed to Disney Springs (previously known as Downtown Disney). We poked around the shops for a couple hours and then grabbed lunch at the T-Rex restaurant.
After a nap and a leisurely afternoon at the hotel, we headed over to the Polynesian hotel to grab some dinner at 'Ohana.
Day 6: Epcot
We next headed to Epcot. Unfortunately, Mimi started to feel kind of under the weather as we walked to catch the monorail. She was a trooper and toughed it out, though. We only stayed in the Future World portion of Epcot and hit some of the big rides (Misson:Space, The Seas, Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth). Kara really enjoyed Spaceship Earth, though she said she was disappointed that it wasn't a real spaceship. After a quick lunch, Mom and Dad headed back to the hotel with Kara and Emily while Mimi and Papa enjoyed an afternoon touring the World Showcase at Epcot.
Day 7: Magic Kingdom
Our final day at Disney found us at the Magic Kingdom. Fortunately, we were able to get to the gate in time for rope drop, so we were able to hit some rides early in the morning (Space Mountain and Big Thunder Moutain). We also took some time out to visit with characters. Both girls met up with Chip and Dale, and Emily met up with Tinkerbell. Emily was just in awe of Tinkerbell and just thought she was the coolest person ever. Overall, Kara enjoyed doing all the thrill rides (her favorites were Tower of Terror, Test Track, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Star Tours, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Astro Orbiter) while Emily was a little small for the big rides but really enjoyed meeting the characters (her favorites were Goofy, Baymax, who she calls the puffy robot, and Tinkerbell).
Mom and Dad spent the afternoon in the parks while the girls stayed at the hotel with Mimi and Papa.
Unfortunately, Emily started to get a sniffle on the last night, so she didn't sleep well, which made for a very unpleasant travel day. But we all made it home safe and sound. I think the girls are ready for their next Disney adventure!
Most of the month of February was spent in anticipation of our big trip to Disney, so we kept things pretty mellow. Mom spent a lot of time making reservations and planning out the vacation with Mimi to make sure it went smooth.
Kara had her second snow day of the year (Dad had one all of high school) on February 2nd.
For Kara's 100th day of Kindergarten, all the kids dressed up as 100-year olds. Kara get really into it with her shawl and hair net. She made a pretty convincing old lady!
We made our first visit to the National Western Stock Show this year. We always say we're going to check it out, but we never seem to make it. It was a lot more commercial than Dad remembered from when he was a kid. It seemed more like it was just people trying to sell stuff rather than an opportunity to see animals. They did have one little area with a petting zoo and a place to do pony rides. Emily was really excited about the pony rides, so we decided to check that out. Unfortunately, there was a really long line and then really unfortunately, Emily decided she didn't actually want to ride the pony when it got to be her turn. Oh well. By that time, we had to move on, so we didn't get to check out the petting zoo. We also got tickets for the rodeo, which was pretty cool. Kara enjoyed watching the cowboys try to lasso the cows, but Emily lost interest quickly and mostly wandered around with an adult in tow. Maybe we'll go check it out again in a couple of years.
Right around the beginning of the year, Kara got her first loose tooth, one of her bottom front teeth. Dad and Mom both offered to pull the tooth as it kept getting looser and looser, but Kara was concerned about it hurting. One night (1/22), Kara decided it was loose enough and pulled it by herself. She was so proud of herself. Watch the video below.
Other than that, it was a fairly quiet month.
Emily quote:
1/7: "You look like fantastic, Daddy." Emily to Dad when he put on a nice shirt and tie for a job interview.
Kara tested for her Blue Belt on January 9th. It feels like she just finished testing for her green!
The most exciting part of every belt test is breaking the board. Kara broke her board on her 6th attempt, but she had several solid kicks before finally breaking it.
It was a great success!
Here are some more videos of the test. Kind of interesting to watch.
