Disneyland Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disneyland Paris was the perfect first time Disney experience for us.  There are two parks, but we we only went to the main one (which seemed girly and for younger kids...the Disney Studios park had older kid rides and more of the boy stuff....Toy Story, Cars).  We got an early start at the park and it still didn't seem early enough!  The actual rides didn't start until 10am but the park opened before that and we wandered around Main Street.   It was cold (high 40's) but we were prepared with appropriate attire and we warmed up throughout the day on the rides (most were inside), in the shops, and at lunch.  

Once we were through the gates we waited in our first line (and probably the longest of the day!) to have our picture taken with Mickey!!!  BUT....when we were about 15 people away, Mickey went on break and they switched to Duffy the Bear (who the heck is Duffy the Bear!!!!????!!!)  Not a great start to our day, but it got better!  :) 

The cold was bareable because everything was decorated for Christmas which made our visit extra special!  The lines weren't bad at all.....15 minutes max for the rides.  The crowds were mostly around the parades and shows. 

One of the first shows we caught was Peter Pan.  Seeing Captain Hook became Kailee's favorite part of the day!  She didn't show much interest in him prior to Disney but has since watched the movie a few times!  :) 

The Dumbo (or Bongo according to Kai) ride

This show was my favorite part of the day.  We are already wondering when we can go back!  The park is small in comparison to Florida and California but you still need two days to see everything.  And in hindsight, we should have planned our day around the Show/Parade schedule since most of the rides aren't thrill rides but more like a slow boat/car that takes you through the scenes of the movie.  Cute, but why not see it acted out live?  And we missed the Princess show...how could we have missed the Princess show with 5 girls?!?!  I know what we missed, but the girls didn't and they had a GREAT time and that's all that matters! 

I didn't get a picture of it but Hailey's favorite part of the day was Big Thunder Mountain...Kai was too short to ride and I didn't think that I should ride so we sat that one out and Leevi and Hailey went two times (apparently Leevi put on quite the show screaming)  :)   There was one other coaster at the park that Hailey wasn't tall enough for but she would have loved to go on it.  We also really enjoyed the Toy Story Ride where you had to shoot Robots and Aliens with a laser gun (Kai and I beat Leevi's score!)  :)  and the Haunted Mansion ride. 

 

We had planned on taking the shuttle back to the hotel for lunch (and to let the dogs out) but decided that our day was flying by too quickly and opted for an expensive hamburger/french fry lunch at the park.  Again, in hindsight, when they checked our bags for entry to the park they didn't seem to care at all that we had packed snacks and drinks...we should have just packed our PBJ's too! 

  

It is getting dark between 4:30 and 5:00 this time of year, so I'm bummed about how my Once Upon a Dream Parade pictures turned out.  The girls had the best seats in the house but my only option was my tippy toes and I would have had much better luck with a Point and Shoot Camera that I could just hold up in the air.  Good parade seats are definitely on my list for next time!  :) 

Take note of the tiny Snow White doll that Kai is holding...somehow it didn't get lost that day or the next day as we toured Paris!!!!  She's always been good about keeping track of whatever she decides needs to tag along with us for the day!

Hailey kept me informed of "what was coming next!" 

So magical!!!!!

Kai crashed after the parade and missed the Tree lighting show but she had been such a trooper throughout the day!  The girls knew prior to our trip that they would be allowed to pick out one thing to buy...stuffed animal, doll, clothing etc.  And they were great about patiently laying out their options throughout the day.  Maybe subconsciously that rule was set so Leevi and I didn't want to buy them everything in the park!  We did put in a special request to our elf, Snowy, for a Baby Minnie Mouse and a Flounder stuffed animal if he thought the girls have been behaving extra well!  :) 

Kai chose the Snow White minature princess set and Hailey picked out a beautiful Wedding Day Ariel.  She has stayed true to Ariel from the time she was TWO!  It's definitely going to be another Ariel Christmas this year!  :) 

We headed back to the hotel after the park closed at 7:00, ate some Thanksgiving leftovers, and then we all crashed!  We slept in and then ralleyed the troops the following morning for our adventure into Paris....stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving!

Wow, how have we been home from our Paris trip for a week and I still haven't posted anything?!?  And it's not going to happen today either!  :)  Although, Leevi is travelling in Norway for the next two weeks so hopefully the evenings alone will allow me to get caught up!  It's crazy that it's already December!!!!  The girls each had a Thanksgiving Feast at their schools and because of the certain days/times, they were each able to attend one anothers'.   Hailey's class made Pilgrim hats for the boys and Native American hats (thanks for correcting me, Hailey! :) ) for the girls.  There are a couple of pictures on my iphone of Kailee's feast that aren't uploading (maybe I'll try again later!) 

We can't say enough about how thankful we are for our safety, health, employment, friends, family, housing...on and on.  The typical answers that are all too often taken for granted!  This Thanksgiving we were particularly thankful for the opportunity to vacation in Paris over the holiday weekend.  Living in Europe (on the military's dime!) is like when we lived in Hawaii for so long...you picture yourself going to the beach a few times a week but LIFE gets in the way and it just isn't possible!  We aren't sure how long we will be over here but we are trying to check off a LONG list of things we want to see with this once in a lifetime opportunity!  We had so many friends take off to Paris, Ireland, Prague, Italy etc for the weekend....these kids have know idea how fortunate they are!!!!!!!! 

Top left is Hailey's teacher, Mrs. Winter, giving the Feast directions and you'll see Kai in the right corner sitting on Hailey's lap acting like a big kid!  Middle bottom is the FEAST with both kindergarten classes (and notice Hailey has her lunch box because she wouldn't even eat a roll!)  But of course she didn't turn down a delicious RAINBOW cupcake!  :) 

Leevi arrived from Spain late Wednesday night (after a delayed flight and a LOST bag, which was finally found a few days later!)  I was all packed up and we got an early start Thursday morning with the Dozier family.  We had 4 hour drive with a "Boy" car and a "Girl" car and two dogs!!!  Amazingly, we didn't hit a single stau (traffic jam) going or coming home!   The girls watched a few movies and we got to the hotel early afternoon.  After unloading what seemed like our entire house, we rested and then whipped up the fastest Thanksgiving meal ever made.  The hotel had a small kitchen with a medium sized fridge and stove so we planned out all of our meals to avoid the extra cost of eating out all weekend or eating junk all weekend!  Our Thanksgiving consisted of a pre-cooked ham, pre-cooked turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, instant mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, cranberry sauce and pecan pie....and then we ate those leftovers over the next two days!  ;) 

Such a lovely picture on the left...Kai with a stinky face and Hailey murdering the yams!  Not to mention the bag of Lays chips on the table...they WEREN'T part of our Thanksgiving dinner!  :)  On the right are the girls saying their Thanksgiving Grace! 

 After dinner we walked across the street to a fabulous French mall (Val d'Europe)

Carousel at the French mall

 And got to see Santa!

Special Santa treat....Elves walking around on stilts, a French Santa, and a choir....the girl elf was sprinkling glitter dust on the girls' faces!  :)  So fun!!!!  We didn't visit with Santa (just waved) and will go to the one at the German mall near our house....not too many kids will get to say that they saw a French, German, and American Santa all in the same year! 

Our hotel was absolutely perfect!  It had a bedroom downstairs with bunk beds, bathroom with shower, small kitchen, and a living room with a twin sized bed/couch and a 2nd twin bed/couch with a rollaway underneath.  Upstairs was a full sized bed and a 2nd bathroom!  Somehow the thought never occurred to me to bring things for the girls to do in the hotel (I guess I assumed we wouldn't be spending too much time there)  But I forgot bedtime books, coloring things, toys, etc.  But they made do and found ways to keep themselves busy!   There was a free shuttle ride to take us to Disney (10 mins away) and the Subway station to get us into Paris was a 10 min walk away.  Too easy!!!

Passing time at the hotel....journal writing (nice face Hailey!), the Lefty on the Leapster, and their fun bunk beds!!!!

I'll leave you with this picture of the girls bundled up for Disney!!!!!  It was cold but we were prepared...fleecy jeans, hats, gloves, Minnie Mouse earmuffs, hand warmers and blankets for the stroller!!  I'll try to get this post up tomorrow but no promises....laundry, Leevi out of town, playdates, etc are making for a busy weekend!!!!  And I've got to get my Christmas cards done and in the mail!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Baby Mac #3

It's about time that this excting news officially hit the blog!  Baby Mac #3 is doing great and will make his or her arrival around Easter!  I'm 20 weeks today!!!!!!  Halfway there....this first half seemed to go by quickly and I'm sure the next few weeks over the holidays will fly by too.  March might be the slowest month without any big school breaks/holidays this year!  Just like with the girls we are going to drive everyone crazy and wait to see if the baby is a boy or girl!  It might be difficult because I get an ultrasound at every appointment!  It's awesome to see the baby every month, but so so so hard to keep my willpower in check!  My next appt is in a week!   We are already preparing ourselves for another girl...we are SURROUNDED by three girl families. Four of Hailey's school friends in Germany are from 3 girl families and we know quite a few back in the States in addition to countless 2 girl families!  Another girl would be easy but of course we would be pleasantly surprised with a boy!  Hailey wants a boy (for Leevi's sake!  Too cute!) and Kailee ONLY wants a girl (A cute little tidbit from Kai:  she said, "I want to have a little sister that's just like me!)  :)   The girls have objected to all the name possibilities that we've discussed and want to name a girl Emma or Gracie and don't really talk much about the possibility of a boy!  :)  Hailey has been able to feel the baby kick but we are anxiously awaiting the bigger movements!!!!!   I'm feeling great and everything seems to be going just as smoothly as with the girls!  My mild morning sickness stopped around 10 weeks and I got my energy back around 14 wks.  I pray that things continue on this course and we'll be holding our new blessing in our arms before we know it! 

Ultrasound pic at 13 weeks

20 week belly pic!  Halfway there!!!!!

I feel like I can eat dinner and my belly grows an inch!!!!

I'm definitely not attempting these pics again without Leevi's help!  We were setting the timer and it took FOREVER to get a decent one! 

More attempts....I like the first one where Hailey's sign is backwards and Kailee's is upside down!  :) 

 

Gotta end with a silly pic!

Hailey wanted a belly pic too!!!!  Her baby is under there! 

And a few pictures of a typical German labor room.  I haven't gotten the tour yet at my hospital so we'll see how it compares to the ones below.  I remember my neighbor saying that they gave her a rope to hold onto when she had her 1st child in Germany 6 years ago!  Thankfully, this isn't my first!!!  Our hospital is only 9 minutes from our house so if this baby decides to be competitive with Kailee's labor we should hopefully have enough time to get there!!!! 

That looks enticing!  There was a similar tub like this for Kailee which I didn't get a chance to use because she came too fast....let's hope I can try it out this time!  :) 

Purple Unicorn Monkeys

Our soccer season wrapped up at the beginning of November and we rented a room at the bowling alley for our end-of-the-season party.  We passed out trophies, ate pizza and cake, and danced the night away!   We had a great season this Fall and I really enjoyed coaching this group of kiddos! 

Hailey getting her trophy and me getting my coach's gift

Dance party with a disco ball and flashing lights! 

Hailey, Hailey, Hailey

Hailey had a really busy week a few weeks ago (and I've been really busy and just now am getting around to this post!)  She had her first school project and in "Hailey-fashion" refused all help/suggestions!  :)  I read her the project sheet and she did a great job!!  On Halloween they weren't allowed to dress up at her school but they did have a school wide Hat Parade.  The assignment was to make or decorate a hat with a WORD.  Hailey choose "little" and went to town.  The only suggestion she accepted from me was how to fold the tape to stick on her drawings verses long strips across the top of the illustrations.  :)  I thought it turned out pretty cute! 

Lining up for the parade outside....the bottom left pic is with her BF, Talia, who also chose the word "little" coincidentally! 

A few days later she had a Spanish school performance....


This is the entire school!!!  I love it!  It's like we are sending her to a private school!  :) Her class is down to only 16 kids and at least one if not two more are leaving at the Christmas break!  With two teachers (and a parent helper in the class everyday for 1 1/2 hrs during reading group/center time) it's A-W-E-S-O-M-E! 

I cringe looking at her outfit....it was GAME day and in addition to her jersey she wanted to wear her shorts but it was too cold so this is what she opted for.  :) 

Later that night we had one of our last soccer games of the season.  Hailey scored THREE goals and had an awesome chase-down-from-behind-break-away defensive save!  :)   We put a pretty bad beating on the other team and it's so hard to take the drive out of 5 year olds and tell them to stop scoring!  Before the last quarter I had a pep talk with the kids who were playing and told them to try and take it easy because the other team probably felt really sad.  I didnt say anything about "letting" them score, but Leevi caught it once on film where Hailey is totally in position and doesn't do anything....she even let out a little cheer for the other team when they got their first goal.  I didn't realize how obvious it was until Hailey asked me on the ride home if I was proud of her for letting them get a goal.  :)  We had a really fun season....more to post about that as soon as I can catch up!

If you listen closely to the video you and hear Leevi mumbling things like "no mercy...run it up...double digits...lookin for scholarships here"  :) 

  

I don't think there are any action clips in this video but it sums up how much fun we had during the season!  :)  We did have a pretty talented team this year but it will make for an interesting Spring Season when most of these guys move up to the next age bracket!  

On Thursday she had Awanas and earned her Hang Glider Emblem, her Pilot Wings and two Jewels!  She was so proud of herself (we were too!!!!!!)   We are really happy that she enjoys going to Awanas!    

Now that soccer has wrapped up until the Spring we aren't quite so busy!  And there have been lots of breaks from school in November which is nice but at the same time eats up my free time to get things done (i.e. update the blog!!!)  Leevi has travelled to Norway, Poland, Croatia, Kansas, Virginia, and Spain over the past two months!  Talk about the Army Adventure!   The extra money seems to make it worth our while but we definitely eat him up while he's here!!!!!!  We are looking forward to our family vacation to Paris over Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Christmas Card Photoshoot

Last Friday the girls had off from school so I took them to the Hardenberg castle in Bad Durkheim about half an hour away for a photoshoot for our Christmas card.  It ended up not being the castle I thought I was going to but I LOVED it!  It's by far my favorite castle I've seen as of yet (in ruins or not).  It was MASSIVE!!!!  We had a little trouble at first trying to figure out how to get up to the castle and after a bit of driving we decided to just park and follow the walking trail.  I was worried that I'd bitten off more than I could chew since Leevi wasn't with me!  I should have taken a picture of how far we had to walk up yet the girls did great.  I was amazed at how many levels the castle had...we walked up, explored the grounds, and then would climb the next flight of steps and find a whole new level!  Once we finally reached the top there was still a tower that we could have climbed with a sprialling staircase but I was able to convince Hailey that we really didn't need to go up (for fear that I'd be carrying Kai UP or DOWN!) 

 

I don't really want to spoil what our Christmas card for this year looks like, but some of these pictures that I didn't use on the card were too cool or cute to not be on the blog. 

 

How most of the shoot went.....

Um, seriously Hailey?!?!!  :)  Her "glamour pose" on the left and her "laughing at herself pose" on the right

Along the tree line of the top left photo is another castle (maybe the one I was originally trying to get to)...I wonder if long ago they were friends or enemies

Kai was pouting in the top right photo because I screamed at her, scared her, went hysterical told her to stop climbing that window!  I was too scared to go over afterward to see how far down the drop was!  Ughh! 

 

Overall the adventure was fun and I got a few decent pictures.  One that I LOVE and others that are do-able for this years' card!  :)  You'll just have to wait and see.........

Fall Fest and Trick or Treating

On Friday evening before Halloween, the community hosted a Fall Festival for the kids.  Many organizations on post (FRG's, PTA, Girl/Boy Scouts, Chapel etc) set up booths and FUN, FUN, FUN for the kiddos.  Everything was free including dinner which I'm always amazed at and the weather was absolutely perfect! 

Ariel and Strawberry Shortcake

Saturday was our community Trick or Treating night since Monday was a school night.  The Fall Fest was organized because they didn't know what to expect for Trick or Treating.  Since our community is rapidly dying, most families went to Heidelberg for Trick or Treating.  I didn't feel like driving or messing with the crowds on Patrick Henry Village so we decided to stay home and see who turned up in our neighborhood.  Because most of Benjamin Franklin Village consists of stairwell living, everyone comes to our Grant Circle neighborhood for the Trick or Treating in years past.  Last year we were at almost full capacity with housing and the streets were packed!  It was a lot of fun.  This year we probably have 1/3 of the families left if not less, so you are looking at less than 30 families to pass out candy!  The 10 or so families that stuck around to pass out candy had plenty to go around to the 50 or so trick or treaters who came.  Our girls still had a lot of fun and had no complaints (probably from lack of T or T experience!)  :) 

Jump!

We walked the neighborhood with the Dozier girls

Once we lit our pumpkins on Saturday they seemed to mold pretty quickly.  I was inside doing housework while Leevi and the girls were outside doing yardwork and I looked out the window when I heard a bunch of squeals!  Leevi allowed them to smash our pumpkins and they of course had a blast (followed by a clean up!)



 

Happy Halloween!