A Quick Disney Trip in December

Bradley, Chris and I headed back to Disney World in December. This time we decided to stay for just a few days and only visit one park- Epcot (since just a few months earlier we had visited just Magic Kingdom).

A few weeks before we left, we received our Magic Bands in the mail:

We wore these the entire time we stayed on property. It opens your hotel door, acts as a charge card and a Fast Pass ticket (among other things).

Bradley was very excited:

On our day in Epcot, we took it slow and tried to focus on enjoying things from the eyes of a toddler. This meant a lot of time in the amazing (and HUGE) aquarium (at The Seas with Nemo and Friends):

Bradley LOVED looking at all of the fish!

Later, I left Chris and Bradley to enjoy Innoventions (a large indoor area with exhibits/activities that are sponsored by various companies and change through the years) while I grabbed a coffee (at the NEW Starbucks). Any guesses where I found them?

Playing a game about saving money, of course!

There's Bradley holding a piggy bank. He and Chris were doing various activities that teach kids about saving money for a pre-chosen goal (Chris er... Bradley chose "saving for college").

Bradley took the game very seriously:

And was very excited when he met his goal!

Later we visited Mickey Mouse (Bradley was still shy, but much better than the last visit):

and got Bradley a Viking Hat (that matches his dad's!)

He also enjoyed the activities in the Imagination Pavilion:

And our little trooper stayed up late enough to watch the fireworks!

(Though I'm not sure he enjoyed them):

On our "non park" days, we ate brunch at 1900 Park Fare, which is located at the Grand Floridian. We enjoyed seeing our favorite door greeter,

took some photos by the tree,

and met Alice!

(who Bradley adored).

We stayed at the Boardwalk Villas and loved our room-- it was right off of the quiet pool and kids "rec room" area. At night we simply walked out of our patio door and were able to roast marshmallows:

and Bradley LOVED swimming during the day:

Of course the "loud" pool wasn't far and although the clown slide is CREEPY in photos:

It's really not so bad in person. Here I am coming out of the clown slide:

Bradley loved his pool time!

Later we enjoyed walking around the boardwalk:

And shopping:

It was a wonderful quick trip!!

Halloween 2013

Oops! I somehow never blogged about Halloween this year!

Bradley was very excited to be dressed in his crawfish costume and to have a more active role than last year.

His first stop was Mimi and Papa T's house:

An event that was very well documented!

We then visited friends in the neighborhood who hosted a Halloween party. Our little crawfish just wanted to play outside...

Finally we let him trick-or-treat to one house...

Success!

(Well... kind of... he actually walked past the ladies passing out candy and tried to get into their house...)

Happy Halloween!

Thanksgiving 2013

I'm just a tad behind on my holidays (considering it's March!) but trying to catch up on the last 5 months!

We spent Thanksgiving week at the Hill compound in Baton Rouge, but took a day trip to New Orleans so the cousins could pick out a special Christmas ornament from Santa's Workshop. This was a tradition started by Jojo, Jeremy and Maria and we were all excited to join in this year! Just imagine, three toddlers roaming around a fairly tight shop full of expensive glass ornaments... yikes! Thankfully we only walked out with our chosen ornaments (instead of also walking out with a bunch of broken glass!). We gathered the kids for a group photo by the nutcracker:

You can see Bradley holding the t-bone steak ornament that Chris picked out. Bradley chose a Noah's ark and I chose broccoli. Yep. Broccoli.

Afterwards we enjoyed the streets of New Orleans, then pastries and cafe au lait at a little cafe. It was a fun day!

On Thanksgiving, I made the traditional Beard Corn Casserole. I have many memories of helping my mom when I was little. I was usually in charge of crushing the crackers. So this year, I got Bradley in the kitchen to help out!

Later the cousins got together for a group shot...

One more try?

Three little Indians!

Maria and Bradley trying to escape to the other side of the compound:

Bradley's teacher and class made this adorable pumpkin/turkey which we brought for the table decoration:

Bradley was happy to spend Thanksgiving with his Louisiana family:

Very,

very,

happy!