Disneyworld day one!

I have been so overwhelmed with the almost 600 pictures we took on vacation. But I guess I'd better just start sharing them before I get too behind. On Saturday, we all woke up at 4:30 to get to the airport, and head to Disneyworld! The kids were so excited. It was nice that we didn't have to claim our bags at the airport. We just got right on the bus, and our bags were delivered to our hotel while we were in the park. 

The first thing we did was watch the parade on main street. Evie loved it the most.

We rode the flying carpet ride a few times, since Evie could go on it. 

Ben got out of riding the teacups. The girls sure liked them.

Evie was really excited to see Pete the cat. She talked about him on the way to the park.

Each day we had at least one character meal. It's so much easier to meet the characters that way. The girls were pretty thrilled about eating at Chef Mickey's.

Evie was in the bathroom when Minnie Mouse came to our table, but she noticed Evie come in, and she came back to our table to see her. Evie was beyond starstruck. 

The evenings were our favorite, because there were no lines for the rides. 

We rode Goofy's barnstormer so many times. All of the girls loved it. 

Evie's first fast roller coaster. 

pretty, prancing, pink and purple princesses

I bought fabric to make princess dresses for the girls for Christmas this year, with the intention of them having them for our Disneyworld trip. But December was so busy, and I didn't get them done in time for Christmas. I still wanted to make them before our trip, I finally got it done last week. ben said, "they wont get recognized as Disney princesses". but, I thought I'd rather they be their own princess, instead of stealing the identity of the famous ones. He's still not quite convinced, though. I actually used patterns that were clearly ripping off the Disney princesses, but I just used pink and purple instead of yellow and blue, because I thought the girls would like that better. And I wanted to add some sparkly trim that I knew they'd love. 

Kiersten's dress is my favorite, but it was a pain in the butt to make, and definitely took the longest. The other girls only took a few hours, but Kiersten's took me 2 days to get it right. This was the pattern for Belle's dress. 

Karalee's dress was supposed to look like cinderella's, but in the colors I used, it kind of reminds me more of princess peach. I know it's super wrinkly, but I figured it'll just get all wrinkled in the suitcase anyway, so hopefully there will be an iron in our hotel :)  This was the last one I made, and I finally realized I was unnecessarily darting the lining on all of the dresses. That's part of the reason I got hers done so fast. I eliminated at least 6 extra steps. Though I did start sewing her zipper on inside out, but luckily caught my mistake pretty fast. 

Evie is so happy about her dress. It's supposed to look like Snow White's. She tried it on, and then I had a real fight to get her to take it off. I had to pull out her Minnie Mouse costume from Halloween to get her to change. I can't wait to see her traipsing around in it when we're at Disneyworld. Of course right now I have a fresh hatred for organza, zippers, darts, and hand sewing trim, but I'm glad for them to have something I made for them, even if it might have been easier and not much more pricey to just buy the premade ones.

The last picture is unrelated. Yesterday was pajama day at school, and Evie wanted to keep hers on when we went to the gym last night. The whole drive home, she kept saying she wanted to help me make dinner. After I had everything out, and was ready to start, I called her in, but she didn't come. I looked around for a few minutes, before I found her passed out under this barstool. (where she usually sits when she helps cook). I felt so badly that I took too long getting everything out and ready that she fell asleep there! But she did look pretty cute. 

Surprise Surprise!

For months we have been planning a really fun trip to Disneyworld and the Bahamas. the girls didn't know anything about it, and we weren't going to tell them until it was time to go. But as the trip is getting closer, we were getting excited, and wanted them to be able to be excited with us. So on Saturday, Ben took the girls out to sell girl scout cookies around the neighborhood. While they were gone, I set up a scavenger hunt all around the house. I left the first clue taped to the front door so they'd see it when they came back. 

At the end of the scavenger hunt they found balloons and cards telling them the big surprise. Evie was the most excited. The other 2 took a little while for it to really settle in before they got as excited. 

Evie can't wait to visit Mickey at his house. That night, she put on a princess dress and fairy wings, and declared she was ready to go. She was upset to be told she has to wait a little longer. 

Now our house is pretty full of fun and anticipation, and endless questions. We only told them about going to Disneyworld. We left out the part about the Disney cruise, and will tell them about that the morning we get on the boat. It's partially Kara's birthday gift, and there are some fun surprises still in store for her on the cruise. 

Since we will not be in town for Kara's birthday, we let her decide if she wanted to open her gifts early, or wait til we get back. Of course she chose to open them early, which I was counting on, since some of the gifts, are things for her to wear on vacation. 

she got mostly clothes. Before you think what a lame mom I am, I'll just say she got no clothing for Christmas  except for pajamas, and she has the least amount of clothes/shoes of all the girls, so she needed a new wardrobe. 

She has been in a really tomboyinsh stage for a while, and is starting to come back around to being a little girly again, so I had fun picking out fun colorful outfits and skirts for her. I was getting tired of seeing her in black almost every day. 

Kiersten was so proud of the outfit she picked out for Kara.

When she opened this skirt, all 3 girls gasped, and oohed over it. i almost didn't get it, but decided to at the last minute. Now I'm glad I did with how much they all love it!

She got a fun game from her aunt and uncle that she has made us play over and over.

The one toy we got her was the barbie car she has wanted for years. She was pretty excited to open it after getting all those clothes. 

I was so excited for her to try on all her new outfits, and we did a little fashion show. It was pretty fun! Kiersten even started planning out the poses she wants to do if she gets clothes for her birthday and has a fashion show. She got 3 new pairs of shoes, and had such a hard time deciding which ones went best with which outfit. I didn't get a picture of her modeling the swimsuit.

This is the outfit that Kiersten put together for her. She picked the headband, shirt, pants, and shoes. I think she did a decent job.

Snow much fun!!

The girls were so excited to get a decent amount of snow last week. They wanted to go out and play early on Saturday morning. 

Ben agreed to help them make a snowman. Since there wasn't enough snow in front, they rolled most of it in the backyard, and then I rolled it around to the front. It turned out to be hard work, and my arms were burning after just rolling the snowballs up the hill. Ben was a good sport to be out there on his hands and knees all morning. 

Everyone got to help, and they were sure excited. 

The finished snowman! The girls wanted it to be as tall as Ben, but he thought this was a better size. 

the girls were so happy on New Year's Eve! Kiersten and Evie got into party dresses just before dinner. 

Ben helped the girls make sugar cookies to look like clocks. 

The are always happy to put on their party hats. Evie fell asleep about 40 minutes before midnight, but still had a fun night. We played lots of games that she could be included in, and she loved being part of the group. After she fell asleep we played Wii U with the girls until a few minutes before midnight. Then we all went upstairs to watch the ball drop on TV, and have a midnight party!

Happy 2013!