DISNEY WORLD!

And finally, the post you have all been waiting for :), our trip to Orlando! This one is mostly photos, enjoy!

Anxiously awaiting our flight - we had to be at the airport early, can you tell? :)McKinley with her 'boyfriend' Ben :)The Family - Disney's Animal KingdomMason and Daddy checking out the flamingos on the Animal Safari

Such a little princess! She loves to dress up when we go to Disneyland, so we had to do it at Disney World too!It's a Bug's life - don't we make some good lookin' bugs?Epcott - Coca Cola's Cave Cool - refreshing weird drinks from all over the world, the kids LOVED it!Our viking childrenGoofing off :)

McKinley at the poolChicken fight!The familySilly kiddos!

It wouldn't be vacation without the Cheesecake Factory!The kiddos on the tram to The Magic KingdomThe castleMason on the carouselMeeting CinderellaMcKinley dancing with MinnieMickey and Minnie and the kiddos

At the end of a long day at the Magic Kingdom she is still all smiles!Watching the Lights, Motors, Action! show at Hollywood StudiosMcKinley and her Tinkerbell Barbie

Such a photo poser!Mason's 'kissey face' :)The cool pirate ship pool at our resort - the kids LOVED it!6-26-2009 - 7-3-2009

Hiking with Daddy

One Saturday I had a lot of work to do, it was raining, and the kids were BORED. Matt decided to pack them up, make a picnic lunch, and take them up to the mountains to give me a break :). They LOVED it, and it was really great for them to spend some quality time with Daddy since he is always so busy! Such big hikers! They walked the way, bouncing on rocks and jumping up and down!The monkeys and their Daddy!Picnic by the riverThanks Daddy, they had a blast!6-20-2009

The road to independance

I had decided that it was time for my kids to learn to do a few new chores - ones that I prefer to not do ;). I figured at 2 and 4, they are old enough to set the table, do the dishes, empty the dishwasher, and put away their own laundry. However, doing so DID require some adjustments. First, I purchased several sets of these melamine dishes from Costco to replace all glass dishes - they aren't quite ready for the real glass stuff yet. I moved all of the glass to a high cabinet, so we only use these dishes (most of the time). Then I rearranged our cabinets - if you come to my house, don't expect anything to be in a normal place! How could I expect the kids to empty the dishwasher and set the table if they couldn't reach anything? :) I put all of the cups in the lazy susan, the dishes under the sink, and I even moved the silverware down to the second drawer so they could reach easier and so they could make sure that all of the utensils go into the right compartment. I got on photoshop and made some cute 12 x 18 placemats (this is just one side, they are double sided, the back sides all coordinate, the front sides are all different). I printed them at Costco (they print 12 x 18 prints), glued them back to back, then laminated them. Now the kids know exactly how I want the table set (no more piles of cups, plates at random, and missing silverware! By the way, I KNOW this is not a proper table setting, but I had to simplify it to make it easier for the kids, and it works for us!)My hard-working girl! She did great scrubbing the dishes while I helped to load them into the dishwasher - Mason helped too! They loved it! Yes, I know that won't last!This was after dinner, but you get the idea, the kids were able to set the table and put everything in it's place - they even learned how to fold the napkins into triangles ;)And finally, the laundry issue. I know they can't quite fold everything nicely yet, so everything that would go in drawers is in these bins, so they can just be tossed in, they don't need to be folded. All of their church clothes are on the top racks, I help hang those up. Their everyday clothes are on the bottom racks where they can reach them to get themselves dressed every morning (no, I did not dress Mason in cowboy boots, brown plaid shorts, and a bright blue football shirt!), and they can reach everything to put their own clothes away. Their bins are color coordinated, Mason's are navy and McKinley's are beige. McKinley does have to use a chair to reach hers, but she manages just fine!Nothing wears kids out like a day of hard work! :)

Animal Farm Fun

6-2-2009 - we took the kids to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point to see all of the cute baby animals, it was so much fun! The kids LOVED feeding the baby pony!Mason ready to feed some chickens!McKinley, Mason, and their friends waiting for their pony ridesMason was pretty sure he was a real cowboy riding that pony! :)

Amanda and Ben's Wedding

Well, you saw the guest book, now here's the main event. I wish I would have taken pictures of every detail of it, her wedding was absolutely amazing! Congrats guys!The back of Amanda's dress was incredible!Matt with his cute sisters, brother-in-law Greg (who might as well be his brother), and Amanda Don't ask :)We had to get a picture with cousin Jake, we miss him!Family Photo :)The WHOLE family - minus Grandma and Grandpa - wish they had been there, but keep them in your prayers!How gorgeous is that cake? It's a shame we had to eat it, but it tasted even better than it looked!She can have her cake and eat it too! Uncle Darryl shared his yummy wedding cake with McKinley - she must have known mommy wouldn't share ;)Cute flower girl! McKinley LOVED twirling around in her dress with the other little girls!Oh, and he looked so innocent :) Mason spent most of the wedding throwing rocks in Uncle Greggie's fountains, sorry Greg!McKinley enjoying a Daddy-daughter danceThe kiddos with Grandpa - we were glad he was able to come for a little while!McKinley caught the bouquet - we are SERIOUSLY in for it if tradition holds true! Sorry boys, she's not technically available yet!I had to get a shot with the beautiful bride!Three generations :) Can you see the resemblance? The flower arrangements were amazing, this was one of the hundredsIn the background you can see the crazy cool ice sculpture fruit tray - it was awesome! This was at the end of the night, it looked even cooler at the beginning of the night before it started to melt away!Little Mason has had enough wedding fun for a while, he was WIPED out!