Our Thanksgiving week in College Station

After our trip to Disney, which I will blog about soon, we headed straight to CS. I had a cold and felt yucky and so did Georgia, so I just wanted to get home to rest and sleep. Daniel had to fly back home for a few days and picked up the dogs. While we were gone the dogs were kenneled and Dixie had surgery on her front paw..they removed a growth that was causing her pain while walking. It came back negative for cancer so we are thankful for that and she is getting back to her wild self again!
We got there in time for dinner and to check out the remodeling my parents have done. We spent a few days seeing friends, eating at my favorite restaurants and shopping a bit.We spent the majority of our time outside, swinging, sliding, & tossing the ball for the dogs. The weather was great and it tired the kids out! It is funny how being just a bit north felt and looked so much more like Fall..the leaves were changing and the breeze was crisper. The girls were all over Hayes and the poor guy could hardly go down the slide or move without them being right there to help!
We spent one post lunch day in Downtown Bryan. We went to an antique store and then my dad treated us to icecream! The kids were a bit scary in the store...{don't touch anything} but loved the icecream and cool breeze!

Daniel and I went out on Thanksgiving eve to the bars..it was fun to see Mike and Rachel and lots of other people we hadn't seen in a long time! We even made our way over to Logan's, one of our favorite bars we spent hours at on Saturdays watching football and drinking huge, heavy beers! It was fun surprising people with my pregnancy..their expression was similar and they would say something like, Again..weren't you pregnant last time I saw you?We went over to the Wendler's who are moving to Dallas..so sad they won't be there when I go home..but it was lots of fun to see them, the Nortons, the Garretts, the McEwens and the Harms. The kids had so much fun together and the adults had time to chat! One reason I love going home!! Saturday was game day!! Daniel got lucky and was invited by Brad to the game. They had great seats, close parking pass and went out afterwards..I was jealous! At least Allison and Autumn came over and kept me company while we cheered on the Ags!!Here is Campbell, Georgia & Lauren playing.We went out to lunch on Tuesday after Natalie and Toodge had their ultrasound to determine the sex of baby S...It's a BOY!! It was very exciting and who doesn't love cookie cake!! I was surprised I must say..so was Natalie, but Jeff had thought boy from the beginning!
My parents took the kids to Santa's Wonderland! They had a blast..got to see all the lights, eat sweet snacks, play in snow, meet Frosty & take a hayride! I am thankful they took them to experience all the fun and we got to spend some time with old friends!We had a great time in CS as usual and it was nice to be homebound and relaxed instead of roaming across Texas. I made record time home on Sunday with one potty stop at 5.5 hours!! Not so bad just a bit boring..
Overall it was a great week. I missed seeing some people but got to see others I didn't expect to! Nothing like home sweet home. I do think Aggieland will always be home to me no matter where we go!

Hollywood Studios ~ Disney Day #2

Hollywood Studios is where we found ourselves on Day 2.
Here we are waiting at our bus stop! The girls were so excited to go every morning! It was a gorgeous day and wasn't too crowded! We started out by meeting Natalie at the park and getting some breakfast from a little outdoor shop. Me and Aunt Natalie and girls with Uncle Toodge in the Disney Junior show..we sat on the floor, saw lots of characters and it rained 'gold doubloons' - (we call them gold gabloons in our house!) from the ceiling!So fun to see the characters they watch on a regular basis. They kept saying how much Hayes would love to see Mickey and Jake!!We got 2nd row seats at the Indian Jones show. It was lots of fun, lots of fire and special effects..the girls were a little nervous about it!

We did lots of shows at Hollywood Studios, like Little Mermaid, Star Wars (which was Daniel's favorite) and a few 3D ones.
Here we are in front of the hat..you can kindof tell here how uncrowded it was..so nice and the weather so perfect!


We got to meet Mickey this day!! What fun! The girls were very excited to see him and had fun in the drawing room making pictures!
Enjoying one of the many fountains while we figured out where to next..we weren't very planned out but I think it worked fine for our whole party!
Georgia was obsessed with this drawing computer game and would have sat there for hours..each masterpiece she made she wanted a picture of!
Emmaline was definitely more into the shows and glasses. I think it was A Bug's Life show which had the interactive seats..bugs, air, water, etc..the girls were in tears and a bit scared..it was kindof funny but I can understand how the darkness and things poking them in their seats would freak them out. They got over it fast, but said they didn't want to do it again!
This night we had reservations at Fort Wilderness' Trails End. It was fun because we got to take a boat ride from Magic Kingdom to the resort. It was very rustic and had home cooking foods buffet style! A pregnant woman's dream and all the desserts are a kid's dream! Another excellent day at Disney. We ranked Hollywood Studios lowest on our list just because it had less rides and more shows..the rides it had were too adult for our group! Next up, 3rd and final day at Disney!

A Very Mickey Christmas Party

Our first afternoon in Disney was spent eating lunch and browsing Downtown Disney. The weather was wonderful and the kids were in awe of every little thing! Georgia didn't make it all the way on the Magical Express without falling asleep! But she recovered soon and was ready to discover!We checked into our hotel, Coronado Springs. It was really large and we had to go all the way around the lake to get to our rooms..luckily our room was right by the bus system!The girls loved all the Christmas decorations, the huge tree and of course the water fountain! Make a wish!!Lunch at Downtown Disney was great. Cap't Jacks was good and it wasn't crowded...the Disney brainwashing began with Mickey shaped everything!!Waiting for the bus with Uncle Toodge!! So glad we got to spend some special time with them!At Downtown we shopped in the Bippity Boppity Boutique where the girls found numerous things they wanted but luckily we stalled and kept going!Legoland was really fun and the girls could have spent hours in there! Once again we made it out of there without any purchases!! Georgia is definitely more into building things and Emmaline just wants to jump to the next thing. She loves the sparkles and girlie things!After a few hours at Downtown we took a bus over to Magic Kingdom for the special party! It was so exciting watching the girls see the castle for the 1st time!! Everything was decorated for Christmas, kindof weird since we hadn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but more fun!! The girls were such troopers and had no problem walking. So thankful Hayes was taken care of and had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa. I did not miss changing his diapers or having to stop our day for naptime!
Our first stop at Magic Kingdom was to take in the Christmas decorations and look down Main Street at the castle. We knew we wanted a sweet snack so we scoured the map to find a good spot. !Georgia's icecream...so many people stopped to say how adorable she was eating her icecream with it all over her face. Not 5 minutes later, it plopped to the ground. Luckily, we had plenty to share and she got over it as we walked closer to the castle Emmaline chose vanilla, which I was sortof surprised about. We arrived at the castle at the perfect time, they were doing a little show with all the characters and so the girls were truly mesmerized watching it all happen! It was one of my favorite times for sure! Next stop was the teacups, Dumbo and other fun rides. The lines were perfect, as it was a special event and it was not crowded at all. We took turns choosing who would ride with who. It was nice having lots of options for the girls and adults!The rides were fun and I'm so glad me and Natalie were able to do lots of them! Some of them surprised me with their speed, but the girls loved them all!
The Buzz Lightyear ride was one of our favorites..I think cause there was lots going on, but we could interact with eachother during the ride too!

Georgia was really into shooting her gun and getting her score up!Luckily, we attempted to meet the Princesses at the perfect time, thanks to Natalie, and didn't wait much to see them. The girls were in awe and so cute gearing up to go talk to them. I think they were just as excited to meet "Blue Jean" (Eugene or Flynn Rider) as Rapunzel!
Between meeting the princesses and dancing at the saloon, we got to do the real Mickey Christmas party. We had hot chocolate, cookies, got to see snow on Main Street, fireworks surrounding the castle and a light show on the castle. We also ate Nathan's hotdogs for dinner and got to have a great spot to see the Christmas parade..Santa included! I didn't take as many photos of this part as it was getting darker, but I did enjoy it with my family and loved hearing their squeals of amazement! It was truly a special and one of a kind night for us! I wanted to stay..the rest of the crew talked me into leaving before the girls lost it!
We got to meet the Toy Story characters in a Saloon..they were having a dance party! So me and Aunt Natalie thought, why not?! Two pregnant girls getting down with Woody, Bullseye and Jessie! The guys went to a different kind of saloon, but soon realized it was dry! HAHA..they were a little surprised!!Georgia didn't quite make it back to the resort without falling asleep. She was a big girl and did great considering she loves her naps! Daddy got to carry our loot..the girls ended up talking Uncle Toodge into buying them light up swords during the fireworks show!
We all slept really good the 1st night and slept in too..The next day we planned on doing Hollywood Studios!!

A Disney Surprise!

This trip had been planned in my mind for years. I knew I wanted to take my girls to Disney before they were too old. Everyone has there own opinions on what is too old or too young for Disney. I've heard them all. But if you know me, I can rarely be talked out of something if I have my heart set on it. My heart was set. The girls would be at Disney to see the magic before they no longer believed in the magic. To me that was no older than 6. I have to say I am so happy that I stuck to my guns and made it happen!
The whole idea came about when Aunt Natalie called me to chat about Uncle Toodge's upcoming Med school interviews. She was listing all the places he was going and then came upon his Orlando interview that happened to be the weekend of their 1 year anniversary. She was going to tag along with him and celebrate in the happiest place on earth - Disney! I oohed and aahed over how I wish we could go and then and there I invited myself (and my family) to their anniversary weekend!I don't know if she and he truly loved the idea, but I just knew the timing was as good as we were going to get. Between the baby due in February, Emmaline being off school, having grandparents willing to care for Hayes, and having an extra pair of hands at the parks and airport it was perfect! So me and Natalie got to planning and our excitement was a tad overkill! Unfortunately, we never got to make our matching shirts, but we did coordinate everything we could and made it all work out! Jeffrey and Natalie did get alone time and to have a nice anniversary dinner without the Listi clan! Hayes did get to spend one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa and they said he was an angel! And the girls got to be completely surprised with not only a trip to Disneyworld but also their 1st ever airplane flights!After discussing details with my parents, they decided they would pay for our hotel and plane flights! It was a huge early Christmas gift from them and I don't think it would have worked out otherwise. We are so thankful we could take the girls on this amazing trip, that they could have such special time with us and their aunt and uncle and get to experience a dream! I can't tell you how many times Emmaline and Georgia have talked about getting on an airplane and flying to Disney to meet the princesses and see their castle. I am so thankful we got to make their dreams come true!We left early Friday morning before Thanksgiving from Houston. The girls had no idea we were going anywhere else other than grandparents. It was so fun waking them up early and getting them dressed and letting them open an envelope from MawMaw and Pop. They were so confused. Emmaline was in serious denial once she realized we were leaving at that moment for Disney. Georgia's 1st reaction was to the Minnie Mouse stickers and she proclaimed, "I don't like Minnie Mouse!" It was hilarious! Then she understood what it all meant and she was thrilled to fly! What a great morning for sure. I am so glad we got to surprise them with this trip. I also surprised them with some Minnie Mouse ears, which Georgia loved, and carry on bags full of coloring books, snacks, bubble gum, stickers, lipgloss, etc. I am proud to say they did great on the airplane and got their wings for their 1st flight!