More Snow

We have had a mix or rain, snow, sleet, ice, and sunshine these past two weeks.  Here are a few other pictures...

Today it finally snowed enough for the kids to make a full size snowman!  After the initial icing last week, Audrey devoted two days to chipping away at the ice on our deck and organizing the pieces into two piles (one for the crushed pieces, and one for the bigger chunks).  After all of her hard work, on the first warm day, all of the ice melted quickly.  Then a few days later there was enough snow to  make a mini snowman on our deck, and he started to melt.  This snowman has already begun to melt, his name is Olaf.  

The kids have had a lot of fun with no school, Daddy home, and snow...but I think I speak for all of the parents in the area when I say "NO MORE SNOW!" until next year.  

Snow Day

In the last 10 school days, there have been 8 snow days.  Kinda crazy for us southerners.  I really liked living in a place where it snows so infrequently that everything shuts down when it does. The first snow day was perfect.  We slept in, ate a good breakfast, Travis took the kids out to play, and then we had a Star Wars marathon (the original 3).  In the pictures below, you can see that there is hardly any snow, but everything was so icy that the kids were sledding down the hill easily.  You can see the iced over road in the background.  

I have purchased Phoenix a few trendy winter hats, but this red one is his favorite to wear.  I asked him why and he said "Because you made it for me".  

Valentines Day

When we were in California in September, Phoenix confessed that he "fell in love with someone".  We (myself, Leah, Audrey and Phoenix) were in our hotel room after a full day, and Phoenix was sitting on a chair, eating popcorn from Target, and very casually said, "I just fell in love with someone", with a sigh.  I think we (us girls) laughed for about 5 minutes straight.  Poor little bud.  Eventually we got the deets, her name is Calliegh, and she is in his church class and his school class.  And she "wears pretty clothes and has pretty hair".  So Phoenix totally considers her to be his girlfriend.  I asked him if he had any plans for Calleigh for Valentines and he said that he wanted to bring her pink flowers.  He must have talked to her at school, because she informed him that she likes blue flowers better.  So, we tracked down some hydrangeas, and Phoenix picked out "cool clothes".  Audrey really wanted him to wear his suit, with his hair slicked back, but he was very determined to look cool.  When we were in line to buy the flowers Phoenix was holding them and there was a little boy in front of him holding white hydrangeas, and Phoenix said "I am getting these for my girlfriend, are you getting those for your girlfriend?"  The boy either didn't hear Phoenix, or ignored him.  

I didn't want to be an over-invasive Mom, so I didn't bring my camera to film the event (we did snap a few photos on Trav's phone), but I can tell you that Calleigh was so excited when she opened her door  that she started jumping up and down.  Phoenix told her "Happy Valentines Day", they hugged, and that was it.  The next day in church Calleigh's Mom informed me that Calleigh is already planning their wedding.  She was also very impressed that Phoenix knew to get her blue flowers.  

Magic Kingdom

We got to Magic Kingdom right when they opened and bee-lined it to the Snow White coaster (after a few photo-ops).

The new Snow White coaster was a lot of fun.  We had a 45 minute wait, which was the shortest that it was all day.  It was very kid friendly, and there was so much to do in the line that we barely even noticed the wait.  The ride was very fun and enjoyable, it appeals to non-thrill seekers.  It was the perfect way to start the day because the kids had so much fun that they wanted more.  We rode on Thunder Mountain, and both kids were a little scared, but after the ride was over they were glad they rode it.  Splash Mountain has never been open when we have been there, we always go during the winter and it is usually getting maintenance done on it.  This was our lucky day because they had just barely opened it up again.  I thought we were going to have to force our kids to ride it (we are those parents), but Phoenix considered it for a moment and said "I want to go on Splash Mountain, I want to brave like Ace!" (Ace is his best friend and a few months ago I showed Phoenix a picture Ace on Splash Mountain).  We were getting our ponchos on and two men that work at Disney came up and asked if Phoenix and Audrey would like to be Sheriffs for the day.  

They made an oath to serve and protect and then they went for a little march around Frontierland with a whole group of Disney employees singing and chanting.  

Pretty cool!  After that we went on Splash Mountain. Audrey did not want to go on it, but afterwards she was glad that she went (a common theme).  

This was our first time going to Magic Kingdom on a Saturday.  The first half of the day wasn't bad at all.  Then we stopped to eat lunch and when we came out the park was SO crowded.  We were totally caught off guard, because it wasn't packed at all from 8-12.  We still got to ride everything that we cared about, and we rode Thunder Mountain (family favorite) 3 times.  We got to watch the parade, and we saw the fireworks show.  We thought that after the fireworks show the park would clear out like it usually does, and it did slightly lighten up, but hardly at all.  We stayed until park close (midnight), and all of us were so physically exhausted.  We had an awesome time.  Phoenix really made a 180 degree turn, he loved every minute of both days at the parks.  It was a really short and quick trip, but it was perfect.  We already want to go back again.  Travis and I are becoming Disney freaks!  

Animal Kingdom

We surprised the kids with a scavenger hunt to tell them that we were going to Disney World.  Neither one of them cried this time, so that was a huge relief!  Phoenix was somewhat traumatized when we went to Disney World last year, and he didn't do much better at Disneyland.  But something happened and he decided to not be scared anymore.  Disney is a lot more fun when you don't have a crying kid, and this was our first time experiencing that!

Phoenix got to take the class pet on our trip with us.  It was quite a coincidence, and Phoenix was so happy. 

We went to Animal Kingdom a few years ago, and we didn't feel like we got the full idea of what the park was that day.  So we have wanted to go back ever since. We got there at park open and stayed till park close (as we do with every amusement park that we go to).  We got to do everything that they had, and I definitely feel like we got the full Animal Kingdom experience.  

Phoenix really likes to look cool, hence his backwards hat.  He totally reminds me of my younger self.  Side pony tails and spandex shorts with a mini skirt on top were my thing.  

We all loved the safari ride, the animals were so active in the morning!  We went on it again towards the end of the day and the animals were not nearly as interesting.

Not only did we get to see the male lion standing in all of his glory, but we got to hear him roar!  It was SO awesome!  Definitely a highlight for Audrey.  

Audrey was scared to go on this ride, but she ended up loving it and I went on it with her. 

They have a great playground area, complete with a fossil digging site.  The kids loved it.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the petting zoo.  Without a doubt, the best one we have been to!  The kids could use brushes to brush the goats and the sheep.  Phoenix made it his personal mission to brush as many goats and sheep as he could.  

Towards the end, a few goats got rambunctious and were running around and getting up on their hind legs.  It was so fun to watch, but kind of scary to (I didn't want to get trampled!).

Animal Kingdom was fun, but I am not sure that we would go more than every few years...at least until they get the Avatar part done.  There are a lot of interesting things there, but they are really lacking in the ride department.