Halloween Festivities

This year, we were packed with fun around Halloween time.  Cade was a Skylander by the name of "Stink Bomb" and Caelin was a ladybug.  They had multiple opportunities to wear the costume since we enjoyed Champion Forest Baptist Church "Candy Crush" and also the infamous trick or treating in the neighborhood.  For our pumpkin carving this year, Cade wanted a howling wolf, and Caelin a pink bat.  Daddy did an awesome job accomplishing both of those!  Caelin even got to paint her bat pink before we lit it outside.  GO DADDY!!  Luckily Halloween was on a Friday night this year, so we did not have to stress about Bedtimes and cranky kids at school the next day.  On Halloween night, we met up with our neighbor's the Pagnozzi's and had fun walking around with Ricky, Hana, and Vincent.  We even all went in a haunted house in the neighborhood that was a tad scary, but we all survived.  Caelin enjoyed seeing everyone open the doors and saying "trick or treat", while I think Cade's favorite part was talking to Ricky and hanging with the big kids.  Cade made us laugh at one point when he sat down in the driveway of a house to take a break.  It was a great time for everyone and we enjoyed being with our friends the most.

 

Walt Disney World

The kids really did not want to leave the Gaylord Palms Resort.  They were having so much fun at the pool and walking around the atrium. However, the sadness quickly faded once they realized they were heading to "the happiest pace on earth." Once again we caught a ride from the Gaylord to the Pop Century Resort where we would be spending the remainder of or family vacation before flying back home.

Once we arrived at the Pop Century we checked in and dropped our bags as quickly as possible so that we could catch the shuttle to Magic Kingdom.  The shuttle took about 15 minutes, but I think that the kids saw it as another amusement park ride.  After pulling up to Magic Kingdom we walked as fast as we could to gates so that we could get inside and begin our day.  The kids were excited, but did not have that first look of awe until we made it into the park. Directly in their view was the Disney Castle. Very few times have we actually seen Cade and Caelin both not have anything to say and be still, but this was one of those moments.  They both just stopped and stared.  Now, don't get me wrong, this did not last long, and you might have even missed it, but it definitely happened.

I can not even begin to describe the next couple of days in the Magic Kingdom as it is all a blur so the pictures will have to tell the bulk of the story, but the kids loved every minute of their visit to say the least.  Caelin of course had to buy Minnie Mouse Ears and a Minnie Mouse dress up doll set.  She also could not get enough visiting all of her favorite princess's castles and rides.  Much to our chagrin though, she refused to take pictures with any of them (except Belle when she got to be in the play).  Cade's favorite things were Splash Mountain (which we literally shut down the last night we were there) and using his Magic Band to treasure hunt using a Pirates of the Caribbean treasure maps.  Of course mom and dad had fun too.  Cade chose to buy a Toy Story character set.  The Pop Century was a blast from the past as it was a decades themed hotel. This allowed us to try and explain why phones had cords, what a Gameboy was, what VHS tapes were, and that despite what they thought there were no iPads when we grew up!

We were all sad to leave, but at the same time anxious to get back home.  We packed up and ate one last meal in the Pop Century diner before loading up on the Magic Bus that would take us to the airport (again just another amusement park ride to the kids).  Then, it became one last round of buses, trains, planes, shuttles, and our car to get home.  It was nice to see Baylor and be able to sleep in our own bed after such an amazing vacation.  Thank you Plexus for such a great family adventure and memories we will never forget!