Day 3 Hollywood Studios

We headed to Hollywood Studios on this very nice Floridian day! Temp was in the 80's, sunny and very pleasant!

This HUGE Christmas tree was right outside the entrance, you can really tell its magnificent height when compared to Cara
We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine, Play and Dine! Here Cara is with June from the Little Einsteins
And one of her newest favorite cartoons, Special Agent Oso
And giving Handy Manny some lovin'


We found Pocahontas in the Animation Studios building
and Sorcerer Mickey too
Cara enjoyed meeting Pluto
And then we went into the drawing studio and got to draw Winnie the Pooh, she is deeply concentrating on the directions to draw
her finished product, you can tell it's Pooh right?
Then the wonderful Christmas event in HS was the Spectacle of Lights
Which was Amazing, millions of lights set to music
no wonder the rest of the park was empty on our way over to the Streets of America, everyone was already there

Since it was still a warm evening we went for a swim, Cara got herself ready (notice the shoes and hat!)

Day 2, Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom was our destination on this day!

This was not posed, Cara wanted to study the map to decide where to go first
But first we had breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends
Cara cuddling with Eeyore
Hugging Tigger
Grandma and Grandpa Fox with Piglet
Mommy and Cara with Pooh
Mommy and Cara on Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride

Meeting Ariel
Meeting Tiana and Naveen (she was nervous about Naveen so he stood up behind them)
Going fast in our race car

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider were a BIG hit
Pictures of some of the Christmas decorations at MK
And we were taking advantage of an 80 degree day with a swim before bedtime! The water temp was 87, aahhh!

First Day at Disney

We have always wanted to go to Disney for Christmas but we didn't want to deal with the crowds as that is the most crowded time of the year. So this year we planned a trip for the week after Thanksgiving (traditionally one of the slowest weeks of the year)!

Cara got to choose one doll to go on the trip, she chose her newest "just like me" doll which she named Elizabeth
On the Magical Express to our hotel, welcome to Walt Disney World
Our room at Port Orleans Riverside
The view of our building from the boat on the river. We were headed to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping
Cara on the boat
Santa was at Downtown Disney
The way back to the hotel, the only present we bought shopping was a Princess Ears hat so she could enjoy wearing it all week. We had a deal in the works for waiting to the end of the week for buying any other souvenirs.

Disney!!

Posts will be coming soon...but I LOVE this picture....
this smile and pure enthusiasm exemplify the magic of Disney!!

Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!


Thanksgiving was also my brother Mike's birthday, so we had a little birthday celebration too!
It was so cute watching Oscar and Cara engrossed in a movie together
Best buds!

I have so much to be thankful for...a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally and treats me like a queen everyday...a terrific adorable little girl who brings joy and sunshine to my life daily (there are not enough words to express my gratitude and thankfulness I have to being her mom)...my family, we have two sets of parents who would do ANYTHING for us and for that we are grateful...for the rest of our families...for good jobs which provide us with so much reward everyday... and for our health which we shall not take for granted!

Chicago and Shedd Aquarium

We stayed at a new hotel in Chicago, the Hotel Palomar and it was VERY nice. So we had to take some extra time in the morning to enjoy their indoor pool before we went on with our day!


Cara showing off her swimming skills
Cara and Charlotte about to jump in
Charlotte looking out into the city

Grandma, Cara and I walking to Shedd Aquarium
Cara reading a sign about fish
The beluga whales are always fun to watch, they even have a baby beluga
the sea lion was also very fun to watch
Some Mommy and Cara cuddles as we wait for the dolphin show

I captured the three dolphins jumping into air
Walking back to the car but I thought her outfit and boots were so cute I needed to take a picture of it
The day was very overcast and it was nearing dark by 4:30pm Chicago time but still had to take a picture of the lake and skyline in the background