Giving Thanks 2015

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided we needed to visit the Daytons in Georgia.  We hopped on a plane this year instead of driving.  It was a good idea.

While we were there, we went to a little (kind of ghetto) Christmas Light display.

The kids thought it was pretty great.  I felt it was a little confusing, since I'm not entirely sure what Tweety Bird has to do with Christmas.  Oh well.

They did have a great place to take pictures with Santa.

That was Kannon's favorite part.

Savannah and Hudson joined in on the festive fun, too.

A few blurry, but cute, pictures of the kiddos on the hay ride to see the Christmas lights.

On Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to get some pictures of all the cousins together. 

Cam, Cora, Savannah, Maryn, Ailee and Hudson:

Kannon was feeling...

...a little like this, so he wasn't in the first set of pictures.

We tried forcing him to be in the pictures, but he just wouldn't have it.

Yes, he is screaming in Cam's arms.

A beautiful feast was prepared, and we gathered around a pretty table to eat.

It was deeeeelicious.

After the craziness of the meal was over with, I wanted to get a picture of me and my sister.  I love visiting my sister.  

Maryn and Savannah were having a bit of fun with my camera.

It was a fun week.  Jill's kids are so good to my kids, and I love going there.  I even got a day of much needed shopping with my sister.

Cora the Five Year Old

Someone had a birthday this last week.

She has been MORE than excited...for MONTHS!  Life in general is a pretty big deal to Cora.  I love her enthusiasm.  It can be contagious and entertaining.

She has grown up so fast.

And what would a party be without presents?

Since she hit the magical year of 5, Cora got a friends party, too.  There were about 5,890,831 little kids running around.  My intent was to have an outdoor party, but the weather wouldn't cooperate.  So, we had to improvise.  We moved the couches and rolled up the rug in the family room...and blew up the bouncy house.  I wish I'd gotten a picture.  It was epic.  

The only pictures I did take were of Cora and her cake...

...and one of her and all the party guests.  Ok, there were only 11 extra kids.  And they were all pretty good.  And I think we all had a great time celebrating this sweet little girl. 

Halloween 2015

Between dance recitals and Disney World, we had a lot of Halloween costumes to choose from this year.  The only one I had to make a costume for was Kannon, and he didn't really have much of an opinion, so I made him a Luke Skywalker Costume.

To start off the festivities, Cora had a little parade and party with her preschool class.  I got a cute picture of all of them (and their teacher, Mrs. Woodard) in their costumes.  

Ailee used one of her dance costumes and dressed up as a Rock Star.  We even used our imaginations to make her a little microphone headset

Maryn dressed up as a Vampire:

And Cora was the prettiest Princess Belle out there:

 Our little Luke Skywalker.

He was mostly interested in the candy in his hands, but I hope that someday, he'll appreciate just how cool his costume was.

Our friends, the Browns, had come into town for a few days, so their girls, Amanda and Anna, went trick or treating with us.  

Sadly, it was kind of a rainy Halloween, so the kids weren't out for very long. But the funnest part is getting dressed up, and counting your candy afterward, so I think everyone had a good time despite the wet weather.  

Shiners

This boy...

A 50th Wedding Anniversary

Kade's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  We decided that San Antonio was a central location for everyone to converge, so people started buying plane tickets, and I started making some party plans.  

It was so fun to have all these Roundies together.  Kent and Wendy both flew in, and Kurt and Stacy, and Cody and Katie drove down.  Shad and Allison and family were on a plane to San Antonio, but the plane had other plans, so they were unable to make it.  

We set up a little party in the backyard with cute little lights in the trees, and yummy Rudy's barbecue.

Its the kind of party I'd imagined for our backyard when we bought the house.

I even tied up cheesy love quotes to the trees.

I caught a cute picture of Kurt and Stacy:

 I think these people were so happy to spend some time all together.

And of course, we had the guests of honor: 

Happy Anniversary, Gene and Lenora!

Bike Rodeo 2015

Today was the kids' bike rodeo at school.  We spent a little bit of time at home setting up cones and practicing our bike riding last week--even though these girls are already excellent riders.

Isn't Maryn's bike the cutest? Its even cuter when she's on it, riding it down the street.

She did very well this year!

Those cones are tricky!

Ailee has a hidden competitive streak.  She practiced hard...

...and did very well, too.

I love the kids' school and that they do fun stuff like this for the kids.  I know it takes a lot of work and volunteers, but the kids seem to really look forward to this day!

Procrastinating

Sometimes you just have to stop folding laundry and do this with your 4 year old.

A Day of Universal Studios

We all have good days and bad days.

But sometimes you have the Best.Day.Ever.

Can you guess where we are?

Maryn found out early on that we were planning a trip to Disney World, so I wanted her to have a little surprise of her own. 

So she got Harry Potter World in Universal Studios!

We woke her up and revealed the special day by handing her this Harry Potter t-shirt.  She figured it out pretty quickly.  

We were all pretty impressed with the detail that they put into creating Harry Potter World.  It was amazing.  All the shops and buildings were just as they were in the movie. 

I think Olivander's was our favorite shop to go in to.  Maryn was picked to be part of Olivander's presentation.  Just like in the movie, a wand chose her.  It was a magical experience that I hope she never forgets.  And of course we had to buy wands for everyone.  

Standing outside of Hogwarts

The city was pretty spectacular!

The dragon on top of Gringotts even spewed fire.

Waiting for the train at the station with Hedwig:

The train ride was pretty fun.  I was so glad we took it both ways because there was a different show each way. 

I wonder if we could get this bus to take the kids to school every day...

After Harry Potter World, we walked around the rest of Universal Studios.

Cora found Scooby Doo.

Lucky Dog!

And we happened upon Doc Brown and his time machine.  

Where do they sell flux capacitors??

Kade found Springfield and stopped in at some of the local venues.

We even had time for a few of the shows.

And a little Dr. Suess.

It was a great day at Universal Studios! Definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Orlando!