Magic Kingdom

Cliff and I have been joking lately. We're going to have to have a 3rd or 4th baby before we're "allowed" to hold any of our children. No seriously, as any parent knows, it's Wonderful to have grandparents around to lend a helping hand and give Mommy's and Daddy's a little break!
On the train...

...The Carousal...again...and again....and again...

...Riding Dumbo

On Monday, Cliff's parents had plans to drive the camper back up to Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground and spend the week at Disney. So on Monday afternoon we drove over to the campground to see them. The plan was to spend the late afternoon and evening at Magic Kingdom. Here we are again on the boat on our way to the place where "Dreams are made!" :-)

Billie and Poppa were enjoying the sights together!

Poppa and Grammy were laughing at Billie's antics!

You Know You're Crazy For Disney When....

We have never been to the Palm Beach Zoo, so Cliff and I started thinking we would take the girls to the zoo since we had planned to take Billie to her other favorite Disney Park, Animal Kingdom, on Monday. But....we decided, why not just go for the gold and drive back to Disney and take them to Animal Kingdom.

So that's what we did! Early on Monday morning, we packed the sleepy eyed babies up and drove back to Orlando!

We had a great day and Billie got to see some of the Animals up very close on the African Safari Ride. She especially

enjoyed the petting zoo too! Unfortunately we failed to take any snapshots of the petting zoo! But Billie spent about an hour running from animal to animal petting and brushing them with the provided accessories. It was way past Billie's lunch time but she was so excited we couldn't interest her in any lunch. So when we left the petting zoo we bought her a hot dog at one of the stands. She wolfed the hot dog down, like a hungry little bear! We've never seen her eat so fast or be so concentrated on getting food down! It was an extra long hot dog and she ate all but two bites!

Home Again, Home Again

Saturday evening when we returned to our campsite, we discovered that whatever circuit the heat & lights was connected to would switch off whenever it was turned on. (Cliff knows all the technical jargon, I do not.) Translation? We had no heat and no lights in the camper. Not exactly what we had in mind with a 23 month old and a 6 week old baby.

Cliff bravely worked for at least 2-2 1/2 hours before we realized that night was very quickly approaching, the temperature was dropping and the battery now only had enough juice to dimly light the camper and the lights were swiftly becoming even dimmer. So despite our disappointment over what was turning out to be a VERY short weekend, we made a decision.
It was time to go home! By the time we got home it was after 1AM! We were all pretty tired, Especially Cliff, because the girls and I slept the whole way home!

Sunday morning we all slept in, and as seen here, the girls played on our bed for a time, while Mommy and Daddy discussed what we would do to get over our disappointingly short weekend. Cliff had Monday off work because of the Holiday so we wanted to do "something" special on Monday.

Family Pictures

Overall we had a great day! We rode "Haunted Mansion, It's A Small World, The Carousal (at least 4 times!), and the People Mover" before deciding we were tired and cold enough, so we headed back to the camper for dinner and some rest and relaxation.....little did we know!

On Our Way

a few pictures on the boat to Magic Kingdom

Back To Disney World!

Yes, we know, we probably love Disney too much, but it's just such a magical place for us, we can't stay away! We were at Disney (specifically) Fort Wilderness Campground the day before Lilly was born! So of course when the first opportunity presented itself we felt it very necessary to take Lilly back as soon as possible.

Last Thursday morning, Cliff had a brilliant idea, we should take the girls to Disney for the weekend. Amazingly we were able to get a reservation at the campground for the entire weekend, Friday evening through Monday. When we got to Orlando, we discovered things were quite cool there! Pictured here: Cliff, Lilly and Billie lounging in the camper bedroom after setting the camper up on Friday night. Also pictured: Saturday morning after our delicious breakfast at Trails End Buffet (also a tradition on Saturdays) we prepared to journey to Magic Kingdom by way of the direct boat transportation.

"Uncle Joe" Visits

Billie always LOVES company! And this weekend was no exception! We were so happy to have a visit from Cliff's cousin, and our good friend Joe Smith, Jr. and or otherwise known to Billie & Lilly as "Uncle Joe!"

As you can see here, Billie loved spending time with Uncle Joe!

Although Mommy really missed not getting to see Calista and Magnus!!!

Chick-Fil-A Friday Night!!!

For those of you who do not have the opportunity or choose not to routinely visit a Chick-Fil-A....You are missing out!!! :-) And for those of you who don't know....Chick-Fil-A (simply put) has the best "fast food" chicken you could possible ever eat!!! In my opinion, you couldn't find better fried chicken anywhere, fast food or otherwise...but now that I'm done with my free advertisement.... :-)

We frequently take advantage of Chick-Fil-A's "Family Night" and other activities. In fact Cliff will be one of the performers on their "Magic Night" coming up the evening of January 27th, from 5-8pm! Anyway...this past Friday night after the "Daddy Date" Lilly and I met Cliff and Billie at Chick-Fil-A. Billie Loves the indoor playground and for the VERY FIRST TIME, she came down a slide all by herself! We were very proud of her bravery! Here she is beaming away at her accomplishment!

And...we all enjoyed our family night out!

More on "The Daddy Date"

This pond is outside across the street from Cliff's office building. As I mentioned last week, each Friday when I drop Billie off for her "Daddy Date" they start by walking the boardwalk bridge, gaze at the fountain and try not to join the fish!

Here are a few pictures from last week's date.

Billie is always very anxious about this particular part of the "date!" From the moment I park the car (the parking lot faces the pond) Billie will start pointing and attempting to "escape" in the direction of the pond. Once Daddy arrives in the parking lot, Billie all but dances in excitement. She Very eagerly tells me "bye, bye," (repeatedly!) in an effort to make me leave so they can walk to the pond.

A Walk In The Park

Billie absolutely LOVES to swing. So as often as possible we walk down to our little neighborhood park to go swing. Yesterday was a gorgeous and Very breezy day. I managed to wear Lilly in her sling and push Billie in the stroller. I'll tell ya what! Being a Mommy of two is a lot harder than it looks! But twice the fun! I even managed to remember to take along our camera and got a few pictures.

We've been working on not becoming too traumatized when Mommy says it's time to go home. :-) Yesterday Billie did the best she ever has. She sat still for a few moments, two little tears leaked out, but then she "stood" up and let me lift her down from the swing. After we walked over to her stroller she looked back at the swing,blew a few kisses and told it "bye bye." This seemed to lift her spirits because she then looked up at me smiled and as we walked away continued to glance back at the swings while yelling "See Ya, See Ya swing!" It was very cute! And her reaction guaranteed a trip back to the swings as soon as I possibly can!!!

Sunday Afternoon

Well I must say...last Sunday Cliff and I were Really looking forward to getting a much needed afternoon nap. But....our two daughter's had a different idea, by the time the second one went to sleep the oldest one was just waking up.

I volunteered to keep Billie occupied so that Daddy and Lilly could get their nap.

Billie and I decided it would be a great time to bake some cookies. Billie had never before discovered the pleasures of licking the mixing beaters before. She knows it now!

She is also modeling her new handmade by Uncle John-Paul, apron!!!

Billie's Friday Afternoons...

Each Friday afternoon Cliff is required to personally deliver some not-so-important paperwork to the main company office, which unfortunately is located in Ft. Pierce, about 45 minutes north of his office.

There is one HUGE upside to this added gasoline expense. Each Friday afternoon Billie gets to have a "Daddy Date!" Shortly before Cliff is to leave his office, I drive Billie up to see Daddy! Billie now recognizes Cliff's office building, and so excited cries of "See Daddy! See Daddy!" start sounding from the back seat! Traditionally, much to Billie's delight, they spend a few moments across the street at the "local" pond, staring at the fish (trying not to join them in the water) before hitting the road together. All I know is that round about 6 (ish) PM, they both come trooping in the house wearing bright smiles and (Shhhh...) sometimes feeling a tad sticky! I'm not sure if it's the ice cream, cookies, or candy But they both seem to relish the time spent alone on their "Daddy Dates!" And I have to say...I couldn't be happier for them!

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve we had a "party" at our house. My whole family (minus my brother Joe) and (plus) Andrew's girlfriend Nina were in attendance, as well as, Mom and Dad Churchill, Grandma Sanders, Grandpa Carroll, my cousins Shirl and Missy Rosengreen from Wyoming!

We laughed, played games and ate WAY too many cookies. But it was lots of fun!

Lilly of course was the star of the party! She loves being held and so she spent the evening being passed from person to person. We managed to get a lot more video than photographs (it seems like it's always one or the other, not both getting done! :-) But at least we did manage to get a few photos with my father holding her!

Billie enjoyed stealing the show from her sister whenever possible as well as sneaking drinks and food off family member's plates when she knew they weren't looking! See that mischevious look!?!

And of course my beautiful sister Rachel as she hones her game playing skills.