2011: Year in Review

2011 was another milestone year for our family!  The girls enjoyed all sorts of milestones (reading, lost teeth, swimming, new schools, etc.!), Lee enjoyed great success in powerlifting - including national rankings - and I ran my first marathon.  We had wonderful family times together, from watching movies to our first trip to Disney.  As Emily said so well: "Our family is RICH!  Rich with trips, experiences, hikes and fun!"  Our 2012 calendar is already filling up with interesting events and we hope that it is as fun and exciting as 2011.  Happy New Year!!

Visiting Santa

While we were at Disney, we had many opportunities to meet many different variations of Santa - Pere Noel in France; Father Christmas in the UK; Mickey and Minnie dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus - but in the end, we went with good, old-fashioned St. Nick.  The girls got the opportunity to talk to him separately and then together and after checking him out thoroughly, they declared that he was real Santa.

Christmas in Disney

The great thing about visiting Disney in December is that the place is completely decked out for Christmas.  I never got tired of entering our hotel and seeing all of the beautiful Christmas decorations.

Elizabeth loved the tree too (of course!). 

Some of the displays in Epcot. 

The giant Mickey wreath outside of the Contemporary Hotel. 

The tree in Epcot.

There was a life sized gingerbread house inside the lobby of our hotel - it always smelled amazing!

The tree at Animal Kingdom.

Epcot.

The Food

Lee and I remember the food in Disney being truly spectacular (when we visited as children) but what we don't know is if we thought that because we were children or because it truly was.  In any event, the food was generally very good, but we were not blown away.  The girls enjoyed having their Mickey waffles (almost) every morning and we all really enjoyed the dinners.  Because we were on the meal plan, we ate a ton of food - I honestly think that a week in Disney did more damage to my body than running a marathon!

A plate of food at the Spirit of Aloha Luau. 

Elizabeth loves ribs!

Mickey waffles for breakfast almost every day! 

Where else but Disney can you buy a turkey leg for a snack? 

Ice Cream! 

Funnel cake in America in Epcot. 

Mickey shaped ice cream sandwiches. 

Dinner in Japan in Epcot. 

Emily was really good with the chopsticks. 

The Rides

Our girls are really not big on rides, but once we were able to convince them that "ride" did not equal "roller coaster," they decided to try out a few....and never looked back!  I was able to convince Elizabeth to ride Space Mountain with me - I used to love that roller coaster when I was a kid but it seemed to have lost some of its charm over the years.  Perhaps the fact that there was a terrified 7 year old right behind me screaming "I'm going to die" over and over put a damper on things....

Emily and Lee on the Tea Cups. 

Elizabeth and me on her very first ride - It's a Small World. 

We must have gone on this ride more than ten times - they just loved it! 

I actually remember this Norway ride from 20+ years ago, which is hard to believe. 

They actually loved Spaceship Earth more than Small World. 

The Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom. 

Tea Cups again. 

The People Mover. 

Time Trial. 

The Shows

We saw two shows while were in Disney.  The Spirit of Aloha Luau at the Polynesian Resort was planned well in advance of our trip.  Lee and I both remembered going to the Luau when we were children and were excited to bring the girls.  They really loved it, although Elizabeth has an incredible fear of fire so she was very freaked out during the fire dancing.  The other show we saw was recommended by a cast member in Animal Kingdom and was called the Festival of the Lion King.  We had no idea what to expect, but we really loved it.

Festival of the Lion King. 

This was one of four huge floats. 

Fire dancing. 

Near the end.

At the Polynesian.

One of my favorite pictures from the whole trip. 

Waiting for the luau to begin. 

They called all of the kids up to learn the hula to Mele Kalikimaka; Elizabeth refused to do it but Emily loved it!

Hawaiian dancers. 

Emily loved it when this guy made these faces!

The fire dancing was amazing.