Playing Dress Up

Mommy Wednesdays.  I can be a fun Mom sometimes.

Playing "Dress Up" in the winter time...we were stuck indoors.

Lucy can say "DJ Lance Rock" now!  Mommy and Daddy are probably the only ones that will know what she's saying, but the "rock" part of that statement is pretty audible.

Finger painting in the tub.  All Lucy really wanted to do was step in it!

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Chicago and had an intimate dinner with Tita Meliza's parents.  (BUT, I left my camera in the car so I have no photos except for this one Jay took with his phone.)   It was good food and good company, exactly how Thanksgiving should be.  This year Lucy's favorites were the fruit and rice.  Lucy then zoned out in front of the TV like most of us, but no football for her.  Instead, she watched Disney Pixar's Up.

Downtown Disney

We got to see our cousins Madelene & Kristine!  We met them in Downtown Disney for dinner the first night at a restaurant called "T-Rex" which had each dining area decorated with different dinos.  I couldn't help but think about my nephew Henry here.  We were in the meat eaters section (near the Big T-Rex) but also near the Mammoths section.  Pretty neat.

Our last day we walked the streets of Downtown Disney to eat and shop.  Thank goodness we came across what was almost a life-size statue replica of Buzz Lightyear!  So we did get a picture with Buzz after all (sort of).

They also had statues of Mickey & Minnie.  I wasn't quite so sure that Lucy knew they weren't real.  It was really cute...she backed into them to take a photo.

We rode a carousel...

And a Choo Choo!!

Special thanks to our cousins for letting us stay at their house our last night.  They live so close to Disney, but it was so nice to see them.  They are such sweethearts!

And just for my own memories sake, the running tally of characters we had to take Lucy to see were:

3 Mickey Mouse's (different days), 2 Minnie's, 2 Stitch's, 2 Lilo's, 2 Pluto's, Donald Duck, Goofy, Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Rafiki, Jiminy Cricket, Winnie the Pooh, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible, Mike Wazowski, and Woody. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Our last park of the vacation was Disney's Hollywood Studios (what I remember as MGM Studios growing up).  We were able to ride a couple rides: Toy Story Mania and the Studio Backlot Tour, but the highlights for Lucy were the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, of course the characters, and the breakfast we had that morning at the Polynesian Resort with Lilo & Stitch!  Mickey & Pluto were there too...

Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride parade! 

Buzz!

Mike Wazowski!  (from Monsters Inc)

The Honey I Shrunk the Kids slides were her favorite.

At this point Lucy was a pro at meeting the characters.  She knew the drill:  go up and touch, give a kiss, turn to the camera and take a photo, and then wave when you walk away to say good-bye. 

Mr. & Mrs. Incredible!

Woody!

(After an hour long line, disappointed was an understatement.  We got to the front only to find out that Buzz was on a break!)

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights lit up the entire Streets of America in the park and it was unlike anything I've ever seen in person.  Every square inch of each building (literally) was completely covered in lights, and all were timed and set to Christmas music.  We enjoyed a pretzel and a frozen chocolate banana, and the real magic was when it actually started to snow!  They blew "snow" out over the entire street.  It was pretty incredible.  I couldn't help but think of my Dad and how much he would enjoy this.  The pictures don't do it justice.

We had our own version of Christmas back at our hotel.  We stayed at the Disney's Wilderness Resort and their Christmas decorations were awesome.  This shot is in the foyer of our little area to our room.  (This isn't even the main lobby!)

Animal Kingdom

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.

Lucy (the Diva apparently) on our way to the park...

Lilo & Stitch were there!

We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari which was pretty nice.  An awesome way to see the animals up close.

A BABY elephant!

Lucy loved the play area here called The Boneyard.  It was nice to let her run around freely.  She absolutely LOVED the slides.  She had the biggest smile on her face :)

We met Pocahontas...she was rather intimidating actually.

...and Rafiki from The Lion King.  This was really cute.  There really was no line, so he took the time to play with her.  They started a mini-game of hide & seek.

Lucy's least favorite of all the characters was Jiminy Cricket.  An oldie but a goodie though if you ask me.