Christmas Town

To start the holidays off right, we decided to take in some new experiences and so we went to Busch Gardens yesterday to attend their Christmas Town. It was quite beautiful and a lot of fun. The best part was definitely the dinner where we got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, have our picture with Santa, and have Santa read us Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was a great experience and we got some great pictures of Grayson listening very intently to Santa.

What a week...

I foolishly decided to sign up for a training in the DC area...ok, so it was a required training, but I was initially excited about it. After the first two days when I had spent 5-6 hours per day in traffic...I realized that I'm no longer excited about this course. The course is good...but not worth the hours I've lost of my life. Not to mention, not a good time of the year to have to spend so much time on the road. (I have way too much to do.) I've got one more week in the course...it's going to be another long week...

Happy 2nd Birthday Grayson

It's hard to believe that my little man turned 2! This year his birthday was on Thanksgiving, so we had a low key birthday celebration.  We made his favorite breakfast and then had presents and cake around lunch time. Gray got a tricycle and some trucks for his birthday. He loved them! Afterwards we took the tricycle for a spin around the neighborhood before Grayson's nap. We had a late Thanksgiving dinner and that wrapped up the day. On Saturday, Grandma Alice made Grayson's favorite chili and then we went to see the new Muppet Movie. All in all, I think it was a great birthday celebration.

Oh how time does fly...

I swear I constantly think that I'm going to be better about keeping up-to-date on posts, but alas...I keep falling behind. Maybe I should schedule one night a week to update for the week...or maybe just twice a month would work.

October was a busy month with a trip to the pumpkin patch and more importantly a trip to Disney World. (I'll post pictures soon.) Both were lots of fun. Our friends the Alberts, the Goedes, the Fagellas, and the Towns joined us for a day at the pumpkin patch. We got some great pumpkins and of course some adorable pictures. And believe it or not, Grayson's pumpkin hat still fit him from last year. After the pumpkin patch, we came back to the house and relaxed in the backyard and let the kids play. All in all, a great day!

 The Goede Family

The Towns Family

 The Albert Family

The Fagella Family

 "Really mom! How many pictures do you need of me?"

 Loving the slide

And the swing

 Look the pumpkin hat still fits!!

 Thinking about whether it will fit again next year...

 Searching for the perfect pumpkin

"I like this little one."

 "But this bigger one makes a nice seat..."

 Chatting with my friend, Anna.

"Look how strong daddy is!"

"Peek-a-boo"

 "Gotta find the perfect pumpkin!"

"This one may be perfect...it has apple cider in it."

Our shopping is done...

At the end of the month, we headed to Florida for what is becoming our annual trip to Disney World.

We've never been during October and were very excited about the weather and the smaller crowds. October seems to be the best time to go...so far...we're going again in March...I'll let you know what we think of a spring visit. We went to all the character meals that we could find and Grayson LOVED meeting Mickey Mouse and especially loved meeting Donald Duck this year.

In addition to the character meals, we met up with our friends the Holmans, who were also at Disney for the first time (as a family). It was great seeing them and getting to spend a couple of hours with them. We were also able to spend a little time with Wil's parents and sister, Danielle and her husband, Justin, who came down to spend a couple of nights with us and go to the Magic Kingdom with us on our last day.

Mickey Mouse rice at Benihana's

Since Gray was feeling out of sorts on the night we planned to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, grandma and grandpa watched Grayson so mommy and daddy could go to the Halloween party...which I have to say was a great time. I really wish Gray would've been in a better mood to go, but we had a lot of fun. There is nothing like trick-or-treating in the Magic Kingdom. Candy, a fantastic parade, a wonderful fireworks show, no lines for rides, costumes, and just a wonderful time!

I don't think Gray was ready to go home...he thought if he hid under the sink, we could stay...

We got back from vacation and took Grayson trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Of course, he was Mickey Mouse for Halloween and what an adorable Mickey Mouse he was. He is also smarter than I was as a child. Instead of saying trick-or-treat when we went to a new door...he just said, "treat". Smart, I say...no one really wants a trick...we all really want a treat and he cleaned up on the candy. Now, granted we had more candy than we could possibly need anyway because we had 2 big bags of candy from our trick-or-treating in the Magic Kingdom. Oh well, that's why we work...to pass off our candy, etc on our co-workers.

And then well...then it was November...my how time flies. The first weekend after getting back from Florida, I went away on a girl's weekend with Natasha and Kara. We went down to Williamsburg for some outlet shopping and comraderie on what was my first night away from Grayson. Hard to believe that he's almost 2 and I had never been away for an overnight. I had a great time, but admit that I did miss my little man...and my bigger man too (that's Wil for those who were wondering). I didn't get as much Christmas shopping done as I had hoped, but I did get some regular shopping done. Gray needed some winter shirts and new shoes, etc.

After returning from our girl's weekend, then it was time to catch up with unpacking and starting to prep the house to begin Christmas decorations...which basically means, getting my house organized again. It seems like a never-ending process.

We also took Gray to get Christmas pictures on Veteran's Day, but unfortunately, he was not in the mood to stay there long enough to get his birthday pictures done too, so we're going back tomorrow in hopes that we can get his birthday pictures done. Keep your fingers crossed for me. That evening we took daddy out for Veteran's Day to thank him for all he does. And then the real thanks was today...letting him play video games all day. :)

Here's hoping that I'll get these pictures up here and new posts before next November.