HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
December 31, 2017
Our Christmas season was jam packed, but I feel like it always is because my husband and I’s families are all from the same area. So the fact that we all get sick right before Christmas wasn’t too surprising. Late game nights, and little sleep will do that to you! We still managed to host dessert for a progressive dinner on Christmas Eve with Marcus’ family, complete with the cutest nativity, cookie day making some of our favorite pizzelle cookies, Skyping with our favorite DC missionary for the last time, and even more family dinners!
We even took a trip to Yakima to visit our favorite Santa George, that is good friends with my dad. Harper was really excited to tell Santa what she wanted this year and Elle is so easy going I figured she’d follow along. Boy were we wrong! Elle was NOT having it. Those always make for the funniest pictures though right? Well we did a take two at a family dinner and I thought it might go a little better this time…nope! Guess Elle is just on the naughty list this year!
A few months ago we decided to get our girls’ a dollhouse. In October when it first came out, I saw the Magnolia Dollhouse from Target and knew that was the one. We started putting it together weeks before Christmas and as much as I liked it, I knew it just needed a little something more. Pinterest and Instagram to the rescue! I loved how it turned out, and we couldn’t wait to give it to them on Christmas morning. Harper’s reaction was priceless, I love her little “What the?” that she’s picked up from her cousins. It’s the first thing she says when she’s surprised or confused about something…and whatever I do, I can’t break her from saying it!
It felt so magical when it snowed on Christmas morning. It hadn’t really snowed here yet, so to wake up to it snowing was like icing on the cake! Harper was thrilled that Santa brought snow so she could make a “Frosty.” Her favorite character EVER.
I can’t believe how much Elle had grown in only a year. Last year she was our Christmas baby, and this year, well I still treat her like a baby, but she started walking and taking steps over the Christmas break. She is months behind from when Harper started walking, but that just meant she was still my little baby for a bit longer. She loved all the tissue paper this year and pulling it apart. Far more concerned with that than what was inside the present, for sure! Harper on the other hand has learned to open presents like a mad-man and throws the paper EVERYWHERE.
She ended up with a few princess dress up costumes this year and has been wearing them non-stop. Her and her cousin couldn’t go to any house without their shoes, wands, crowns, and dresses in tow. It’s the cutest!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Our Christmas season was jam packed, but I feel like it always is because my husband and I’s families are all from the same area. So the fact that we all get sick right before Christmas wasn’t too surprising. Late game nights, and little sleep will do that to you! We still managed to host dessert for a progressive dinner on Christmas Eve with Marcus’ family, complete with the cutest nativity, cookie day making some of our favorite pizzelle cookies, Skyping with our favorite DC missionary for the last time, and even more family dinners!
We even took a trip to Yakima to visit our favorite Santa George, that is good friends with my dad. Harper was really excited to tell Santa what she wanted this year and Elle is so easy going I figured she’d follow along. Boy were we wrong! Elle was NOT having it. Those always make for the funniest pictures though right? Well we did a take two at a family dinner and I thought it might go a little better this time…nope! Guess Elle is just on the naughty list this year!
A few months ago we decided to get our girls’ a dollhouse. In October when it first came out, I saw the Magnolia Dollhouse from Target and knew that was the one. We started putting it together weeks before Christmas and as much as I liked it, I knew it just needed a little something more. Pinterest and Instagram to the rescue! I loved how it turned out, and we couldn’t wait to give it to them on Christmas morning. Harper’s reaction was priceless, I love her little “What the?” that she’s picked up from her cousins. It’s the first thing she says when she’s surprised or confused about something…and whatever I do, I can’t break her from saying it!
It felt so magical when it snowed on Christmas morning. It hadn’t really snowed here yet, so to wake up to it snowing was like icing on the cake! Harper was thrilled that Santa brought snow so she could make a “Frosty.” Her favorite character EVER.
I can’t believe how much Elle had grown in only a year. Last year she was our Christmas baby, and this year, well I still treat her like a baby, but she started walking and taking steps over the Christmas break. She is months behind from when Harper started walking, but that just meant she was still my little baby for a bit longer. She loved all the tissue paper this year and pulling it apart. Far more concerned with that than what was inside the present, for sure! Harper on the other hand has learned to open presents like a mad-man and throws the paper EVERYWHERE.
She ended up with a few princess dress up costumes this year and has been wearing them non-stop. Her and her cousin couldn’t go to any house without their shoes, wands, crowns, and dresses in tow. It’s the cutest!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
OH, CANA-DAB
December 11, 2017
When Marcus had some things cancel at work last week, we jumped at the chance to go to Canada for a few days. It was so spontaneous, we even forgot to pack our passports! Luckily, we only got 40 min out of town before we realized it, and Marcus’ mom was happy to meet us halfway so we could get back on the road. But we also quickly knew we weren’t going to make our reserved ferry, and there were no other ferries leaving out of that port that day. We were scrambling when at last we decided to just drive as far as we could and catch the British Columbia ferry going across.
The Buthchart Gardens were at the top of our list so we decided to go twice! Once during the day, and then again that night. During the day it was gorgeous and the girls loved being outside running around. But what I didn’t think about was that they’d wear themselves out and not be ready for the Round 2 a couple hours later! Total parent fail on our part…that night, we rounded the first corner and it was literally, breathtaking! And then Elle started crying. And I mean, CRYING. Marcus picked her up out of the stroller and she REFUSED to go back in. I asked Harper if she wanted to see the lights and after about 2 minutes she was back in her stroller, cranky, refusing pictures (except if she could be by herself-ha!), and trying to fall asleep. Marcus and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes as we realized we brought our kids to one of the most beautiful places-and neither were having it! But it happens. Especially, with young kids.
By the end of the gardens, Harper was begging for something to drink. So we paid for the way overpriced hot chocolate and gingerbread cookie and $20 later she was the happiest kid on the planet! We were kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner in the night.
We also had the chance to walk through the Festival of Trees where they have more than 50 different Christmas trees decorated by different families and businesses in the area. They were gorgeous! Our favorite, of course, was the Nightmare Before Christmas tree. We followed it up with a visit to the Gingerbread Showcase that is similar but with, you guessed it, gingerbread. It was pretty amazing the talent that some individuals have. I am not one of them!
The Christmas lights at the Empress Hotel, the Parliament building, and downtown were pretty impressive as well. Victoria has the best location sitting right on the Puget Sound, and has a complete European feel. Since many speak French, it’s so cute to hear everyone talk in their accents! Visiting Fan Tan Alley, the smallest street in the country, was like we had gone straight to Diagon Alley (from Harry Potter, but I'll pretend like you didn't have to ask that-ha!) I could easily touch wall to wall-and I have short arms, so that’s saying something!
This totally helped kick off the Christmas season for us. We also were able to help Light the World a few times along our way. If you want more information on how you can help “Light the World” this Christmas season, click here!
When Marcus had some things cancel at work last week, we jumped at the chance to go to Canada for a few days. It was so spontaneous, we even forgot to pack our passports! Luckily, we only got 40 min out of town before we realized it, and Marcus’ mom was happy to meet us halfway so we could get back on the road. But we also quickly knew we weren’t going to make our reserved ferry, and there were no other ferries leaving out of that port that day. We were scrambling when at last we decided to just drive as far as we could and catch the British Columbia ferry going across.
The Buthchart Gardens were at the top of our list so we decided to go twice! Once during the day, and then again that night. During the day it was gorgeous and the girls loved being outside running around. But what I didn’t think about was that they’d wear themselves out and not be ready for the Round 2 a couple hours later! Total parent fail on our part…that night, we rounded the first corner and it was literally, breathtaking! And then Elle started crying. And I mean, CRYING. Marcus picked her up out of the stroller and she REFUSED to go back in. I asked Harper if she wanted to see the lights and after about 2 minutes she was back in her stroller, cranky, refusing pictures (except if she could be by herself-ha!), and trying to fall asleep. Marcus and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes as we realized we brought our kids to one of the most beautiful places-and neither were having it! But it happens. Especially, with young kids.
By the end of the gardens, Harper was begging for something to drink. So we paid for the way overpriced hot chocolate and gingerbread cookie and $20 later she was the happiest kid on the planet! We were kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner in the night.
We also had the chance to walk through the Festival of Trees where they have more than 50 different Christmas trees decorated by different families and businesses in the area. They were gorgeous! Our favorite, of course, was the Nightmare Before Christmas tree. We followed it up with a visit to the Gingerbread Showcase that is similar but with, you guessed it, gingerbread. It was pretty amazing the talent that some individuals have. I am not one of them!
The Christmas lights at the Empress Hotel, the Parliament building, and downtown were pretty impressive as well. Victoria has the best location sitting right on the Puget Sound, and has a complete European feel. Since many speak French, it’s so cute to hear everyone talk in their accents! Visiting Fan Tan Alley, the smallest street in the country, was like we had gone straight to Diagon Alley (from Harry Potter, but I'll pretend like you didn't have to ask that-ha!) I could easily touch wall to wall-and I have short arms, so that’s saying something!
This totally helped kick off the Christmas season for us. We also were able to help Light the World a few times along our way. If you want more information on how you can help “Light the World” this Christmas season, click here!
BEST THIRD BIRTHDAY...EVER, AT TOKYO DISNEYSEA
November 29, 2017
On Tuesday we woke up ready to go to DisneySea for the day, but after we saw it was supposed to rain we decided to wait until Harper’s “actual” birthday the next day. And it worked out even better than we could have expected! We had the best weather that day and the crowds were super minimal (for Tokyo Disney anyways!)
As soon as we stepped on Disney “property” it was like none another. We were so fortunate because they had just put up the Christmas decorations a few days prior and neither Marcus or I had been to Disney during the Christmas season. I had heard that DisneySea was built after Disneyland Tokyo, and basically it was built without a budget. The two parks sit right next to each other but we headed out to DisneySea for the day since it’s truly one of a kind, and on any Disney Fanatics "bucket list."
As soon as we stepped on Disney “property” it was like none another. We were so fortunate because they had just put up the Christmas decorations a few days prior and neither Marcus or I had been to Disney during the Christmas season. I had heard that DisneySea was built after Disneyland Tokyo, and basically it was built without a budget. The two parks sit right next to each other but we headed out to DisneySea for the day since it’s truly one of a kind, and on any Disney Fanatics "bucket list."
We headed right to the rides and took advantage of the rider swap, and I couldn’t believe it when instead of letting the second rider into the “FastPass” line, they literally took me to the front of the ride! It was as close to feeling like a Disney celebrity that we’ll probably ever get! We rode all our favorite rides, and while Marcus was on Tower of Terror (we joked that we had to come all the way to Tokyo just to ride the Tower of Terror again!) we saw the Rescuers’, Bernard and Bernice. There was a small crowd around them and Harper’s face just lit up! Bernice saw Harper first, and she bypassed everyone in line and came straight over to Harper. I wasn’t even ready with my camera because I thought we had another 5 min or so! Harper was freaking out, and giving them a million hugs and kisses on their noses. It was one of the cutest moments of MY life just watching her meet Disney characters for the first time.
We then went and got her her “Birthday sticker” and when they asked me to write it, I thought, I wrote that clear enough… Well the girl took it and wrote down “Hanpan” instead of “Harper.” We all got a good laugh and Harper go to be “Hanpan” for the day. We then headed to see Minnie Mouse in the hour long wait! Luckily, I stood in line and Marcus took Harper out to meet the monkey’s from the Jungle Book. They were pretty funny, and Harper came back full of stories about them. When it was our turn to meet Minnie, Harper ran up to her and took off her own Minnie ears and gave them to her. It was so sweet. We were instructed only ONE picture, and when we looked at what we got we couldn’t believe it when Harper had the BIGGEST smile we had ever seen her give. It was a birthday miracle, let me tell you!
We then took Harper to the Little Mermaid’s castle and rode rides in there and it was one of the prettiest rooms I’ve ever seen. It really did feel like we were “Under the Sea.” Even the soap was magical when Marcus used it he pulled up his hand and it was in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
We then went and got her her “Birthday sticker” and when they asked me to write it, I thought, I wrote that clear enough… Well the girl took it and wrote down “Hanpan” instead of “Harper.” We all got a good laugh and Harper go to be “Hanpan” for the day. We then headed to see Minnie Mouse in the hour long wait! Luckily, I stood in line and Marcus took Harper out to meet the monkey’s from the Jungle Book. They were pretty funny, and Harper came back full of stories about them. When it was our turn to meet Minnie, Harper ran up to her and took off her own Minnie ears and gave them to her. It was so sweet. We were instructed only ONE picture, and when we looked at what we got we couldn’t believe it when Harper had the BIGGEST smile we had ever seen her give. It was a birthday miracle, let me tell you!
We then took Harper to the Little Mermaid’s castle and rode rides in there and it was one of the prettiest rooms I’ve ever seen. It really did feel like we were “Under the Sea.” Even the soap was magical when Marcus used it he pulled up his hand and it was in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
Having only seen Minnie Mouse, I was worried about Harper not seeing Mickey. Every day they have a lottery system for a show at DisneySea where you put in your ticket and it’ll tell you if you won passes to see it or not-people wait in line for HOURS just to try to get in the standby line for the show. Most people don’t get chosen so I had very low expectations. As I put my ticket in to see if we had won, the worker had to help me because it was in Japanese! I had no idea I had won until he started jumping up and down and was excited for me! After that I literally felt like I HAD won the lottery-at least the Disney won anyways.
So Harper got to see, Minnie, again, Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. It was awesome, and she kept calling Mickey “Boy Minnie.” For the rest of the day we stopped at almost every food cart to try what they had, rode all our favorite rides, and even dragged Harper on a few that she was juuuust tall enough for. We tried to keep pushing until 10pm because we had Fast Passes for Marcus’ favorite, Toy Story Mania. So we went into the gift shop to get a special “Duffy Bear” which is Mickey’s bear and only sold in Tokyo Disney, for Elle. When we looked at the price tag we almost chocked! But we decided for Elle, it was worth it. So we got one and headed to the checkout and Harper said, where’s mine? Well it WAS her birthday, and she’s got those cute, big eyes just pleading. She had done so good that day that I looked at Marcus what to do and he had already turned around and went and got a second. So now we have TWO Mickey bears, haha. The things you’ll do for your kids at Disneyland…
After that Harper fell fast asleep on Toy Story Mania, and Marcus and I got to play by ourselves. We are SO competitive on that game and had big bets as to who’d win. Well, the scores flashed on the screen and wouldn’t you guess it-WE TIED! Whaaaat!? Almost impossible to do that I’m sure. Well, we decided there couldn’t be a better ending to the day!
That is, until we walked out and even though it was 60 degrees, it was SNOWING. Tokyo sure knows how to pull out ALL the stops! It was one of our top days we’ve ever had at Disneyland.
So Harper got to see, Minnie, again, Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. It was awesome, and she kept calling Mickey “Boy Minnie.” For the rest of the day we stopped at almost every food cart to try what they had, rode all our favorite rides, and even dragged Harper on a few that she was juuuust tall enough for. We tried to keep pushing until 10pm because we had Fast Passes for Marcus’ favorite, Toy Story Mania. So we went into the gift shop to get a special “Duffy Bear” which is Mickey’s bear and only sold in Tokyo Disney, for Elle. When we looked at the price tag we almost chocked! But we decided for Elle, it was worth it. So we got one and headed to the checkout and Harper said, where’s mine? Well it WAS her birthday, and she’s got those cute, big eyes just pleading. She had done so good that day that I looked at Marcus what to do and he had already turned around and went and got a second. So now we have TWO Mickey bears, haha. The things you’ll do for your kids at Disneyland…
After that Harper fell fast asleep on Toy Story Mania, and Marcus and I got to play by ourselves. We are SO competitive on that game and had big bets as to who’d win. Well, the scores flashed on the screen and wouldn’t you guess it-WE TIED! Whaaaat!? Almost impossible to do that I’m sure. Well, we decided there couldn’t be a better ending to the day!
That is, until we walked out and even though it was 60 degrees, it was SNOWING. Tokyo sure knows how to pull out ALL the stops! It was one of our top days we’ve ever had at Disneyland.
On Tuesday we woke up ready to go to DisneySea for the day, but after we saw it was supposed to rain we decided to wait until Harper’s “actual” birthday the next day. And it worked out even better than we could have expected! We had the best weather that day and the crowds were super minimal (for Tokyo Disney anyways!)
As soon as we stepped on Disney “property” it was like none another. We were so fortunate because they had just put up the Christmas decorations a few days prior and neither Marcus or I had been to Disney during the Christmas season. I had heard that DisneySea was built after Disneyland Tokyo, and basically it was built without a budget. The two parks sit right next to each other but we headed out to DisneySea for the day since it’s truly one of a kind, and on any Disney Fanatics "bucket list."
As soon as we stepped on Disney “property” it was like none another. We were so fortunate because they had just put up the Christmas decorations a few days prior and neither Marcus or I had been to Disney during the Christmas season. I had heard that DisneySea was built after Disneyland Tokyo, and basically it was built without a budget. The two parks sit right next to each other but we headed out to DisneySea for the day since it’s truly one of a kind, and on any Disney Fanatics "bucket list."
We headed right to the rides and took advantage of the rider swap, and I couldn’t believe it when instead of letting the second rider into the “FastPass” line, they literally took me to the front of the ride! It was as close to feeling like a Disney celebrity that we’ll probably ever get! We rode all our favorite rides, and while Marcus was on Tower of Terror (we joked that we had to come all the way to Tokyo just to ride the Tower of Terror again!) we saw the Rescuers’, Bernard and Bernice. There was a small crowd around them and Harper’s face just lit up! Bernice saw Harper first, and she bypassed everyone in line and came straight over to Harper. I wasn’t even ready with my camera because I thought we had another 5 min or so! Harper was freaking out, and giving them a million hugs and kisses on their noses. It was one of the cutest moments of MY life just watching her meet Disney characters for the first time.
We then went and got her her “Birthday sticker” and when they asked me to write it, I thought, I wrote that clear enough… Well the girl took it and wrote down “Hanpan” instead of “Harper.” We all got a good laugh and Harper go to be “Hanpan” for the day. We then headed to see Minnie Mouse in the hour long wait! Luckily, I stood in line and Marcus took Harper out to meet the monkey’s from the Jungle Book. They were pretty funny, and Harper came back full of stories about them. When it was our turn to meet Minnie, Harper ran up to her and took off her own Minnie ears and gave them to her. It was so sweet. We were instructed only ONE picture, and when we looked at what we got we couldn’t believe it when Harper had the BIGGEST smile we had ever seen her give. It was a birthday miracle, let me tell you!
We then took Harper to the Little Mermaid’s castle and rode rides in there and it was one of the prettiest rooms I’ve ever seen. It really did feel like we were “Under the Sea.” Even the soap was magical when Marcus used it he pulled up his hand and it was in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
We then went and got her her “Birthday sticker” and when they asked me to write it, I thought, I wrote that clear enough… Well the girl took it and wrote down “Hanpan” instead of “Harper.” We all got a good laugh and Harper go to be “Hanpan” for the day. We then headed to see Minnie Mouse in the hour long wait! Luckily, I stood in line and Marcus took Harper out to meet the monkey’s from the Jungle Book. They were pretty funny, and Harper came back full of stories about them. When it was our turn to meet Minnie, Harper ran up to her and took off her own Minnie ears and gave them to her. It was so sweet. We were instructed only ONE picture, and when we looked at what we got we couldn’t believe it when Harper had the BIGGEST smile we had ever seen her give. It was a birthday miracle, let me tell you!
We then took Harper to the Little Mermaid’s castle and rode rides in there and it was one of the prettiest rooms I’ve ever seen. It really did feel like we were “Under the Sea.” Even the soap was magical when Marcus used it he pulled up his hand and it was in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
Having only seen Minnie Mouse, I was worried about Harper not seeing Mickey. Every day they have a lottery system for a show at DisneySea where you put in your ticket and it’ll tell you if you won passes to see it or not-people wait in line for HOURS just to try to get in the standby line for the show. Most people don’t get chosen so I had very low expectations. As I put my ticket in to see if we had won, the worker had to help me because it was in Japanese! I had no idea I had won until he started jumping up and down and was excited for me! After that I literally felt like I HAD won the lottery-at least the Disney won anyways.
So Harper got to see, Minnie, again, Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. It was awesome, and she kept calling Mickey “Boy Minnie.” For the rest of the day we stopped at almost every food cart to try what they had, rode all our favorite rides, and even dragged Harper on a few that she was juuuust tall enough for. We tried to keep pushing until 10pm because we had Fast Passes for Marcus’ favorite, Toy Story Mania. So we went into the gift shop to get a special “Duffy Bear” which is Mickey’s bear and only sold in Tokyo Disney, for Elle. When we looked at the price tag we almost chocked! But we decided for Elle, it was worth it. So we got one and headed to the checkout and Harper said, where’s mine? Well it WAS her birthday, and she’s got those cute, big eyes just pleading. She had done so good that day that I looked at Marcus what to do and he had already turned around and went and got a second. So now we have TWO Mickey bears, haha. The things you’ll do for your kids at Disneyland…
After that Harper fell fast asleep on Toy Story Mania, and Marcus and I got to play by ourselves. We are SO competitive on that game and had big bets as to who’d win. Well, the scores flashed on the screen and wouldn’t you guess it-WE TIED! Whaaaat!? Almost impossible to do that I’m sure. Well, we decided there couldn’t be a better ending to the day!
That is, until we walked out and even though it was 60 degrees, it was SNOWING. Tokyo sure knows how to pull out ALL the stops! It was one of our top days we’ve ever had at Disneyland.
So Harper got to see, Minnie, again, Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. It was awesome, and she kept calling Mickey “Boy Minnie.” For the rest of the day we stopped at almost every food cart to try what they had, rode all our favorite rides, and even dragged Harper on a few that she was juuuust tall enough for. We tried to keep pushing until 10pm because we had Fast Passes for Marcus’ favorite, Toy Story Mania. So we went into the gift shop to get a special “Duffy Bear” which is Mickey’s bear and only sold in Tokyo Disney, for Elle. When we looked at the price tag we almost chocked! But we decided for Elle, it was worth it. So we got one and headed to the checkout and Harper said, where’s mine? Well it WAS her birthday, and she’s got those cute, big eyes just pleading. She had done so good that day that I looked at Marcus what to do and he had already turned around and went and got a second. So now we have TWO Mickey bears, haha. The things you’ll do for your kids at Disneyland…
After that Harper fell fast asleep on Toy Story Mania, and Marcus and I got to play by ourselves. We are SO competitive on that game and had big bets as to who’d win. Well, the scores flashed on the screen and wouldn’t you guess it-WE TIED! Whaaaat!? Almost impossible to do that I’m sure. Well, we decided there couldn’t be a better ending to the day!
That is, until we walked out and even though it was 60 degrees, it was SNOWING. Tokyo sure knows how to pull out ALL the stops! It was one of our top days we’ve ever had at Disneyland.
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