Gingerbread House 2011

The gingerbread house of 2011, another test of patience but success! I'm getting the hang of it now.  I think by year 5 we should reach intermediate decorator status level by then.

Clearly the exciting part was the candy element.  Bowls full of colorful chewy goodness and I don't have to ask her twice to come help. 

Of course she soon realized they were all pretty much rock hard and inedible, but she didn't give up easily!  One candy on the house and one for her mouth. repeat.  

Ehh, calling it good - 10 minutes and she was ready to move on to something else, but at least we now have a little Josie house to adorn the kitchen table for Santa's visit only one day away.  

Chicago at Christmas

I love Chicago, always will... and most importantly, I hope Josie finds the same long lasting love for the city.  Especially come Christmastime, the city hums with activity and I want JJ to grow up knowing and looking forward to everything special about Chicago this time of year.   

In particular, Marshall Field's, or as some now call it MACYS, it's the holidays wrapped up in one giant store.  On today's visit we ate lunch at the market place (saving the Walnut room for next year) and shopped around for ornaments and toys. 

We saved the window walk for last, and while I've never really sat and appreciated how special they were - Josie sure did!  She was still talking about the animated figures at bedtime.   Going on a Tuesday, before the Chicago schools are out for winter break, proved to be wise. 

The store and streets were fairly quiet and allowed us lots of uninterrupted, up close window viewing and leisurely strolling.

Hensler's Farm - A Tree That's Just Right

While we all have our trees up and decorated already, we couldn't pass up a trip to Hensler's Farm, our first annual.  How I never knew this gem existed so close to home, all these years, I do not know. 

The mission: find a tree Josie's size and a tree Nate's size. 

That's Mimi,

That's Pops (he comes well equipped with a camera too, strangers look at us perplexed by all the cameras),

And along with Nate, Rebecca (Ed, Josie and me included)... we hopped aboard a Clydesdale drawn wooden "carriage" out to the tree farm.

I image these are exact replicas of the bells on Santa's sleigh, much like the ones we're reading about in the Polar Express.

A bumpy and cold ride, it was tough to stay warm.

And then the tree hunt had begun, one Josie's size and one Nate's size. 

Success for Nate and Pops, and success for Ed and Josie. 

The perfect little spruce trees to call their very own. 

The end.  :)  See ya next year Hensler's!

Castaway Cay was incredible - really - made the trip worth while. When I book a cruise, I really don't care where it's going. For me, the cruise is about the ship experience - not the destinations necessarily. We didn't even disembark in the Bahamas, but for Castaway Cay - we did.

This was the view from our verandah as we woke that morning.  Castaway Cay is a teeny tiny island, owned by Disney.  That meant we needed to take nothing off the ship with us except sunscreen - not even our passports. Food, towels, transportation - all provided.  There were a few beaches to choose from, all equally pristine.  

Josie's first reaction to the ocean was licking her fingers. The salty water was a surprise to her :) The bay area of the island couldn't have been more beautiful. Tucked safe behind the cove, the waters were warm, calm, and crystal clear.  We spent the day sitting on the beach, hitting the ice cream bar (for the 100th time) and playing with our vacation buddies. 

Castaway Cay was the island we all dream of.  It wasn't croweded, beautiful sand, clean, safe, easy - exactly what you'd expect of Disney.  We'll defintiely be coming back!



Turkey Trot 2011 10k in the Books!

It turned out to be a damp, chilly, WINDY morning in NW Indiana for our Turkey Trot.  My mom and Ed came out to do the 5k while I ran the 10k with Rebecca.  We ran a strong steady 9.5m pace and finished strong and even sweating a little bit despite the cold morning!  It made going up for second helpings of my mom's amazing Thanksgiving dinner all the more guilt free.

We Started Out

Even though Ed and I have cruised before, you forget how massively huge the ships are.  And while our previous cruise was nice, Disney Cruise Line knows how to make the entire process from start to finish - amazing.  Quick and easy on the boat, with Minnie waiting with open arms!  Josie was smitten from first sight.

Our stateroom was a fairly standard verandah room, which was quite a bit larger than the equivalent rooms on our previous cruise.  It was a perfect fit for the three of us, with a double bunk even! 

One of our first stops was to sign Josie up for the Oceaneers Club.  We could have left her there day and night if we had wanted (we didn't ;)), Disney made it super easy, fun, and secure for parents to drop kids of any age off, at any time.  The first night they allowed families to come into the Club to check things out.  Andy's room, really cool. Pixie Hollow and a ton of other play areas kept Josie on the run and quite happy :)

On our second day, we were docked in the Bahamas with no intention of disembarking - we enjoyed our day aboard at the pool, eating unlimited ice cream, watching funnelvision (jumbo screen, pools side with Disney movies all day) Food, ice cream, characters, Andy's room - made for an overwhelming day of choices on what to do next.   That's Nemo playing now...

The boat had two pools, several slides, and even a water "ride" the Aqua Duck.  You can see the tunnel above Josie in the next picture. 

And completely perfect for the munchkin set - Nemo's Reef - a splash pad with many interactive areas.  A good afternoon was wasted away here.

Did I mention an ice cream bar, unlimited, a dozen flavors... walk right up, help yourself.  yes. and thank you.  My diet started today, true story :)

I think we all napped. Every day of the trip. 



Home At Last

We're home! We survived! It was an amazing first family vacation. We. are. tired.

 I know people do it all. the. time. But traveling with a toddler comes with challenges all it's own, but I think we handled it all well and JJ exceeded our expections and then some.  We couldn't have done it without the help of lots of candy, the help of the iPod and iPad for those trying moments.  And when in doubt, nap. When all is said and done, she's a great traveler and we're already planning where to next!

I'm excited to weed through all the photos from our amazing week.  The boat was incredible, exactly what a Disney experience should be.  Disney World, on the other hand, no comment.

The Last Sleep

Tonight is our last sleep before we head off for vacation.  We're all packed up and excited to head out in the morning for the big adventure.  I think I've equipped myself with enough puzzles, games, treats, ipad apps, and suckers to get us through (the flight, if nothing else ;)).  I tell myself people do this all the time, two well equipped adults vs. a three year old.  Nooo problem.

We spend the next night in Cocoa Beach near Port Canaveral before heading out on our Disney Cruise.  We'll round out the trip with a few nights at the Happiest Place on Earth before heading home in time for my first 10k Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving dinner with the family.  Let the adventure begin. 80 degrees and sunny, yes please thank you.

Halloween 2011

3, is that the age when all the holidays really come to life?  I think so.  Don't get me wrong, the first and second rounds of Christmas were fun, Easter too - but looks like round 3 of the holidays are when it really all makes sense and it's excitement all around, for all of us.

We were pretty bummed Halloween fell on a week night, a week day that I work = thus making it a rush and a wee bit stressful to insure we made the most of Halloween night. 

One thing we knew for sure, real trick or treating wasn't going to happen on our street of a mere 6 houses.  It's the one day of the year I lament living in the country.  So we quickly took our obligatory family shot on the porch before heading to our real ToT destination.

She made a cute cupcate.  Surprisingly, we only saw one other like her out of the hundred other costumes out this week!

Our real destination was downtown.  Yep, we're one of those families that drives in and mooches off of the neighborhood.  We'd considered a few locations, but downtown, right off the city square, old quaint homes with brick walkways, mature tree lined streets (sugar maples no less!), one house after another decorated for the Toter's.  Several homes with firepits roaring and music all around! Perfect. 

 I was a little worried we'd get some less than happy folks, considering we weren't neighbors - but turns out, everyone was delighted to see a cupcake at their door.  This street was and will continue to be the best ToT spot of my life, I think I enjoyed it a little too much.  Not only did I get to take a closer look at all of the cute historic homes that I drive past and admire daily, but the setting was just perfect. 

Perfect for pictures, perfect for a 3 yr old to hop out of the wagon and just a few steps to each house.  I can't tell you how many people we passed commented how smart we were to bring the wagon, must have been a novel idea to first timers ;)  The wagon did indeed save us and made it easier to hit as many houses possible before Halloween 2011 closed for the year.

I'm sure, thanks to the wagon, she never tired of hoping out and walking up to each door.  Towards the end, she caught on to the homes with spooky decor and spooky creatures out front and we had to pass those up.  This cupcake seems to be a natural at this whole Trick or Treat concept.

And while we hit the streets early, the sun was already setting.  I'd had a master plan of all the shots I wanted to get. All the sugar maple leaves strewn about the streets, sidewalks and paths - couldn't have been more picture perfect.  But in the end, the sun was setting quick, I couldn't push my iso any higher, my photos were getting blurry and I decided to live the memories instead of shoot them from behind the camera.  Best decision of the night.  Christmas, oh boy... it's going to be fun.