Thanksgiving Week in Florida

UCF Game...Go Knights!!

Aunt K and Uncle K are both UCF alumni and have off the hook tailgating parties prior to each home game, so of course, the Caswells had to check it out!!! It was great! A & D had a blast! During the game, D went to sit with the boys and A sat with the girls. While sitting with the "boys", Uncle K showed D a new "pick up line" to use with all the ladies..."Do you like nachos?" Thanks Uncle K!!!

On our way back to the car we saw all the "emergency vehicles" in front of the stadium. I commented to D, look buddy, a firetruck!!! We stopped for a second to check it out and all of a sudden, the fireman on duty at the time opened the whole thing up for Little Man to get in. He had his own private tour of the big working tool box. The guy asks D if he likes transformers...D says yes. (I don't think D has and idea what they really are, although one of his school friends did bring one to school for show and tell letter T earlier this month so who knows.) Anyway, the fireman pushes this "magic button" and the whole front cab starts lifting up from the back so we could see the engine inside. At that time, the "police car" on campus, a glorified golf cart, with SIX policemen inside seeing D standing there mystified and us talking to D about how cool it is, start competing for D's attention. "No way, D, that isn't anywhere near as cool as our ride...check this out." They all start rocking from side to side and the golf cart is of course all over the place. It was hilarious!!!

Little Miss A, not quite into the whole emergency vehicle thing anyway, let alone her new found "stranger danger" complex, hid in the background with Aunt K. She wasn't quite as impressed, but boy Mr D had that hidden, smirky smile the whole way back to the car after that. What a way to end a day!

Thanksgiving Day

Can't think of the last time we were in Florida for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to spend time with family. We began the day with an "all family" turkey trot run...a local 5K that they've all been participating in since we left. It really was a great way to start a day. A & D even ran the 1/4 mile kid run. They were so proud of themselves crossing the finish line to sounds of cheers from onlooking family members and friends. :)

Uncle D and Uncle K decided it was a sweater vest occasion. I don't think any of them owned sweater vests prior, but we all headed out to find one. The picture speaks for itself...too funny!

As for the turkey dinner, the kids didn't eat a whole lot of turkey, or any of the main course sides for that matter, but the "appies" and Aunt N's GOURMET desserts were an all around fave! :)

One of the family traditions is to hit the golf course after dinner. The kids even got to play. I took one giant chunk out of the fairway...yikes!!! I haven't played since before I had the kids...whoopsie! The kids loved it, so I think we may need to look into this being a new potential hobby for the Caswell family. :)

From the Beach to the Ice...

So, Mom arranged a picture session with a Cocoa Beach local to take our family pictures on the beach at sunrise. Yeah, it was like 50 degrees...EEK. Sunrise was at 6:58, 5:58 CST...EARLY for the monkeys for sure. We were planning to be barefoot, the sand was freezing, so as soon as I took off D's shoe and sock, he FREAKED out. Thankfully I was able to hide his feet, but man was it rough. Two grouchy, sleepy tired kids that were FREEZING on the beach was a little difficult to shoot I'm sure. So, no pictures of just A & D, but I think RB was able to get a couple of all of us that really turned out well!!! I can't wait to get our new pieces to add to our growing Caswell collection!!!

Later that evening we took the kids ice skating. Ice skating with the water and palm trees in the background...how can you beat that? The kids did great. We went not too long ago, but they did even better this time around. Even by the end of our skate time, they were both doing remarkably better than when we first hit the ice. :)

VIP ZOO PASS!!!!

Again, Grandma had the coolest hook up for our trip to the zoo...a special VIP pass to see the animal, behind the scenes. We had a tour of the "backyard barn" where the animals eat and sleep. We first ran into a very friendly Emu named Priscilla. Little Miss A was TERRIFIED!!!! Then we met a "GINORMOUS" white rhino named Max. I am still somewhat shocked that A actually stood for a picture in front of his "house." The giraffes were sadly MIA when we went back, so we never got an up close encounter with them, but I think, given Little Miss A's reaction to the Emu, that was probably for the best, but man that would have been super cool!

DISNEY WORLD!!!

Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to Disney World for their birthday this year. It was AMAZING!!!! Going back to the Magic Kingdom after years of going all the time because we lived right there, then seeing the park through the kids eyes...INDESCRIBABLE!!!

Just seeing Cinderella's castle with Little Miss A standing on the side of me just in awe. Mr D was just giddy with all the excitement that is Disney.

Here is a breakdown of the A & D's favorites rides:

Fantasy Land~It's a Small World

Frontier Land~Thunder Mountain

Adventure Land~Pirates of the Caribbean

(We never made it to Tomorrow Land, so that just means we HAVE to go back, right?)

The evening fireworks display was awesome, as always. A is still not so fond of the fireworks and SHOCKINGLY fell ASLEEP on Grandpa's shoulder about 10 minutes into the display. The Light parade at the end of the day was great, a couple of the "characters" actually came over to where we were sitting interacting with us a little.

Totally wonderful, but the ABSOLUTE BEST part of the whole day was DINNER WITH CINDERELLA!!!!! We took a boat to the Grand Floridian for dinner with Little Miss A's favorite princess. We got to see, talk with, hug and take pictures with not only Cinderella and Prince Charming, but Lady Tremain, Anastasia and Drisella as well. :)

Little Miss A was a little more shy than I thought she would be. Quite hesitant at first then becoming a little more laid back about the whole thing. She actually took a picture with Cinderella by herself, something I was worried wasn't going to happen at all. When Cinderella asked D if he would like to take a picture with her, his response was "Um, no thanks." Silly boy. After all the characters made their way into the ballroom for the waltz, little girls starting going onto the dance floor to dance as well. We almost had Little Miss A up there, but the music ended and she came back and sat down. It was truly the most magical day EVER!!!!!

Flying in Style!!

Mom hooked us up with the COOLEST transportation EVER!!! We had our own jet take us to Florida and back for our Thanksgiving trip to see the fam. I seriously don't know how we're going to travel again. That would be REALLY easy to get used to!!!! We literally drove onto the tarmac and they got our bags out of the car and loaded them right onto the plane. All we had to do was get on with the kids. A & D were in heaven...so excited for this new adventure. Being able to see the cockpit was amazing. They both talked to the pilot, D more so than A. Getting to Florida was SOOOO cool...seeing Grandma waiting for us on the tarmac was so special. Grandpa, Aunt K, Uncle D, J, Aunt N and Uncle G joined her shortly thereafter. Talk about a welcome back!!! :) That was awesome!