Loving the Fam.

Both of my kids love seeing family. They adore their grandparents and cousins, and it's such a delight to see them all playing together. Here are some photos from Christmas Day, when we had some family over, to partake in cookie baking and Chinese food eating.

Maya will narrate these photos, with some of her recent Maya-isms.

"Can I put that picture on Facebook?"

"When I get bigger, I can be a baby and go in this Jumperoo." (Confused much?)

"I love Goompy all the world and back again."

"Papa Burt can hold Joney, so he doesn't touch any of my toys."

"Good boy, Joney! Good laughing!"

"I love Shane. Shane, you are much cooler than Jonah, because you don't try to take my toys."

"Jonah is a big boy, and Shane is a baby."

"That's Auntie Nora. She is Shane's mom."

"I love the baby."

Just one more quick Maya-ism. Yesterday, we were leaving a restaurant, and it was late in the evening. I said to Maya, "When we get home, we have to go straight to bed." Maya replied, "Aye Aye, Captain!" Hahaha.

Make a Face!

Maya has been really into making faces lately. She loves this game, where I tell her to make a "happy face," "silly face," "sad face," etc. She recently allowed me to do a photo shoot, while we were making faces.


"My mommy is the queen of self portraits."

"I love to give kisses."

"Mommy told me to make a happy face."

"This is my surprised face."

"Here is my sad face."

"Here is my excited face."

"You can tell I'm angry, right?"

"This is me being serious."

"This is my bored face."

"This is my sneaky face."

"This is just my regular old face."

Our Week...

Let's see...

1. We got stuck in the house, due to ice in our driveway.
2. Maya got RSV.
3. Jonah got RSV.
4. We played with Goomy on her birthday.
5. We saw Debs and Dan, and we all took Goomy out to dinner for her birthday.

All in all, a bad week with a great ending. The kids are on the mend!
"Meet my nebulizer!"
"This is Freddy the Fish."

"Mommy took us to Stew Leonard's when we were sick. We loved it!"

"Joney and I loved the Chiquita Banana lady. She sings and dances, and we are mesmerized.:

"Happy Goomy Day!"

"I want that cupcake."

The Rest of the Trip...

On the last day of our trip to Disney, we paid a visit to Animal Kingdom, which I believe is the newest of the Disney parks. It is truly an amazing park. I have to hand it to Disney - they have a way of making a park, that is pretty much a zoo, into a magical experience. You really have to see it for yourself. We went on a safari, saw amazing live shows (Nemo and Lion King), watched a parade, went on rides, ate great food... It was a terrific park. The kids were really spent that day, though. They were just ready to go home to their beds, and be normal again. It was a phenomenal trip. I want to do it every year, but I truly loved coming home.


"Look at the giant animals! I loved this parade!"

"I sat on Dad's shoulders during the parade, so I could wave to Mickey. It was so cool."

"At first, I was scared of the snake. Then I decided it was fake, because it didn't move. So, I touched it. I am the bravest! Even Mommy wouldn't touch it!"

"Well, I'm sort of brave, but Jiminy Cricket gives me the heebie jeebies."

"I can't remember this guy's name, but he's creepy, right?"

"I brushed the sheep, at the petting zoo at Animal Kingdom. Then, I brushed the dirt. Mommy said not to brush my own hair with the brush, and I didn't like that too much..."

"Mom says you can tell this is our last day, because Joney was sad, and I was tired. Here I am, talking on the phone, while we wait for Nemo to start."

"I adore my mommy."

"Look at me at the dino carnival!"

"I went on this ride with Daddy, but you can't see me because I'm too short! I protected Daddy for the whole ride!"

"We went on a safari in Africa. Well, at least they said it was Africa. Mommy said she was skeptical,, considering it wass only 50 degrees."

Magic Kingdom

Well, we are home from vacation, and I have a lot of pics to share. It was a great trip. We partied very hard, and now that we're home, we have 2 very sleepy kiddos, with a lot of catching up to do. These photos are from our first couple of days in Florida. Unfortunately, we ended up down South, during a ridiculous cold front. In fact, it was so cold, we actually had to go to the outlets and buy winter clothes, on our second day! I ended up with 2 new winter coats though, so I guess all wasn't lost!

I think I'll give you a tour of these pics, so you know what we were doing...




Here we are at Magic Kingdom! Our first full day at Disney. We waited on line, so Maya could get her picture taken with Mickey and Minnie. I was worried that she'd be terrified, but she was great. While we waited on line, she waved feverishly at the characters, and though she was a little shy when we got up to the front, she loved it! In fact, she is still talk about it. she just couldn't believe that she got to hug Minnie. Well, she didn't really hug her, but she keeps saying, "I gave Minnie a hug!"




Maya loved having Goomy and Goomy there with us. As you can see, she is affectionate to the max.


We saw a 3-D show, called "Mickey's Phil-Har-Magic." Maya refused to wear the glasses during the show, but she still loved it. It ended with Donald, pretended to escape out the back of the theater. She is still talking about seeing Donald climb through the window. If you go to Disney, you should check out this show. It's great music, and tons of action for the kids.



Poor Jonah had a cold for most of the trip. He didn't look so good, but he had fun anyway. He needed more sleep than we gave him, as you can see. He was bleary eyed by day one!


Having shoulders to sit on, for the live shows, was invaluable!

Our second day, at Hollywood Studios, we were more prepared. Check out Jonah's awesome new hat!

We took the shuttle to the parks, because it was easier. Well, sort of easier...

Little bundled man, ready to roll.

We went to Downtown Disney on Day two...


Lego dogs, on display at Downtown Disney!
"Where's Minnie?"

I met up with my friend, Jen, from high school. We hadn't seen each other in 15 years, but she lives down in Florida, so she brought her family to Hollywood Studios. It was such a nice afternoon!

This is all of us, at the end of a long, cold day at Hollywood Studios.