Disney World/Cruise '11

We had an amazing family vacation last week. Our initial hope was to surprise the kiddos with a trip to Disney, but first I believe we stunned them. Without so much as them spying a suitcase we showed up at the airport ready to roll. They couldn't believe their ears, literally. It took me getting inside the airport and allowing them time to process the information before they stopped asking me to, "tell the truth", and instead began jumping up and down with excitement. We immediately met up with Steven and Haley in Orlando, as they had left the day prior to drop little Azure off with his sister who kindly agreed to watch over her for the week.

The surprises continued as we arrived the following morning to board the Disney Dream and shocked the majority of my family with our unknown arrival. For fear of her passing out we had forewarned my Mom, and our brother in law was a great help and "keeper of our secret" as we planned this elaborate scheme. I absolutely stunned my older sisters though. It was great! With the exception of one brother and his family, who we greatly missed, the entire Darden clan was on this cruise. It was so wonderful to have family and cousins around to laugh and play with as we enjoyed the magic of Disney and the warmth of the Bahamas.

We completed our trip with a few more days in Disney World. While our kiddos enjoyed all of the parks, I believe at this point the Magic Kingdom was the most "magical" for their ages and heights. The girls are now tall enough to enjoy the majority of "older" rides, and they, along with their Dad, made the very most out of this new wonderful ability. Thatcher enjoyed anything that flew high or had Buzz Lightyear lasers and Haley rode the carousel until I was green in the face. Like all vacations unfortunately the days soon came to an end. As we boarded the plane the kids were understandably sad to leave. I said, "If you lived in DisneyWorld though, would it really be that exciting?.......Ya, I know, bad question. Forget it, don't answer that." How about, it was a fantastic vacation that we'll always remember, and we'll leave it at that!

Fall Fun

There's something truly fantastic about leaves falling, pumpkins growing, and temperatures dropping to a cool 80 degrees. I'm not sure how anyone could be unhappy under those circumstances, which is probably why the kids happily endured a three hour scavenger hunt walking back and forth from one side of the zoo to the other. I was proud of their determination and resilience to complete the task, but I was ecstatic that they all had positive attitudes when their prize ended up being a tiny bag of candy. They were hungry and tired, yet, because of the effort put forth that bag of candy meant the world to them. I giggled to myself when our almost ten year old commented on the walk to the car, "Well, that was fun, but for such a small bag of candy, I wouldn't do it again." That's exactly what I had been thinking! Oh, they grow up so fast.

Look Who's Three

Haley Juliana turned three years old last week. Steven took her to the mall so she could enjoy one of her very favorite activities of riding the carousel. We then had a fun family party complete with cake, ice cream, and presents. Everything was centered around the movie "Tangled", since that has been her love and obsession for the past year. Haley J is a absolute gift and delight. Her happiness and playful personality is our families constant reminder to never sweat the small stuff, and, more importantly, to have joy in this journey of life. She is a true blessing to us all. Three things about Haley at the current age of three.

1. She loves to swing, play tag, and pretend she's a horse.

2. She loves playing with her older siblings and always refers to Thatcher as "Thatchie Boy".

3. She loves to not wear clothes.

Happy Birthday Haley J! We love you tons kiddo!!

(mute music on right)