Chester Cringle

An Elf arrived at our house the day after Thanksgiving this year.  The boys saw one at the neighbors  and asked their elf (Franklin Foddle) if he would please send us an elf.  Chester arrived the next day.  He's been disappearing every night to head to the North Pole to give a report.  He returns in the morning and freezes in place when the boys wake up.  He has left 2 notes explaining to the boys that they are "unassigned" - not on the Naughty or Nice list yet.   On this morning we found he held up by the lego police officers.  His magic brings some of the other toys to life at night.  He's also played poker with the stuffed animals and decorated the hallway with toilet paper - very naughty elf!

Ryan is FIVE!!!

 Ryan is FIVE!!!  Ryan picked Wegmans with Daddy for lunch on his birthday.  He loves the lo mein noodles, rice, and chicken with broccoli.

 Ryan also got to pick dinner that night.  He requested brown bread from Outback and chicken noodle soup from Hoss's.  He got both!

  This is a great picture of Ryan opening his Monster Lego gift.  He's so happy to get this set.  And it also shows David standing behind Ryan realizing that Ryan's set has more pieces than the set David got for his Birthday.  Totally captures both of their emotions!  We had no idea the number of lego pieces would be an issue. . . Oh, the things we learn!  :-)  

Birthday Pottery Party

Ryan loves to paint, so we celebrated his 5th birthday at the Pottery Studio downtown.  We tried to keep it small by only invited four of his friends and his cousins.  It was a busy afternoon!  

 

Ryan picked out a "Happy Birthday" plate to paint.  He painted the front and the back with lots of rainbows.  

 After the party the cousins celebrated Ryan's birthday some more with dinner at our house.

Happy Thanksgiving

 We had such a busy November!  We got home and immediately started Thanksgiving break.  We all agreed to leave the cooking to Slicks this year.  We had a great meal.  Kelsey, David, Ryan and Kaitlyn loved sitting at their own table (I do not think I can say the same for the waitress.).

 After dinner we headed back to Shelby's house for dessert.

Heading Home

We headed home on Sunday afternoon.  Our flight didn't leave until 4:00, so we had had plenty of time to pack in the morning and then have lunch at the hotel before heading to the airport.  

 Ryan fell asleep on the way to the airport.  We were all feeling pretty tired after our adventure.

Last Day at Disney

 We let the boys decide which parks we would go to on our last day.  They both wanted to head back to Hollywood Studios to do the jedi training again.  We were at the front of the line when the park opened at 8:00 on Saturday morning.  David took off running to sign up for the Jedi Experience.

 We had lots of time to get pictures with the characters on Saturday morning.

 They both got their faces painted like Darth Maul.  So scary!  The loved it!

 We all enjoyed our lunch at Pizza Planet.

 Ryan was brave enough to ride the Tower of Terror for a 2nd time on Saturday!  He got another applause from everyone on the ride once it was over.  :-)

Our Day at Epcot

We had a great day at Epcot.  We all LOVED Soarin and Nemo & Friends.  

We ended our day with hibachi at Teppan Edo.  The boys both loved the food and the entertainment.

Hollywood Studios

 Our favorite park was Hollywood Studios.  We loved the rides, shows and the Jedi training.

 Lunch at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Jr. Characters.  Ryan loved the pasta and alfredo sauce and David loved the rolls.

 David said he LOVED the Rock-n-Roller Coaster.  It was so fast!

 Ryan proved his bravery again and got on the Tower of Terror.  Everyone on the ride knew Ryan was scared.  They cheered for him at the end.  His responded by saying "There was air under my butt!"  His whole body lifted up off the seat!

 Ryan did need a little convincing to get on the Tower of Terror.  He was bribed with an ice cream sundae.  He earned it!

 Ryan was trilled to meet Wreck-it-Ralph and Penelope von Schweetz!