Adventures of Kailie and Kolton Matthews: Christmas 2012 Memories

Christmas 2012 is now behind us and I'm having a hard time letting it go - because it was just SO much fun!!! As the kids get older I know it's just going to get more crazy and I can't wait! There was a lot of 'crazy' this Christmas but in the midst of it all I tried to take a moment here and there to be so incredibly thankful for the 'crazy' because I really can't imagine my life without it.

As usual, the most exciting posts are the ones that take the longest to get up because there are just so many pictures and so much fun it's actually overwhelming to sit down and get it all organized into a (somewhat) compherhensive post.

Christmas really kicked off for us with a trip to Orlando (shocker I know, we just never go there!). Gram Phyllis and the Fultons joined us there and I still can't tell you if it was the kids or the adults who had more fun! We stayed right at Disney this time at Animal Kingdom Lodge and enjoyed our incredible view of giraffe, zebras, ostriches, and a bunch of other interesting animals that camped out just outside our window. We all thought it was very cool - it's not all that often giraffes are grazing just off your balcony. Most of us would just kind of watch quietly as we enjoyed the animals but Kotlon just got so excited when they came close he kinda made this little shrieking sound which probably didn't help keep the animals within our vicinity!!

We did take in Magic Kingdom one day but other than that our experience at Disney was limited just to the hotel which was more than enough. We quickly learned that Kolton needed about 2 inches of water and a couple of cups and he'd be happy for hours!! And Kailie was just so happy to be keeping up with her big cousins that we could have been in Disney or Siberia and I don't think she would have noticed! The hotel had so much cool entertainment for the kids, a couple of awesome pools and slides it was not hard to find lots to do right where we were.

It was just a fantastic trip with family and wonderful memories were made. We were very happy to have Christmas to look forward to on our way home as we were sure sad to say good-bye at the end of the trip.

As usual, the pictures tell it the best!

SO MUCH FUN at the splash pool. We had some very early mornings there and some pretty late nights too! There were various activities around the pool area at most times of the day but all the kids wanted to do was splash and play around in the water.

Contrary to his expression, Kolton loved his first Carousal Ride!

Big Sister was allowed to ride all on her own!!

The day we went to Magic Kingdom we were sure to be there when the gates opened up and we were rewarded with no line-ups, it was perfect for the kids (and me)!

Such a little trooper - he had so much fun and even managed to have a great nap during the day too:)

Someone else was looking for a little rest too - so Kailie and I headed to the People Mover while Daddy took a napping Kolton for a walk.

This was a late Birthday Gift for Kailie - her day as a Princess started at the Bibbity-Bobbity-Botique where they got my beautiful little Princess even more prettied up - didn't know that was even possible ;-)

They really made such a fuss over her - I think it was all a bit overwhelming!!

Daddy's Little Princess!

Mommy's Too :)

After Kailie was transformed into a little Snow White - Kailie and I headed to Cinderella's Castle for lunch with Cinderella and a few other Princesses. We first had some time to explore the Castle.

Then we headed up high into the Castle where we had lunch over-looking the Magic Kingdom!

Kailie just LOVED each Princess so much - we didn't get our own picture of her and Cinderella but there were some professional ones taken as part of our lunch, so Kailie got to talk with 5 different Princesses - she loved every minute of it!!

Because we were there celebrating her birthday, our waiter brought her a cupcake she got to decorate. Kailie's favorite moment was when our waiter started singing Happy Birthday the very large table next to us joined in for a VERY LOUD rendition of Happy Birthday!!! There were no little kids at that table beside us, so they 'adopted' Kailie as theirs and made a really big deal over her - she still talks about that now!!

First the 'hard work' of decorating . . . .

. . . then the reward of getting to eat it!! MMMMMmmmmmmmmmm!!

It was a lot of fun - but at the end of it all was a VERY tired little girl (and a cheeky little brother!!!)

This might be one of my all-time favorite pictures! Kailie went from sleeping in the stroller, to sleeping in the car, to sleeping on Daddy's shoulder, to sleeping in bed and NEVER woke up once!! It wasn't until after a very long nap that this little Princess finally was ready to go again - a sign of a very good day :)

Our View - such crazy cool creatures, it was really fun just to sit back and observe.

SO MUCH FUN WITH COUSINS!

Lots of Brother & Sister Cuddle time too:)

4 of the cutest little monkeys ;-)

Most meals were had in the room - eating out with all these 'high-energy' lovely kiddo's was not something we were willing to take on too many times!

Matching was the name of the game while we were there!

Thanks for the awesome Bongo Drums Gram!!

Daddy & Gram took the big kids for a night out to Mickey & Minnie Backyard BBQ - there was lots of food, ice cream, dancing and smiles all around!

Mickey & Minnie asked for a picture with the guests of honor ;-)

Cookie Decorating with a little Cookie-Monster!

More Cookie Decorating!

Cool face painting too:)

Checking out the cool animals.

This little kiddie pool was just perfect for Kolton and his cups!

More Matching!!! Cute Cute!!

The extra fun time we get with the kids on holiday is really such a treat :)

The reason I look like I just ate a lemon is because Kolton just bit into me - and HARD!!! Look at that cute cheeky little face - hard to stay mad at for long!!!

This was Kolton's general feel about the Characters when they came up close!

With Mommy as a barrier it wasn't quite so bad!

Let the Christmas Pressies Begin!

Special Cuddles with Gram.

This was a little ride at the Outlet Mall that Kailie loved. I knew we had possibly made a 'small' mistake taking Kailie to Disney when at one point in between rides at Magic Kingdom she said "Mommy, can we just go ride the helicopter now?" . . . . are you kidding me - I could have been shopping and she'd be happy just to ride the helicopter!!!! Lesson Learned - we didn't go back to any Disney Parks the rest of the trip, just a couple times to the Outlet Malls!!! ;-)