February 2013

Nicholas and Zach are seriously obsessed with Pokemon cards.  So one night they wanted to have a Pokemon Party, which included inviting some also-obsessed-friends over, play Pokemon battles (card game), eat junk food, listen to music, and letting these friends stay over until 9pm!
Good times.

(clockwise) Joe, Nicholas, Zach, David, (Gabe), Dante, Riley, Beau

Look at my great hand!

David (4 1/2) and Gabe (7 1/2 months) being cute.

Zach (9 1/2) loves his little brother too.

Most people think Gabe looks more like Brooke (6 1/2) than his brothers!

Such a perfect sleeping angel.

David's bottom tooth was wiggly for a few weeks and then fell right out one Sunday morning at the beginning of church.  I have never heard of a 4 1/2 year old losing a tooth, but apparently it happens. 
These pictures crack me up: David was trying to smile and show me his gap at the same time,
but instead he looks like he's in pain!

This one is a little better.

Gabe really isn't my favorite child, even though he dominates the pictures in this post,
he's just the one I hang out with the most!



How can I resist all this cuteness!


 President's Day weekend brought us to a camping trip on the coast.  We stayed in our trailer at a KOA in Astoria, Oregon.  It was near Fort Clatsop which is almost the end of the Oregon Trail.


Tim, Tonya, and Blake Kelley also joined us and stayed in a nice cabin.
Zach, Blake, Nicholas, Brooke

Brooke at Fort Clatsop

David, Brooke and Mike at Lewis and Clark's winter quarters.

 

 

Zach, Mike, David, Brooke, Blake

 

on a little hike

This is the Astoria Column which has a great view of the Columbia River from the top.

164 stairs to the top!

Nicholas and Brooke.  They even give you wooden airplanes to fly off the top!

Columbia River

We drove our Suburban on the beach for the first time.  Mike enjoyed freaking out the kids by driving into the water a bit.
Kate and David with Nicholas and Blake in the background.

Gabe on Mike's back

Gabey is 8 months old!

And the rest of the month is filled with homework, church, Nicholas and Zach's basketball games, Brooke's dance, grocery shopping, making dinner, laundry, David in preschool, piano lessons, etc.

 

January 2013 Disney World

We started planning a year in advance to take the kids to Disney World as their Christmas present.  We figured now was a good time because Gabe (6 1/2 months) would be young enough to just enjoy the stroller, and David (4 1/2 years) old enough to enjoy the rides. 
Honestly, it was the Best Trip Ever.
The kids were the perfect age, the weather (low 80s) was perfect, our friends the Nissinens had filled us in on all the tips and hints we could have ever needed and it really went smoothly.
Along with our family of 7, we brought Mike's mom, Ellen, her sister, Carolyn, and her grandaughter, Kiley.

Day 1 - We are already hooked on Mickey ice cream bars!

This first group of pictures is from the PhotoPass.  There were about 100 Disney photographers in each park set up with their tripods ready to take your picture.  We would often ask them to take our picture, then they would scan our PhotoPass card and we received all those photos, including the photos from the rides, on a disc.  So fun!

Nicholas, Gabe, David

Mike and Zach

LOVED the Rockin' Roller Coaster!

Hollywood Studios

Nicholas at Epcot

Mt. Everest Roller Coaster

Mt. Everest Roller Coaster behind Nicholas and Mike

Hollywood Studios

Nicholas battling Darth Vader

David vs. Darth Vader

Darth backing away from Zach

Brooke attacking Darth Vader

I kind of tricked Brooke into going on the Tower of Terror, and David was clingy at the time so he had to go on it too.  Zach totally refused and Nicholas was up for it (once).  I was afraid it would scar David for life, but afterwards he said, "I'm happy I goed on that ride!" From then on, we took him on as many roller coasters as we could (which was most of them).

Waiting for Magic Kingdom to open.

"Wishes" light/firework show at Magic Kingdom.

Pure excitement!

Nicholas is wearing his lanyard with Disney trading pins.  We came with about 100 pins and traded the ones we brought with the Disney workers who wore them too.  Each kid had a theme of pins they were looking for.

 

"Test Track" at Epcot

One of the PhotoPass photographers was having a lot of fun with us!

Dinner at Norway's Askerhaus with 5 princesses

The rest of the pictures are from my camera:

 

The first day we saw a Disney band and enjoyed their patriotic music.

Even had the kids join in and wave flags!  (3 in yellow shirts)

The parades in each park were awesome! Mickey and Minnie's float in Magic Kingdom.

Dinner at Crystal Palace.

 

Color-coordinating our shirts made it so much easier to stick together and find each other.  Even getting on the rides, the Disney workers would comment how it helped them know how many were in our group.

Zach, Brooke, Kiley, David, Nicholas

 

This picture captures how Mike was always in the lead, usually pushing the double stroller, with Brooke and Kiley holding hands, and me and the grandmas bringing up the rear.  Mike did a great job running for fast passes, mapping out the day with Ride Max, and not waiting in any lines!

Getting ready for one of our favorite rides "Toy Story" at Hollywood Studios.  Even Gabe could go on it! Although he cried every time because it was too much for him. 

Kiley and Nicholas racking up the points on Toy Story.

Brooke loves coloring!
At the Toy Story ride.

Zach and Gabe enjoying a relaxing moment before the parade at Hollywood Studios.

David was sick on Day 2, but could fortunately just sleep most the day in the stroller.

Baloo at the Animal Kingdom parade.

Most of the floats in the Animal Kingdom parade were driven by a biker like this. I'm assuming there was some sort of motor as well as the floats looked big and heavy.

All the girls before dinner at O'Hanas.

Princess Ariel at Askerhaus restaurant in Epcot.

Posing in my Minnie shirt with the infamous Minnie!
Chef Mickey's restaurant.

With Chef Mickey at Chef Mickey's.

Near the pool at our hotel, Pop Century.

Mike and Brooke with the Wicked Stepmother at 1900 Park Fare restaurant.

At a "drive-in" dinner at Sci-Fi Diner in Hollywood Studios.

Gabe LOVED chewing on Mike's PhotoPass necklace!
Waiting outside of the Lion King show.

Mike was put in jail for texting (to Aaron Nissinen) during dinner at Wilderness Lodge. 

The plane ride home.  Very enjoyable plane ride both ways due to the games and movies on the ipad.

I couldn't even document everything with pictures.  There was so much more: 4-D shows, we went on about every ride, 2 stunt shows, yummy food, lots of characters, shopping, swimming, firework and light shows, free sodas and hot chocolate with creamer.