After Thanksgiving Festivities

Tim's brother, Brad, couldn't make it to the Thanksgiving celebration at our house, so the Bettelli side of the family decided to meet in Disney for the weekend after.
We spent Saturday through Monday there and hit as many parks as we could.
I had never been to the Osborne Spectacle of Lights at Hollywood Studios.
It was quite the production.
So many pretty lights.
If you ever have a chance to see it, don't pass it up.

She is getting so big . . . walking . . . going down the slide.

But still no teeth. 

 Hanging on to that gummy, baby smile as long as possible.

On Monday we ate at the new "Be Our Guest" restaurant for lunch.  

It was really neat.

Another recommendation if you are ever in the Magic Kingdom.

I'm pretty sure it is reservation only for dinner, but lunch is first come, first serve.

Another successful trip to Disney World.

We love us some Mickey Mouse.

Thanksgiving 2013

We hosted Thanksgiving this year in our little house.   We had about 25 people, 2 turkeys (one of which wasn't done frying until after we ate), 2 pans of lasagna, mashed and sweet potatoes, lots of casseroles, 6 pies and lots of laughs. It was a great time spent with friends and family. God has blessed us so much with the people in our lives. The pictures speak for themselves.

If the success of Thanksgiving Day is marked by how much fun the little boys have playing football, then ours was spectacular.

Celebrate that birthday

A few weekends ago I had the privilege of traveling with my mom to Orlando to celebrate my aunt's birthday.
My aunt doesn't get to do a whole lot of celebrating for her birthday usually, so we made sure to give her a wild time.
As wild as we can get . . . which I know by most standards isn't very wild at all.
We did a lot of eating and shopping and eating some more.
When we got there on Friday we did a little shopping in a TJ Maxx.
Don't you always head there first when you are in a new city?
No?
Well, you should.
Many treasures to be found.
After that exciting time we headed to the hotel to check in and get freshened up for dinner.
We had reservations at Opa - Greek Taverna.
It was a really fun place with napkin throwing and belly dancers.

This is my mom and one of her sisters (not the birthday girl).

My mom and I (obvi).

This was Stellios, our waiter.

He was divine.

Great service and lots of fun.

This is the birthday girl and her daughter, also known as my cousin (in case you didn't put that together).

On Saturday we got up and went shopping (shocker).

We hit the outlets pretty hard and then headed to Epcot for the Food and Wine festival.

It was my third time at the F&WF this year.

It was just as magnificent each time.

We ate and ate and ate.

And then got 2 rides in within 30 minutes of the park closing.

My mom even went on Test Track.

I told her it wasn't rough . . . which it really isn't . . . sort of.

Then we headed to Denny's for some more grub and stayed there until 3 in the morning.

I told you we were wild.

Sunday brought breakfast at Cracker Barrel and a ride home.

I did attend this birthday celebration sans kids.

And while I did have a dream of getting sleep while there (which didn't happen . . .hello, 3 in the morning at Denny's), it did not disappoint in the fun department.

Had a blast with these ladies and hope we can do it again soon!

Halloween 2013

This year we decided to "do" Halloween with Tim's side of the family. His sister has an open house type party every year, and we have never been before. Tim had work on the east coast earlier in the week, so we decided to tack the Farrow Halloween party on the end. We went to Daytona on Tuesday and stayed on the beach.

On Wednesday Tim had work, so I took the kids on a tour of the Daytona Speedway.

It was really cool.

I know my kids are a lot of work, but it is always funny to me when someone is surprised that I own all three.

While on the tour the guide asked me multiple times if I was taking all three on the tour by myself or if I had help.

I had to hold Ethan and Lexi on my lap at the same time because they weren't allowed to sit in the seats alone.

Otherwise it was a really fun time, and the kids did great which was a blessing.

Wednesday night we went to Vero for the big party.

It started with pumpkin carving.

My sister in law was kind enough to provide the pumpkins and the tools.

I usually try to get out of the whole carving process because I think it is disgusting.

But, of course, the boys love it, and parents do what kids love.

My boys adore these cousins.

It is so fun to have family as their best friends.

Thursday night was Halloween.

I convinced/manipulated my kids into being FSU football players and a cheerleader.

Thanks to Aunt Whitney and Uncle Peter for the cute costume.

Ethan wouldn't wear face paint.  Surprise of all surprises.

I'm not a huge fan of Halloween.

The scary stuff is always bothersome for me, but it is fun to see my kids dressed in their cute costumes.

I try to just have fun and make it fun for the kids.

I think we accomplished that goal this year.