Looking Back...

As we get ready for our annual Frey Family Slumber Party, I was thinking of all the ups and downs we've been through this year. I must say, there has been many more ups than downs! Here are a few of our highlights!

Hot chocolate anyone???

Texas bluebonnets

Birthdays!!!

Avery's school program. She was a puppy named Spot!

The Easter basket tradition

First dance recital

The week after recital Avery had her second eye surgery. I am thrilled to report that at her last doctor's visit she got a perfect report, and we don't have to go back for a year!!! God is GREAT!!!

Annual trip to Missouri.

First day of school for Avery. Reagan started the next week.

A new puppy. Welcome to the family, Maizie!!!

Reagan's Christmas program at school. She was the HEAD angel! :)

Our trip to Disney!!! What an amazing time!!!

As you can see it was a fantastic year. There were times of dispair... when we got news that Avery needed a 2nd surgery I was devastated. Family members have had hard times, and of course there are days when we just don't understand God's plan. BUT I know, I know, I know that He has one, and He is forever preparing us for it. I don't know what 2012 holds for us, but I'm excited to find out!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from The Happiest Place on Earth!!! And for us, it truly has been. I cannot express in words how wonderful this vacation has been. For the most part it all went smoothly and as planned, with only a few minor hiccups along the way.

We started with Christmas gifts. The girls have been eyeing these Polly Pocket princess sets the entire time we've been here. They were thrilled. The trip was their gift, but we wanted them to have a small gift under the tree. Grammy gave them gift cards so there will be a bit more shopping later!

We started the day with a few pictures around the hotel. It had several cool things in different nooks and crannies that we found by accident. I loved this Mickey.

This was my favorite hotel thing though. Isn't it cool? We did several different pictures here!

After the photo shoot we headed in to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang. I was teary for quite a bit of it. How cool is it to eat with Mickey on Christmas morning! Even though we were hear earlier in the week, there was just a magic feel to it.

The gang was all here...

Goofy

Donald

Minnie

Mickey

and Pluto.

Waving the napkins! A Chef Mickey's tradition!!! Pluto came over and waved with the girls. :)

The tree at Chef Mickey's. It has cooking utensils all over it! :)

The tree in our hotel.

The girls got to pick their favorite ride of the trip to do one last time. They picked the Magic Carpets!!!

One last picture on Main Street!!!

Truly - a magical week. I cried when we left. I am so thankful we were able to go when the girls were young enough to enjoy the whimsy of it all. They still love the princesses, and characters, and Dumbo, and the teacups. I know we will go again, but it will be different... they won't be quite as smitten. Rides will be the bigger thing then. Character meals won't be as big of a deal. This will be one of those times we look back on, and it will bring a smile to our faces every time.

Thanks Mom! This was definitely the best gift you could have given us!!!

The best day EVER!!!

Christmas Eve already. The days have been packed and it has flown by! It's been hard to keep up with what day it is, but the end to this amazing vacation is rapidly approaching.
This morning had a big surprise for the girls. Because of Avery's fear of costumes we decided to tell the girls about our trip long ago. I really wanted to surprise them and say "Let's Go!!!", but we knew that this would be something she would have to get used to. The thing Avery was most excited about was seeing Cinderella's castle, so the first dinner reservation I made was to eat in the castle, and I was super excited when I got it for Christmas Eve. I told the girls that we had to be invited by Cinderella to eat there, and I didn't know if we could get an invitation this time. This morning their "invitation" was in the envelope. They were pretty excited!!! I also planned all the things I thought they would like best for this day. I couldn't wait!!!

Let me tell you - I can't remember if I said this before, but if you are visiting with small children, the thing to do is take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours and go first thing!!! Although it was super early, we would arrive at 7 when the park opened. Even though it would open to everyone at 8, people wouldn't start showing up until 9ish so that gave us 2 hours of very low crowds!!! It was FANTASTIC!!!

We started the day with a few pictures. This one is definitely one of my favorites. Notice the lack of crowd!!! That was definitely not the case later in the day!!!

I thought this Mickey and Minnie was too cute!!! I know I've said it before, but the decorations were just amazing!!!

The day was reserved for The Classics!!! The girls loved the Dumbo ride!!! We actually rode it twice... walked on, got off, walked around and got on again. I'm telling you - no people!!!

The girls love carousels, and this one was no exception. We also rode this one twice - the second time Josh and I rode too, and they thought that was great!!! :)

We tried to pull the sword out, but it wouldn't budge!!!

When we were waiting for Mickey's Philharmagic, there were not many people at all. Usually you have to fight your way in, and go all the way to the end, but for this show we got to sit anywhere we wanted. Reagan chose the middle of the first row. Thanks R!!! But the show was GREAT!!! We ended up taking Mom later in the day!

We also rode the Peter Pan ride which the girls loved! Afterwards, Josh went to wait in line while the girls and I rode Peter Pan again, and then went to get a snack. (Don't worry. We got it to go so he could have some too!)

This girl is super hard to get pictures with! They only allow 90 people in every 45 minutes, and the line can be longer than 300 people at any time. Josh got us in the first group of the day!!! Reagan was beside herself! She loves Rapunzel!!! Rapunzel asked if we had any grand plans for the day, and Avery told her we were going to eat in the castle. Rapunzel got all excited and said to tell all her friends hello, and to watch Ariel - sometimes she tries to brush her hair with your fork! Avery thought that was hilarious!!!

After Rapunzel we rode another classic - the teacups!!! Reagan LOVED making the teacup spin, and kept begging Josh to "go faster"!!! Again we rode twice, and the second time Alice and White Rabbit rode too!!! They weren't in our teacup, but the girls were still excited!!! So we went and hopped in her line. She was really cute.

One of the cool things about character lines is that all the kids just start talking, so then the parents start talking too. The parents in front of us told us where to find Woody and Jessie. They come later!

We rounded the corner and found these three! The evil step-mother and step-sisters!!! They were hilarious!!! They kept fighting and picking on each other. Josh and I were cracking up!!! Avery told them that we were eating in the castle, and the step-mother said, "Oh! We are never invited to those types of parties. But now that we know you, I'm sure we'll get an invitation!" :)

We pulled fast passes for Winnie the Pooh, and we got an extra for Philharmagic. Since we had already seen it we gave them to a family with 2 kids. The mom was so excited. It was her daughter's birthday and by this time it would save them quite a bit of time!

The kids liked the Pooh ride. They got to ride this one together, and Reagan was all irritated because Josh and I sat in front... but I got better pictures!

Told you they were coming!!! Last thing of the morning was Woody and Jessie. They would pick on the kids and each other - well, as much as you can when you don't talk. The girl's really enjoyed them!!! We would have never found them had the mom not told us about them earlier in the day!

Afterwards it was back to the hotel for naps! When the girls woke up we had princess dresses, crowns, wands, shoes, and other accessories laid out for them. We told them that if they were going to eat in The Castle, they should get to dress up like princesses. So off to Bibbidi Boppity Boutique we went.

Reagan LOVED it!!! We all know she's a princess anyway, and she feels she should get this type of treatment daily! They fixed her hair and make-up, and then painted her nails. She was definitely in her element.
Avery... not so much! She was very overwhelmed by all the activity. Once she got in the chair she was doing better... right up until she got spooked by the comb/crown thing they put in her hair. Then it was all over! We made her let them finish her hair, but didn't do her make-up and nails. I was so disappointed!!! I know it's silly, but I so wanted them to enjoy the experience and have a blast. We're usually prepared for Avery's quirks, but she had done so well this entire week that this caught me completely by surprise. I must admit, I cried. But we all got it together so we could enjoy the rest of the night. There was a shop that had a photographer in it just for the girls who went to BBB. The pictures turned out GREAT!!!

After pictures it was time to go to The Castle, and Avery and Reagan were very excited. Cinderella was beautiful, and let me take several pictures!!! We also saw Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, and Jasmine. Ariel and Jasmine were hilarious!!! We had a balloon with both of them on it, and Ariel yelled over, "Hey Jasmine! Look it's us right beside each other! We're BFF's!!!" Then Jasmine motioned a heart back to her. We were rolling! The food was delicious, and the castle was beautiful!!! It was a wonderful experience!

Afterwards we watched a show at the front of the castle, and then watched the Electrical Parade. This girl was about to drop, but it was definitely her night!!! She was born for royalty!!!

By far - the best day EVER!!!

To Infinity... and BEYOND!!!

I have to tell you... we have not done very well with our acts of kindness. Our gift for today was EPCOT passports, and our act of kindness was to leave money in a gift shop. However, we've been trying to avoid the gift shops - if you don't go in, you can't buy anything - and so we forgot. Geez.

Today we went to EPCOT. We started the morning with breakfast with the princesses at Akershus. This is a restaurant located in "Norway" so it was very beautiful, but interesting. I find the countries so intriguing because all the people working there are actually from that country. They are usually college aged kids. I can only imagine what they think of us crazy Americans!!! But, I was still super excited, and so were the girls.

When we arrived the girls had their picture taken with Belle and got her autograph. She did not walk around the restaurant like the other princesses. I thought her dress was gorgeous - actually they all were. Just breathtaking. Another thought... what must the princesses (or any other character really) think of all these crazy people? The food was really good. It was in 2 parts - you could go up to a buffet line to get assorted pastries, smoked salmon, and a few other authentic foods, and then they brought scrambled eggs, potato casserole, bacon, and sausage to your table family style. As you eat, the princess come to your table to sign autographs and take pictures. The girls loved it!!! Another cool thing they did at this restaurant was to have a "Princess Parade". They would let all the little girls line up behind a princess and then walk through the restaurant. Reagan thought this was GREAT! :)

Aurora was the first to come to our table.

Cinderella. Reagan feels very strongly that every princess should be hugged good bye. She wants to make sure they know they are loved! :)

Snow White. She told Avery that she was the perfect age because 7 is her favorite number. :)

And Ariel. Avery was especially excited about her!!!

After breakfast we headed over to use our FP to Soarin'. We all really enjoyed this one!!! :)

After Soarin' we went to Turtle time with Crush. We were waiting beside a tank with several fish including rays and this blow fish. Josh and I had just been talking about blow fish and he said that he had never seen a real one puff. About three minutes later, he puffed! We were thrilled!!! The show was one of our favorites!!! It was hilarious!!! Afterwards, we did several rides including the Buzz Lightyear ride and Fast Track, ate lunch, and went to watch the glass blower in "Germany". Then we came back to catch this girl!

MULAN!!! I was super excited about meeting her too! We love her movies, and she is only in "China". If you don't catch her there you're out of luck!

After meeting Mulan we went to each country to get the girls' passports stamped. It was really cool because they all wrote the girls a note in their native language. We can't read several of them, but it was still awesome! Afterwards I thought that it would have been cool to have them sign something for my classroom, but by the time I thought of that it was too late.

We went to eat at The Coral Reef for dinner, and we were supposed to get tickets to the Candlelight Processional. I was really looking forward to this, but when we got there they said, "You know with the CP it will count as 2 meals, right?" Ummmm, NO!!! I didn't know that. I was very upset because I had already made a mistake with our meals. After talking it over with Josh we decided to not do the Candlelight Processional. He and I would have LOVED it, but the girls were really tired, and probably wouldn't have cared for it at all. We decided it wasn't worth the extra money. The food at this restaurant wasn't that great - well, the food was ok, but there wasn't much of a selection. We all ended up getting steak instead of seafood. BUT one whole wall was an aquarium! Josh LOVED sitting and watching the fish swim by and would point out things to the girls. You know he loves him some fish! :)

It was a really pretty park at night, but there were tons of people there so it was a little intimidating, and I think you walk the most at this park. The girls were exhausted because they didn't get their midday rest, and it felt like it was a million degrees even though it was only about 85. Think of how we were begging for 85 this summer, and now we're about to croak! :)