Leonardo Da Vinci and his gang

It has been a busy week for us here at 5C's. We have been learning about the Renaissance for the past couple of weeks. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael (do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come to mind LOL). We learned about Christopher Columbus and his 3 ships. Wolfie said they were the Nina, Pinta, and the Mayflower. UGH! Really?!! Thank goodness Princess knew the names and politely corrected Wolfie of his error. You should have seen his face :o I have been trying to come up with some new ways to make their learning more fun and not so monotonous. I read on another blog (can't think where at the moment) of a file folder game for Vocabulary words. So I made some this week for them to use.

They were a big hit and hopefully they learned some new words in the process.

Powder Puff Derby

This is a little late in posting but I wanted to put pictures of Caitlin's 1st Powder Puff Derby on the blog. The girls have gotten involved in Girl Scouts this year and are absolutely loving it. I volunteered to be a Co-leader of Princesses troop (I know, I am crazy!) and we are really having a great time.

Here are the Cars lined up before the race. Such Creativity!

Princess's is the 4th from the left

We all LOVED this one !

It's an Irish Dance shoe

Here she is ready to race









Ready, Set, GO!

She placed second twice, and had one third place. She missed out on winning the Brownie trophy by one other girl. Her father is a boy scout dad also and his boys always wins their Pinewood Derby. GRRRR. Daddy is feeling very inspired (and competitive) for next year :)


Here is Princess with her ribbons

Drama Queen is looking a little Miffed :(

A hug from Aunt Sara always makes things right



Next year daddy is going to have to do 2 cars so he better start his planning now !!!

I'm going to Disney World!!!!

Okay as promised here is a snippet of the 800 pictures that we took at Disney. Do you think we got a little carried away?


This was the view from our room at Animal Kingdom. Nice HUH !!

This baby Giraffe is 18 months old and still nursing its mommy

On our first day we went to Hollywood Studios

Here they are ready to ride Rock n Roll Rollercoaster

While the Chicken Little's went and saw "Beauty and the Beast"

My beautiful niece: Drama Queen #2

Here is a street show

These were very funny interactions with the crowds. Loved the costumes!

Daddy and his little girl watching the show

The kids really got into this performance

Literally!!!

Quite proud of herself




This is the closest we got to Mickey Mouse ;-)

I voted this as the most uncomfortable performance because you had to sit on the floor with screaming kids (mostly mine) all around! Ouch




We all agreed that this was the coolest show at Disney World

It showed how stunts are performed for movies

Very Exciting Stuff!!



Dinner at Mama Melrose's. Mangia!!!




This was my favorite Christmas feature of Disney at Christmas Time


These lights were donated by a family who could no longer hang them at their own home because their neighbors took them to court. So, Disney now puts them up in their honor and they all blink to music. There are millions of them!! Quite a sight to behold!! Princess and I's favorite was "Carol of the Bells" by Manheim Steamroller

Nana on her "Little Rascal" with an exhausted grandbaby

Day #2

Animal Kingdom Lodge/Downtown Disney

The next day we decide to hang around the hotel for awhile and then go to Downtown Disney

Here are some of the things the kids (and Adults!) did at the hotel

They made Christmas Cookies shaped like African Animals

YUM!!

Got their faces painted

They also swam in the pool but for some reason I don't have any pictures of the beautiful pool they had at this hotel.

Later in the day we went to Downtown Disney for shopping and dinner


The girls posing with their favorite princess

The Lego Store was Wolfie's favorite

A little after dinner entertainment

Day #3

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

We hung out and took it easy during the day because we knew we would have a late night. The party began at 4:00 and went until midnight. They close the park and only let people with a special ticket to the party into the park.





We began our night with dinner at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and friends




Then it was off to Bippity Boppity Boo for magical princess transformations!!!

Thanks Nana!

Ta Da!!!

Then it was off to a "dance off" with the Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters.

Princesses You Rock!!!

Pictures from the Christmas Parade

Here is how the castle looks at Christmas Time. Beautiful isn't it?!

Day #4

Magic Kingdom (Again)

We went back to MK the next day to do the rides/attractions that we missed the night before

We ended the day at the Grand Floridian for dinner.

The girls got all gussied up in their princess attire again for this special dinner.


Prince Charming was a big hit with the girls. Look at those smiles :)

Wolfie especially liked posing for this picture

These life-size ginger bread houses were featured in their lobby. Amazing....

Day #5

Epcot

We started the day with another character breakfast.

More Princesses!!!

We then decided to go through the part of the park with countries first.

Here is Mexico

China

Africa

As you can see, it bagan to rain while we were in Africa. So, we went to Germany next, tried some German Beer and decided to stay awhile ;-o

After awhile we went to Japan and the kids went "fishing" for pearls








We had dinner at a great steakhouse in Canada called "Le Cellier". After dinner we went to the candlelight processional that Epcot puts on every year at Christmas time. The guest speaker for the evening was Abigail Beslin (little Miss Sunshine). She read the Christmas Story from the Bible while a choir sang carols intermittenly as she read. It was WONDERFUL!! I highly recommend seeing this sometime in your lifetime. Put it on your Bucket List. You won't regret it.




Since we spent so much time over in the countries. We didn't get to ride very many rides at Epcot. However, they did manage to get in the Test Track which everyone decided is the best ride at Disney

An explosive end to a great day

Day #6

Hanging Out


When we got up the next day it was raining so we decided we would put off Animal Kingdom a day and just hang out. We moved from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Nana's timeshare at Old Key West. It was lovely and we had lots of room to be silly.

Uncle Philip-Master Tour Director. He must have snuck out to Bippity Boppity Boo!

This escapade turned into an explosion of bubbles. Literally!!! We couldn't even see the girls.

Day # 7

Animal Kingdom

Since we decided to put off Animal Kingdom until a Saturday, we were in for a big surprise. It was PACKED and COLD!!! I think the world had arrived the night before and decided to spend Christmas at Disney World. Nevertheless, we still had a great time.

We started the day in Dinoland so we could ride the Dinosaur ride. Since it was so crowded we had to time our fast passes carefully!

Here are the girls getting ready meet the "dinosaur"!!

Nana and I took Drama Queen over to ride the Mini-Dino








Here are the Tigers in Asia

We waited and hour and a half to ride the Safari ride but it was worth it.

Well that is it. After leaving Animal Kingdom, we began our trip home. We headed to Adel Ga. to drop off our Niece and then it was homeward bound. It was a once in a lifetime, unforgettable trip. Thank you to Aunt Courtney and Uncle Philip for all of their careful planning. I know that it took a lot of time and effort and we so appreciate it. And a great big THANK YOU to Nana for such a wonderful gift and we will never forget it. We Love You. X0X0