Christmas

We had a busy but fulfilling Christmas break. Soon after school got out for Christmas break, the Hicks came to visit.  Dad and Gina came over to celebrate Christmas as well.

 

 
We also went to Arlington for one night to celebrate with Wes's family. We did our traditional singing of songs about Jesus' birth and Abby read the birth of Jesus for us all.

 

After we returned home Cathy, Ed, Andy, Scott, and Kristin, Dad, Gina, and the Hicks all came over for dinner and great game of Progressive Rummy.  My mom's side of the family plays this all the time, and I love it!

 

It was a blessing to be with so many family members this Christmas Season!

Disney World

During Thanksgiving break our family and Wes's parents went to Disney World. On the way to Florida  we spent two nights at Wes's great aunt's house in Alabama. We enjoyed our visit with his great Aunt and her children and grandchildren. We watched an Alabama game, took a long stroll through her neighborhood, shared some meals together, and had a lot of laughs.

Abby pushing Bonnie in Aunt Nette's neighborhood.

After two nights in Alabama, we drove the rest of the way to Orlando. We stayed at the beautiful
Parc Soleil Suites by Hilton Grand Vacations. Our two room suite was perfect for all of us, and we enjoyed walking around the hotel's gorgeous grounds and swimming in the different pools.

 

The next five days we visited Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Some of our favorite things to ride were Space Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, Tommorowland Raceway, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and the Safari Ride.

 

One night we had dinner with Cinderella, her stepsisters, her stepmother, and Prince Charming. The characters played their parts well and the food was excellent.

 

 

On Thanksgiving Day, after several hours at Animal Kingdom, we went to Mickey's Backyard BBQ for a delicious Thanksgiving Buffet.

 

We are extremely thankful to Nana and Paw Paw for an amazing trip!

Spring Break Getaway!

We decided to take a trip to San Antonio for Spring Break. We left Monday morning and arrived there that afternoon. The girls are at such a great age to travel. We only had to make one bathroom stop. They were awesome in the car, watching movies, reading, singing, and playing their DS's.

After unloading at the hotel we headed to the Alamo and River Walk. We walked around the Alamo but made the choice not to wait in the over one hour long line to go in the Alamo. After walking around the River Walk for a while, we stopped at a Mexican Restaurant on the river for dinner. We did some more walking before getting some delicious ice cream for dessert. The original plan was to stay until it got dark so the girls could see it all lit up, but we were all a little weary and ready to get back to the hotel before dark.

Our suite worked out perfectly. Wes and I had the bedroom and the girls had living room which had a sleeper sofa. There was a door dividing us, so we could stay up late after the girls went to bed. The hotel had free breakfast and dinner, which was awesome.

After breakfast on Tuesday we went to Sea World. The weather was perfect, cloudy most of the time which kept the temperature from getting too hot. We rode the Steel Eel first which is a pretty intense roller coaster. I am pretty sure Abby will not be riding any large roller coasters again any time soon. She kept saying, "Help me, God! Help me, God!" while we rode. She did ride some little kid roller coasters after that. We thoroughly enjoyed all the shows. My favorite was Azul with all the magical partnerships of beautiful beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, colorful birds and acrobatic performers. It is amazing!

At around 5:00 we headed back to the hotel where we ate dinner, watched some T.V., relaxed and went to sleep.

The next day we headed to Sea World to start our second day full of fun and adventure. We caught the shows that we missed from the day before and rode some rides. Again, we could not have asked for better weather, and it was not very crowded. The girls enjoyed playing for quite a while at The Bay of Play as well as at a playground area.

At the end of the day we rode the Rio Loco which is a raft ride through some roaring rapids. We didn't get too wet until the end where there was a waterfall that totally drenched us. I am glad we saved that until the end of the day. It's just not comfortable to walk around in wet clothes and tennis shoes.

We left around 5:00 again, grabbed a quick shower before eating at the hotel. I am so thankful that the hotel had free dinner. It was nice to not have to get out again for dinner after walking around all day.

A relaxing and restful evening prepared us for our final day of vacation. We ate a delicious breakfast, packed up and made our way to the Natural Bridge Caverns just about 30 minutes away. I wasn't sure how we would like the tour of the caverns, but I was very impressed. The tour was about 70 minutes long. We walked 180 feet below ground for about 1/2 mile through the largest and most spectacular show cavern in Texas. Guides were posted all along the way giving us short snippets of information about each area. We saw amazing stalagmites, stalagtites, flowstones, chandeliers and soda straws. The caverns were cool and wet. We even got drops of water on us. The water in the small pools was crystal clear and the formations were amazing. I would definitely recommend a visit to the Natural Bridge Caverns. These pictures really don't do it justice.

We decided to stop by the Encalade's house on the way home. Ernie, Debbie and Granny took us to dinner and we had a nice visit swapping stories from each others' vacations.
I am so thankful for this chance to getaway with just our immediate family. We travel with friends and family a lot, and it's always a blast. But it was really nice to spend time with Wes and the girls.