Disneyland, Days 3 and 4

For me, one noticeable difference between Disneyland and Disney World is character interaction. You just don't see that many characters at Disneyland. So, we were RELIEVED when we found Alice and the Mad Hatter by the Tea Cups one day! For Frances, it's not Disney until she sees Alice!

 

I promise Frances is on Space Mountain with us! And I guess Walker decided to sleep through all the excitement!

 

 

Day 4 found us back at California Adventure.  Sadly, much like Disney World, February is the time when a ton of attractions close for refurbishments.  Sadly, all of Grizzly Peak at California Adventure was closed while we were there, not to mention the Matterhorn and the Sleeping Beauty's Castle!!!! On the bright side, that's just that many more reasons to make a return trip:)

 



 And more from Cars Land....

And "a bug's land" was amazing too!

Cars Land at night will forever be a favorite though!

 

Mardi Gras Break 2015

This was the first year since the twins have been in school that we've had an ENTIRE week off for Mardi Gras! We decided to make the most of it with what we consider the trip of a life time!!

We surprised the kids (Literally!!! Which was no small feat. Try clandestinely packing for three children, two of which are girls who are VERY.AWARE of their clothing!) by keeping our vacation plans a secret all the way to the airport gate!!

 Even then, the flight was to Dallas, so we could have carried things a little bit farther--if Matt and I hadn't been about to burst! Where were we headed you might ask?

 

D I S N E Y L A N D!!!

 

 

We may have left at the crack of dawn, but the best part about traveling to the West Coast is we arrived around 11:30, picked up our rental car, made a Target run, checked into the hotel and were in the park by 2:30!!!  It doesn't get much better than that!!

 

Our very first ride--Space Mountain!! Disneyland's version allows you to sit side by side instead of front to back which enabled Frances to ride with one of us.  So this was her first Space Mountain experience.  The perfect start to our trip!

 

Another happy start to our Disneyland adventure--dinner at Café Orleans.  I PROMISE you, the pomme frites, monte cristo and coffee at this restaurant are each worth a trip to Disneyland!! Trust me!!



 

 

 

 

 

We all fell in love with Mr. Toad!!

Day 2, we headed to California Adventure.  Matt and I had been to Disneyland one time before, but California Adventure was a new park for all 5 of us and it did not disappoint!!

Especially Carsland!  If you have a little boy, it's.a.must!!!

As sunset, all the neon lights in Radiator Springs light up one by one to the tune of Life Could Be A Dream just like on the movie! Talk about magical!

Where else can you leave Radiator Springs and find yourself in frozen Arendelle?  California Adventure, that's where!!! I mean, Olaf, come on!!! It's hard to beat a meet and greet with Olaf!

 

Up next, Days 3 & 4!



Queen of Hearts

Last Friday, Frances made her parade debut as the Queen of Hearts. Her preschool has been putting on this adorable parade for more than 30 years!

Her float was no small feat, requiring several weekends of hard work, mostly on Matt's part;)  I was responsible for the costume and throws as well as stuffing all of the pomps in the chicken wire! I'd never even heard of such, but now I can speak float-building language!

Nana and Papa made the trip into town, and of course, Brother and Sister had to get out of school early to show their support!

These two are something else!  Can you feel the excitement in the air?

 

 

Here comes the band...

 



Frances' class' theme was holidays.  Her holiday was Valentine's Day, which for this Disney-loving family morphed into the Queen of Hearts!!

Is she cute or what?!?

Fourth of July and Christmas rolling through!

 

This little queen had a ball!!!

Tis the Season 2014

Is February too late to recap Christmas and New Year's? I sure hope not:)

Here's the picture that made the "Busbee Christmas Card 2014" cut...

 

We made lots of use of the fireplace this holiday season.  Yay for starter logs!! 

 

 

Frances was the donkey in her school play.  What a cutie!

 

 

 

 

And I was especially proud of Kathryn and her ballet class' performance during the half time of a Springhill College basketball game! Such sweet friends!

 



 

 

 

Christmas Eve chili managed by Birdie! Once the chili went in the crockpot, we all lounged around watching Christmas movies and enjoying some fun family time!

 



 

 

Christmas morning brought American Girl dolls and lots of Frozen items not to mention legos, legos and more legos for Walker!



 

We were blessed to have Nana and Papa in town to celebrate Christmas with us.  Tula and Pops also joined us for Christmas morning brunch!

Look at what you can do with a tripod and a remote control:) A picture of the entire family!

 

 

After Christmas, we continued to celebrate with family.  There were cousins, cousins everywhere!  We were especially excited to visit with Matt's two cousins and their children!  It had been 2 1/2  years since we had all been together. 

 



 

 

Then we headed to Birmingham to spend New Year's Eve with Brad and the Tew Fam! I love this little guy!

Then on to Camden to visit with the Dillon Boys and Aunt Coco.  We always have fun on the river!  And Beau is such a cutie!

We feel especially blessed to have had such a joyous, family-filled Christmas!! 

Joy to the World!  The Lord had come!