Christmas In July

Yes, we had Christmas in July. Gaylord National Resort invited us (Macaroni Kid & other local mommy bloggers) to a special media preview of 'Shrek The Halls' - their theme for this holiday season. The kids had the most marvelous time. Seriously - I think it rivaled Disney World for them.

They kicked it off with candy canes, Shrek and confetti guns (my personal fave).There was ice sculptures, Santa, characters from Shrek, Christmas decor and food! The kids loved the food. They had all things sweet from snow cones to cotton candy to ice cream to cocoa!

Despite the downpour we headed outside to a tent on the water. Where there was more food... adult food. Which included some of my favorites! Rosa Mexican chips & guac & sangria, Pinkberry, & Chicago style hotdogs. The kids were treated to face painters, magicians, balloon animals and much more!

Following the confetti!

Mini Shrek

My favorite character

Santa

Cotton Candy - Round 1

The kids loved these two!

Loving the orchestra

Juggling

Cotton Candy - Round 2

How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular

Macaroni Kid (my sister & I) along with several other 'mommy bloggers' were invited to review Dreamworks, How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular. And, it was SPECTACULAR!

Grayson was less than thrilled with the show at first, but before long - she was at the edge of her seat. The dragons were so life-like it was incredible! The special effects were also really cool! If you have a chance to see the show - you should!

Waiting For The Metro

Waiting For The Show To Start

One Of The Dragons

The Tech-Talk After The Show

Sleeping Beauties On The Way Home

Grayson: Behind The Scenes

Grayson always has a way of making me laugh. She is a pretty serious little girl with a dry sense of humor. The opposite of her brother - who will do anything for a laugh.

However, Grayson's facial expressions always gets a smile out of me. Plus, she does the funniest things - when no one, when she thinks no one is watching.

She has an adventurous, fearless spirit but fortunately for me, she thinks before she acts. At least twice a day she comes up to me and says.. "Mom, I got an idea...." Most of the time it involves me saying "I'll think about it Grayson" or "We'll see" and she replies with "But you think it's a good idea?" I hope she never loses her vivid imagination and love for adventure.

Here is a little bit of Grayson - when she thinks no one else is watching. Her self-portraits (keep in mind, she's 3!):

Later that same day - I found her asleep on the couch with a can of olives. It made me laugh!

Vacation

We started out on the 4th at 3:30a. I had myself pretty convinced that the kids would quickly fall back asleep in the car. Boy, was I wrong. They were awake almost the whole trip. But, were quite the troopers! We made excellent time, since we only stopped once.

We had a great time while we were there! There was not too much down time between the wedding, celebrating the 4th and catching up with old friends.

The kids were great despite being off their normal schedules. They were often up early and going to bed really late. I was so proud of how well behaved they were the majority of the time. I know they really enjoyed their time there, especially playing with their cousins. Grayson kept insisting that we stay 'on vacation' the whole summer and was pretty sad when we had to pack up our hotel room.

It was a great trip and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again really soon!

On The "Choo Choo"

Ball Hog!

"Mooooo"

Having So Much Fun!

At The World of Coke

Posing :)

They really do look a like!

With the Polar Bear! He is so cute!

Wish I could get them to look - just once!

Those Baby Blues

Rehearsel Dinner

At the wedding - in the cry room