Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

We are so very thankful for the roof over our heads, food on the table, our health and most importantly our families and friends! We are blessed beyond measure! Happy Thanksgiving!

Dalton's Thankful List:
1. Parents
2. Sister
3. Family
4. House
5. Food
6. Toys

Mallory's Thankful List:
1. Mommy
2. Daddy
3. Bubba
4. Friends
5. Granny
6. Art Easel
7. Toys
8. Blankets
9. Food

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Soccer 2013

Soccer 2013 is in the books. Dalton had his final game Nov. 18th and afterwards they enjoyed pizza and received their trophies. This season Dalton proved to be more of a defensive player as opposed to offensive. It was a great season with excellent coaches and kids.




Krause Veteran's Day Program







Halloween 2013






WDW Resort Photos

We stayed at the Port Orleans - Riverside Resort during our WDW getaway. Here are just a few pictures I took on our last morning. The resort was HUGE and really nice...too bad we did not get to spend any quality time checking it out...maybe next time.







Breakfast before we left the resort. One last Mickey waffle and strawberries.


Waiting for the Magical Express bus to catch a ride to the airport.


Friday, November 8, 2013

Magic Kingdom - Day 3

We saved the biggest and best park until our very last day. I'm not sure if this was a wise decision as it was a Saturday and the park became crowded quickly, but it was the only day that we could catch all of the action Magic Kingdom had to offer in our three-day trip. The third day would have been a great day to hang out at our resort with a little down time. Both kids were extremely tired after our two previous long days. In fact I think we could have all used an opportunity to sleep in, BUT that was not on the agenda. We were back up at it bright an early and down at the bus stop by 7:00 am. This time we did not have breakfast reservations but Mallory had an 8:30 am reservation at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique inside Cinderella's Castle. This also gave us a perfect opportunity to enter the park before hours and experience empty streets. As we entered the castle you could tell Mallory was a bit scared. Given the tiredness and anxiety of commotion the place had to offer that early in the morning left Mallory in a mood not to be desired. After all sorts of coaxing and bargaining it was not meant to be and we walked out with an option to return sometime during the day. We headed back to the main entrance to meet the rest of our group to begin our day.

Starting the day at 7:00 am waiting for the bus.



Magic Kingdom before park hours. Streets are empty.







Walking into the castle for the 1st time.



Excited to pick out her own princess gown from the royal closet.

The fairy godmother had everything laid out upon her arrival. All smiles so far.


Thumbs up...ready to get dressed.


That's when it all went down hill. No sort of coaxing could solve this one.


So we started the day over...this time with the park crowd.

Look at the streets after gates opened. It was hard to believe just an hour prior we had this all to ourselves.


We caught the 1st show of the day at the castle.




After watching the show we headed directly to Ariel's Grotto to personally met Ariel. This is Mallory's favorite princess at the moment.

She was absolutely in heaven. Look she is still wearing her princess gown.



Mallory and Grandpa were having a serious discussion.


After meeting Ariel we all headed to ride the tea cups. Both kids chose to ride with Granny and Grandpa.

From the tea cups we hit dumbo and they chose to ride with Uncle Jeff this time. By the way dumbo was Mallory's absolute favorite ride. We rode this three times straight at 11:00 pm that night and still took Mallory kicking and screaming because she wanted to ride again and again.

Enjoying an ice cream break.



Mallory crashed before 11:00 am. She was exhausted which increased her moodiness as well.


We caught the A Dream Come True parade after lunch.





After the parade and nap Mallory was excited and ready for her boutique adventure.










After she became an official princess we were off to visit Cinderella and Aurora for their autographs.






While waiting on our dinner reservations we enjoyed Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Street Party.







We enjoyed dinner at the Crystal Palace. This was our last character dining meal and was probably the best buffet meal of the trip. The kids got to meet Winnie the Poo and friends.








After dinner we rushed to find that "perfect spot" to watch the electrical parade and then the fireworks show.










After the amazing fireworks show we went in the opposite direction of the crowds. Magic Kingdom was open until 1:00 am so we decided to take advantage of the extra time and get in a few more rides. Our first stop was the tea cups, imagine that. We also rode dumbo and a couple other rides. Jeff, Dalton and Ryan rode Space Mountain while Mallory and I roamed the park.


A near midnight snack...mickey pretzel.

Here are a few Disney photopass pictures we had taken while at the park.










Our final picture before we headed out of the park around midnight.

We got back to the resort and the kids crashed. We packed up all our things, showered and finally laid down around 2:00 am. It was a long but exciting day.