Callie's 2nd Birthday

So I'm not sure if it is because I'm working and feel extremely overwhelmed, or if it is just the fact that Callie's birthday is in December...but I was not motivated at all in planning her birthday party. Normally I am super excited and know what I'm going to do a few months in advance. Maybe it is the curse of the second kid...been there done that before type of thing. Two weeks before Callie's birthday, we were sitting on the beach by the fire at an Elder's Quorum activity when I finally received some inspiration. One of my favorite books to read in December is Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express. I decided it would be fun to have a Polar Express Birthday Party for Callie. So I came home that night and stayed up creating cute little invitations that looked like tickets. The kids wore their pajamas to the party. We had homemade hot chocolate in our hot chocolate maker for the kids. We watched The Polar Express movie. Everyone had a great time! The kids left with their own bells. Here are some pictures from the party. I love her expressions!

Mickey's Christmas Party

Yes, that IS snow in Florida! Last month we took a quick trip down to Disney for our first Mickey's Christmas Party. I've never been before and didn't really know what to expect. The Magic Kingdom closes early and you have to buy a separate ticket for the event. We have season passes so we just had to purchase the event tickets. This is amazing because most people don't want to buy two tickets...this means less people in the park. It was totally worth the money!

When we first walked in we saw the snow. I don't know who was more excited for it the kids or me! All of the employees were dressed in Christmas outfits and everything was decorated for Christmas.

We immediately went to our favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear. Normally, this ride is a 90 minute wait. However, it was only a 5 minute wait! It was this way for all of the rides. We didn't even have to wait to ride the tea cups. We'd get on, off, and right back on. It was AWESOME!

After a few rides, we decided to take advantage of the FREE hot chocolate and cookies. This is a big deal because everything in the park is super expensive. Being the frugal momma I am, I made sure we got our fill of free goodies.

We then went to the parade route and found a spot. The kids really loved it because they both love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Callie is not into any princesses, but loves Minnie Mouse. Santa also made an appearance in the parade. That made Carson's night.

After the parade there was an amazing fireworks show. It was all coordinated with Christmas music. We even got to see Tinkerbell fly. Callie was more interested in seeing Tink.

Another really neat thing about Mickey's Christmas Party was that characters randomly came by to interact with the kids. We were eating some dinner and Goofy randomly came by. Look at Carson's face! He had so much fun! Usually you have to reserve and pay a ton to eat with the characters.

After dinner, we went to a dance party. An elf led the kids in all kinds of dancing. The kids really loved it! They got on the dance floor and shook their booties.
We had such a blast. I think it is going to be a yearly tradition to go down just for Mickey's Christmas Party.