Out of Order....

So I'm posting photos from our trip out of order, because today is Kaia's eighth birthday, and I wanted to show how we celebrated her day while at Disneyworld. On Thursday night we had dinner reservations at Cinderella's Castle for the girls, Mike, and I, while the older kids were out exploring on their own. This was one of the Disney Princess character dinners, which means that while you dine, the princesses interact with you.

As people check in for dinner, Cinderella greets the parties and poses for photos. Earlier in the week I had bought crowns for the girls so that they could look the part:)

Each of us "girls" were referred to as "Princess" the entire evening, and Mike was always called "Sire." It really was a lot of fun, as they made you feel quite special. Each female received a magic wand and the males a sword.  The young girls also received wishing stars, and at one point in the evening the crowd was told to make a wish, which caused the lights to flash. Each time a princess arrived, that was announced to everyone also. The princesses would meander around to each table to chat, sign autographs, and pose for photos. Here they are in random order:

Snow White....

Sleeping Beauty....

Ariel...

Belle...

Following dinner, Kaia was served a birthday dessert made of sponge cake, topped by a chocolate glass slipper and strawberries. She was stuffed, but couldn't resist licking the chocolate writing that read "Happy Birthday Princess Kaia."

 Princesses can't be all stuffy and formal though, so we needed a little silly time...

My favorite part of the evening was yet to come though. Since we didn't start dinner until 8:45 or so, we were still around when it was time for the evening fireworks. If you have ever been to Disneyworld/land, you know they launch them off from atop Cinderella's Castle, so what better place to view them than from within the castle. You can see the awesome view we had.

So tonight was a bit anti-climatic celebrating Kaia's birthday, but I think we all needed it. She picked a yummy french toast dinner, ate cupcakes (actually she just licked the frosting off), and the family played the new game she got called Suspend, by Melissa and Doug. If you are looking for a game that is fun for all ages, check it out. 

Hope you had a memorable birthday my sweet Kaia!

Disneyworld!

The day we have been eagerly awaiting finally arrived, as we headed off to Disneyworld for spring break! We went down to Seattle Friday night, as we had a 6 am flight Saturday morning. The girls were so excited for their first flights, other than them coming to the USA, and the day went off without a hitch. Having snow at home a week previous, we were a bit shocked by the 90° weather, but boy, did it feel good to get some much needed Vitamin D.

If you haven't been to Disneyworld before, it is divided into four parks, with Magic Kingdom being most like Disneyland. We started off the day (us and about 60 thousand other people) at Magic Kingdom.  Don't we look fresh at the beginning of the day?

We hit a lot of classic rides in the morning; Jungle Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain ended up being Kaia's favorite ride of the week. Most of the roller coaster type rides take action shots during the ride which you can buy at the end. Well being the cheap thrifty person I am, we took a photo of the photo, which I love....

 Of course, we spent lots of time hanging out with the characters too....

Just one of the many things I was looking forward to about this trip was in meeting my online friend Eva face to face for the first time. I think we first met through the adoptive families limb differences yahoo group, as she has two beautiful children from China who happen to also have limb differences, and we have followed each others blogs since then. We were both excited for our families to finally meet, as they are located in Florida, and both of our husbands had to listen to us wives tell them about these other families whom they did not know.  I think our husbands thought we were crazy, but when we all met up at Magic Kingdom, everyone hit it off perfectly! The husbands chatted away as Eva and I talked as if we knew each other for years, and our young children were instant buddies. In fact, we had to chuckle as Caleb and Kaia hit it off extremely well, even holding hands for a few steps, and although it was never spoken between the two of them, I know Jaelyn felt very comfortable spending time with someone who has a similar limb difference as hers, and I think Madeline felt the same.

We started off with the Tomorrowland Speedway, where the kids got to drive their own cars. Look how serious Kaia took her driving. Let's just hope this focus continues into the teen years....

 Caleb and his dad Patrick were right behind Kaia and I...

Dumbo, always a classic, and more fun with new friends...

The gang....

After a few rides we left the Magic Kingdom and hopped the Monorail to Epcot, where Patrick and Eva generously treated us all to a wonderful dinner at the Chinese Pavillion. We topped the evening off by watching the IllumiNations show, which was quite entertaining. It's a shame that our two families live across the country from one another, as I know if we lived nearer, this would be a frequent exchange. Just tell us when Eva, and we will show you the sights of Seattle and more (just don't forget a jacket!).

Eva, you can't even tell you can't see a thing without your glasses:)

A great photo to capture a memorable day! Thanks again to the Domkowski family.

Since I am still fighting jet lag and spent most of the day catching up on laundry, I will divide each day of the trip into its own post. And yes, today is Easter, and we did acknowledge that our Savior has risen, but arriving at our house at 2 am and spending the day grocery shopping and unpacking, we did little else to celebrate the day, and I am now heading to bed (and neglecting the school work I did not finish grading). I need a vacation from my vacation!

St. Patrick's Day...

I forgot to post these earlier, but the kids and I had some festive fun on St. Patrick's Day. First of all Josh and I made these delicious mint oreo brownies:

Okay, so maybe that wasn't my photo, and ours weren't as pretty, but as you can see from this photo, they were devoured just the same!

The girls and I did a science experiment with some white tulips. We started with this:

And following a little green food coloring to the water and a few hours of patience, ended with this:

Giggles...

No wonder I heard giggles coming from down the hall last night...

It's said the Chinese like sleeping on a hard surface, but geez, sleeping on the toy box in the closet is a bit extreme!

Macho Volleyball...

Wednesday night the family went to watch Josh participate in "Macho Volleyball," a fundraiser for Travel Club at his school, that pitted nine all-boys volleyball teams against one another to claim the ultimate title of Machoness.  Well being a high school volleyball coach myself, I must say that my group of girls would have humiliated any of the boys teams, but it still was a fun evening watching them all try their best to be macho.

Warrior Josh leading the chant, "Mad Dogs on three."

Josh and his team mate with the coaches (real volleyball players).

Little did I know when I showed up that the staff team was short players. As a spouse of a staff member, and being they were desperate, I was quickly recruited to play. That counts, right? The staff was going to play the Macho winners, who would have a chance to win the ultimate of titles, beating a bunch of old people!  Josh's team, the "Mad Dogs," made it to the semi-finals, and I was hoping for a chance to play against him, but it was not to be. Team "Old Farts" crushed the winners, but their was still plenty of testosterone in the air!

Best of Show...

Ever see this movie???


Well if you haven't, you should, because it's hysterical. I watched it on a flight to China a couple years ago, and I found myself laughing out loud with my headphones on.

Today we took our dog-loving girls to the Seattle Dog Show, at the suggestion of one of my coworkers, and let me tell you, the makers of the movie did not exaggerate the characters at all! I'm not sure who was more entertaining, the dogs or the people. As we pulled up in the parking garage the girls were so excited to see all the dogs walking towards the events center. Nearing the entrance, Jaelyn exclaimed "I'm freaking out!"

The girls thoroughly loved walking around and petting their favorite breeds and learning about some new ones. However, we had a difficult time deciphering why one dog won over another when they look exactly the same. We all especially enjoyed watching the agility competition. Below are just a few of the many dogs we stopped and conversed with...

Kaia's personal favorite breed, Samoyed

A cute Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever the girls loved on.

A rare Peruvian Inca Orchid....cute for a hairless dog!

A 220 lb. Bull Mastiff

After seeing one in person, Jaelyn decided she now likes the Chinese Crested dog.

Hanging out at Safeco Field at lunch time

Two of the Beagles my friend showed.

My coworker Liz got one first place.

Max, a National Champion Duck Toller, getting ready for show (Jaelyn shot this one)

We all fell in love with the Shiba Inu, who looks just like a miniature version of our old Chow-German Shepard Nikita (Kaia snapped this one).

 

Between getting up early and the thrill of it all, the girls were a little bushed on the drive home....

Season's End....

Despite the snow that fell this morning, it seems that most of our winter activities are coming to a close. Along with high school wrestling finishing last weekend (although Josh started club wrestling this week), the girls had their climatic school performance this week, and their first ever basketball season came to a close.

Even after seeing the performance, I'm not sure of what the title of the second grade performance was, or even exactly what it was about, but the girls were very enthusiastic about it. Jaelyn, who was a raccoon, pulled off her one line without a hitch: "Hey, what's up???" Such a star:)  Kaia declined the part she was offered, because she had three separate lines to memorize. Funny how she is the most dramatic of my four kids, but the shyest when it comes to actually performing up front. The girls loved singing the songs they have been practicing for a couple months now, and I have to admit I have heard Mike whistling some of the catchy tunes around the house in the days since.

The girls doing an Oscar-worthy performance of being asleep. They are over the left shoulder of the bird; Kaia squished in the center, Jaelyn in front of her (click on photo for a better look).

Photo session afterwards. Jaelyn made her own raccoon ears:)

Saturday was to be the basketball tournament, but we had a bye the first round, and then we played a team that beat us earlier in the season, so we only had one game. The whole family was there cheering the girls on, and Kaia even made one of the only two baskets our team scored. Although Kaia missed this  basket, I do love the confidence she exhibited. They learned a lot about team work over the course of the season.

Team Lightning Bolts (girl power!)...

Next stop track, soccer, and gymanstics. To be continued...