Wednesday, December 23, 2015

How 'Bout Them DAWGS??! New Orleans Bowl 2015









I just love New Orleans...in small doses yes....but I do love it!  We had a blast with our Resa in tow at the New Orleans Bowl this weekend.  My boys are SPOILED to Windsor Court suites.  We got some yummy eating in as well.  Of course we hit up the Insectarium...a favorite for my boys.  Until next time New Orleans....

****Parenting note*****
we were stopped in bumper to  bumper traffic when sleeping pic taken.

Christmas happenings...









Oh how I love the Christmas season with my boys!  I think we had a GREAT balance this year...lots of parties and fun but plenty of downtime and snuggles with hot chocolate.  (Well not today...cause it's HOT!)  

Mommy hosted a girls group Christmas party on the 1st so with Nana's help we got our house decorated very early so we've had all month to ENJOY it.  I just love how everything looks so full and lush at Christmas...almost sad to see it go....but it's not time YET!

These pictures are just highlights.  My favorite might be Preston's 2015 Christmas list.  I think it is one for the record books.  LOVE BOTH OF THESE SWEET AGES.  Both still have complete belief in ALL of the magic of Christmas.

But first and foremost us Parkers are doing our best to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  Our boys get it...and of that I am MOST proud....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Disney 2015












For the life of me I don't know why I can't seem to sit down and blog anymore.  Really, it doesn't take THAT long I just don't think about it then when I do I feel overwhelmed by how behind I am then I just don't do it.  HA!  But I  HAD to do a post from our most AWESOME-EST FAMILY VACATION YET! I've been telling people I don't know what Disney puts in their Kool-Aid but it just makes you want more....when you leave you are just ITCHING to go back...and we are!  We will probably wait though until our cousin Patrick is around John Cole's age...because...let me tell you...

JOHN COLE WAS A TROOPER ON THIS TRIP!  He was a few days shy of his 4th birthday while we were there and he was SO EASY.  He didn't even need a stroller.  Yes, you read that right.  My BIG boy walked miles and miles every day never once complaining about being tired.  In fact, it was the GROWN UPS at night that were tired the kids wanted to keep on going.  Now, were they sugared up?  Well, of course they were.  That's what vacation is about.  But I was super impressed at how well they both hung in and we did SO MUCH in 4 days.

Some highlights:  (mainly so I can remember this info in the future #mommybrain)

-The Wilderness Lodge was GREAT!  It was "off the beaten path" enough not to have through traffic from other resorts but yet close enough to everything.  And the boys LOVED the bunk beds.  So did we.  NO FIGHTING IN THE BED IN THE HOTEL!  SCORE 100000 points DADDY for suggesting this.  Extra, extra bonus points for the cool slides and water features at this resort.  Super fun.

-Preston's favorite thing this trip was Space Mountain.  He rode it as many times as he could.  He and Daddy would rush there first thing in the morning and ride it back to back before the park got crowded.  When did my baby get big enough for Space Mountain???

-John Cole took a few days to warm up to some of the things at Disney.  It was all SO REAL to him and even rides like Pirates of the Carribean kind of spoofed him right at first.  After about a day and a half though he was able to get a grasp on the fiction of it all and he really started enjoying it.  If I EVER get around to downloading my photopass pics I will post his smiling face with arms held high on the Seven Dwarf Mine Train...sheer JOY!

-Since Preston didn't have a formal birthday party this year we decided that we wouldn't do one for JC either ( I TRY SO HARD TO BE FAIR!) but we had  a special lunch with Mickey Mouse and the Disney characters sand him Happy Birthday and he has told everyone he has seen about it since we have gotten home.  I think that's a pretty cool bday party :)

-Jeff and I REALLY tried to not run ourselves ragged on this trip and try to relax and enjoy it.  (TYPE A here wants to see as much as possible every second and I have a hard time relaxing when I know there is FUN we are not doing!!!!!!)  I think we did just that.  We had a quiet evening by the pool and really didn't have to get up that early in the morning to get to the parks when they opened because boys take ZERO time to groom and I just had dirty hair for 5 days.  We cancelled our Food and Wine date night to go ride late at the Magic Kingdom and that is something I don't think I'll ever regret.

We had such a great time as a family.  That's what family vacation is all about.  Until next time, Disney....