2011 Holley-McCallister Walt Disney World Vacation

Yup, we did it again, we went to Walt Disney World. The last time I went with my sister I swore I would stay away for 5 years or more. But something about having your own child, and really just loving the place, I could stay away no longer. We flew into Tampa on a Saturday afternoon and were picked up by the McCallister's who had arrived earlier that day. After an hour long drive filled with crazy nephew stuff and lots of laughs we arrived at our sweet condo in Orlando. Sunday it was Disney Hollywood Studio day. We usually go to The Magic Kingdom on our first day to the parks, but since ESPN The Weekend was there Alex could have it no other way. It was REALLY busy. We usually visit the parks in the off season so it was really different in a couple of ways. One, there were no Christmas Decorations (we usually go right on or after Thanksgiving); two, there were a TON of people there; and three, I had a little person attached to me most of the trip. Because ESPN was at the park there were a lot of activities that set up. All you had to do was sign a waver and off you went. Here is Mike practicing his golf swing. There were basketball hoops, football & baseball throwing things, batting cages, and a huge bass fishing tank.

After exploring all of the sports stuff we headed in to see if we couldn't meet some characters before the Disney Jr Stage Show. Because everyone was outside playing ESPN, there were hardly any lines for the characters. Lots-O'-Huggin Bear was Cora's first character and she was is total awe. She love him. She pet his nose and kept pointing at him and using her reverent voice, which is only something she uses when she is VERY serious.

Aidan loves himself some characters too!

The Disney Jr. stage show was next. Cora LOVED it! She was jumping up and down, pointing and clapping the entire time, well when she wasn't standing in complete awe.

We took a break from the park and headed over to the Yacht & Beach Club hotel area where there is a great little ice cream shop, Beaches and Cream. If you ever go there and have a group you have to order The Kitchen Sink. It is enough ice cream to serve a small army. Unfortunately there wasn't any indoor seating and fortunately for us it was a nice day so we ordered our ice cream to go and enjoyed the lovely weather. This is a great photo of Mike & Cora inside Beaches and Cream. Cora really liked the beach ball decorations.

We headed back over to Hollywood Studios so Alex could watch some live ESPN thing???? Anna, Mike & I left Alex with the three kids to ride The Tower of Terror and then we all headed back to Toy Story Midway Mania. This was Cora's first official ride. She was awake long enough to take this photo and then she was out.

Sunday was Magic Kingdom day. Cora got dressed up in the costume I made for her earlier this year and she was SO stinking cute!!! It was a little chilly that morning so I was one of those moms and made her wear pants under her costume.

We made our way to city hall to pick up Cora's 1st Visit pin.

Off to The People Mover. This is one of Aidan's most favorite rides. Cora was pretty excited about it as well.

We had a great day at the park, even though it was really busy. We enjoyed the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor and Pirates of the Caribbean. We made our way out of the park but stopped to take a couple of photos.

I love this photo of the kids. They all had Mickey shirts on. They look great with Roy and Minnie.

I just have to say........Holley McCallisters RULE!!!!

Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Disney's Wilderness Lodge to have breakfast at Whispering Canyon. This is a shot of Cora and I all decked out in our shades. She actually isn't too bad about keeping her sunglasses on for moderate amounts of time.

Whispering Canyon is a great place to eat if you like it loud. They have pony races for the kids, and whatever you do, do not ask the waitress for ketchup.

Mmmm family style skillet breakfast.

After filling up on carbs we caught the boat to Fort Wilderness where they have the campground and of course, pony rides. Auntie Anna enjoyed carrying Cora around the area.

Both of the boys enjoyed their pony rides. I love this shot of Aidan.

Anna led Ethan around the trails.

Wednesday was Animal Kingdom day. Anna, Cora, Aidan, Ethan, Cora and I all rode the Triceratops Spin. Well, Cora slept through it.

We're flying......

We all took a break waiting for our fast pass time on the safari. The boys kept Cora entertained with their carnival stuffed animals.

Cora was bright eyed and ready for the Safari. She had to sit on Mike's lap, closest to the edge of course.

Later we went out to Rafiki's Area where Cora decided to skip her nap in order to hang out with more characters.

Thursday morning we took a break from the parks and went shopping. Later that evening we visited EPCOT to catch our first glimpses of The EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival.

Cora enjoyed meeting Duffy the Bear, a new character for me too.

Mike, Cora and I rode the Finding Nemo ride and then explored the aquarium area outside the ride. I snapped a quick photo of Cora sitting inside of Bruce's mouth.

Friday morning Anna, The Boys, Cora, and I got up early and headed to The Magic Kingdom again. Mike and Alex spent the day golfing. We spent almost the entire day in Fantasy Land. Cora really enjoyed waiting in line for It's A Small World. She kept saying, "wow" to all of the decorations.

We spent our last day back at EPCOT. Cora was sick of riding in the Ergo Carrier and refused to ride in the stroller, but she was OK with pushing it along. We moved at turtle speed, but we had a happy baby so we went with it.

Auntie Anna took Cora to meet Princess Aurora. Cora really liked her, but played a little shy.

Next it was time to meet Marie. Cora LOVES cats so she was all about Marie.

After we talked with Marie we put Cora in her Snow White costume and got ready for our character meet and greet. We stopped in Italy and had a quick photo shoot with the topiaries.

Finally it was time to meet Snow White. It was perfect. The cast member was great with Cora and Cora was so excited to meet her. We were able to get some great shots of them together. This is a moment I will never forget.

We grabbed some lunch in Italy after our Snow White meeting and then spent the rest of the day just wandering around the rest of The World Showcase and riding a few rides around the park. I snapped this shot of Mike and Cora in front of a topiary from The Lion King.

We had one last character meet and greet. We were able to get a family photo which rarely happens.

It was an amazing trip and believe it or not I cannot wait to go back. I am hoping Cora and I can make it down for The Food and Wine Festival in October. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed. A special thank you to The McCallister Family for being AWESOME! We love you guys.

Cora & Cassius

Cora and Cassius are becoming quite the pair. Cassius has always really liked children so we knew that when we brought Cora home we would have our own little "Nana". Cassius has not let us down. He is so tolerant of Cora. He sighs when she starts to bug him while he is sleeping (granted we are always right there and never leave her with the dogs alone). Cassius always checks in on Cora while she is playing on the floor, scooting around in her walker, in the bathtub, or while I am trying to put her to sleep (which isn't too helpful).

Beck is starting to trust Cora a little bit more each day. We figure the earlier we can get Cora to learn how to use the Chuck It the better off we will be :) The other day it was gorgeous outside and we all went out for a while to enjoy the sun and to wear out the dogs. Cora keeps a pretty tight grip on the Chuck It and hopefully it won't be long before she can wear out Beck for us.

I have been on kind of a sewing kick lately. This is one of the three aprons I made. BSU is really big around here ever since our football team started playing so well. I made this apron for a gift, just not sure who I am going to give it to yet.

This outfit was a little more of an undertaking than an apron, but the reward was so worth it. We have a trip coming up to Disney World and Cora had to have something to wear for her first time at The Magic Kingdom. I really hope that we can meet up with The Seven Dwarfs or Snow White for a photo opp. She absolutely LOVES her costume. If she sees it hanging up she will reach for it. When I give it to her she hugs it and laughs. I think I will have more costumes to make in my future.

Cora's First Christmas

Christmas was really nice this year. Cora slept in until about 8am, and we all made our way to the living room where Mike and I settle in with a cup of coffee and let Cora open her first Christmas Presents. I love this shot of her opening up her first gift.

Who wants to read a book when you can eat it? She decided her Little People book was a better snack than it was educational material.

Mike was on his A-Game for Christmas this year. He actually bought the dogs gifts too. They were pretty excited, as they sniffed the packaging.
Because Cora received a Tickle Me Elmo doll for Christmas we decided to let Cassius have her old Elmo doll that was a hand me down from someone else. This Elmo doll originally came with a cup and potty that he would ask for when you pressed his hand and then you would place him on the potty. But since we didn't have either the potty or the cup, he would just say, "Elmo has to go potty, Elmo has to go potty. Oh no, accidents happen." Mike jokingly said, "Well he keeps pissing all over the house, so I guess Cassius gets him." And so Elmo's fate was sealed.
Cora tried saving Elmo from the wrath of Cassius, but she was too late.

Elmo was bound for certain death :) Elmo is now a carcass that is still well loved by Cassius and Beck, but at least he isn't having accidents in the house anymore.

Twin Falls Christmas Visit

Back on the road again, we headed for our Christmas Visit in Twin Falls. Most of Mike's Family lives in the area around Twin Falls Idaho. We headed out early in the morning and made a few stops in town before settling in at his sister Christy's house. Cora was so excited to see all of her cousins and it was great because they all took over and entertained her. I guess there is one benefit of having a baby later than everyone else everyone needs a baby fix when you come over and the older cousins thinks babies are fun to entertain.
This is a cute shot of Cora and her cousin Meghan. Cora though the large stuffed tiger and lion were pretty cool.
Although, the stockings were even cooler. I had to hit Target's after Christmas Sale to pick up a teddy bear stocking because Cora couldn't get enough of the thing. She would snuggle it and just laugh out loud when she saw the stocking.

Later that day all of Mike's family, minus one sister who lives in Wyoming, arrived at Christy's house. This is a great shot of Cora with Mike's Dad, Bill, and his wife, Lou. Cora loves her grandpa Bill and spent a good amount of time happy as ever sitting on his lap. Here is Cora opening up her first present ever. She really was more interested in eating the paper than whatever was inside of the gift.

Here is a funny shot of us with some of the nieces and nephews. L-R: Peyton, Morgan, Ryan, D, Mike, Cora, & Tyler.

Cora showing off in a Santa Hat.

We spent a couple of days in Twin, just hanging out with family. It was a nice visit as usual and it was really great for Cora to be able to interact with all of her cousins. A huge thank you to Christy for letting us stay at her house, and to all of Cora's cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents for giving her so much attention and for entertaining her.

Seattle December 10th-14th 2010

December 10th part of The Holley Pack boarded a plane bound for Seattle to visit my parents. We rarely travel over the holidays because it just isn't worth the headache, unless we are going to DisneyWorld, so we try and visit friends and family either before or after the peak holiday travel days. This visit was a little different because my parents had moved from their hour in Snoqualmie into a cute condo in downtown Bellevue. It was really great to be able to walk everywhere and explore downtown Bellevue with all of it's holiday decorations.

Cora was a fan of my parent's kitchen sink. Here is a cute shot of her getting an evening bath.

One evening after we had walked around the mall, which was SO crowded, we needed a little decompression. On our walk back to my parent's house we stopped in at a little pizza place for a drink while we waited for our pizza to take home. Cora was so entertained by one of the water glasses. She had us laughing out loud. She would grab the glass and make all sorts of funny sounds into it and her mushed up face was pretty cute too.

Before we left for Seattle I told Mike, "I don't care what happens, the most important thing on this trip for me is for Cora to visit Santa for the first time at the Downtown Nordstrom." So we made it happen. We got up and motored to downtown Seattle early in the morning in hopes of beating the lines for Santa. We kept her in street clothes until we were in the Santa building and then switched her into her "special" Christmas outfit. The whole time we were waiting in line I was crossing my fingers just hoping that she would cooperate and be happy to see Santa. On the other hand I would have been ok had she decided that Santa = scary and her first Santa photo would have been the classic kid screaming kind. But, thankfully the stars aligned and she fully cooperated. It was our turn and so I picked up Cora out of her stroller, walked toward Santa, bent down so she was at eye level with him, and she started kicking her legs and getting all sorts of excited. She ESPECIALLY liked his beard, so much so that when I went to get her back from Santa he whispered to me, "She has a really good hold of my beard." I think what he was trying to say was, make sure to pry her hand out of my beard before you whisk her away so you don't spoil the whole thing for the rest of the kids in line :)

We were able to grab a quick family shot for our Christmas Card which was so nice. It isn't often that we are all smiling and looking in the same direction, well at least in nice clothing.

After our experience at Santa's Village we decided to walk down to Pike's Place Market. Cora was kicking her legs the entire time we were in the market. She was so excited about all the cool things to look at.

We stopped at the famous pig to snap a couple of photos of us with Cora. I think somewhere my mom has a photo of me next to this pig.

We worked up a nice appetite with all the walking and settled on a Pirosky for lunch. I think I was able to eat about 1/2 of mine because the other half ended up in Cora's mouth. She was a huge fan of the Pirosky and what a perfect food for a baby.

Next we walked over to Westlake Center and caught the rickety Seattle Monorail over to the Seattle Center. I just have to say riding this monorail made me miss DisneyWorld even more, although this monorail ride was a little scary compared to the Disney Monorail. I think the Seattle Monorail is really more of a hazard. We strolled around the Center House and decided there wasn't much to do so we boarded the death trap monorail again and headed back to Westlake Center.

My sister Anna worked for Nordstrom for many years and her two most favorite departments were the shoe and handbag departments. We decided that since Auntie is so far away and she was probably missing her favorite department store we would take Cora's photo in the handbag department. Again, Cora got all excited as soon as we pushed her into the department. Look how freaking excited she is to have a L.A.M.B. bag on her lap. I didn't want to risk what she would do with a Prada or Mark Jacobs bag.

We eventually made it to Barnes & Noble where we relaxed and called Auntie Anna to tell her about our adventures in the handbag department and about Cora's visit with Santa. Later in the week we met up with my brother, Boyce, and his wife, Khristy, for dinner. It was really great to see them and for Cora to be able to see her Aunt and Uncle again. Cora really likes her uncle, but then again he is a dork, and babies like silly people. On our last day in Seattle Mike bought me an early Christmas gift. I have been wanting an Ergo Baby Carrier for many months and finally after fiddling with our Moby Wrap for the last time, we decided to suck it up and just buy the Ergo. I was SO happy and Cora immediately loved it. Here is a great shot of Cora and I in SeaTac Airport. The greatest thing about this photo that can't be depicted is that the entire time we were walking around the airport she was saying, "Mama, mama."

The Holley Pack's 1st Shoeshoeing Adventure

Today we decided it was time to use our new snowshoes. We drove about an hour and a half from our house to Herrick Reservoir (we took our trailer there for its maiden voyage, 2009). The weather was perfect, snowing lightly and no wind! Here is Cora all bundled up in the pack. She was so happy to be outside.

Mike carried Cora for the first half of our hike. Here is a cute shot of them in the trees.

We hiked back into the spot where we camped in the summer of 2009. What a great spot to camp. We can't wait to go back this coming summer.

On the way back to the car I carried Cora. What an excellent way to step up the workout. Not only does she add some extra pounds, but carrying a child on your back really forces you to pay attention to your balance. She was such a trooper.

Both the dogs came a long as well. Beck was a total rockstar and loved the snow as usual. Cassius, the poor dog was just not built for Idaho winters. He had his jacket on and was still cold. His paws didn't take well to the snow and he almost had to be carried back to the truck. I think a trip to Cabellas is in my future where I will be purchasing a set of dog booties. I think I am also going to have to sew or buy him some doggie poly pro underwear. At least both the dogs were worn out, only one of them had a good time though.

Big Snow

It started snowing last night and didn't stop until late this afternoon. I think we got over 8 inches when it was all said and done. This is Mike shoveling the driveway after he got home from work. Cassius is such a wimpy dog. He had his coat on and still avoided as much snow as he possibly could. He probably thinks he needs a pair of winter boots to go with his coat.

Beck on the other hand LOVES the snow. She played outside with Mike the entire time he was shoveling, which was a long time. Mike would throw her ball into the deepest patches of snow that he could find, or send her running up and down the street. She was pleasantly worn out when they came in from shoveling.This is Cora's first time really being in the snow. She was watching Mike out the window and was getting pretty excited. I bundled her up and set her down in the snow for a second or two. I don't think she really knew what to think about it but she didn't get upset.

Later in the afternoon Mike, Cora, and I went to the YMCA to workout (well Cora goes to childcare). She was watching the snow fall and was looking up as if she was saying, what the heck is this stuff falling from the sky.

After we worked out I couldn't take it any longer. I bought new telemark skis about a month ago and since I couldn't go up the hill today, I tried out my new skis in the street. I think I will be really happy with them, they are so much shorter and therefore more manageable than my last pair.