Disneyworld!

So...for those of you we haven't talked to recently, we just got back from 8 days in Disneyworld. Yes, we are exhausted and still recovering, but YES, we had a great time! What a fabulous way to spend our family vacation. I could recap this trip in a million blog entries but I'll spare you all the details and just show you a few of my favorite pictures. If you want the extended version, you can come over to our house to view all our video footage and turn the pages of the huge scrapbook I'm crafting :)

9 pieces of luggage, 8 camera memory cards, 7 dwarfs :), 6 maps, 5 people (Grandma and Grandpa Marx, Jodi, Paeton and myself), 4 swimsuits, 3 bags of snacks, 2 carry-ons and 1 sprinkle of pixie dust!

SeaWorld was incredible and we all fell in love with Shamu and his friends.

Paeton became quite the confident swimmer on this trip.


Our first character experience - she didn't like Pinocchio.

Her first ride - the carousel. A little timid.

She started warming up to the characters when we met Pooh and Tigger.

So much family fun! Here we are resting from the heat outside of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse in the Magic Kingdom.

Meeting Peter Pan and Wendy Bird. Paeton got SO MANY autographs!

Dad helping me haul Paeton around in the backpack carrier. This is actually the only time I think I wore this thing - Jodi should get all the credit for carrying our 25 pounder!

Bracing myself....

Paeton fell asleep on our way to meet Jiminy Cricket - he kept things quiet for her though :)

We all did our share of sweating throughout the week - here's Paeton climbing the stairs as fast as she could to get in line for the slide. The playgrounds in Disney were fantastic!

We LOVE Mickey Mouse!

Family dinner at the Olive Garden to celebrate Grandpa's birthday!

Paeton and I really bonded on this trip - I couldn't resist picking up my soaking wet little girl to grab a hug and a kiss.

Paeton riding the carousel all by herself - 'all by herself' meaning no one was physically on the horse with her. I ducked to the side to give the impression she was SO BIG :)

Daddy bought a cool hat at Animal Kingdom and shared it with Paeton.

We will never forget Paeton and Jodi's FIRST trip to Disneyworld. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping us out so much on this trip and enduring 8 long, sweaty but wonderful days in the most magical place on earth! We love you!

Fall Fun @ The Ulrichs

Last Sunday we drove up to Oshkosh to visit with Jodi's family and celebrate the start of Fall. Karen prepared a bunch of Fall Festivities for all of us to enjoy. We had a good time!

Family picture in the front yard.

Irie and I wearing our hair wreaths.

Uncle Ryan bobbing for apples.

Another family picture in the pumpkin patch.

Aunt Laura helping Fern pick out a pumpkin.

Grandma and Grandpa Ulrich for the 4 grandkiddies :)

Karen helping Irie to make caramel apples.

Irie devouring her caramel apple....

....and Paeton looking at Irie saying "Someday that will be me!"

Benny's Birthday Party

Last Saturday, Paeton attended her friend Benny's 4th Birthday Party at Stonefire Pizza Company. Partying with a bunch of 4-year olds was a little wild but Paeton had a good time nonetheless. Here's the picture recap:

Just arriving...she was little shy.

Benny greeting his guests - you can see Jodi entertaining Paeton in the background.

I was trying to take a picture of Sophia and Paeton but Paeton wouldn't look at the camera. So...Sophia moved Paeton's head towards the camera for me.

Yummy cupcakes :)

Paeton completely fell in love with riding in this car...

....and wouldn't get out!

Kona and Elmo

Paeton has started to get into Elmo recently so we've pulled the 'Tickle Me Elmo' out of the closet and have been letting her play with him (?). Kona now realizes that Elmo is higher on the family totem pole than she. However, she's accepted her new status and has decided to be friends with Elmo. Here they are cuddling together.

Sunday School

Here's just a cute picture of Paeton having a snack before we left for church one Sunday morning. She likes to eat her snacks on this little ledge in our island that hides our microwave. It's a perfect height for her.

Dozer Day

The family and I went to Dozer Day a few weeks ago - yes, I'm still catching up on my blog. We only went for about an hour and a half but we got to do a lot in that short period of time.

Family Pic!

Me compared to the wheel of a digger.

We rode around the quarry on the back of a dump truck. Yes..I sat in a dirt pile and rode around in the dust. What I'll do for my child...

Paeton and Jodi standing in the digger.

We toured this quarry on a school bus - this picture is taken from the window of the bus.

JDRF Walk at the Zoo

September 12 was our annual JDRF walk at the zoo with a bunch of my friends and co-workers from Kohl's. It was a really good family time completing the walk and showing Paeton all the animals. She can name SO MANY animals - I know she had a great time calling out the names of the animals she saw.

This is a family picture from this year - in the green shirts.

And here's our family picture from last year - in the red shirts. My how we've changed!

Puzzles

A few Fridays ago, since I've been bad about updating my blog recently (!), I left work early to go to Paeton's daycare and take her to the carnival they were hosting in support of Juvenile Diabetes. I came in her classroom to find her completely absorbed in doing this farm puzzle. She's been VERY into puzzles recently and is getting quite good at jamming the pieces in the right places. However, I will note that if she can't figure out where a piece goes, she slides the piece around the board until it falls into the right place. Pretty resourceful huh?

Pewaukee Lake

On Labor Day, we took Paeton to Pewaukee Lake to play at the beach and get in probably one of our last nice days of summer. The weather was perfect - just about 80 and sunny. We packed a picnic lunch and the usual beach supplies and headed over there. Paeton had a blast to say the least. We actually had to lure her out of the water with snacks.

Checking out the water when we first arrived. Dad's assessment - cold.

For the first time in her little life, Paeton wanted to wear a sunhat and sunglasses. A true accomplishment!

Having fun with her sand toys.

We built a sandcastle as a family. That's her little pink tugboat swirling in the 'river' we built around the castle :)

Going in the water a little further with her dad.

Here's me attempting to survive in the freezing cold waters. The water temp didn't faze Paeton at all.

Wiping sand off Paeton's face.

Showing Paeton the seaweed.

Teaching Paeton how to people watch - I told her she needed her shades on for this so no one could tell she was looking. I also told her the pointing made it too obvious :)

Overall, a really fun day at the beach. We made yummy burgers and hot dogs for dinner and ate out on our deck. Paeton especially enjoyed the baked beans and sweet potato fries. Happy Labor Day!