I have not yet figured out how to put the pictures on from my new IPAD but I am slowly getting more familiar with it. We had an awesome Christmas this year, the best ever in my opinion. Joe woke Cammie and I up and she was so excited to see all her presents. Mom and Dad and the Great Uncles came over to open gifts and have breakfast with us which was lots of fun. Gary told the funniest story about a lady flying with her cat. We went to the Beadenkopfs after that and ate way too much. Cammie got even more gifts and Andrew made us a wall hanging out of a window frame that is perfect. We had a mini open house that evening and had a great time visiting with the Cellinis, Donna and Bill, Daniel and Kristen, Alice and Mike, Emily and Edd, Mike and Donna and Meaghan, Rick and Nathan. I was sure Cammie would crash when everyone left, she laid in bed and watched the winnie the pooh movie and then wanted to play so we were up til about one. So needless to say I did not do any shopping today. Joe and Cammie went out for a bit and I got some of her stuff put away. Trying to psych myself up to start a diet since I am totally disgusted by the scale numbers. Got lots of plans for the new year so we will be getting very organized and hopefully much healthier!

Merry Christmas to all!

Cute Christmas Program at School!!

Monday I made another trip to the post office but went to Eldersburg so it went much smoother!  The Woodbine PO is horrible.  Cammie entertained the cashier by singing jingle bells for him so he enjoyed that.  We went to the library and then I was informed that she had to have burger/fries before school or she would be very upset.  I'm sure you can figure out what we did then.  After I dropped her off I did some Christmas shopping and now I am officially done except for some gift cards that I need to pick up.  Tuesday was the Christmas Program at school and that was really cute.  They sang some songs and did a little skit and then had an ice cream social.  So sweet.  Got some grocery shopping done today and just trying to get the house in order for the big weekend.  Also trying to keep the wild woman under control.  She loves Christmas lights and she understands about Santa.  She still doesn't want to sit on his lap but she definitely wants to be on the nice list!!

Still waiting for Santa

Business as usual in the frenzy leading up to Christmas.  I just can't believe that is almost here.  All three of us are finally recovering from some cold/flu/grossness that we probably picked up in Disney or on the plane.  Wednesday I felt like death and had a fever so I missed the annual executive board dinner and poor Joe had to go by himself.  I felt a little better on Thursday and Cammie went to gymnastics and then we did some running around.  I think we have also finally recovered from the great tree fall of '11.  The Christmas tree is tied to the wall and has showed no signs of movement since the other night.  On Friday I made a run to the post office to ship Lab Rescue calendars and ended up being there over an hour as the computer crashed halfway through.  Ugh.....  Joe called while we were in the PO and asked for some Mucinex so we took a trip to see him.  Cammie loves seeing the boys at the firehouse and she had fun talking to Mr. Boz.  After that I apparently went insane because I thought it would be ok to run to Columbia Mall.  I just had to go to Disney store and Build a Bear.  I parked somewhere near our house I think and had to walk forever.  The place was crazy and we were lucky to make it out intact!!  Saturday my Mom and Dad picked up Cammie and took her to their house so she could help them decorate their tree and she enjoyed that.  We ran some errands (crazy on a saturday) and grabbed a bite at Glory Days.  YUM!  Now I am just making sure I can fit everything I need to in this next week.  I am so dreading a trip to the post office tomorrow.  I only have about 30 orders to ship but after friday.... I tried to ship them Saturday but we got to the PO right after it closed.  I just want to take this moment to say to our mailman, I think you are the biggest douche.  And I'll leave it at that.  Today we had a good family day, Donna came over to make sugar cookies and then made us chicken and dumplings for dinner.  That's always a way to get on my good side!!  Our friend Heather stopped by to drop off a plate of cookies.  She's awesome and I love that Cammie calls her Feather.  Well enough rambling for now...... Night!!!

Is Santa coming tonight?

That is the question of the day/week/hour!  Cammie understands Christmas this year for sure!!  Saturday we met Jennifer, Brooke and Alyssa at the Lyric to see Phineas and Ferb Live.  It was SO awesome!!  They did a really funny show and I would love to see it again.  I hope when it finishes they do it at Disney.  It was hysterical.  The grownups were laughing just as hard as the kids.  I won't bore you with the details of our lovely drive to and from the city.  Just one word should cover it... yikes!  Sunday Joe got some OT or Mickey Money as we have been calling it! So Cammie and I went with the Beadenkopfs to cut down a tree.  Cammie found one and Daniel cut it down and Paul drug it to the truck and then later Daniel brought it in for us.  It looks really good.  It's been a while since we have had a real tree.  Donna and I made chocolate chip cookies all afternoon Sunday and Cammie helped.  She especially liked taste testing the chips before we put them in.  All together I think we made 4 double batches and they are so yummy.  Then everyone came over for chili and left right before Joe got home.  Trying to stay on the diet while baking cookies is hard!!  They finally turned out the way I like them this year and I believe that it is because of the mixer!  Cammie went to school today and I went to Weis and the post office.  I save 95 bucks at Weis!!  Got a huge cartful of food!  Trying to get organized in sending out the Lab Rescue calendars too.  So lots going on as usual!!  I'm trying to keep up!!

Needing to feel some more magic.....

Is there an official term for needing a vacation after your vacation?  We have been crazy busy since we got back.  Cammie went back to school on Tuesday for Blue day.  Luckily I called Mollie before I left and we did a quick change from a pink sweatshirt into a blue mickey mouse one and Joe grabbed her blue ribbon from the horse show for show and tell.  The rest of the day passed in a flurry of unpacking and balancing the checkbook.  Sigh......  Wednesday we took Cammie for her speech evaluation and she did fine with that.  The therapist said she is age appropriate and gave us some exercises to do with L words.  Sadly she has a true blue Bawl-mer accent.  I passed my mammogram, YAY and got my bloodwork done.  Been thinking a lot about getting the spinal cord stimulator done.  It is supposed to relieve a lot of back pain which would be awesome.  Next time I go to pain management I am going to go for it I think.  They do a two week trial first which is nice so you can find out if it works or not.  Thursday Cammie went back to gymnastics and did well there.  She really likes it.  We hit Walmart afterwards and picked up some good deals there.  In the evening we dropped Cammie off at Donna's for a little while and intended to go to Home Depot in Eldersburg but somehow we ended up eating dinner at Chilis and then going to the Walmart there and found some more deals.  In between all the running around we have been getting the house decorated and we have more lights on Osbourne starter kit!  I am hoping to stock up on after Christmas sales.  We went to the dentist today and Cammie got a full check up and cleaning.  She did really well.  Our hygenist is super nice too!  We <3 you Heather!!  There may be the start of a cavity on one of her molars though so we need to keep an eye on that.  Just trying to get organized and clean some and get prepared for Christmas.  We keep reminding Cammie that Santa is watching her and got an idea today to change the ringtone for the house on my cell phone to a Christmas song and put a picture of Santa as the contact icon, so we have already had one call from him to find out if a certain someone was behaving herself.  Trying to get my coupons organized too, as we are both on a diet officially and I want to be thrifty with money and food!  Wish us luck!!

Back to reality.........

We pulled off another awesome Disney vacation thanks to friends and family!!  Here's all the news that is fit to print!
November 29th Tuesday
We met the O'Neills, the Uncles and LouLou at BWI for a 7am flight to Orlando.  A little valium and a cocktail on the plane plus a smooth ride made for a pleasant flight.  Cammie slept for a while too so that was also nice!  No turbulence and an easy landing made us very happy.  We were met by Tiffany Town Car and we all piled into the van and headed for our grocery stop (a great way to stock up on snacks and drinks and save some big $$$)  the driver dropped us and the uncles off at the Boardwalk Villas first and then dropped everyone else off at Coronado Springs.  We checked in and my Mom and Dad met us there.  We then got Cammie's annual pass (this is her first trip that she had to pay for admission!)  Our room was ready so we headed up there to unload our baggage.  After that we all headed for Hollywood Studios by boat and into a beautiful warm sunny day!!  We met everyone else there and rode the Toy Story Mania ride which is FUN!!  We had lunch at the Catering Co. with Brooke and then Cammie and Brooke played on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  We caught a few songs by Mulch, Sweat and Shears and did some dancing in the streets and then roamed around for a bit.  The highlight of my trip was meeting Phineas and Ferb and getting my picture with them.  It was really funny when we were standing in line because I asked Jenn if my hair looked ok and she informed me that I was meeting cartoon characters and not the lead singer of Creed.  I told her that I was only asking because we were getting our picture taken and she needed to keep up because now my band is NICKELBACK!  We also met Jake from Neverland Pirates.  Tried to get on Toy Story Mania again but the line was crazy, then tried to do Backlot tour but when we got up to the gate Cammie had to pee.  This was our first diaper free disney trip so it does take some getting used to and you really need to be proactive with the bathroom stops so that you do not wait in line only to have to step out for a potty run.  We watched Voyage of the Little Mermaid which is really good.  We really like the puppets in there.  We all met up again and got coffees and sodas and we saw SANTA!!  A real Santa, Cammie and Brody got to meet him and we reminded them that Santa is always watching them, even on vacation and we actually saw that Santa a few more times and some other ones too which was really helpful when reminding them of the fact that they needed to be good!  We stayed at Hollywood Studios until they turned on the Osbourne Lights and we walked through those.  That makes the whole trip worth it.  One of my favorite parts!!  After that we took the boat back to the Boardwalk and ate a late dinner at Big River Grill.  They have an awesome beer cheese soup and they offer a DVC discount.  We sat outside on the boardwalk and they turned on a heater which made it perfect!!  We made it back to the room where Joe fell asleep while Cammie was in the tub and I was shooting water all over the bathroom.  Yikes!!  The Uncles were out having a good time and we never even heard them come in!
November 30 Wednesday
Woke up, got ready and got some coffee on the BW and hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom.  Got my awesome travel agent friend Elyssa to make dinner reservations for thursday evening for Gary and Michael at the Prime Time Cafe.  Breakfast was at Crystal Palace and we picked the perfect time because there was barely anyone in there and we got LOTS of face time with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet.  Pooh picked Cammie as his partner for a parade and Pooh and Tigger were chasing Cammie and Brody all over the restaurant.  Eeyore gave out lots of hugs!!  It was so fun!  Piglet did some flirting with Uncle Munckle!  We all ate far too much but it was delicious.  After all that breakfast fun we did some rides.  Joe and Cammie got on Aladin's Carpet and we all walked through the Treehouse and rode the Jungle Cruise.  Caught the end of the Pirate Tutorial and then some got on Pirates ride.  We found the fairy section and met Viddia and Tink.  Cammie liked chatting with Viddia but didn't want to meet Tink.  I got my picture taken with her and I look like a giant beast next to her!  We took the rafts over to Tom Sawyers Island which was fun  then Joe and Cammie got on Dumbo finally!!!! They also did the Merry Go Round.  We all got on Space Ranger Spin and then watched Mickey's Philharmagic which is Cammie's fave.  We headed for Trails End for dinner after that and that was fabulous as usual.  It wasn't crowded either and we ate too much (seemed to be the trend) and then we walked around the campground and looked at Christmas decorations.  Another fun tradition that we are doing!  It got pretty chilly so we boated back to Magic Kingdom and then caught the bus back to the BW.
December 1st Thursday
Got up early and hit Animal Kingdom when it opened at 9am.  Headed right for the safari and walked right on it.  All of the animals were out and we saw the baby elephant.  Too cute!!!! After that we walked through the trail and saw all of the gorillas including the baby there too!!!  Very sweet!!  We didn't see the meerkats out this time which seemed strange but during the safari we did catch a lot of giraffes walking around.  Spent a little time at the Conservation Station.  Watched It's Tough to Be a Bug and got on the Dino ride with Cammie.  We had lunch at Pizzafari and then Joe, Cammie and I headed back to the room for a nap/shower.  Cammie fell asleep on the bus back!  Once we were refreshed we headed to EPCOT by boat for dinner at the Garden Grill which was a HUGE disappointment.  First they lost our reservation and then it just went downhill from there and I am not a fan of the rotating portion of the meal.  Bleck!  We did meet Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto so Cammie enjoyed that.  After dinner we joined the O'Neills and LouLou, they had dinner there too but we couldn't all sit together, and we headed for our premium seating at the candlelight processional.  Michael W Smith was the narrator and that was pretty neat.  They had a choir and told the story of Christmas and Jesus in verse and song.  Cammie liked the Halleluah Chorus!  We had to sprint around the world to make it there so it took a while to recover from that!  We stayed for Illuminations and Joe and I had not seen that in a while so that was a treat!  Cammie loved it.  Oh, the reason we had to sprint to the Candlelight Show was because we snuck in a ride on Soarin'.  Cammie really loved that.  I think that is now her favorite ride!!
December 2nd Friday
Walked to Dolphin to try to catch bus there and ended up hopping on a Mears shuttle to take us to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's breakfast.  That is the BEST!!  We got our Mickey waffle fix again and blintzes and everything else.  Basically had to roll us all out of there.  It was pretty crowded so we didn't get any special treatment there but it was still totally worth it!  Caught the monorail to the Polynesian and walked around there a bit then walked over to the Grand Floridian, just looking at Christmas decorations and enjoying the gorgeous weather!  We saw Cinderella's coach at the GFlo which was really cool.  Saw the gingerbread house there also and then caught the monorail back to MK.  We rented a stroller for Cammie and then got on Space Ranger Spin and the People Mover.  Then the kids got pictures taken with Buzz.  Got on Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Dumbo and watched Philharmagic again and met Rapunzel.  We lunched at Starlight Cafe.  Watched the castle get lit then bussed home.  Cammie fell asleep on the bus.
December 3rd Saturday
Boat to EPCOT for Soarin', Living with the Land and Nemo.  Took the Uncles to the place to try all the different cokes.  Saw Pooh and Tigger in UK and Alice in Wonderland and Aurora and Marie the cat.  Went back to BW and Joe and Cammie got in the pool which Joe said was freezing.  No nap that day so we just hung out at BW and ate at Big River Grill and did a little shopping and played arcade games.  Also had Fish n Chips for the first time. YUM!!!
December 4th Sunday

Headed to MK and got pastries on Main Street.  Rode the People Mover and watched Philharmagic again, then met up with the Uncles in EPCOT.  We got Orange Chicken in China.  SO GOOD!!  Back to room for nap, then back to EPCOT for Fish n Chips and french pastries for dessert.  Did a little shopping and then watched Illuminations again.  Back to the room to pack. :o(

December 5th Monday
Got up and finished packing.  Did our baggage check with Southwest at the resort and then headed for Downtown Disney.  Yet another gorgeous day!!  We all met up at T Rex for lunch and then did a little shopping before the van picked us up at 2.  Got to the airport and then had an uneventful flight home.
Great vacation!!!!! Already have the next one planned!!