We spent a lot of great times with them while they were here - as much as possible anyway, since the kids were in school, Colin had to work and I have been busy getting things in order to start subbing at Tombaugh. My biggest regret, however, is that I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do. Luke is at that difficult and normal stage of not being easy to get pictures of, but I still didn't try as much as I would normally. Praying they get to come back for a little visit in the summer so I can get more of him and his new brother, Liam!
They left this past Saturday, but we made the most of the last few days they were here. On Wednesday, we all met at Chope's for dinner. Thursday, they came to our house for fajitas and to hang out and visit. On Friday, they picked the kids up from school and took them and Luke to the bouncy place at the mall, where Colin and I met them after he got off of work and then we finished the evening at Chuck E. Cheese's, where I finally snapped a few pictures of the little cutie.
He loves Colton and Cady, and they, him. In fact, he would cry when they had to leave and it was so sad! The kids are great with him and enjoyed all their "cousin time" and playing together. We all miss him and his sweet little voice, the way he refers to himself as "Wookie", and how much he made us smile! Can't wait to see him, Leigh Anne and Parker and meet the new baby!We are blessed with such a wonderful family!
After pizza, birthday cake and presents, we moved outside where the kids could each do a few of the main attractions, which included bumper boats, a bungee cord contraption, go karts or mini golf. Cady chose go karts as one of hers, and Daddy rode with her:
Colton did the go karts twice:
Here's Jagger:
And Mckaela (with some pretty fancy face painting):
Cady also tried out the bungee cord one. It was fun to watch her:
Cady and Kynz:
Then, all the kids played a round of miniature golf:
Mckaela and Abbi:
Cady and Kynz:
Colton:
Cady and her buddy (and the Birthday Boy) Jackson:
It was a lot of fun and something different. We will definitely be visiting again sometime!
My beautiful sis-in-law:
Two of my very best friends:
It was a great night!
I also didn't get one of my dad or uncle. I tried but my Dad couldn't keep from blinking! ;-)
Colin ordered my favorite cake from Sam's - white cake with chocolate buttercream frosting! Yum!
Fun times!
The rest of the afternoon was spent at a birthday party for a friend of Cady's, but that evening we got a little more time in with our friends when we dropped the kids off for Children's Choir and met up at Starbucks, where I redeemed my free birthday drink coupon. ;-)
This is Cady with her friend and classmate, Alex, who was also a Character Counts winner and got to walk in the parade:
I also got to walk behind the float, but I can't say I was too excited! I would have rather been watching from the sidelines and taking pictures, but all K-2nd graders had to have a parent walking with them. Colin was hunting (he hated missing all of it), so that left me. I apologize for the lack of pictures - all I was able to get were these before the parade began.
The float said it and the kids chanted it, "We still believe, Pluto is a planet!" The kids on the float even got to play instruments to go along with the chant.
After a very long wait, it was finally our turn! This was the last picture I was able to take:
It was a lot of fun! Cady and I walked next to her teacher, Mrs. Romero, and Colton's teacher, Mrs. Cooke, which was nice. We also saw many, many people in the crowd and what a crowd it was! It didn't even feel like we were in Las Cruces, there were so many spectators there! It was a great event and we were very proud to have been part of it!
While Goofy, who was flattered by Colton's hat, gave Colton a big hug and a kiss on the head:
Then, after we said goodbye and walked away, the coolest thing ever happened to us! One of the girls who worked in ToonTown stopped us and asked if she could ask us a question. Colin and I both thought she was going to ask us to do a quick survey (we had done one our first day there). Well, she wasn't taking a survey...she told us that every morning that they have the early entry and hold a town meeting in ToonTown, that they pick an Honorary Family of the Day and asked if we would be it!!! Colin and I gave her two enthusiastic yeses right away! How cool was that! 
Mickey came to talk to us:
The mayor (who was goofier than Goofy) asked us questions about where we were from and stuff:
Then Mickey presented us with a very special proclamation, stating that we were the Honorary Family of the Day of ToonTown on December 31, 2011:
We then had to take an oath which included repeating after the mayor and holding up our right hands:
As well as some silly stuff like doing the twist (yes, I really made myself step out-of-the-box!):
We then were able to go back to our seats and watch the rest of the show. It was an awesome experience and we were so excited! I told Colin that even if we weren't able to do anything else the rest of the day, due to the massive crowds, our day had already been made and it didn't matter! It was a little strange, though, because most of the people in the audience were filming the show with their video cameras, which we are now a major part of! 
Next, we toured ToonTown a bit more:
Cady trying out Minnie's bed while touring her house:
Then, we rode the Roger Rabbit roller coaster, which was Cady's favorite when she was three. It is a quick, quick ride - not even a full minute- but it is fast and thrilling! We rode it once all together, and then Colin and the kids rode it again, right away, while the lines were still short and I took pictures:
After that, it was getting close to 10 o'clock and Cady had a very special appointment at 10:20 to get her hair and makeup (light makeup) done at Disney Studio 365 in Downtown Disney! We had wandered into it (it is a boutique, too) on our first night there and inquired about it. Colin and I were excited to learn that they not only still had openings, but they had some for New Year's Eve - the perfect day to get all glammed up!
Another girl came by to apply some light blush, eye shadow and lipgloss while the hair was being finished. They had Cady's chair turned, with her back to the mirror the entire time and told her if she peeked they were going to give her an orange mohawk! They also called her "Rockstar" the entire time - it was so much fun!
When they were ready to turn her around so she could see, all the employees yelled, "Lights! Camera! Action!" Here is a shot of the back of her hair (and if you look closely in the mirror, you can see her being all shy after they turned her around):
Kortnee and Cady:
It was a fantastic experience and I thought she looked adorable!
Cady really loves that ride - probably her favorite of the big, fast ones! She was also relieved that her hair stayed in place!
And a PhotoPass picture of us in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, all decked out for Christmas:
The longest line we stood in that day was when Cady and I waited for an hour to meet some princesses. In all honesty, the sign said 45 minutes, and I don't think we would have waited if it had said 60 minutes! Cady actually didn't want to wait the 45, but I really wanted pictures of her with some princesses and that was her favorite part last time, so she indulged me! :-)
I am very glad we waited, because two out of the 3 princesses were different ones than she had met when she was three and they were all wearing their winter dresses! First up was Princes Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. This was our first time to see her in person, ever:
Next was Ariel:
And finally, Belle (who loved Cady's hairdo!):
The other thing I had on our must-do list that day, was ride Its a Small World. We didn't get to ride it back in 2008 because it was closed for rennovations. I really wanted the kids to see it. No Fast Pass for it, but we only stood in line for 30 minutes and it was worth it. They had it all done up for Christmas:
In the boat and ready to go:
I was pleasantly surprised to see the entire ride was a special Christmas version, so cute and colorful and Christmas carols mixed with "It's a Small World":
Even Colton liked it:
Cady LOVED it:
We took another turn on Autopia and I rode with Colton this time...
...while Cady drove Daddy:
On that wonderful New Year's Eve, we also rode the Jungle Cruise again, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters and a few others. By then it was starting to get dark and we stopped for ice cream and to decide what to do. 
It was getting more crowded by the second and we were all exhausted. Although I had intended on us staying through midnight to ring in 2012, I could tell that we weren't going to last. It was only after 7, so another 5 hours awaited us! We had done everything - even more than we expected, so we decided to bid farewell to Disneyland and head to Downtown Disney to finish up our shopping. 
