Easter 2013

As is our tradition, we spent Easter Sunday with the Powell family.  After morning mass, we all went to brunch at Clyde’s in Tyson’s Corner and then back to the Powell house for coffee and dessert.  Rain kept us from hunting for eggs in the backyard.  Instead, Brad and Tonia improvised and hid eggs in the basement.  The kids didn’t seem to mind—candy is candy, no matter where you find it.  Getting a picture of the kids in their Sunday finest is usually one of the more excruciating parts of Easter morning; however, this year Henry and Vivian were amazingly cooperative.  As you can see, we got some nice shots.

We asked the Easter Bunny to bring us fewer sugary treats this year, but somehow he didn’t get the message.  The baskets were overflowing on Easter morning.  The night before, Henry was quite nervous that the Easter Bunny might skip our house.  He asked to go to bed early (unheard of) and expressed alarm that mommy and daddy were staying up to watch TV.  We assured him that the Easter bunny would not be frightened off by our choice of movie (Lincoln).  And indeed, he was not.

  

 

Swim and Dance

Henry began swim lessons at the local rec center in early March.  Although he’s fairly comfortable in the water, Henry has never been that keen on learning to swim.  We tried private lessons at the end of last summer, but that met with mixed success (see Swim, Run, Cook and Watch TV).  Also, Henry can be quite shy around strangers, so we weren’t sure he would participate without mom or dad by his side.  As it turns out, our doubts were misplaced.  On the morning of the first lesson, Henry readily joined the class and has been happily participating for several weeks.  The first few classes went so well that Bryant quickly registered both kids for the spring session.  Viv is somewhat jealous that her big brother gets to go swimming every Saturday, but she will get her turn in a few weeks.  In the meantime, she continues to shine in her ballet class.  This is a “mommy and me” class (although Bryant has substituted on a few occasions when Elise was working—he was relieved to discover he was not the only dad).  The first half of the class is an introduction to basic ballet steps (plié, chassé, and reitré are a few that we’ve learned); the other half is storytime and dress-up.  Along the way, there’s generous amounts of glitter spray and princess stamps.  Viv has been doing really well and will probably graduate to the “big girl” class next fall.

Disney World 2013

We returned to Disney World at the end of February for another week of magic and mayhem.  This was Henry’s third visit (not counting a 2009 trip to Disneyland) and Vivian’s second, so the kids are now well versed in the House of Mouse.  We weren’t expecting to return so soon, but with Henry starting kindergarten next year, we decided to squeeze in one more off-season visit before becoming slaves to the school year calendar.  We also were super excited to have Mimi Pauline join us this time—her first visit to WDW!

Taking a vacation to Florida in February has its benefits: we were blessed with low crowds and mild weather all week.  We decided to surprise the kids and told them we were flying to Michigan to visit Pauline (which was half true).  Amazingly, they never figured out where we were headed, even after multiple people at the airport asked if we were “visiting Mickey.”  Finally, as we waited to meet Pauline at the shuttle bus, we told the kids our plans.  As you can see from the video below, they both burst into tears—apparently they really wanted to see their Mimi Pauline!  When we explained that Pauline was joining us and that they could visit WDW and see their grandmother at the same time, the tears quickly turned to excitement.

Having stayed at the Caribbean Beach and Polynesian resorts on past trips, we decided to try Coronado Springs this time.  Overall, we really liked this resort: central location, moderate prices and better than usual food options for a WDW hotel.  The one negative: it took us over an hour to check in.  The cast member misheard our name and tried to give us another party’s rooms.  Disney is a well-oiled machine, but when the wheels come off, they really come off.  Once they realized their mistake, no one could figure out how to fix it—and in the meantime, our adjoining rooms were given away to other guests.  Finally, Bryant uttered those words that strike fear in the heart of every Disney employee: “I’m not having a magical day.”  The entire reception desk fell silent and someone went to fetch a manager.  She quickly rectified the situation (sort of, we weren’t able to get our adjoining rooms, but we were nearby) and promised to make it up to us.  Later that evening, after some margaritas at the Mexico Pavilion and some hearty German food at the Biergarten restaurant in Epcot, we returned to find toys, balloons and autographed photos of Mickey and Minnie in our room.  That was nice, but not a replacement for our adjoining rooms.  Fortunately, the rest of the vacation went smoothly.

We were anxious to see the new Fantasyland expansion, which was still under construction the last time we visited.  Although not completely finished (a new Snow White themed ride is still in the works) and somewhat smaller than we expected, the expansion did not disappoint.  The Ariel ride quickly became Vivian’s favorite, and she asked to ride it every day we visited the Magic Kingdom.  Fortunately, there were fast passes available because the stand-by line was over 90 minutes long—and no ride is worth that kind of wait.  We tried the LeFou’s Brew at Gaston’s Tavern (Disney’s answer to Harry Potter’s butterbeer at Universal) and had dinner at the new Be Our Guest restaurant, which was simply awesome.  The restaurant is themed to look like the Beast’s castle, complete with grand ballroom, library (where you can meet the Beast) and even the spooky west wing (where you can see the magic rose in its glass case).  Not surprisingly, the menu is French inspired.  This was, hands down, the best meal of the trip.  Elise and Pauline both enjoyed a very nice ($$$) glass of French wine, and Bryant stuffed himself on mussels provencal, grilled steak and pommes frites with truffle mayonnaise.  Afterward, the waitress wheeled over an impressive dessert cart, and we each chose a different pastry.  We will definitely be heading back here on our next visit.  Another highlight of the new Fantasyland was the Enchanted Tales with Belle.  It’s basically a meet-and-greet attraction where the kids get to re-enact the story of Beauty and the Beast (everyone gets a part and they perform a little skit).  It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s nicely done.  There’s also a really cool magic mirror that transports you to the castle and an impressive animatronic Lumiere.

 

  

When we weren’t riding our favorite attractions (or standing in line to ride them), we were getting made up like princesses and pirates.  Vivian was finally old enough to visit the Bibbi Bobbi Boutique at Cinderella’s Castle and had a grand time getting the full princess treatment.  Apparently mom and mimi also got a touch of princess fever because Vivian came home with several new dresses from the boutique.  While the ladies were getting sprinkled with pixie dust, Henry and Bryant headed over to the Pirate’s League in Fantasyland so Henry could get his face painted like a skeleton pirate (again).  It never ceases to amaze us how our squirmy little boy can sit so still for these things.

 

 

It was a fun but exhausting week—we managed to hit all our favorite attractions and restaurants and even added a few new ones.  Both kids rode the Haunted Mansion for the first time (and were mostly OK).  Henry’s favorites are still the Barnstormer roller coaster and the Maelstrom ride in Norway.  Actually, we’re not sure if Henry likes the ride so much as the gift shop afterward.  Thanks to his grandmothers, he managed to come home with two more troll figurines for his collection.  Henry wasn’t quite old enough to ride the adult roller coasters, but he did make it onto the Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom (even if he had his eyes closed for most of it).  For Viv, the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle.  She simply can’t get enough of her Disney princesses.

 

Mimi Pauline provided good cheer and some much needed help throughout the week.  We’re not sure what the highlight was for her, but she certainly seemed to enjoy riding the Kali River Rapids with Bryant and Henry as you can see below.

 

 

As usual, the week went by far too quickly and, before we knew it, we found ourselves at the airport waiting to fly home.  Not sure when we’ll make it back for another magical vacation, but something tells us it won’t be long…

  

 

 

President's Day on Ice

President’s Day weekend provided time to try something new: family ice skating.  Elise grew up skating and has her own pair of skates.  She and Henry have done "mommy and me" skating a few times at the local rec center.  However, Vivian has never skated, and Bryant...well, he grew up in Alabama where there isn’t much ice.  There are several outdoor rinks in the area, but the weather was so cold (mid-20s), we decided to stick with the rec center.  Our plan was to have Elise take the kids in turns.  But Bryant managed to keep himself upright most of the time, and Henry surprised us by skating on his own (see the video below).  So, we were able to skate together—as a family—even if Bryant and Vivian need a little extra help.  Next time we may even try skating on the National Mall.

 

Winter Scenes

A visit from Uncle Stokes at the end of January and a neighborhood Groundhog Day party on February 2nd helped to brighten up the otherwise bleak winter months (especially after Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring).  Lent came early this year and caught us by surprise—we didn’t get to enjoy any pączek (from Elise’s childhood in Detroit) or king cake (from Bryant’s childhood in Mobile) before it was time to start fasting.  The kids have been learning about Lent at school and decided to “give up” a favorite toy until Easter.  Henry chose a blue dragon and Vivian parted with her prized Cinderella slippers (see above).  They’re now safely sitting atop a cabinet until March 31st.  February also brought Valentine’s Day.  We reached something of a milestone this year: for the first time, Henry was able to address and sign cards for each of his classmates (with some coaxing/bribery/threats from his parents).  The new year also brought another, more important, milestone: despite some occasional relapses, Vivian is now officially potty trained.  That means the Morris household is done with diapers, pull-ups, and wipes for the foreseeable future.  We removed the changing table and rocking chair from Vivian’s room and installed some IKEA bookshelves and a new bed canopy in their place.  Elise was a little wistful to see the last vestiges of the Morris nursery disassembled and packed away.  Bryant couldn’t get them in the attic fast enough…

MLK Weekend 2013

We escaped the Inauguration Day/MLK weekend crowds to visit Kevin, Templa and the girls in Huntsville.  As an added bonus, Mimi and Paw Paw drove up from Mobile to join us for the weekend.  We were surprised at how much our newest cousin—Baby Regan—has grown.  She’ll be one year old in February and is easily keeping up with her sisters.  Micah and Rylan also are growing up fast.  Rylan makes her First Communion this year, and Micah is a budding CYO basketball star (apparently athletic skill didn’t completely skip the family).  On Saturday we watched her score a dozen or more baskets against a team of much bigger (and slower) girls.  Kevin is the assistant coach, but Micah didn’t need much instruction on the court—she’s a natural!  Later that evening, we left the kids with Mimi and Paw Paw and went for drinks in downtown Huntsville with Kevin and Templa.  It was a real treat to have some adult conversation, a designated driver and free babysitting all in one night. 

On Sunday, the girls went for a pedicure, and Henry, Bryant and Paw Paw visited the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center (home to Space Camp).  Huntsville was the site of the Redstone Arsenal were Wernher von Braun and other German scientists re-located after World War II to help jump start the American rocket program.  We’ve talked about visiting the museum many times (you can see the large Saturn I rocket from the road to the airport) but never got there; this time we finally made it.  The museum is huge, and includes extensive indoor and outdoor displays of Saturn I, Saturn V, and V-2 rockets plus the Apollo 16 space capsule and a full-scale space shuttle replica.  We wandered through the exhibits, watched an IMAX movie about the Artic, and sampled a few simulator rides.  Henry particularly enjoyed seeing the Darth Vader movie memorabilia and climbing inside the space capsule.

Below are some pictures from the weekend.  As usual, our visit passed all too quickly.  No sooner had we returned home than the kids were asking if they could visit again.

 

Vivi's toes in the middle!

 

 

Ringing in the New Year

Bryant and Elise went out for New Year’s Eve—for the first time in five years.  We’re usually in bed well before midnight, but when several neighbors invited us to parties, we had no excuse not to hire a sitter and enjoy ourselves.  Bryant came back at 1am to relieve the sitter, but Elise stayed out until 2:30am!  Fortunately, the parties were just up the street, so all we had to do was stumble home, and try to survive our sore heads the next morning.  Here we are at the start of 2013 (yep, Elise really was drinking beer and champagne at the same time):