Moonlight Swim

Thursday night was saved for "see Auntie Mame and Brian night" so we had them meet us at the Old Key West pool. The last time we saw them was a couple years ago when Peyton was only a few months old so they truly see how much these kids have grown in a little time. Auntie Mame crowned Peyton with a Cinderella gift set which included the tiara she ended up wearing in the pool. Taylor received two wonderful storybooks. Princess Peyton had fun in the water while we sipped on strawberry smoothies poolside.

The weather is unseasonably warm. According to Sir, in years past teetimes have been delayed due to frost. It has been over 82 daily and at night it is about 70 degrees. That is the good news....bad news is it is very humid. Of course 80s and humid is much better than what we experienced when we left St. Louis.

Brendan helped his cousin with her bucket. Tonight she was confined to this small baby pool because no adults got in their swimwear. Hopefully we will find some time to go back to the main pool and photograph her sliding out of the Mickey Mouse shaped sandcastle slide.


Peyton is getting quite into using markers these days. Anytime she shows her dimples without us having to beg for a smile you know she must be happy with the activity at hand :-)

Disney's MGM Studios

Today we went to MGM Studios and Peyton did some fancy dancing at the Hollywood & Vine character dining. Taylor's favorite activity was the interactive Playhouse Disney show confetti which fell from the ceiling at the beginning of the dancing and singing. Here we are in our cheesy matching Disney shirts:


Peyton and Taylor were both very comfortable when meeting Jojo and Goliath. Not exactly smiling but far from scared. . .

Here is Taylor with the confetti she found at Playhouse Disney:

Peyton and Daddy found Leo (Little Einsteins character) at Hollywood & Vine just after dessert:


Our oddest family "tradition" is posing by the Cindy Williams handprints, in honor of St. Louis County's very own Cindy Williams. This is a 2nd generation shot (we did the original pose while honeymooning at Disney 5 years ago).


Tomorrow we will be heading back to the Magic Kingdom.

First FULL Day

Okay to say we had a fun filled day doesn't even begin to explain how much we did on our first full day in WDW. The morning began with Peyton waking up at 7:45a.m. which shocked Daddy who predicted that the girls would sleep until 9a.m. due to the time change and overall exhaustion from the big travel day.



After taking the bus to Epcot around 9:30ish we enjoyed some VIP treatment at Siemens 21 (within Spaceship Earth). The Siemens hostess thought Peyton was cute enough for their monthly newsletter so she took some pictures of our own Snow White. We enjoyed some more rides before heading to Ackershus (located in the Norway exhibit region) for a luncheon with the Princesses. After a delicious (and very magical) meal Peyton stopped to listen to a Norwegian band. Guess what? They thought she was cute enough to play along with them so they gave her a coordinating ("Snow White blue") tamborine. Check it out:

Belle greeted Peyton (a.k.a. Snow White) with open arms at Ackershus. We purchased professional in action shots of this encounter, too.


Jasmine got a big kick out of Peyton.

Look at Daddy and his Viking gals.

Here is the Wu family entering the Nordic boat ride attraction. Just around the bend near Germany Peyton said "Look, Snow White!" and I assumed it was merely another of the many girls dressed like Peyton but I assumed wrong. It truly was Snow White and she even had Happy with her. Peyton snubbed Snow White and preferred flirting with Happy.

Around 5p.m. we hopped on the Monorail towards the Magic Kingdom. The girls got to walk down the middle of Main Street, see Cinderella's Castle light up for Christmas, ride on "It's A Small World". Then Auntie Al, Peyton and I piled into a single Dumbo. It was hilarious! At 7p.m. we saw the SpectroMagic parade. When Snow White walked by she spotted Peyton (still in costume) and walked right up to her and bowed and smiled saying "well look at what we have here"

MAGICAL beginning to our trip for sure!

Minnie Mice fly to Walt Disney World

Taylor's bunny is better than a pacifier because it is so cuddly and very magical. No matter what time of day it is and no matter how tired or energized Taylor is....when you hand her this bunny she immediately sucks her thumb and cuddles it close to her. We handed her the bunny while the stewardess was going over safety information and she was asleep within 15 minutes of takeoff.

Peyton was all smiles throughout the flight, thanks in part to her cousins who let her borrow their extra portable DVD player. Even though I packed 8 DVDs she insisted on rewatching the same one (4 times) the entire flight. It was the Disneyland Sing Along Songs DVD which she enjoys dancing along and singing along when she has enough room to move.

Daddy even felt the magic of the bunny....he started to snooze while holding Taylor!

Here are the girls next to the Christmas Tree in the Old Key West lobby, taken while we were checking in to the resort. Peyton is an awesome big sister. She is constantly holding Taylor's hand and trying to walk her around town. Slowly but surely little T is keeping up with PEW's big strides.

Although we had a rain shower our first night at Old Key West, we still managed to get to Epcot for a few hours of fun. Peyton's favorite ride was the Nemo ride (she referred to it as the seashell ride) and Mommy and Auntie Al enjoyed Soarin'....we owe Daddy lots of thanks for watching his angels while we got to "fly" on Soarin'. We had a very late dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant where we encountered the Smith Family.

Bedtime for these Minnie Mice is normally 8:30p.m. CT but our first night in WDW it was more like 11p.m.!!!! Ouch.

Caught Redhanded

Peyton and Taylor are enjoying our Christmas decorations way too much. Tonight I caught them in the act! They are constantly touchinng them and - let me just call it "rearranging" our room. This picture can be considered their "deer in headlights" pose.

Today, Peyton received her first "report" card from school and I quote...."Peyton works puzzles and dresses up at school. She is often a construction worker. She has played with Max under the climber using tools." Miss PEW truly thinks she is Bob The Builder (care of Daddy's expertise and training).

Peyton goes to the Fox Theatre

Gung Gung and Papa took Peyton to go see Sir's favorite musical, Annie. Amazingly, Peyton lasted through the entire show. She did not fully comprehend the story though. For example, she kept saying "Annie's Grandma" whenever Miss Hannigan took the stage. Annie was certainly Peyton's favorite character. During scenes not involving Annie, Peyton kept asking me "Where Annie go? Where Annie?"

The actress who played Annie was a 10 year old from Orlando. Peyton told me she wants to be Annie, too. Perhaps I will put the soundtrack in our minivan on repeat for a few weeks. That way she will memorize the lyrics before age 3 and she'll have 6+ solid years to focus on her acting abilities :-)

Happy Birthday Uncle Craig & Uncle Donald

Happy Birthday Uncle Craig (assuming you read this every now and then) & Uncle Donald! Now that Turkey Day has come and gone, the girls are sporting their matching Christmas bedtime attire.

Happy Thanksgiving

Colleen and Taylor had priority seating along side the dining room table.



Patrick had Peyton laughing during the Thanksgiving feast.

Brendan specializes in eating turkey.

Turkey cookies on display from Party Pastry Shop.

A big hug for Taylor from the chick magnet himself.

From our home to yours, HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I am thankful for discovering how easy and fun it is to be an official BLOGGER :-)

pre-Thanksgiving dinner at Oishi

Peyton's favorite part of the meal was the "Japanese spaghetti"



Mommy attempted to get both girls to smile for a picture.




Taylor's favorite part of her meal was the fried rice and the sesame chicken.



After dinner Peyton hugged her Daddy and said "Daddy, you're my best friend" at which point I took yet another picture.

Taylor thrives at the playland now that she has conquered WALKING :-)

75 degrees and sunny today in St. Louis

Today began with a haircut for Peyton at Snip-Its by her favorite stylist "Miss Alea" but I forgot to bring my camera to take an in-action shot of Miss Alea with Peyton. This is Peyton strutting through the "big sandbox" (a.k.a. the sand volleyball court) at Preservation Park. As she enjoys her sandbox, little sister smiles as she swings:


Next we went to Seeger Toyota for an oil change and discovered St. Louis County's GREATEST PLAYROOM. It is fully enclosed and somewhat soundproof and childsafe with tons of great toys. I got to kick back and relax while the sisters enjoyed every moment of our 45 minute wait. Literally, I had to coax them out of there when our minivan was ready to roll. Be sure to play the video of Miss Taylor demonstrating her new found ability - walking. . .

Playtime

Not much happening "Blog worthy" today so here is a simple after-dinner playtime picture. The girls and I did take an unplanned trip downtown and Auntie Al took us to lunch as Wasabi (Washington Avenue Sushi/Japanese) but unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to capture the moment. PEW enjoys using chopsticks but she depends on that "cheater" mechanism they give you to help with coordination issues. Speaking of Japanese, if you received the West County coupon "Clipper" booklet in the mail today please be sure to clip the one for Oishi. Either use it and enjoy some delicious Hibachi cooking or send it to me :-)

Wuennenberg Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Turkey Day with the Wuennenbergs. It is wonderful that Grandma Wu has our celebration the Saturday before the actual holiday. This way we can still fit naptime into the daily routine and equally important- we can eat freely without needing to save room for another turkey meal. All was delicious. Taylor got to ride a tricycle with the help of Aunt Tina. I think Peyton's favorite activity was her makeshift "teacup ride" (Uncle Craig spinning her & Luke in a swivel chair).

Circus

Tonight we went to the "Circus To Save Lives" fundraiser benefitting the St. Peters BJC Siteman Cancer Center. The pictures say it all. Peyton got to ride an elephant, a pony, and she got to hop on Ronald McDonald's lap for a quick photo, too. I think Taylor's favorite part of the Circus was the canine act straight from Las Vegas.

Christmas Cards for American Soldiers

Tonight "Auntie Al" came by to help the girls "sign" Christmas cards for men and women in the Special Forces Sniper Unit (U.S. Army). Peyton opted to use red fingerpaint leaving Taylor with the green. Needless to say, Taylor resembled a miniature Incredible Hulk by the time she "autographed" her final card and was carried straight to the bathtub!

Taylor's Ride, Spin & Bounce Zebra

Last night Taylor got her only ride-on birthday gift. I used Mr. & Mrs. Danner's Toys-R-Us giftcard towards this fun purchase. The box says for ages 12-36 months and oh boy, you outta see Peyton on it! She stands on the saddle and yells "yee haw"!

Peyton vs. Taylor (at one year old)

Taylor was a champ at her 1 year old check up. She cried after the 4 shots but when it came to getting her bloodwork she was nothing like her mother. She was so interested in playing with a test tube the Lab Tech gave her that she never even saw the needle or reacted to any of the pain.

For anyone interested is her stats vs. Peyton's 1 year old figures....Taylor tipped the scales at 22 lbs. 4 oz. while Peyton was 26 lbs 1 oz. Taylor stands proud at 31.5 inches while Peyton was 31 inches even. Both very happy healthy girls.

Playdate with Aishani (a.k.a. "Tubbles")

We stayed in all day today. Peyton & Gung Gung made colorful sugar cookies (for Daddy's dessert). Her favorite part was tasting the sugar (see photo below). Peyton's buddy Tubbles came by to play with some of Taylor's birthday gifts and have lunch. After most of the healthy food had been consumed, I made each of the girls a miniature ice cream cone. This was Taylor's first "unassisted cone consumption" so of course I captured it on film. Hope you enjoy Peyton's precious audio as it is just as priceless as Taylor's facial expressions as she devours her orange sherbet!

Minnie Mice

Here is a somewhat recent photo of PEW & T-Burn Combo. They were my very own "Minnie Mice" for Halloween. Taylor is typically the photogenic one always willing to smile for anyone's camera.

Surprise, Potsou

For those of you who are not aware, Potsou has an addiction to BLOGs.....not as a creator but as an avid reader. I am creating our very own blog so that she can read about her "favorite" brother-in-law and darling nieces 24/7.