Another fun week is over. We got some more fun things done this week. And had a bit of a snag at the end of the week...
On Day 12 Kenny needed a bit of a pick me up apparently. Honestly, this is an idea that he borrowed from a friend of mine and the kids thought it was funny. They knew he was drinking coffee just like Mommy and Daddy.
Our activity for the day was to decorate the kids' doors. This is something we do every year and each year they help more and more. They also help come up with the ideas for what we will do. Kenzie actually wanted an entire snow related landscape with her sitting on Santa's lap but I had to shut that down. Instead we settled on a fireplace for her. This was good because I was able to reuse some things I had from last year when I made a "fireplace" in our living room for our stockings to hang over. She thought this entire thing was amazing. While I ended up cutting the pieces for everything while she was at school to save time, she helped me tape the backs of everything and she placed all the smaller details on her own like the candles. Will isn't old enough to cut his yet but it was pretty easy. We have done a snowman on Kenzie's door once before but for Will we decided to try Olaf. He was pretty easy and Will loved helping me put everything on the door. He thinks he is so cool. All in all, we only spent about $5 to do all this since we had most of the supplies already and I only had to purchase some cardstock in various colors. I think this is our best year yet. Though Will really did love his train from last year which remained up for most of this year. I think I just took it down a few weeks ago. He wanted another train, but we convinced him to try something new this year. And since we watch(ed) a lot of Frozen, he loves Olaf. Thankfully he didn't ask for Sven.
On Day 13, Kenny decided he would just go to church. Nothing too big but the kids thought it was funny. Their main concern was that he would burn his booty if we turned on the town. Haha! We didn't have an activity for the day. This was the one day that we planned to not have an activity mainly just because Mondays and Tuesdays are already super busy for us and we figured we would take a day off on purpose.
On Day 14, Kenny apparently got into a spat or something with the Tooth Fairy. He lost. Or so it seems. This may have been the biggest hit so far of the season.
Our activity of the day was to finally go see the big guy in red. Every year we set up an afternoon when Steven meets us down at Bass Pro Shops to see Santa. We like this Santa because he is always really nice and it's free to see him there. They even give you a free photo and depending on the day and time, they will often throw in a free frame for it. We got there a bit early before Steven made it there. I took the kids inside and we played around in the kids' area. They played with the dirt (it was like kinetic sand and super cool), built with Lincoln Logs, colored a picture or two, and drove the remote controlled trucks around. When we got in line for Santa the kids started talking about what they were going to ask him for this Christmas. Steven got there while we were waiting in line just before we met Santa. We weren't worried about the kids this year. They are both really into characters at Disney so we didn't think that they would have an issue. And they didn't. They both ran right up to Santa and got on his lap. Will told Santa that he wanted a bike with pedals (like Kenzie) and Kenzie told him a princess book. Their picture turned out pretty cute but we didn't buy any packages this year. We rode the carousel before leaving. Kenzie climbed right up on a deer without help. Seriously. When did she grow up so much?!? It's little things like that, that make us realize how big she is. Both kids thought it was a fun time. Will actually told me the next day that he really liked meeting Santa. Quite the departure from years past.
On Day 15, Kenny decided to go for a ride on the fan. It wasn't on (and even if it was, he wouldn't have moved) but he apparently wanted to just hang out for the day. The kids took a while to find him. He was above their eye line so it took until Kenzie was a good distance from him before she noticed him as she looked in his general direction. Even after she found him, Will required help to notice him.
The activity for the day was to write our letters to Santa. We like these form letters that Hobby Lobby sells because it makes it easy. Kenzie wrote hers entirely on her own this year. I didn't even help her spell anything. Will dictated his to me and then I guided his hand slightly as he wrote his name. Really, he wrote it with me telling him what to do and keeping my hand in place so he wouldn't make lines that took up the entire page. We luck out that his name is easy. We typically would go to Macy's to mail them, but I didn't want to drive all the way over there for that. When we were in Mt. Dora a week ago we noticed a mailbox to mail letters to Santa and we decided that we would just wait and drop them in there the next day when we went to Light Up Mt. Dora. Except that didn't happen either. I eventually told the kids that I left them with Kenny and asked them to take them with him to Santa. They were fine with that. Next year I have plans to do their letters early and then mail them through USPS for the Santa program they do. I found out about it this year, but it was too late. You have to have the letters in by December 15th and we obviously missed that. You live, you learn. (I have no idea why they uploaded sideways... I tried to fix that and got frustrated so that's where we are.)
On Day 16, Kenny decided it was time to TP part of the house. Thankfully, he chose a small area. The kids thought this was hilarious but he was definitely reprimanded by Kenzie.
We went down to Light Up Mt. Dora for the evening. We saw all the lights at Donnelly Park first before walking down to Sunset Park to see the Christmas tree that lights up and dances to music. We spent a bit of time there watching Kenzie dance like crazy. I think she would have gone all night if we let her. Then we headed over to the marina to see the boat storage place that goes all out every year. They have a pretty good old school manger scene too that the kids always like. Walking back to the car wasn't too bad and we made it home pretty easily.
On Day 17 Kenny just hung around on top of a light in our house. The kids took a while to find him, but eventually did. He was far above their eye level so it wasn't easy. They said he was watching Nana sleep since she got onto him too for toilet papering the night before. (She was sleeping on the blow up bed in the living room that night.)
Our day started with the Reindeer Run at Seaworld. Steven ran it and I walked it with the kids in the stroller. Nana was with me but about a mile in, she got dizzy and started having some issues. Eventually she told me to go on and as we were walking back into the kids' race, we saw her and she told us that she was going to have the medical personnel check her out. We left her in their capable hands and went over to see the Kid's Race. Will ran his first race. Not too long but he did great. He would have gone the entire way on his own, but he ran into a person that was stopped and I think it threw him off. He looked behind him and realized I wasn't there. Then he made me hold his hand the rest of the way. He finished though and was so excited with himself. When he finished, he looked at me and told me we won. So cute. He was so cute running too. Kenzie was up next but as I was getting ready to watch her, I got a phone call that the EMTs were being called and they wanted to transport Nana to the hospital. I took Will and went to find the first aid area while Kenzie ran. She went a LONG way compared to last time. Steven said she was winded at the end but she tells us she ran the entire way. We weren't 100% sure because she turned a corner in the course before turning around and coming back. She was out of sight for about 20 seconds, I would guess. We don't know how long it was... but it was far longer than last time. She runs the bus loop in PE three times a week, so we think that definitely helped. (She has also told us now that she wants to start running some with us in the neighborhood so she can eventually run the longer races with us.) In the meantime, I located Nana right as they were taking her out on the stretcher to the hospital. We found our car and went to the hospital too. They ended up keeping her overnight that night and wanted to run some tests. So, while the race was good for us, it wasn't as great for her. We are just glad that this happened in a place with a lot of medical professionals around and they acted fast. I read an article that said if you are going to have heart problems, one of the best places to do it is at a physical event like a race because the people there are trained especially with cardiac issues. The rest of our day was pretty iffy. Steven's phone broke so we had to deal with that but we ended up at Celebration Snow. We met our neighbors down there at an Italian restaurant and had a yummy meal before going outside for the snowfall. The kids loved it. Kenzie was filthy and soaked by the end. Florida "snow" is often just soap bubbles basically. Will wasn't so sure at the beginning but he ended up loving it. He didn't want to wear it like his sister, but he thought it was awesome. Kenzie made snow angels and covered herself in foam so that was exciting. Usually afterwards we all go down to see the Lights on Jeater Bend (which we did earlier this season with Nana and Papa after Thanksgiving) but we had to run by the hospital to drop off some things for Nana so we sat this one out. We also didn't ride the train this year. It is $5 a person now and $20 for our family was just too steep for a train ride around town. Though Will would have loved it. We checked on Nana (or rather I ran in and checked on her) and she was feeling better but not super excited to have to stay overnight. Can't blame her.
On Day 18 Kenny was hanging out on another light. Honestly, I think he forgot to head to the North Pole until about 3am. Yeah. That's it. He forgot. It was a rough day the day before...
We initially had plans to hit up Disney Springs in the afternoon after church to see the Parade of Trees, but we decided that with Nana in the hospital and potentially coming home and then needing to drive across town to pick up new phones, that we would nix that. Also... we were exhausted. We may try to go sometime later in the month, but I don't know that we will get to it. Not a big deal. This wasn't a huge event for us, so we aren't worried. On the plus side, Nana was released with no restrictions. She has some weird issue in which a nerve near her heart basically misfires causing her heart to beat really fast and not letting her heart rate drop even when resting. The good news is that it fixed itself on its own when it happened and there was no damage because of it. The bad news is that it could happen again at any time even just laying in bed. There is a fix, but the docs will wait to see if it ever happens again before they try to fix it. She at least knows the signs now and will get medical intervention right away if there is an issue.
We were actually sort of happy for the end of this week. We are tired. It was fun (mostly) but exhausting all the same. One more week of Kenny. Then he is on his way back to the North Pole with the big guy in red. Now to find some time to actually wrap gifts and get all that together while also doing all the normal stuff we usually do. This week we have Kenzie's dance recital at the studio, her program at school, cookie decorating with Will's class, Girl Scouts, Will's party at school, Kenzie's party at school which I am volunteering for, and anything else that randomly comes up... I need a nap... about 6 more hours in every day. At least.
On Day 12 Kenny needed a bit of a pick me up apparently. Honestly, this is an idea that he borrowed from a friend of mine and the kids thought it was funny. They knew he was drinking coffee just like Mommy and Daddy.
Our activity for the day was to decorate the kids' doors. This is something we do every year and each year they help more and more. They also help come up with the ideas for what we will do. Kenzie actually wanted an entire snow related landscape with her sitting on Santa's lap but I had to shut that down. Instead we settled on a fireplace for her. This was good because I was able to reuse some things I had from last year when I made a "fireplace" in our living room for our stockings to hang over. She thought this entire thing was amazing. While I ended up cutting the pieces for everything while she was at school to save time, she helped me tape the backs of everything and she placed all the smaller details on her own like the candles. Will isn't old enough to cut his yet but it was pretty easy. We have done a snowman on Kenzie's door once before but for Will we decided to try Olaf. He was pretty easy and Will loved helping me put everything on the door. He thinks he is so cool. All in all, we only spent about $5 to do all this since we had most of the supplies already and I only had to purchase some cardstock in various colors. I think this is our best year yet. Though Will really did love his train from last year which remained up for most of this year. I think I just took it down a few weeks ago. He wanted another train, but we convinced him to try something new this year. And since we watch(ed) a lot of Frozen, he loves Olaf. Thankfully he didn't ask for Sven.
On Day 13, Kenny decided he would just go to church. Nothing too big but the kids thought it was funny. Their main concern was that he would burn his booty if we turned on the town. Haha! We didn't have an activity for the day. This was the one day that we planned to not have an activity mainly just because Mondays and Tuesdays are already super busy for us and we figured we would take a day off on purpose.
On Day 14, Kenny apparently got into a spat or something with the Tooth Fairy. He lost. Or so it seems. This may have been the biggest hit so far of the season.
On Day 15, Kenny decided to go for a ride on the fan. It wasn't on (and even if it was, he wouldn't have moved) but he apparently wanted to just hang out for the day. The kids took a while to find him. He was above their eye line so it took until Kenzie was a good distance from him before she noticed him as she looked in his general direction. Even after she found him, Will required help to notice him.
The activity for the day was to write our letters to Santa. We like these form letters that Hobby Lobby sells because it makes it easy. Kenzie wrote hers entirely on her own this year. I didn't even help her spell anything. Will dictated his to me and then I guided his hand slightly as he wrote his name. Really, he wrote it with me telling him what to do and keeping my hand in place so he wouldn't make lines that took up the entire page. We luck out that his name is easy. We typically would go to Macy's to mail them, but I didn't want to drive all the way over there for that. When we were in Mt. Dora a week ago we noticed a mailbox to mail letters to Santa and we decided that we would just wait and drop them in there the next day when we went to Light Up Mt. Dora. Except that didn't happen either. I eventually told the kids that I left them with Kenny and asked them to take them with him to Santa. They were fine with that. Next year I have plans to do their letters early and then mail them through USPS for the Santa program they do. I found out about it this year, but it was too late. You have to have the letters in by December 15th and we obviously missed that. You live, you learn. (I have no idea why they uploaded sideways... I tried to fix that and got frustrated so that's where we are.)
On Day 16, Kenny decided it was time to TP part of the house. Thankfully, he chose a small area. The kids thought this was hilarious but he was definitely reprimanded by Kenzie.
We went down to Light Up Mt. Dora for the evening. We saw all the lights at Donnelly Park first before walking down to Sunset Park to see the Christmas tree that lights up and dances to music. We spent a bit of time there watching Kenzie dance like crazy. I think she would have gone all night if we let her. Then we headed over to the marina to see the boat storage place that goes all out every year. They have a pretty good old school manger scene too that the kids always like. Walking back to the car wasn't too bad and we made it home pretty easily.
On Day 17 Kenny just hung around on top of a light in our house. The kids took a while to find him, but eventually did. He was far above their eye level so it wasn't easy. They said he was watching Nana sleep since she got onto him too for toilet papering the night before. (She was sleeping on the blow up bed in the living room that night.)
Our day started with the Reindeer Run at Seaworld. Steven ran it and I walked it with the kids in the stroller. Nana was with me but about a mile in, she got dizzy and started having some issues. Eventually she told me to go on and as we were walking back into the kids' race, we saw her and she told us that she was going to have the medical personnel check her out. We left her in their capable hands and went over to see the Kid's Race. Will ran his first race. Not too long but he did great. He would have gone the entire way on his own, but he ran into a person that was stopped and I think it threw him off. He looked behind him and realized I wasn't there. Then he made me hold his hand the rest of the way. He finished though and was so excited with himself. When he finished, he looked at me and told me we won. So cute. He was so cute running too. Kenzie was up next but as I was getting ready to watch her, I got a phone call that the EMTs were being called and they wanted to transport Nana to the hospital. I took Will and went to find the first aid area while Kenzie ran. She went a LONG way compared to last time. Steven said she was winded at the end but she tells us she ran the entire way. We weren't 100% sure because she turned a corner in the course before turning around and coming back. She was out of sight for about 20 seconds, I would guess. We don't know how long it was... but it was far longer than last time. She runs the bus loop in PE three times a week, so we think that definitely helped. (She has also told us now that she wants to start running some with us in the neighborhood so she can eventually run the longer races with us.) In the meantime, I located Nana right as they were taking her out on the stretcher to the hospital. We found our car and went to the hospital too. They ended up keeping her overnight that night and wanted to run some tests. So, while the race was good for us, it wasn't as great for her. We are just glad that this happened in a place with a lot of medical professionals around and they acted fast. I read an article that said if you are going to have heart problems, one of the best places to do it is at a physical event like a race because the people there are trained especially with cardiac issues. The rest of our day was pretty iffy. Steven's phone broke so we had to deal with that but we ended up at Celebration Snow. We met our neighbors down there at an Italian restaurant and had a yummy meal before going outside for the snowfall. The kids loved it. Kenzie was filthy and soaked by the end. Florida "snow" is often just soap bubbles basically. Will wasn't so sure at the beginning but he ended up loving it. He didn't want to wear it like his sister, but he thought it was awesome. Kenzie made snow angels and covered herself in foam so that was exciting. Usually afterwards we all go down to see the Lights on Jeater Bend (which we did earlier this season with Nana and Papa after Thanksgiving) but we had to run by the hospital to drop off some things for Nana so we sat this one out. We also didn't ride the train this year. It is $5 a person now and $20 for our family was just too steep for a train ride around town. Though Will would have loved it. We checked on Nana (or rather I ran in and checked on her) and she was feeling better but not super excited to have to stay overnight. Can't blame her.
On Day 18 Kenny was hanging out on another light. Honestly, I think he forgot to head to the North Pole until about 3am. Yeah. That's it. He forgot. It was a rough day the day before...
We initially had plans to hit up Disney Springs in the afternoon after church to see the Parade of Trees, but we decided that with Nana in the hospital and potentially coming home and then needing to drive across town to pick up new phones, that we would nix that. Also... we were exhausted. We may try to go sometime later in the month, but I don't know that we will get to it. Not a big deal. This wasn't a huge event for us, so we aren't worried. On the plus side, Nana was released with no restrictions. She has some weird issue in which a nerve near her heart basically misfires causing her heart to beat really fast and not letting her heart rate drop even when resting. The good news is that it fixed itself on its own when it happened and there was no damage because of it. The bad news is that it could happen again at any time even just laying in bed. There is a fix, but the docs will wait to see if it ever happens again before they try to fix it. She at least knows the signs now and will get medical intervention right away if there is an issue.
We were actually sort of happy for the end of this week. We are tired. It was fun (mostly) but exhausting all the same. One more week of Kenny. Then he is on his way back to the North Pole with the big guy in red. Now to find some time to actually wrap gifts and get all that together while also doing all the normal stuff we usually do. This week we have Kenzie's dance recital at the studio, her program at school, cookie decorating with Will's class, Girl Scouts, Will's party at school, Kenzie's party at school which I am volunteering for, and anything else that randomly comes up... I need a nap... about 6 more hours in every day. At least.
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