Charlotte is THREE

To celebrate, we had three birthday parties for her. It wasn't intentional. It just seems easier to celebrate celebrations. Now Lucas is expecting three parties for his 5th birthday. I don't know if I can make that happen. He's already planning it and telling me exactly what he wants. Anyway, back on Char...

Char continues to be small but mighty! She is a petite girl with a BIG personality. She's not afraid to get rough and tough with her brother (and as you probably know, can easily beat him up) but is also a very princess-y girlie girl. She is also quite the blunt little one. Sometimes I'm a bit embarrassed cause this little girl needs a filter. She means well though. This year was a year of lots of pink and purple, dance classes with a cute (mandatory) pink ballet outfit, and new friends for Char. 

Small but mighty since birth

We had a school party for Char at Chuck E. Cheese. Having it there was one of the best decisions we ever made! Tons kids are w-i-l-d! It felt so good to leave with the mess we made! Char handpicked her closest friends at school and was so happy to see them as they arrived. 

 She claims she wants to marry this one (the feeling is reciprocal)

 She's not that short, these kids are just tall!

 Lucas had a blast playing with his BFF there too

 For a small party, it was pretty big

 I think Daddy had a blast too

Today we had a birthday party with her cousins. It was a bit draining since I was still recovering from our flight home and getting the house in order. Well, there's nothing a little bit of catering can't fix. However, cleaning up took quite a bit of energy!

 Waiting for the party to start

 Two pretty little princesses

 My quickie attempt at making the kids table fancy

 Picked out her strawberry cake and waiting for everyone to sing to her

 Mandatory family birthday pic

 Such a ham

 Party's over -> nap time --> sleeping with (new) princesses

And that was 3! Next up, a 40th birthday is coming up... 

Disney Dream Cruise

If you have never been on a cruise, you should definitely try out a Disney cruise. It's pretty much a kid's paradise as long as you're at least 3 years old and potty trained. The kids had tons of fun and Lucas keeps saying he wants to go back to Kids Club. Oh Lucas... we can only go on one big vacation each year. 

Beware, picture overload galore! 

 How to keep kids entertained on a 6 hour flight

I would like to personally thanks Paw Patrol. Thank you for coming to the rescue!

 Rise and shine kiddos! 8:00 EST!

 Ready to get on the real boat

 Silly little Char has been calling R2D2 "Uncle D2" (we laugh at her)

 Relaxing poolside while watching Frozen

 Yup, this is every kid's dream come true!

 Hanging in Andy's room

 All his meals were this big the entire week; he nearly everything on his plate each time

 Char skipped her nap the first night and zonked out during the entire dinner

Little Char in her Nemo corner

Day 2 = princess galore! Char was so happy to meet all these princesses. Lucas was excited about Elsa, Anna, and Cinderella. He didn't care about anyone else.

 Char: My Cinderella too!

 Lucas's last princess photo op of the day

Mommy's favorite princess

 C: Can I touch your hair?

 Char's lunch is bigger than her!

 As a reward for staying up during dinner, our waiter made her some ears

 Speaking of ears... Minnie sighting! (Don't know about that dress though)

We heard about the awesome Kids Program. During our first stop in Nassau, we decided to drop the kids off there while we quickly explored the Bahamas. The highlight was free wifi at a little dive bar-ish joint. 

 Welcome to Nassau, Bahamas!

 Our $2 cups

 Putting that selfie stick to good use

 Captain Mickey sighting after dinner

 This is Mickey, people! Family photo time!

When we woke up the next morning, we were docked at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. This beach was nice! Almost everything was "free" too, which made it even more awesome. 

 Family selfie on the balcony

 Family selfie with the boat

Photo op with Chip and Dale right after leaving the ship

 Reminiscent of our summer days at the beach

 How cool is this?

 A beach with no waves = perfect for young kids

 Olaf and Lucas in the "summer"

Living the life!

 Hello Smee!

 Breakfast at Enchanted Garden (very princess-y)

 Char was a bit disappointed that I didn't bring her Princess Sofia dress

 ICE CREAM!

 Living arrangements (now they're asking for bunk beds in our house)

 "Guys, give me a nice smile for our final picture here"

 My cute little BB8

Speaking of BB8, one of my biggest accomplishments on the cruise was FINALLY watching The Force Awakens. I went in to simply fulfill a promise to the husband and didn't expect much. I was quite surprised; it was a good movie. So good that I bought a BB8 wallet at the Disney store at the airport on the way home.

 Bye bye Disney cruise

 My first DD coffee! Finally!

Having some caffeine was much needed since we spent the entire day at the airport. We got here at 10am and our flight did not leave till 6:19pm. Thank you coffee, iPad, and a nice airport which looks more like a mall. Thank you Sanrio store and the happiness you brought Char when she saw all those Hello Kittys in there. No thank you Daddy for being suckered by the little princess. I asked Dan to go to the Sanrio store with Char and they came out with a Hello Kitty doll. What gives?

 How the kids spent most of their time

Bye vacation, we'll miss you

 

And that was our Winter break. I'm going to miss having a housekeeper. Time to get back to Mommy duties with groceries, cleaning the house, and taking care of the kids. I miss you too, Kids Club!