Sharing Traditions

Happy Easter!  We headed to Cisco, Texas again for the annual Sneed family reunion at Lake Cisco Christian Camp.  It is always such an amazing weekend and such a blessing to reconnect with aunts, uncles, and (many) cousins that we usually only get to see once a year.  I believe Hannah is part of the fourth generation of this family that has been getting together since I was a baby.  It started with my grandparents generation: six brothers and two sisters along with all of their kids and grandchildren.

It was always so much fun going there year after year while growing up.  We'd meet up with cousins and have a blast exploring the camp, hiking, and hunting Easter eggs.  I will always treasure going to my great aunt's farm and singing hymns together as a family by the bonfire.  I love being able to share with Hannah the strong family connections and the rich Christian legacy that this family has passed down to each generation.

Hannah had a blast at "the camp."  She made fast friends with her cousins and spent almost the whole weekend outside, covered in sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and dirt.

Having fun with Uncle Jonathan!

Hannah and her Aunt Jamie playing basketball

Hunting Easter Eggs in the old Chapel

Almost all of the "little" cousins right after the egg hunt.
I have many pictures that look just like this from when we were kids.

Hannah and Zoe... they were good buddies the whole weekend.  

I am not sure of the technical relationship, but their grandparents are first cousins.

A Magical Moment

In "Disney language," special moments that happen in their parks, resorts, or on their ships are described as Magical Moments.  They are typically moments that you don't expect, they take your breath away, make you choke up, and usually make you a Disney Fan for the rest of your life.

We saw all of the characters multiple times during our week onboard the Disney Wonder.  It is Hannah's favorite thing to do when we are at any of the Disney Destinations, especially now because she loves getting them to "sign their name" in her autograph book.  She loves running up to them, handing them her book, giving them BIG hugs, and chatting with them.  Many of the characters love seeing her!  They give her big hugs and kisses, make hearts with their hands, and (those who can) chat with her for several minutes.  (I imagine they get tired of the screaming and pushy kids (and parents)!)

During this cruise we experienced something new that we had never even heard of before.  On the last night, all of the characters come out to the lobby for a "Till We Meet Again" meet and greet one last time before all of the guests go home.  During dinner that night, we received an invitation to meet with the characters prior to "Till We Meet Again" for a private meet and greet with about half a dozen other families.  It said because they enjoyed visiting with your family so much that the characters wanted one more chance.

We were expecting Mickey, Minnie, and maybe a few princesses but were totally blown away with who showed up!  We got to see Mickey & Minnie, Daisy & Donald, Goofy, Stitch, Peter Pan & Captain Hook, Ariel, Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella, Belle, as well as several pirates and other characters from the stage productions onboard.

The event was a big dance party and started off with Anne Marie (from one of the shows, Disney Dreams) taking Hannah's hand and pulling her into the sea of characters to dance and mingle.  We were blown away with the whole experience and were thrilled to see that not only were the characters excited to see Hannah but they also knew her name.  Hannah loved every minute of it and had a hard time settling down for the night afterwards.  Not only was this the highlight of our cruise, but it is an experience and a Magical Moment that we will treasure for a long time.

Hannah and Anne Marie, the main character from the show, Disney Dreams.  The award-winning show is a must do when on board the Disney Wonder or Disney Magic.  As you can see, Hannah was a little in awe with the whole experience.  Anne Marie grabbed Hannah by the hand at the beginning and took her into the crowd of characters almost faster than we could keep up.  She was so sweet and hung out with Hannah through most of the event taking her to other characters she wanted to meet.

Chatting with Snow White

Hanging out with Belle

A big bear hug from Mickey

Loving on Minnie

Minnie taking Hannah to meet others

Hugging Daisy 

Playing with Stitch

Cruising the Riviera

A few weeks ago, we headed west for a wonderful vacation onboard the Disney Wonder.  We cruised out of Los Angeles to the ports of Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta.  It was great week of relaxation and a chance to "unplug" from the world for the first time in a long time.

Hannah had a great time deciding which character she wanted to visit with next.  We saw all of the princesses at least twice, Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale, Stitch, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Dopey (and probably others I can't remember at the moment!)

During the cruise, we went to a Princess Tea Party (of apple juice and chocolate chip cookies) with Snow White and Dopey who taught the little girls how to "properly" drink tea.  Hannah loved it!

My parents were able to travel with us and we loved having them with us, especially Hannah.  She thought she was pretty cool to have all four of us to herself.

Three Years Old!

Our girl turned three years old yesterday!  We had quite the weekend visiting Aunt Jamie for Spring Sing and celebrating with my family there and then celebrated with Chet's family last night.

One Day Old

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Three Years Old!

On Friday, we had a girls trip out the American Girl store for Hannah's birthday.  I found this cute matching outfit for Hannah and her baby and we surprised her with it on Friday morning.  We ate lunch at the American Girl Bistro where Jill (the doll) had her own high chair and cup and plate.  Hannah thought that was just the neatest thing.  Then she had a lot of fun shopping in the store later and spending her birthday money on new outfits for her baby dolls.

On Saturday, we headed up to Oklahoma City for Spring Sing and we celebrated with my family in between shows.  Hannah's only request for her cake was for it to be pink.  So I made a strawberry cake. I found a cute idea to make edible tea cups online one day while killing time and remembered how much Hannah loved riding the teacups in Disney World and how much she loves Alice.  So I took the idea and ran with it and came up with a Mad Hatter's Tea Party Birthday Cake.  (I have been watching Cake Boss too much!)  Hannah loved it which is all that matters!

Happy Birthday, Hannah Jane!  We love you so much!

Spring Sing!

We headed to Oklahoma Christian this weekend to catch my sister in Spring Sing.  Spring Sing is the big show every year where all of the Social Service Clubs pick a theme to parody with host/ hostess songs in between.  The theme this year was TV Reruns so we saw shows about Mr. Rogers, Blues Clues, Cops, and Minnie Mouse and heard songs from Sesame Street, Friends, CSI, Full House, and the Wonder Years.  We had a blast watching my sister in the Freshman show as Blues Clues and seeing my former club, Gamma Rho, as Minnie Mouse.

And for old times sake...  Spring Sing was always one of my favorite times of year when I was at OC.

Me and my friends Lisa and Christa.  Christa and I were Whos from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I think Lisa's club did some kind of jungle theme that year... ?

Countdown!

We love counting down the days to big events and vacations at our house.  The anticipation and planning is almost as exciting as the event and vacation itself.  We've always done digital countdowns on our computers but Hannah is old enough now that I thought it would be fun for her to be able to help "mark" the days off.  Plus it is a great way for her learn her numbers!

We actually have two countdowns right now.  The first is that this sweet girl is going to be three next week!  Birthdays are a big deal for her right now.  We talk often about when all of the family birthdays are and she has been able to tell us her birthday is March 6 for several months now.

To help her know when March 6 is, I came up with this easy countdown.  Every day we take off one clothespin, count the pins, and write the new number.

Our other countdown is for our next Disney Cruise.  We are heading in a few weeks to Los Angeles to cruise the Mexican Riviera and for a couple of days in Disneyland.  We are excited about this trip because it has no "business meetings" and is all fun.  We are also really excited because Mamaw and Granddad (my parents) are coming with us this time!

I had so much fun making this countdown.  It is a mini-muffin tin with magnetic circles.  Every morning, Hannah takes off one circle to reveal a little treat like a few M&M's or mini-Vanilla wafers.  As she gets older, I plan to include clues about our upcoming vacation like the resort we are staying at, if we are going on a cruise, etc.

Hannah loves taking off one circle!  She jumps out of the bed in the morning and runs to it first thing.  Sometimes the promise of taking off a circle is the only thing to get her out of bed in the mornings.  I also made Christmas circles to use as our advent calendar.

We have a big week coming up!  We are heading to Oklahoma Christian for Spring Sing to watch my sister in the Freshman Show.  Their theme is Blue's Clues. I am also excited that my Gamma girls chose Minnie Mouse this year for their theme.  So appropriate!

Our girl is also turning three.  For her birthday, my mom is taking Hannah (and me, too!) to the American Girl Store in Dallas.  More on that soon!

"Turn around, turn around, turn around..."

Last night, we took Hannah to see these guys, the Imagination Movers.  For those of you without little kids, they are a band that play kids' music with a rock edge.  Meaning they play kids' music that Mom and Dad actually enjoy listening to!  The Imagination Movers also have a tv show on the Disney Channel where they play their songs and use their imaginations to solve problems.

Hannah loves the Movers and we do, too!  We were already impressed with them and their story, and were even more so last night.  We loved watching the guys come out into the audience, not afraid to dance and interact with the kids.  We were also impressed that they ended their concert with, "God Bless."

Hannah had a great time at the concert!  She was a little star-struck for the first half, but really got into the music during the second half!