Christmas celebrations come to a close...

We had a nice morning of putt putt before we loaded up the minivan, packed up and hit the airport. The flight was uneventful but the girls really got excited when they arrived home - and saw the gifts Santa had left by the fireplace.  "I was on the 'nice' list!" Evie cried out.  Ellie meanwhile jumped up and down when she saw her big gift - a new big wheel!

It is always fun to capture the girls expressions when they are opening gifts.  Above, Ellie hugs her new Princess songs CD.  They get so excited!

They even get excited when the other person opens up a cool gift - in this case - the girls both got sticker dolly dressing books!

Evie waits in anticipation to see what little sis is getting. 

And Ellie is over the moon to get a new reusable sticker pad! 

Evie digs into her big gift from Santa - the Lego Friends yacht!  In the end, we had to buy a new table to keep her whole Lego Friends village in one place. 

Ellie unwraps the present from her sister - a new tower for her Rapunzel figurines!  Evie had made the beautiful piece in her pottery class after school. She also made Daddy a cool pencil holder in his favorite color, green. 

The next morning they saw the final gift from Santa, a new mirror and barre so the girls can practice their dance moves!  Ellie put in her princess CD and went right to work!

Then on Sunday we headed over to Ba's and Opa's for the final Christmas celebration.  The girls look dapper in their new holiday jackets, complete with muffs for Evie and faux fur for Ellie's collar. 

Then, one last time for good measure, the girls held their candles and marched to the Christmas tree to the tune of Stille Nacht. 

The Foelsche girls smile for Daddy's and Opa's cameras.

Then it was off to the gifts!

Evie tries out her new knit hat - adorable!

Speaking of new hats, Opa too got a jaunty number himself! 

Last but not least, the girls open their stockings! What a delightful way to end the holidays! 

Christmas Eve and Morning...

After some time in the resort pool and at least 30 times down the water slide, the family headed over to Uncle Karl's and Aunt Amy's for the Christmas festivities. The three girls really enjoyed decorating their gingerbread house but quite a bit of the candies ended up in their mouths and not on the house. 

Evie takes some time to snuggle with cousin Jack-Jack. 

Then the girls decorated this beautifully painted tree by Gerry with the ornaments they had created on Monday.  

We continued our tradition of having the kids carry candles while we sing "Silent Night" in German.  However, thanks to Karl's video and the lyrics, we were able to sing all three verses of the song (instead of just humming through the first verse and then it getting turned off like the ol' days in Yorktown).  

The family puts on our biggest smiles!

Evie is ready to start the unwrapping, after indulging in some fantastic cookies. We left all the presents for Christmas morning, though. 

Ellie does a little dance in her "princess dress". We had a delicious Eve dinner with our prime roast cooked perfectly, baked potatoes, salads - everyone was quite full and content.  Unfortunately, it started to rain so we couldn't see the neighborhood luminaries.  But the girls still went to bed with sugar plums dancing in their heads...

... and woke up to delightful stocking gifts. It is always fun to capture the kid's reactions - Evie seems very excited to be receiving her gummy vitamins. 

And she is even more delighted to receive an iTunes card from Santy Claus so she can download some new apps to the iPad. 

Dia and Ellie check out the awesome new roadster car Dia and Jack got from Santa - it matches the remote-control car that Uncle Karl has. 

Ellie is excited on her sister's behalf when she receives one of her favorite Richard Scarry books - can't get enough of that pickle car! 

She was also thrilled to open a gift for Curious George - a monkey toy - just like she had asked Santa to bring him! 

The girls helped Aunt Amy open Jack's gifts as well.  What a fun first Christmas for Jack-Jack (and everyone else)! 

Disney Day 2!

And on Tuesday we were off to the Magic Kingdom again for our last day at Disney.  The park was much more crowded today, but we still ended up having a full day of fun.  Evie enjoyed another run on Dumbo while Ellie and Daddy braved the Barnstormer rollercoaster.

The girls are a little preoccupied with their snacks and are unaware of how Daddy compares to King Triton.  We were able to go on the Little Mermaid ride again to the girls' delight.  Can't get enough of Under the Sea!

Then it was off to the royal castle via FastPass to meet the lovely princesses. The girls were a little intimidated by Cinderella at first...

...but then quickly went in for a hug!

Rapunzel was a lot of fun, and asked us to make sure we had our frying pans ready for the ruffians out there!

It was back to the Tea Cup Party, of course, Evie's favorite of the week! Here are the girls hanging on for dear life! 

Then, it was off to a delicious brunch at Crystal Palace, where we met Winnie the Pooh!  The girls were delighted!

Also, apparently Piglet had gotten the memo as all three matched beautifully!

Tigger did some bouncing with us before we captured this happy picture. 

And even sad Eeyore had to smile when hugged by our delightful girls. (I think that's a smile?)

The girls were in heaven when they could get giant ice cream sundaes covered in sprinkles.  However, Ellie got the "ice cream shakes" which provided much entertainment!  Well, after a couple more rides - including Ellie's favorite - SplashDown Mountain - Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, and yes, the Enchanted Tiki Room, we decided to call it a day.  What a wonderful experience!  We'll see you in a couple of years, DisneyWorld!

Our Disney World adventure!

On Sunday the family headed off to Disney World - the kids were super excited and could hardly believe we were finally here! And as soon as we entered Main Street, we saw none other than the most practically perfect person we know: 

Mary Poppins!  After explaining to Mary that our girls love to dance, the penguin could not resist taking Evie's hands and taking her for a spin!  It was like a dream come true!

We paused a moment to pose before Cinderella's castle, but I think the kid's faces are the result of Move n' Shake it dance party which had taken over the streets.  Whew, it was a little loud and a little overwhelming at first, so we quickly hightailed it for Fantasy Land.

First stop, after passing Alice and the White Rabbit, was the Mad Tea Party where even Ba and Opa could not resist the allure of spinning tea cups.

We all get our game faces on before the kettle blows its top and the mouse peeks out and the fun begins!

Whee! This ride ended up being Evie's favorite part of her whole trip! She especially loved it when daddy made the cup spin faster and faster!

Under the big top, the girls, Mommy and Ba took to the skies on Dumbo, the flying elephant.  This was also another favorite of Evie's that she insisted on hitting again multiple times.

For a more leisurely pace, we hopped on the Walt Disney World railroad, a steam engine train that took us around the entire park. On the way we spotted Woody and Jessie from Toy Story in Frontierland. Then we headed back to Fantasy Land for lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus where we met up with Amy, Karl, Dia and Jack.

We stopped by the Castle Couture store to revel in all things princess. Opa and Jack settled comfortably on their throne as they watched the excitement.

Then it was off to the carousel, one of Dia's favorites, where the girls picked two noble steeds (just in case they ended up jumping off like a Mary Poppins jolly holiday).

Back to Dumbo, of course, where these three little angels had the biggest smiles after their ride.

Hey, can't leave out little Jack-Jack!

Who is all smiles as well, even though he can't partake in all the excitement. Then followed an afternoon of excitement - Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World After All (which Ellie slept through), and the Astro Orbiter (which Evie dubbed the "vomit comet").  We enjoyed ice cream delights (when a seagull - obviously not from Disney World - rudely tried to dive into Dia's ice cream cup) while watching the Totally Tomorrowland Christmas -- the highlight being the burst of "Florida snow" at the end (which is bubbles, but actually looks kinda like snow).

Ba got to choose the next ride - the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The girls got a kick out of drumming along before we took a ride through Pooh's world. It made us a little hungry for honey, though, so we took shelter from the rain by stopping at Gaston's Tavern and indulged in a giant cinnamon bun.

Our final stop was Enchanted Tales with Belle, where our own little Ellie was chosen (based on her superior hopping skills), to play the coveted role of Mrs. Potts.  She and other kids were joined by Belle and acted out pivotal scenes in the story, including when Mrs. Potts poured a cup o' tea into Chip for Belle.

After parading around to Be Our Guest, Ellie got to hug Belle and received a lovely bookmark memento to remember her shining moment. 

The family called it a day after that, as unfortunately we got stuck in another downpour. As we left the park, we got a quick glimpse of Elsa turning the castle into an ice palace... what a wonderful day!