69 months

School was a bit better this month, we had less trips to the clinic and less outbursts about not wanting to go to school, she was still waiting for her hookie day I promised her to finally arrive! Academically she is thriving, her little friend that got moved out of her classroom is back a few times a week to join her advanced reading group which C is super excited about, even if she only gets to see her for 20 minutes, its 20 minutes more than she would have otherwise. I love the looks I get from this kid when I see her around school, you would think at times she doesn't know who I am, I am embarrassing her already! I haven't had lunch with her as much as I would have liked to this fall and will try and make it up to her after the new year. The girls had their check-ups at the dentist this month, C was good and had a good check-up, the doctor on the other hand for her flu shot didn't go so great! I didn't tell them where we were going and when we pulled into the parking lot the outbursts started, I had to pry C from her car seat and drag her into the office as she continued to wail and work herself up to a fever! Finally when it was over she looked at me as if it wasn't that bad, this kid!

Soccer came to an end this month and surprisingly the kids (well some of them) got better as the season went on. C's team I think ended up winning two games, she didn't score or make really any significant contributions but she says she had fun and wants to play again next season. Hopefully if she decides to keep playing things will click for her like they did J and she will get more into it, well that and maybe not having a friend on the team will help her, while it is nice to play with friends all they would do is talk when they were out on the field together!

Veterans day we went to the Mote Aquarium with friends, we hadn't been for a few years, probably since C was early three and it brought back so many good memories taking them back again. I was interested to see how much C would actually would remember and surprisingly she remembered quite a bit. While she says her favorite part is seeing the otters I would beg to differ and say her favorite thing is racing around to find all of the electronic games and educational stations they have around the centers, she loves to push buttons an tries to beat everyone else to them! We couldn't let a trip go by without getting one of their chocolate chip cookies, this became a staple when we would go with Nana and we had to carry on the tradition of a cookie picture of he! We had a nice day with our friends and look forward to taking the girls back this next year.

The highlight and big surprise this month was our family trip to Chicago, C finally got her hookie day and three of them at that! She was so happy to be missing school but not happy when she found out that I had gotten work from her teacher that she had to do while we were away! The girls are always hearing us talk about Chicago and have said many times they wanted to go. So when daddy found out he needed to go for a meeting, we said why not lets all go, we invited Grandma and Grandpa too! We made this a surprise for them and didn't tell them until that morning that we were going somewhere. They thought we were dropping daddy at the airport for work and continuing on to Disney World, but when we pulled into the parking garage at the airport they knew something was up, that and they were wearing winter boots! The decided we were definitely going somewhere cold and C said North Carolina, when we got our boarding passes and they found out it was Chicago they were excited! We had an amazing five days showing the girls a city we love. There were many firsts and lots of memories made. They already want to go back and think they should accompany daddy on all of his work trips there! C's favorite part of the trip was getting to go to American Girl twice, not spoiled at all!

When we got back from Chicago the girls had one week of school left before Thanksgiving break We also had a week to get the house in order for our company to arrive to spend that week with us. The entire Georgia crew (Nana is now part of the Georgia crew) arrived to spend a fun week with us celebrating J's birthday and Thanksgiving. The kids were so excited to see each other and picked up right where they left off when we left Georgia in July, what a fun week we had! We started by celebrating J's birthday that Monday at Jumpin Fun and then with a BBQ and swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Tuesday we showed them why we love the Mote Aquarium and spent a fun morning and afternoon with the fish, we took a break in between the two sides and had a nice lunch at the Old Salty Dog and got to sit outside along the water to eat. C finally got brave enough to touch what is inside the touch tanks and touched a starfish for the first time. Her and K also played with a super friendly guitar fish for a very long time, once she saw things wouldn't hurt her she was all about touching them! The boys golfed Wednesday morning while the girls hung out at home then that afternoon we all went to see what the Frozen 2 hype was all about, we all loved the movie, C is back into her Elsa kick again and needs the new costume!

Thanksgiving day started with the Turkey Trot for mom and dad while the rest of the crew stayed home to sleep in and watch the Macy's Parade. After some breakfast and once they saw Santa end the parade we headed for some pool time since it was beautiful outside! The kids enjoyed swimming, playing some Tenzi (a new dice game everyone got hooked on) and painting their turkey cookies Nana had brought for them. None of them pardoned their turkeys and instead gobbled them down pretty fast! We got dressed up for some family photos and then ate our weight in Thanksgiving dinner, it's amazing how fast dinner gets gobbled up after all the preparations! It was a nice low key day full of family and fun. Friday morning after breakfast we had to say goodbye to the crew (minus Nana who was staying for a few more days), it was another fun week of memories made, and surprisingly no teeth were lost, until next time!

The month ended with a day trip to Disney to celebrate J's birthday yet again, this year was full of celebrations! We parked at Epcot and took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom, we rode in the first car and got to see inside the drivers car and C got to sit in the seat, was pretty neat to see all of the buttons and such that make the monorail go! We enjoyed the morning at MK and seeing the Christmas decorations, we rode a few rides, C wouldn't ride Thunder Mountain this day but was fine riding Haunted Mansion. We had a nice lunch at Tony's, can't be a birthday without a meal and some pasta from there and then headed over to Epcot for the rest of the afternoon. C had been waiting to wear her new Mary Poppins dress so of course the first thing we had to do was head to the UK to see her! They also got to see Aurora and Belle who was dressed in her Winter dress. We had a nice day together and are already looking forward to our next trip back in a few weeks!

Here are the pictures from the month, the cousins visit and our trips to Chicago and Disney.