A camping we will go

I mentioned in my last post that we had some very special peeps making their way south for some warmth and adventure.  My SIL/BIL Michele and John came down from Connecticut with my niece Lydia to help Madeline celebrate her 7th birthday.  They spent a little bit of time doing some theme park thrill seeking, and then we met up with them over at Fort Wilderness.  They had the pleasure of keeping Miss Peggy occupied while we stayed in Charlie. It was so much fun to have them indulge us in our camping adventures.

We arrived early Thursday afternoon (as in two weeks ago). And since the weather was warm and gorgeous, we all went swimming.  Then we came back to the campsites to ride bikes, play kickball, and hang out.

After dinner, we headed over to Chip and Dale's campfire sing-a-long for some fun American folk songs and s'mores.

Friday started with rain and cooler temps, which meant swimming was out.  So we did lots of lounging around the campground. The kids especially loved riding around in the golf carts.  Oh my! lol  Anyway, we headed down to the lake for some fun on the playground and tether ball.  They might have also played in the sand a wee bit.

Then we headed over to the stables so we could see the horses.  Havi was the only one small enough for the pony ride.

Then it was back to the campsites for more kickball and spectating..and maybe some ring pop sucking.

On Saturday, the weather was the same as Friday. So instead of lounging about, we decided to head over to ESPN Wide World of Sports. 

We waited an eternity for the bus to arrive that would take us to Downtown Disney (via Typhoon Lagoon) and then over to the Pop Century resort...and then to Wide World of Sports.  Well, we just couldn't bare the thought of waiting for another (third) bus once we got to the Pop Century resort.  So we hopped into cabs. And when we arrived (over an hour later), we discovered that the Atlanta Braves were playing the Detroit Tigers in a Spring Training game.  Well, since game time was in less than an hour, we decided to go.  While waiting in line for tickets, Madeline decided her loose tooth had to go and promptly yanked it out.  And I snapped a right-after-it-happened-still-bloody-mouth photo to prove it.

We grabbed a quick lunch before the game, and the girls pretended to take over Sports Center.

After three innings, Havi had had enough.  So we walked around the grounds, with the hope of making it over to the tennis courts.

We eventually made it there.  (The place is HUGE.)  Anyway, Caleb thought center court was pretty cool.

And then there might have been some races in the open field next to center court.

Saturday night we had dinner at the Pioneer Hall and were thoroughly entertained by the Hoop-Dee-Doo musical dinner show.  They had us laughing the whole night.  If you ever decide to enjoy a dinner show at the Walt Disney World Resort, this would be the one!

Sunday was our departure day. So we loaded everything up and then had one last swim in the pool.

We had such a wonderful time camping with Michele, John, and Lydia.  We're so grateful they were able to come down for such a long stay to help Madeline celebrate her birthday.  She declared that this was the best birthday ever.  On her actual birthday, which was the 12th, we headed back that way to enjoy lunch with the princesses in Norway at Epcot.  So Part 2 of Madeline's birthday celebration is up next!

Celebrating a special 6 year old

Our precious Madeline Bei turned six years old this past Wednesday.  It's crazy how quickly time has flown.  I have been working on her China book lately (yep, I'm that much of a procrastinator) and am just amazed at how little she was when we first brought her home.

Our precious girl had a few requests that we made good on for this birthday of hers.  First of all, she wanted to go bowling.  And since Auntie Shell and Lydia were coming down from Connecticut to help her celebrate, we thought we'd going bowling at Splitsville in Downtown Disney.  We were somewhat limited in the times they gave us.  So we opted to go right after church, around lunchtime.  Since Havi is still too young to go to her class by herself, I sat with her and Auntie Shell in the cafeteria during church.  She's less distracted (read- LOUD) there than in the larger commons area by the sanctuary.

After church, we headed over to Downtown Disney.

 My sister's crew (including her in-laws) all met us there.
You can spy them waiting for us on the far left in the photo above.

 Every photo Patrick took of me with Madeline had this little photo bomber in the bottom right corner.  So we rolled with it.

I made my favorite rich and delicious chocolate cupcakes with a simple sweet American buttercream.  Then I asked my sister at the very last minute to pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top make some cute toppers.

 Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible.  And so the cupcakes look orange when, in fact, they were coral like the toppers, though not as saturated.  Oh well.

 For her birthday loot, she scored some cute hair accessories, a light up neon slate, a puzzle and framed photo of herself with Lydia.  The second thing she wanted, besides to bowl, was a pair of roller blades.  (For the record, she took one day before she was off and "rolling" on them with Caleb.  And now she can pass down her too small for her roller skates to Havi, who's more than happy to inherit them.)

 After bowling, we scooted over to Fantasia mini golf.  This was my feeble attempt at a selfie with the birthday girl who kept running away from me.

 See that gap in Lydia's smile?  Her tooth got very loose the night before, and I offered to pull it out for her.   

Everyone was a bit infatuated with the ball cleaner as we waited until it was our turn out on the course.

 *fake smile alert*

 Since it got so hot while we were mini golfing, we decided to get some ice cream.  The ice cream was melting pretty quickly.  So although I had my camera, I couldn't really snap any photos until I finished my humongous waffle cone.  I did manage, however, to capture Leah with her Grandma Marsha in their coordinated but completly unplanned outfits.

Before I wrap up this birthday post, I have to share the third and final request from the birthday girl- an ant farm.  Yep.  I don't know where she got the idea, but she wanted one.  So Patrick ordered the farm and the ants.  Everyone watches the ants all the time.  It's pretty funny.  And I want to say thank you so much to Michele and Lydia for flying down here and helping Madeline celebrate her special day.  We loved seeing you guys.  Can't wait until we do it again!

Well, although February was a slow month with my camera, March is proving to be the opposite.  I have some serious catching up to do- including some tennis updates and some every day fun.  

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  We'll be at the courts!