princess | OUR LIFE IN 3D

Archive for the tag “princess”

21 Oct 2014

Princesses For A Day

This is the story of a man named Brady.

No wait, wrong story. This is the story of three Princesses of the Serengeti.

As noted on their plaque, they were revered for their beauty and interdependence and respect for ALL creatures. They were the prodigy of the Lion King.

King of Somewhere Hot

They loved and respected their Lion King father, as well as their majestic, Queen of the Serengeti Mother ….

Meet the Queen of the Serengeti and her Princesses

Meet the King of the Serengeti and his Princesses

Ok not so much on the respect part for these Serengeti Princesses.

(Dad lets them get away with most anything)

Yes, last weekend our annual zoo trip for our Princesses to meet up with their Princess cousin Nikki.

It was tons of fun this year too! The first thing they had to do, once inside the gates, was to go play in the zoo playground.

Come on kids! It’s the zoo!

We got to see the usual zoo residents. There were the Peacocks

And Mohawks

But Dylan missed those as she was too busy playing

We saw and fed the giraffes.

And Dylan found a new friend….

But then we lost her again….

We saw a Rumble in the Jungle

But our girls, er, Princesses, had seen all this before

Is that all you got?

Everyone took a break to try and conquer the 4-story high ‘Sky High Safari’ which is a series of balance beams, rope bridges, and tight wires you traverse way high up in the air.

Dylan was a little unsure of herself in this one

She held on tight as we crossed the high rope, hanging on to hanging ropes and her bungee cord

…just how high up are we Daddy?

Skylar took right to it though

…as she clung on to her mom for dear life

Well, we also saw a gorilla or two relaxing..

Please leave me alone….

Luckily, while we were there it was time to feed him. And so we got to see this gentle giant use his manners for his lunch as he waited patiently for a few heads of lettuce.

Please, please, pretty please?

I wish Dylan could see this. I wonder where she is hanging out now?

I tried to get the gorilla’s attention by throwing in a big wadded up ball of leaves. But he didn’t like that too much.

Food?

Maybe I shouldn’t have done that I guess. He just walked away.

I suppose I was a bad example for our Princesses. It was a good thing Dylan wasn’t here to see that. I wonder where she went? I hope she’s not getting into trouble….

Yes our Princesses had a great time on a beautiful day. They had tons of fun. Hit new heights! And really loved being with their cousin Nikki.

Which is what the trip was all about.

Have a great week everyone!

Posted in Archives and tagged fav. cousin, go Dylan go, princess, Riverbanks Zoo, rock wall, You got his butt

23 Oct 2012

3 Comments

“Boo, Y’all!”

Welcome to the special pre-Halloween Edition edition of Halloween in 3D. But first my two year old has a message for you:

Now, what could be more fun to a child at Halloween but a week full of fun pre-Halloween shenanigans before Halloween?

Actually, we’ve all been in a kinda crazy Halloween mood since one of the fabulous grandmothers sent down a Halloween package for the girls a few weeks back. Inside, among all the treats, was a fun lawn flag that simply read, “Boo Y’all.”

Now I have just been having too much fun with this. I started saying it to the kids and now they say it all the time. Its just fun to shout for some reason. Go ahead, say it with your best southern drawl. It’s very contagious!! Check out our clan and more zany “boo Y’all” fun at the Olive Garden…..

SPOILER ALERT: Our girls have their Halloween outfits picked out already. Smiling Skylar will be a Pumpkin. Dylan, showing more of her personality than imagination, opted to dress like a Princess in a flowing pink gown.

The pre-Halloween week began with our most fabulous nanny taking the girls out to a Pumpkin Patch at one of the nearby historical plantations. Instead of describing it I thought I would just let some pictures paint the images of their spooky adventure:

A fashion setter

“Boo Y’all!”

“It was Dylan’s fault…”

Then, this past Friday, we packed the kids in the car to head to their favorite cousin’s house for a night of “Boo in the Zoo”. No….her cousin’s house was not the zoo. It was the Greenville Zoo hosting Trick Or Treat as the sun went down.

The kids had a great time. They collected a little bit of candy (for Mom and Dad). Acting silly, all dressed up in their favorite outfit was just an extra. Skylar was a hit with the accompanying adults. Each Trick or Treat station had two lines to divide the trick or treaters in as they passed. Young Skylar, evidently thinking there was something different in each line, went through one side and then went to the top of the parallel line to get a double helping of goodies. She was so cute and innocently naïve that the hosts often would just smile and give her more.

A disappointed Dylan at the Zoo confided that she was sad that nobody could guess what she was dressed up as. “Everybody can guess what Skylar is but they don’t say anything about MY outfit” she said.

I told her it was hard as the dress could be either a Princess OR a fairy. And that made enough sense to appease her and she went on here silly way.

We spent Saturday at a birthday party, with lots of ice cream and cake. Lots! Then we piled in the car to head back home as there was one of those fun air pillows, like the one they had this summer waiting for them back home. If you have never seen that hilarious video here is another as the girls bounce and fall and laugh while working off some energy. Its kinda like the vaudeville and catapult of indoor jump castles. Too funny! ~stay tuned!

BOO, Y’all!!

Posted in Archives and tagged boo, candy, halloween, mask, princess, pumpkin, scarey, trick or treat, y'all

05 Oct 2012

2 Comments

Jamaica: FDR IV…Waiting for the pumpkin…

Well I guess you know by now about long-awaited, too-short, overdue summer vacation we took this fall. I talked about the highlights in License to Chill. Tried to illustrate Dylan’s great time she had in the water, both in the sea and on land as well as tease you with the clear waters of the Caribbean ocean in …No Boundaries. We even found a bit of fun in the airports as they tried to make us stay for the weekend. But I would have you know….it wasn’t all fun and games.

You see Skylar actually caught a little stomach bug our last day there. Dylan picked it up the next day. Yes the girls got a little ill. Hey, it wouldn’t be ‘vacation’ without it!

Skylar picked up the bug on our last day. She wasn’t herself and then threw up that afternoon. It kinda put the damper on our ‘Last Meal in Jamaica’ dinner we had planned for that night. She wasn’t up for that so Mom (capital ‘M”) stayed with her while Dylan and I went down to eat. Being our last night, Dylan took it seriously and got all dressed up, wearing a dress-up outfit that a popular Grandmother (capital ‘G’) gave her last Christmas. She was my impromptu date in paradise. We had a great time!

We had a wonderful candlelit dinner, located right on the railing beside the sea. ~I hope that doesn’t sound too weird. It was a great location and Dylan was feeling very special.

Many of you remark on the cute or amazing things that leave this child’s mouth in the ‘DYLANisms’. I may be the most amazed sometimes. Are lots of kids like this? But one thing you don’t get reading DYLANisms is the innocent or enthusiastic way she says these things, making them that much more adorable. Take a look as she talked about the vacation, wishing upon the stars with her sister and finally being treated like Royalty by the staff when dinner arrives. She felt super special all dressed up like the Princess she thought she was that evening:

The evening ended as she spotted a three year old boy, Sebastian, that just happened to celebrate his third birthday that day. Earlier that day Dylan saw the birthday party his Canadian parents threw for him on the beach that afternoon. Dylan was riding Big Blue, surprise, at the time.

Dylan knew him as one of her other international friends that played in the swimming pools all week. Since she wasn’t at the party this girl still wanted to wish Sebastian a Happy Birthday. So as we finished up she took me by the hand and asked if we could go over to his table and say “Happy Birthday”. It wasn’t my idea. It came from her heart as she was quite determined to do this by asking several times. Lots of you have noticed in the DYLANisms how smart she is on how she knows what is really important at her young age. Here was just another example.

The Heart of a Disney Princess

We feel lucky to be blessed with two great daughters with great dispositions, smarts, and great senses of humor. I keep waiting for the clock to strike midnight and see this fairy tale turn back into a pumpkin.

BONUS POST:

TIP: Want to clear customs, immigration, and airport check-ins in a hurry in your travels? Take along a sick kid!

Like I mentioned, Dylan picked up the stomach bug on the day we were leaving to go back home. In fact, she let everyone know in the middle of the Jamaican airport! Yes she put breakfast on the floor almost as soon as we entered the bustling Jamaican airport. Mommy watched Skylar and our bags while I went to clean her up. Before I left the restroom I had someone from the airport checking on her, asking if she needed anything else.

We found mommy and the bags and the airport was already on the mess we made. We went over to have our bags checked at check-in and another airport personnel was checking to see if Dylan needed to see a nurse or medicines. We assured the staff we brought and she took some since the incident.

We made it to the scanners when I saw the opportunity. Being a salesperson in previous lives I immediately ceased the opportunity. I picked her up, told her to put on her sad face then walked up to the inspectors, letting them know I was holding a sick child. Maybe they had heard of the incident?

Well we ere rushed through the scanners and hurried on to the next obstacle to boarding the plane, Customs. Again, picked her up, sad face, cough a little, flash a Passport, sign here and we were off.

Next was airport security to board the terminals. Skylar was chiming into the act by now and we barely broke our stride gliding past the ticket checkers. Success!

We had enough time to catch some lunch in Finland, browse some souvies, restroom checks and we were off.

“What??? What do you mean the flight is being delayed? My kid is sick here!”

Posted in Archives and tagged 12 o'clock, cinderella, customs, dinner, fairly tale, immigration, mommy, princess, Snow White, there's no place like home

29 Dec 2011

3 Comments

Pop Quiz!

So it is four days after Christmas. Most of our Christmas decorations are still up. We still have 6 months worth of cookies and other sweets stacked on our breakfast bar. New presents are still laying helter-skelter on our living room floor. So I was curious to see what my oldest daughter Dylan, at 3 3/4 years old, gained from all this year’s activity and celebration. As a fairly new parent I am always eager to see any development for our girls. Lets see what Dylan retained this Christmas in this year’s Pop Quiz:
1) Why do we celebrate Christmas? A= “I don’t know” …Daddy (disappointed sigh)

2) What is your favorite thing about Christmas? A= Disney Princess Castle

3) What will you miss the most about Christmas? A= “Hmmmm? Aunt Sue! (After some heavy coaching from Aunt Sue)

4) Where did all your presents come from? A = without hesitation, “Santa!”

5) What was your favorite present? A = Princess Castle!”

6) What did your little sister like the most about Christmas? A = “Winnie the pooh and the pink one” (Piglet)

7) What was your favorite thing you ate this year? A = “Macaroni and Cheese!” (What? With all these cookies?!!)

8) How long should we celebrate Christmas? A = “Until Friday.” (Aunt Sue and Uncle John go home on Friday)

9) How much did we spend this year to celebrate Christmas? A = “Hmmm….a little” ( this was her hardest one to answer)

10) What will you look forward to next year for Christmas? A = “Playing outside.” ~ she says this as we are going to ChuckECheese this afternoon. Her answer could change then.

So, if you want to have a truly rewarding holiday with your 3 or 2 year olds, a few secrets discovered from our Christmas celebration this year were: get them a Princess Castle, spend a little money but celebrate for 5 days, have plenty of holiday Mac and Cheese on hand (forget the cookies…they are unappreciated evidently) and have a favorite relative on hand so they can play outside. From the mouths of babes.. This is what it is all about!

I have to do a better job I guess! (Sigh)

What about you and your Christmas? What was treasured by your kids this year? Let us know in the “Comments” if you have any insights to the magic of Christmas with kids!

Posted in Archives and tagged christmas, cookies, Dylan, princess