Emma and Papa go sledding
Em and her Papi had such a great time sledding, and I had a ball watching them! We even ran into her preschool teacher's husband and kids by chance on the sledding hill. What a fun time!













I love how Emmie put her little arms up with gusto as she neared the end of her sledding run. Such joy!

















Sledding is so much more fun when someone is willing to pull you back up the hill! :)

Emma cooking n FL
Emma and Grandpa made pancakes for us several times while we were in FL and they were yummy! And on New Year's Day, Emma and Grandma made Princess Pouches (or were they purses??). And those were very yummy too! I think Mama and Emma ate them all (hey, you have to be quick around a pregnant woman and her 5 year old who loves anything princess :)

Happy New Year!!
We ended 2009 with a fun cookie decorating night, complete with sparkling apple cider! Woohoo- do we know how to party or what? After Em was in bed there were a few naps as the adults waited for the ball to drop. At midnight, Emma woke up on her own to join us for ice cream out by the pool and firework watching. :)

Checking out the canopy walk at one the FL State parks
According to Emma though the canopy walk was boring (at least in the beginning of our trip), the real fun was checking out the wild pigs, deer, birds and alligators in the pond!! :)

More Florida Pool Fun
Emma jumping (diving?) into the pool...













Emma loves to try to do handstands in the pool :)

















Checking out the tiny little gecko that wandered a little too close to the pool

Out on the Boat on the Inter-coastal waterways, what fun!!

Emma and Grandma Mary Ann giving each other hat kisses. :)














Hanging out with Grandpa and Mama



























On the look out for dolphins! We found lots of them! What an amazing sight!

Busch Gardens
We had a great day with Grandma Mary Ann at Busch Gardens.

















Emma loves roller coasters! This was her very first one that went upside down! Woohoo! She loved it as well! :)




































Emma liked the drop ride we went on too (not so sure Grandma loved it as much! ;o)! It reminded her of her favorite ride at Disney- The tower of terror!




















The tiger pop up look out hole was very cool! With one tiger on her head and another close by Emma really got a good look at the tigers!


















There were lots of other fun rides and animals to visit as well! :)

Riding the ferry over the the beach to look for shark teeth. Emma was so proud she found a few of her own. It was a little breezy but it was still beautiful!! :)

Emma and Papa hanging out in Grandma and Grandpa's Pool! :)

Christmas with Lori, Kevin, Alex, Ethan,
Grandpa Bob, Grandma Sandy and GGT
We had a fun day before we took off for the long drive to Florida.
Alex (and Grandma Sandy) got some good cuddles in...


















Emma and Ethan got their turn to be carried around too! :o)



















Ethan seemed to like his presents!

















especially his remote controlled car :) (well at least until he got home and fell on it; poor little bug!)


















Alex liked Ethan's gift too! He was so cute crawling after the car! :)



















Emma loves the Rainbow Fairy Books and was excited to get a few new ones. She loved her gifts...


















and Alex's :)















Ethan and Emma actually played quite well with one another for a good long time upstairs in Emmie's room (OK, so the room was a mess afterward, but they had fun!) They briefly complied when I tried to interrupt in order to capture a moment during a serious round of "Don't break the Ice".














Ethan and Emma were good little elves and helped pass out gifts. :) And the adults were good sports allowing photos to be taken even when some up us would have rather not been photographed (yes, that would be me).