Thanksgiving 2014...and Disney!

Whoa, where has the time gone? My apologies for writing a Thanksgiving post just 8 days before Christmas. I spent the past few weeks making trips back and forth to Winter Park (just NE of Orlando) for gigs with the Bach Festival Society. Winter Park is a gorgeous little suburban city full of fancy boutique shops and hip, trendy restaurants and it's also home to Rollins College where we performed. I enjoyed subbing with the orchestra and the 150 person choir behind me was phenomenal. I closed my eyes a few times while listening to them sing and just let the music wash over me.

...that was really cheesy, wasn't it? What can I say, I'm a sucker for Christmas music.

But before all this Christmas music began, we had Thanksgiving! Robert's parents were in town again this year and we had such a fun visit. Robert saw an episode about Julia Child's Thanksgiving turkey on America's Test Kitchen and we decided to give it a try. It goes without saying: Julia doesn't disappoint. You basically have to hack up the turkey, removing the dark meat (legs) from the white meat, so that it cooks more evenly. It also cooks much more quickly this way and the stuffing nestled under the bird was divine. Kudos to you, Julia.

Abby spent the morning watching the Macy's Day Parade, playing with her shell collection...

...and doing some pre-food coma stretching and calisthentics. Not a bad idea, little girl.

The world's least graceful downward dog.

Here's our turkey!

Transformed into this magical meal.

Over the weekend we took Stan and Betty to the zoo. Abby used to be scared of the stingrays but she's become rather brave lately.

Shortly after this photograph was taken, a woman bought some shrimp to feed the stingrays and there was a craaaaazy feeding frenzy. Abby wanted to leave ASAP.

Here are my favorite animals: the flamingos. Abby knows this and if she ever sees a picture of flamingos in one of her books she says, "mommy!"

Grandparents are the best.

Little Miss Independent often wants to push the stroller or cart herself now. The key word? Patience. *sigh*

She wanted to walk the entire length of the fence like this and it took forever. Again, patience. Not my strong suit!

The BIG event of Stan and Betty's visit this time was Disney. The exit for Disney is exactly one hour from our front door  -- amazing, right? We thought it'd be fun to take Abby to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with her grandparents. Stan, Betty and Robert had never been to Disney before. The gates opened at 4:00 so after Abby's long nap, we finally got there around 5:00. 

It got dark quickly but all of the lights and fireworks made everything even more magical. I loved how they transformed the Cinderella Castle into a Frozen wonderland.

It was soooo crowded.

Overall, I think we all felt a bit overwhelmed about where to go and what to do. We need a plan next time. And less crowds. There was just so much to see and take in. Abby rode in the teacups with mommy and daddy which was a big hit since she loves spinning so much. We also took her on Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride which she enjoyed when the carpets went up but not so much when they jerked down. 

The highlight for Abby was the Christmas Fantasy Parade. I didn't get any pictures of the floats because it was dark and I was completely mesmerized watching Abby's reactions. Minnie and Mickey came around the corner first and her jaw literally dropped. There was a nice lady in a wheelchair sitting next to Abby and she pretty much spent the entire parade looking at Abby -- she was that much fun to watch! There were many characters Abby didn't know (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, Ariel, Winnie the Pooh, characters from Toy Story...we'll have to get caught up on our Disney movies) but she was still enchanted and won't stop asking to go back to the castle.

Abby stayed up waaaay past her bedtime. We left the park around 8:30 and then there was a big accident on I-4 so we didn't pull into the driveway until 10:30. Somehow our sweet little girl stayed awake and happy throughout it all. Thanks, Stan and Betty, for making another long drive down here to visit. "Grandmama" and "Grumpy" are the best!