by Papa K on December 29, 2012
On our second day at Disneyland, we got down to business and met some princesses! We actually spent the day at the California Adventure side of the park and started our day at Ariel’s Grotto where we had breakfast alongside “real” Disney princesses. Maile and her cousins were blown away that they actually got to meet the princesses. (With the exception of Minnie – Maile Girl still isn’t a fan of the non-human characters 🙂
First up, Maile and her cousins met the hostess, Princess Ariel:
And then it was just an ongoing stream of princesses while we ate breakfast (Belle, Cinderella, Princess Minnie and Aurora)…
Maile Girl was particularly tickled to meet Belle - she has a Belle dress that Grandma and Papa gave her...
Cinderella!
Seriously, I can't believe this is really happening!
Don't worry, it wasn't all princesses - we also hit some rides like the tea cups!
Grandma Gail and Papa Cal will go anywhere with their girls!
(Click here for the video.)
Santa is a good man. Such a busy day and he took the time to come visit my cousins, Jake and I! I couldn’t believe it. One minute we were playing and the next minute the big guy was here giving us presents! It’s because I was a good girl this year. I was very brave – no tears, but Katie did have to hold my hand. (Dad note: you can see how we did last year and the year before.)
Emily and Santa - she just marched right up - so brave!
Jake can't wait to dig in to his present!
See how Katie is holding my hand to support me? So nice of her.
Santa, thank you for the present - I knew you would come!
This is going to be surprising, but Daddy captured the whole visit on video!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 19, 2012
For some reason Maile is convinced that her baby sister is going to have purple hair. Perhaps this is a premonition of the future that Maile is having. Or perhaps she just thinks baby’s are born with purple hair. Regardless, in a few weeks Maile is either going to be a bit disappointed … or Mommy and Daddy are going to be VERY surprised 🙂
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 17, 2012
A couple weeks ago Maile was at a friend’s house and became fascinated with these nesting dolls they had. Imagine how excited she was when she opened her Hanukkah present from her Cousin Donna to find her very own set – brought all the way in Russia no less!
Thanks Cousin Donna!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 16, 2012
No idea where this “ribbon dance” idea came from – but it put a smile on my face … and this was one of those weekends where I was very thankful for that.
(Dad note: I’m very mindful when writing tonight that one day Maile and her sister will be reading through all of these posts – and it will likely be sooner than I think. I wrote some more words, but nothing that does my feelings justice so I deleted them. I doubt things will make more sense on that day in the future when Maile comes asking, but perhaps the context of what comes next will make the story a little easier to tell. That is my hope.)
(Click here for the video.)
Daddy often shows me dance moves (between you and me, some of them are kind of funny). The other night, I dressed up in my new princess gown and Mommy showed me some tips of how a real princess dances. I felt magical!
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on December 11, 2012
Grandma Jill and Papa Mike made Maile a VERY happy little girl tonight!
Maile Girl approves of her new princess dress up outfit. We may never get it off of her!
(Click here for the video.)
We celebrated the first night of Hanukkah on Saturday with Vincent and his family. Mommy made latkes (which were a big hit) and Maile Girl got to light the menorah for the very first time! She was very careful with the candles and she did a nice job making sure everyone had their presents before she dug into her own…
Hope everyone has a wonderful Hanukkah!
(Click here for the video.)
This morning Daddy said I was going to get to meet a new friend. He wasn’t kidding when he said “new” – his name was Will and he was only 3 months old! That’s definitely baby territory. I was all excited to show my mommy and daddy what a good big sister and helper I could be! Will was so small and cute – and much lighter than I expected. I was able to hold him in my arms no problem – I told mommy and daddy that I could carry him downstairs, but they said that probably wasn’t the best idea. I was very gentle with him and gave him kisses on his forehead, he seemed to really like that. He wasn’t all that interested in my toys, but I really liked it when he gripped my finger tightly.
I had a lot of fun playing with Will and it only got me more excited to meet my little sister!
Maile meets Will
Maile gives Will a soft little kiss
(Dad note: It was amazing watching Maile with Will – made our hearts melt with how gentle she was with him and how much love she showed him. We can’t wait for her to meet her new sister either!)
(Click here for the video.)
by Papa K on November 21, 2012
We arrived in Boston last night and Grandma Jill had lots of fun new things for Maile Girl to play with. First up was a fort making kit that Christine had discovered: bildopolis. Basically its a fort in a box – cardboard boards with velcro squares to attach them however you want. We set to work building a castle.
When Grandma heard that we were making a castle, she went and got one of Auntie Elyssa’s old princess gowns. (Turns out the story on this dress is pretty cool: the dress was originally a nightgown that Maile’s Great Aunt Bess wore on her wedding night. Many years later, Aunt Bess took the night gown and turned it into a princess dress for Auntie Elyssa… and now Maile gets to play with it!)
We’ve been playing with the box fort since we’ve been here – in addition to the castle, we’ve built rocket ships, trains and all types of forts. Good times!
Maile Girl and Mommy working on constructing the first castle...
Here’s a video of Princess Maile entering her castle for the first time…
Putting on Great Aunt Bess' Princess Gown
Thank you Grandma Jill and Papa Mike for the box fort maker! We love it!
(Click here for the video.)
