We started Melody’s second year of dance back in September. It is still the thing she looks forward to the most every week, sometimes every day. She is constantly asking to go to dance. We have a new teacher and new dancers and dance moms too. It is a bit more chaotic, but I suspect it is just a glimpse of her future in dance, ha! Check out some of my favorite pictures so far from dance!
Last year I went all out for both Christmas and end of year teacher gifts. And by all out I mean I made things. I made cookies and picture frames, mason jars full of candy, and a tutu mason jars. But this year was a busy one. Between moving and recently going back to work temporarily, my time isn’t as readily available to craft. Plus its the holidays! This are crazy and we are traveling nonstop it seems.
While at Disney back in August, we had lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus at Magic Kingdom. We have eaten here on past trips too. It’s a great place to cool off, and if you time it right, it isn’t very busy at all. They have a variety of food for even the pickiest eaters too!
I have made many diaper cakes at this point for various baby showers/sprinkles. But this was my first diaper cake for a little boy! My best friend recently had a baby boy, and I hosted a baby shower for her a while back. It was so much fun getting to use lots of blues instead of all the pink we are used to! I kept the diaper cake simple, but it was definitely all boy!
When mom and I took Melody to Disney World back in October, we stayed at a new (to Melody and me) hotel. Melody and I would be spending a few days at the hotel alone during the day, so we picked this hotel because of the amenities. Mom had stayed there before, so she knew there would be plenty for us to do.
One of the pieces of decor I used at Emily’s baby shower was a onesie banner. I placed the banner over my fireplace, and it was sort of a centerpiece to the living room where everyone would be sitting. I made the onesies using my Silhouette Cameo of course.
On our way to Disney back in August, we stopped at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers in Orlando. It was about a 5-10 minute drive from Disney itself, and it is next to one of the outlet malls. We had time to kill until my mom could meet up with us, and this sounded really good based on reviews online.
So last year, Melody attended her very first football game. It was a local high school game where my alma mater was playing. Well this year we decided to take her to her first college football game. My husband is a graduate of Ole Miss, and we continue to have season tickets there. They were playing a smaller game in November, so we decided that would be ideal for her. A friend of ours that has season tickets behind us let us have one of theirs for this particular game.
Back in August we went to Disney very last minute, and we had to throw together a stroller tag. While it isn’t necessary, it is truly easier to find your stroller with something that makes it stand out.
While at the beach this summer in Destin, we stayed next door to a restaurant called RedFish Tacos. We never really had the opportunity to go inside and eat there (Brad’s parents did), but one afternoon Brad did go get us lunch there and bring it back to the condo.
Thanksgiving 2019 was one for the books. We celebrated in our new home, and we also able to spend the entire holiday home rather than traveling. It was so relaxing and fun!
My best friend, Emily, recently had a baby boy! It is the first boy for both sides of their family and for the both of us. As you may have noticed throughout my blog, we spend a lot of time with Emily and her daughter Lydia. Lydia and Melody are just two weeks apart in age, and I suspect over time, her new boy will end up just like a little brother to Melody too! I hosted a baby shower for her back in October. I plan to go into more details of the crafts I did for the shower in the future, but follow along today to read all about her shower in general.
Melody received magnetic tiles for her birthday this year, and she has loved playing with them. She is always wanting to build crazy new things. So I wanted to share a few of the things we have come up with the last few months. Oh, and she has the most fun when she gets to knock it all down, ha!
While at the beach this summer, we stayed directly across the street from an ice cream shop. It was constantly packed and had a huge line. So one night we HAD to try it. We managed to go when it wasn’t too busy., and be sure and bring cash! There is an ATM machine if needed though. The flavors change daily. I ordered strawberry cheesecake and it was delicious. I recommend going, but bring cash and come early!
My mom had to take a work trip to Orlando back in October, and Melody and I tagged along. We flew Frontier for the first time, and we stayed at Buena Vista Palace at Disney Springs. Both of our annual passes had expired, so we just bought two day park hoppers for the weekend when my mom wasn’t working. However, we found plenty to do seeing that we were across from Disney Springs.
At our new house, we have one extra door than our previous home. So I was short a door hanger for the fall season. I have a few fall yard flags, so I decided to make a door hanger out of one of the flags.
While at Disney back in August, we visited Backlot Express for the first time in a long while. I am not a huge burger person, so I have typically avoided eating here. We don’t usually spend a lot of time at Hollywood Studios, and when we do, there are a lot of other places I would rather eat at (I am really selling this place to you, huh?).
This was one of these last minute made up recipes with me just trying to use up fish and other ingredients in the fridge. It is easy and you likely have all the ingredients in your fridge now!
When we went to Disney back in August, I threw together a happy for her to take and keep her entertained during our car ride. Luckily with it being such a last minute trip I had a lot of these things stored away for a special occasion. I do that often.
One of the last places we ate while at the beach this summer was Local Catch. Brad and I actually tried to eat there earlier in our trip, but they had live music and it was really, really loud. So we opted to return later. It was fairly close to our hotel too which was really nice because we were able to ride the golf cart there.
