Another great weekend for the Doggette family!! :) Some people may find our weekends boring but that's how we are and what we like to do. Our weekend began early on Friday since Brandon got off work earlier than usual. We decided to do some roaming around town and look at Christmas decorations. Yes, we are those people who decorate the weekend of Thanksgiving. If it wasn't considered tacky, I'd probably do it sooner, ha! Our first stop was Hobby Lobby who currently has most Christmas decor 50% off. We were in Christmas heaven! We contained ourselves though and picked up just a few things. We purchased a new angel tree topper for our Christmas tree as well as some garland and 2 boxes of white lights. Brandon wants to do the traditional, classic look outside as well as inside this year for our decorating theme. Then we headed over to Lowe's to see what they had to offer. I want to do wreaths on all the front windows of the house. I found some gorgeous ones at Hobby Lobby but even at the sale price, they were still around $30 a piece and we need 4 so that's quite a lot just for wreaths. Lowe's had some plain but pretty, classic wreaths with just the red bow and only wanted $10 each so that was much more budget friendly. However, they didn't have too many to pick from so we went ahead and purchased them (otherwise knowing our luck we would go back and no more available or not enough). Brandon also picked up a six plug power stake that also has a timer. This will come in handy for all those lights outside and we wont have to remember to plug them in and out. I can't wait to start decorating... only a few weekends to go! After that it was time for dinner so we stopped at Zaxby's and ate a yummy meal before heading back home. We took Murray on a short walk. Then upstairs for bath time and story time for the kiddos. Both were in bed by 8 :)
Saturday morning, we all slept in until 8. I am so lucky my kids are great sleepers! This mama really appreciates a good night's sleep :) We had a mixed morning of laziness and productivity. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids played upstairs some in their rooms. Then we headed outside while Brandon finished taking down the Halloween decorations, cleaned out the garage, organized all the Halloween decor, and loaded up the truck for a dump run. P and him went to the local dump while Henry watched shows and I got ready for the day. The garage looks so much better! We had sandwiches for lunch and watched some football. Henry laid down for a nap and we cleaned/organized the attic. Brandon got all his Christmas lights out to see which ones worked and how many bulbs & fuses he would need to replace. Yes our house will probably be decorated in the next few weeks, ha! I guess that's what happens when you have a husband who loves the holidays and missed last year! I got Henry up from his nap and we all got ready and headed into town to do some more roaming. We went to Target first and looked at all their Christmas stuff. They had a few things we liked but their selection wasn't as big as I thought it would be. We purchased a new countdown to Christmas calendar and found Murray a little Christmas doggie sweater :) Next stop we went over to Babies R Us/Toys R Us. I was itching to spend my gift card I had received at my baby shower and the kids of course wanted to look at toys. Too bad they don't know we are DONE Christmas shopping for them :) Then we headed home to get ready for dinner. Since football was on including some important games, I fixed us a pizza and some wings. It was good & yummy!! Too bad the SC game didn't end up so well :/ The Kansas State v. Oklahoma State was quite a game to watch as well as the LSU v. Alabama game! I always enjoy a good football game. I even was productive in my TV viewing and wrapped some Christmas presents. I was able to make a little dent in the stock pile up in the attic. Crazy again I know for already wrapping presents but there's only a limited amount of time left and I know I'm not going want to wrap with a newborn to take care of. All in all, a good Saturday for us!
Sunday morning the kids woke up around 730 which was the old 830 since time changed over night. I was a bit worried they'd wake up too early and then it would be a LONG day. We had a quiet morning then we all got ready for the day & headed out. We went to the nice, big Walmart over by exit 11 to see what they had for Christmas decor. They had a much larger selection than Target. We picked up two plug in candlesticks for the upstairs windows and a few other small things. I saw a Christmas tree I really liked there and it was reasonably priced but not sure we necessarily need a new tree especially since we've had ours since '06 but have only put it up a few times. I did see a 3 ft. multi colored tree I am going to get for the upstairs landing and make that the kids' tree. I saw some cute ornaments at Target for it. After there we ate some yummy lunch at a sandwich place we had never eaten at before, Jimmy John's. It was really good, something different for a change. I recommend their tuna, very tasty! Then we drove down to the Riverwalk and walked that trail as well as let the kids play at the playground for a bit. It was a nice day weather wise and the kids had fun exploring a different park for a change. On the way home, we had to pick up dog food for Murray. Henry fell asleep in the car and continued his nap at the house. Brandon, P and I piddled outside some. I vacuumed out my car and cleaned the inside some. Henry woke up around his usual 3 o'clock. We then took Murray for a long walk around the neighborhood and let the kids play outside some in the front yard. Need to take advantage of the nice weather and daylight while we can. This time change is going to hard to get use to! Brandon fried up some chicken tenders for dinner; and I made baked macaroni & cheese and corn to go with them. It was yummy! Unfortunately, Murray was out back unnoticed and drank up some of the cooking oil in the electric skillet. Yuck! So we spent the rest of the night cleaning up after him and trying to make sure he was ok. He spent a few hours outside until it seemed the worse had passed. Poor dog but he should know better! I think he learned his lesson and we did too, ha! Sometimes I feel like having a pet is like taking care of another child :/ On an update, he is doing much better today! Hope everyone had a great weekend as well!!! :)
Needless to say, I highly recommend this place for a family vacation. I now understand why many so families flock to Disney for their family vacations. It really has something to offer for the entire family. And while it is a little expensive, I see it as an all inclusive vacation. We never left Disney property and still had so much to do, see, and eat. That's a huge plus of Disneyland is that is a much smaller resort versus Disney World. Both of the hotels we stayed in where in walking distance to Downtown Disney as well as the two parks. It was easy to go back and forth for whatever we wanted to do. On these two trips, we only stayed 2 nights/3 days each so we did not do a dining plan. We ate at a variety of places including quick service as well as sit down restaurants and snacks. The food is more expensive than the average but never having to leave the park is huge plus in my opinion. While P might not have been old enough both times we went to remember it now, we have lots of pictures and stories to share with her. And we remember it as great family time :) In fact, we were so hooked from Disneyland we planned and saved for a week long vacation at Disney World in FL for the summer after Brandon finished up all his OCS schooling. Part 2 will be on our two experiences with Disney World as well as a sneak peek look at our upcoming vacation next year!!!
