Rainy Day And Tim Burton

Today is gray, rainy and windy and Aravis is sick so it's the perfect day to stay inside, in our jammies and watch Tim Burton movies. I've been letting the dishes pile up and neglecting the laundry. Instead, we got out our old Imaginex toys, watched The Corpse Bride and built these.

 These are the old Imaginex sets, back when they were the best toy ever invented. The new version is not this cool. The walls and floors snap together and can be taken apart and reconfigured. Dominick has 5 or 6 different sets that you can mix and match to make all different castles, caves, lairs and fortresses. If you have small children, (or not, the older kids and I built these) I highly recommend looking on Ebay or garage sales for some of the old sets.

We've also been.....

 playing with salt dough

 Aravis made some beads that we dried in the oven to paint later.

Playing with more old toys.

 Xury corralled herself

Working on this really cool puzzle by Alex Beard

 Playing with ice cubes

 

And decorating mini pumpkins

We've also been playing Ruckus and Blink and working on Halloween costumes. I finally figured out how to make Aravis a peacock, her request this year. Dominick and Tanner know what they're going to be and have been working on theirs but I still have to come up with something for Xury. It may end up being whatever is on sale, last minute, at Old Navy or maybe I'll use one of our old costumes or maybe I'll have a burst of inspiration and she'll be something amazing. We'll see. For now, I'm going to go snuggle up on the couch and watch Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.

Barbie Furniture and Pumpkin Houses

Over the past few weeks Tanner has spent considerable time crafting and sewing Barbie furniture and accessories.

Bedding, pillows, nightstand, phone, clock, magazine and nightstand.
The lamp is made from wooden beads and a toothpaste lid.

This dresser is made from card stock
I love the mini nail polishes! 

Aravis made this couch out of recycled cardboard and an old pair of jeans.

This bed and chair are by Aravis too.

Kitchen

details

 

 A classroom all decorated for Halloween

Fireplace

She's had so much fun designing and setting up Barbie rooms, she's starting an Etsy account with the hopes of selling some of the bedding and other things. 

Pumpkin Fairy Houses

I think this is my favorite fall craft of all time.

 A few years ago, Aravis couldn't wait for Halloween to carve her pumpkin. So, I looked online for something else to do with pumpkins, and found these.

Aravis's

a sweet, cozy, fairy home

Tanner's

sweet fairy dreams

Xury's First Camping Trip

 We love to camp.

We've camped a number of different places but, a few years ago, when we were planning a trip to Disney World, we discovered camping at Disney. It's everything we love about camping, the beauty and tranquility of nature, sleeping in a tent, grilling and eating outdoors but with massaging shower-heads.   And if massaging shower-heads isn't enough, there are great pools, lots of activities, crafts and games for the kids, a campfire sing-a-long with Chip and Dale and access to all the Disney transportation which includes boat rides. Greg and I were celebrating our 17 year anniversary (that number still seems hard to believe) and decided to take some time to get away as a family. We had a great time together and it was extra special because it was Xury's first camping trip.

First time sleeping in a tent.
She slept through the unbelievably loud Barred Owl that woke me up at 6:00

 Eating breakfast.

  The older kids were taking advantage of the themed resorts, buses, boats and monorail to film their own version of "Around The World In Eighty Days".  Greg and I took Xury to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the animals but she fell asleep on the bus ride over so we had some unexpected practically alone time.

Playing in the pool

 And we couldn't stop her from trying to drink the water every chance she got.


While her big brother and sister played games with the other kids

 Joining the dance party.

She watched this deer eating grass just a few feet away from us.....

went on quite a lengthy bunny chase.....

and found a mouse.

 Making S'mores.

 (Finally! after being deprived of campfires this summer)

 Dancing at the sing-a-long

She wasn't sure how she felt about Chip and Dale though.

She slept while Tanner, Dominick and I watched the Magic Kingdom's fireworks on the beach

and then joined Aravis and Daddy for a late night swim

(Xury was still sleeping on me, so I just got to put my legs in the hot tub)

Helping Daddy beat the sand off the tarp before packing it up.

We had so much fun and an amazing time as a family. Can't wait to go back!