Family Time – Casa de Murphy

January 2018

Winter Break Wrap-Up

January 9, 2018 casademurphy

Right off the heals of Christmas, we had a chance to relax, unwind & enjoy some good old fashioned family fun. Liam was off of school the last two weeks, and I also was off of work for one of the weeks with him. Stephen was able to take a day off, as well, and we did some activities in the evening so it could be all three of us.

On Tuesday evening (the day after Christmas), we checked out Santa’s Winter Wonderland Village ….a holiday fair that comes around by our house each holiday season. It’s quickly becoming a tradition to go to it after the holiday. This year was Liam’s first time riding in the “The Force” . He really wanted to also do “The Himalaya” ride, but he’s not quite tall enough still. He & Stephen rode on the super tall Ferris Wheel …I watched. Haha! They also love the bumper cars & the maze house. Stephen got a really cool picture of the fair from the top of the Ferris Wheel!

The next day, we met up with the Bengel’s at the Science Center. We hadn’t been there since the beginning of the summer, so it was cool to play around there again for the afternoon. The Gingerbread Lane exhibit was still up, so we enjoyed looking at that….it smelled delish, too! It’s incredible that one artist baked AND decorated all that gingerbread.

The beginning of our cold front started really coming through on Friday, but we hiked over to Legoland to check out their Christmas Bricktacular decorations. It never really gets old seeing the amazing displays of LEGO creations.

For all the times we have been to the park, we never stopped to see the ski show. Today, we did & were so happy! It was super cute! Liam absolutely loved it 🙂

It was fun to walk about Miniland & spot the added holiday decor / scenes 😉

It was uber crowded there that day, but we still snuck in a few rides…..

We also took a relaxing walk through the old gardens area. Again, we’ve bypassed this in so many past trips…such a shame because it’s so beautiful & they are doing an awesome job of maintaining. The Banyan Tree was incredible!! Such a wonder that nature can create something like that! Liam loved the Southern Belle’s & it was fun to explain to him about how they used to walk around the old park. Not sure he really got that. LOL!

He spotted this statue of Jesus & had to find how the winding path lead to him. It honestly took us a second to figure it out from where we were. When we got up to it, he ran up to Him & just stood there….so I snapped this. I love how it turned out ❤

As part of our Legoland passes, we have admission to the Orlando Eye & surrounding attractions. Such a great deal! So, on New Year’s Eve, we made our way down to International Drive to check them all out.

The Orlando Eye is HUGE! It’s really neat & pretty to look at ….just the boys went up in it. I am way too afraid of heights to leave the ground that far. It takes about 25 minutes to go around in it. They enjoyed it & said the view was awesome. The weather that day was perfect for it, too! Liam told me, afterwards, that he was a little bit nervous while in it but not too bad.

Next, we walked around the SEA LIFE Aquarium. It turned out to be a larger facility than we expected it to be. There was quite a few 360 degree tanks that you could look at & it was neat! Liam was excited for the sharks!

Our last stop of the afternoon was Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Stephen had been to one of these years ago, but this was a 1st for little man & me. The figures were pretty life like….it was funny! We also got a kick out of seeing what celebrities & historical figures were featured. Liam had fun with trying to pose as each of them were 🙂

Last week, it was back to work for Stephen & I but Liam had his 2nd week off of school. So, he spent the week having fun at winter camp with his old daycare. It was a school age camp so he was with other kiddos in elementary school. Many friends he knew from previous summer camps & breaks, so he was glad to hang out with them again. They did a few field trips during the week. The 1st one was bowling.

They also went to ICE! at Gaylord Palms. This year’s theme was Christmas Around the World. We didn’t make it there this year for our family trip, so I was happy he still got to go. He had a ball but said his face was freezing off….hahaha!!

It was a great few weeks vacation for us all & a much needed mental break. Love creating memories with this sweet, little family of mine!

Until next time, friends!

February 2016

Catching Up From Winter Break

February 12, 2017 casademurphy

Time is, once again, ticking away faster that I can keep up with. With that said, I would be so mad at myself it I didn’t post these pictures and stay on track with chronicling our little family adventures, so here goes….

It already feels like a lifetime ago, but we had a bit of a vacation during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Liam was out of school and I was also off of work.

Liam had almost 2 and a half weeks off of school, in total, for his winter break, so his fun started the week before Christmas. Stephen & I were both still working, so he spent that week in camp. He enjoyed some fun with his friends, including a trip to Light Up UCF where he got to go ice skating for the very 1st time. Since he was on campus, I was stoked to be able to walk over on my lunch break and hang out with him for a bit 🙂

The weather was gorgeous while we were off, so a trip to the park was a must. I was so impressed that Liam now knows how to swing himself — another milestone down in the books 😉 !

Our local Christmas carnival made it’s way back into town, so of course, we had a great night of family fun! ❤

We usually steer clear of the carnie games, but this time, we let wee-man stop & play. He was pretty pumped. He had to throw darts to pop the balloons…..and, he won a Scooby!

Bumper car boys 🙂

Liam was completely discouraged that he was still too small to ride the regular Himalaya, BUT found he was loving this mini-Himalaya {not that ya couldn’t tell from his face here}.

We were definitely in an awkward ride phase this year. Not a fan of as many of the kiddie rides this time, like this one, but again, still kinda small for the bigger ones.

Still had a blast at the carnival, once again! 🙂

One of our other adventures on winter break was heading over to the Science Center to check out the NEW KidsTown. We had been anticipating this expansion for the longest time, so were super stoked to visit. We’ve always loved KidsTown when it was on the 1st floor, but now it encompasses the entire 2nd floor of the Science Center, and is just about 3 times the size of the old version at a total of 11,000 square feet 🙂

As we walked through each of the room, honestly Liam and I were just amazed! It was so much more than what I thought either of us anticipated. There was a whole room for the orange groves that all the kiddos love. We didn’t even stop to play there on this visit, so definitely next time. He saw this ClimbTime structure and that was all she wrote, folks. LOL! We spent most of our time here. It was so much fun!

DripDropSplash is the new water table & play area that is also WAY bigger than the previous water structure area and so sleek looking too, I might add ❤

Toytopia was the traveling exhibit that was on the way out, so we stopped in for another look before we called it a day. Loved this gigantic Monopoly piece!

At the end of the week, we were excited to have Papa G and G-ma come for a visit. These two had a blast hanging out ❤

We closed out of winter break with a trip to the movies — SING!

It was definitely nice to take a break from the hustle & bustle of work, school, homework & the daily grind. We enjoyed some good, quality family time and made some good memories ❤

Until next time,

Script Signature

October 2016

Spooktacular Fun :: Jacksonville Zoo

October 31, 2016 casademurphy

Happy Halloween! We recently had a great time looking for tricks & treats at Spooktacular at the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens.

We headed up their opening weekend & it really was a fantastic time. We went with my dad & stepmom, who also live up in Jax. You can read more on our road trip in my latest post with Orlando Moms Blog HERE.

Over the summer, Liam started watching Grease a lot …like ya know, how kids are when they hone in on a movie or show. It becomes an obsession. It was definitely like that for us with this movie. It’s a classic & we were pleasantly surprised he became so fond of it. When we acquired a bag of hand-me-down clothes recently from a friend for him, there was this black leather jacket in it. Little man immediately grabbed it out and said, this is Danny’s jacket!!! {a.k.a. Danny Zuko} ….He then declared that he was going to be Danny for Halloween, and it stuck. A few more miscellaneous items later & the transformation was complete ❤

Ladies & Gentleman, let me present ….Danny Zuko

The entire gardens were decorated for Halloween. It was impressive to see the amount of pumpkins that were carved! This scarecrow was a real person 🙂 …Liam was not too sure of them. We tried to get him to take a picture with it, but that was a no go. LOL!

Several different themes were displayed throughout the park, and were definitely from movies we all know & love. First up was The Wizard of Oz!

LOVE THIS! Catching up with all the gang ❤

This event was event was at night, so almost of the animals were asleep. Only the nocturnal animals were out. Totally ok & understandable. We did, however, get to see some of our favs, still. The giraffes were hanging out when we 1st got arrived. The baby’s are adorable!

Also snuck a peak at Mr. Elephant 🙂

It was a gorgeous night. A cool breeze was coming through & the moon was full & bright. I loved the lights that were up all around. Such awesome atmosphere & so pretty!

Glow in the Dark Cotton Candy! …super fun, but oh my!!

Spooky Bridge all lit up for the night

Liam’s all time favorite Halloween movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas. We were all over the moon excited to see the section the was decked out for this movie, including his fav main characters, Sally & Jack Skellington.

Look! We found the Lost Boys 😛 …don’t tell Peter Pan

Fantastic night & great memories made! The holidays are busy times but we really love to get out there & adventure through our community….there are awesome events to experience together!