November 2017

Wrapping Up October!

Halloween weekend sure was a treat for us, again, this year!

At school on the Friday before Halloween, the 1st grade classes celebrated with some fall-themed activities. This was one of the treats Liam created & brought home.

Later that evening, we headed over to the Bengels for the annual Halloween bash. These two yahoos were my dates πŸ˜› ….that bear head inevitably was tried on by every kid later that evening. I’m still not sure how I feel about that — #germaphob.

Halloween fell on a Tuesday this year, so that made for an interesting & late night of trick-or-treating. Nevertheless, we trudged through and still had a blast! We continued our trick-or-treat tradition of hanging out with the Bengels in their neighborhood. Liam’s official costume was the LEGO minifigure Nexo Knights Clay character.

His costume was pretty cute and elaborate. A little hot, too, so I’m glad it was a cooler evening for us …he definitely needed it with all the pieces he had to wear. It included a tunic with detachable shoulder pieces, pants, mask and pair of hands.

This is our normal set up the last few years as we head out to walk the neighborhood πŸ™‚ …we use Liam’s wagon to load up some drinks (child & adult beverages), as well as any other misc necessities (bug spray, jackets). Thanks to technology, Alexa joins us & provides our Halloween themed background music as we walk. It’s a super fun time …and Lisa & I usually end up having almost more fun watching our husbands goof off by the end of the evening after the kids are worn out πŸ™‚

These kiddos move so fast from door to door that it was difficult to get any good shots this year. I was reading through last year’s post and remember how Liam really took charge then with being proactive with trick-or-treating. He definitely continued that this year. If anything, he was even more so. All of us commented how fast the kids were blowing through the neighborhood this year. Much faster than ever before. In fact, we went farther down & to more houses than we ever have! I think we all definitely noticed how much bigger they all were this year. It was a little bitter sweet.

As we walked from house to house, Liam was checking each one out. If the house was dark, he would yell out really loud — “this one is not celebrating!” πŸ™‚ …At other houses where they got candy, we would get a report back on some of his more favorable collections before he even left the driveway. It really was hilarious!Β  …Speaking of that, one house we had never made it to before, gave each kiddo a goodie bag that had (no lie) about 30 pieces of candy in it. I thought the kids were going to come unglued with excitement when they came running back to us!! We were trying to figure out how we’d missed this house all these years? LOL

One of our favorite parts of trick-or-treating is getting to see all the neighborhood decorations. Some of the homes really go all out. It’s so fun! ….There are a few houses that we seek out especially — one that always turns their garage into a haunted house, one whose entire front lawn is decorated, and another who makes the whole yard dark & creepy looking.

End of the night shenanigans!

I would say this face was pleased with his haul. This ended up being WAY more candy than what any six-year-old could possibly dream off. He almost had more fun just counting all pieces once we got home more than anything else πŸ™‚ ….extra candy pays off for gingerbread house making down the road…..hahaha!!

October went by in the blink of an eye, but it was a blast!

Happy Halloween!

HERE is a look back on last year’s fun.

Until next time, friends!

October 2017

Legoland: Brick or Treat!

Last weekend, we hopped over to Legoland for a spooky good time at their Brick or Treat event! This Halloween event is included in with their general admission, so we were excited to check it out with our annual passes this year.

LEGOS are a pretty big deal in our house. Saying we love them is kind of an understatement. This theme park is SO COOL. LEGOS everywhere & many life-size creations!

These HUGE Lego jack-o-lantern heads were THE.BEST! I wish we could have one for our yard! Liam was fascinated this time around by the creations with the LEGO pieces …he kept trying to pull them apart to see how they were made. Our little engineer in the making πŸ˜‰

We had fun exploring around the park and spying the different Halloween themed LEGO creations. This was a spider hanging out up in a tree πŸ™‚

It was a mommy & Liam date day, as Daddy, unfortunately, got pulled away for work. We were missing him but still had a fun day together. This little man was the best boy for me all day & was such a trooper, as we dragged one another around the park till closing.

Fav Pic of the Day!! ❀

There was the Brick or Treat Trail set up down by the Lake Eloise. Liam actually selected to be a LEGO Knight this year for his costume, BUT it was still pretty warm the day we went. So, we opted for him to just wear his Jack Skellington t-shirt & his mask from his costume. It was so much easier & cooler!

Absolutely loved all the Halloween decor! So fun!!

A trip to Legoland is not complete without checking out Miniland USA. While wandering about, we found some more Halloween awesomeness sprinkled into one of the scenes! We were both pretty stoked to discover this!

One of Liam’s favorite ride’s at the park is Merlin’s Challenge. As we were stepping off of it, we happened to catch this guy,Β LEGOΒ Vampyre. I think I may have been more excited for this than little man….just maybe πŸ™‚

AΒ  13 ft. LEGO hearse

Our little actor ….pretending to be interviewed by this LEGO camera guy. Hahahaha!

We closed out the night watching the most amazing & unique fireworks show —> The Tale of Pirates’ Cove Fireworks

For this show, we were given 3-D glasses, and as we watched the fireworks, you literally saw LEGO pieces exploding in the sky within the actual fireworks. There is no other way to explain it. I wish I could have photographed it. It was so fun and Liam & I loved every second of it!!

We were seeing LEGO pieces where you see red fireworks in this pic! πŸ™‚Β  …Such a great day & fun memories made!

Our Halloween festivities continued the next day with Trick-or-Treat on Greek Street at UCF. This is fun & free community event that we’ve done the last few years, so it was nice to take part in it once again. Since I didn’t have him wear his full costume the day before, I promised him that he could wear it to this. It was even warmer so while it was a good practice run, he didn’t last in it too long. That’s our Florida Fall for ya! πŸ˜‰

That evening, we made dirt cups together. It was a fun activity to create together, and it was super easy. Even Simba got in on the action. LOL!

Liam was most excited to add the gummy worms πŸ˜‰

It was a busy weekend, for sure, but a ton of Halloween fun!

Until next time, friends!

December 2014, Latest & Greatest News

Our Winter Break {Part 1}

Over Christmas & New Year’s, I had off of work {so nice!! …definite perk to working in higher educ}, so I also kept Liam out of school. Stephen was fortunate to have a few days off, as well, over the actual holidays, so we enjoyed some quality family time.

We were also fortunate to have a few expeditions to surprise little man with during this winter break. Just before New Year’s, I took him for his 2nd trip to Legoland πŸ™‚ — Our 1st trip was about a year & a half ago. This time around, it was just me & Liam, as Daddy had to work that day. However, they are currently running a fantastic deal for residents, where you can pay for a day & get admissions for the rest of the year for free — we definitely want to take advantage of this for the family this year! Liam & I were lucky to get comp passes for the day from my mom’s neighbor so that was awesome!!

I loved that we made it there in time to see all their Christmas decorations! Nothing like a Christmas tree made of Legos πŸ˜‰

2014-12-30_Legoland Christmas Tree

Liam was more impressed with the snowman….of course, he asked to touch him…lol!

2014-12-30_Legoland snowman

Super excited to ride the carousel again!

2014-12-30_Legoland carosol

Santa brought Liam the Duplo My First Train Set for Christmas & it came with this conductor guy. He was amazed that this was his same little guy. He kept saying how he was as big as him! Loved it!!

2014-12-30_Legoland conductor

I was pleasantly surprised to see that a lot had changed since our last visit. Not, in any way, that the park was bad before, but there actually was so much more for us to do this time around. The Duplo Play Area really expanded, and there were several more rides for little man. This train ride was new for us & as luck would have it, when our turn came up in line, Liam got to be the conductor for the drive! He was thrilled πŸ™‚

2014-12-30_Legoland train

Inside the Duplo Barn ….we spent a lot of time running around in here. So fun!

2014-12-30_Legoland slide

I think I was just as excited as Liam to discover all the little animals and treasures throughout the park that were made of Legos! So detailed…

2014-12-30_Legoland piggy

We had a GREAT day together!! Can’t wait to come back to visit again soon! πŸ™‚

2014-12-30_Legoland sleigh

*******************************************************************

On New Year’s Day, we headed down to South Florida to spend the day with Stephen’s family & have dinner. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with them, and Liam has really taken to his great Uncle’s ….we love for him to spend time with family. It’s precious memories that will last a lifetime for him! ❀

2015-01-01_new years day

Having a quick music lesson with Uncle Glenn πŸ™‚

2015-01-01_new years day 2

Β *******************************************************************

Stay tuned for “Part 2” of our winter break adventures tomorrow!!

Until then…….

~H

July 2013, Latest & Greatest News

Our Trip to Legoland

Last Saturday was a momentous occasion in Casa de Murphy, friends, as we took Mr. Liam Michael for his very 1st theme park adventure. The park of choice was Legoland, which was built on the old Cypress Gardens property in Winter Haven. You may be wondering why we chose this over Disney for the honor of the “1st” experience. Well, that was two reasons. One, my mom & her hubby, Rock scores us FREE passes from their neighbor….umm, hello….could NOT pass that up and THANK YOU, THANK FOR THAT!! Secondly, this was kind of our test run to see if Liam would even last in the mouse house right now.

2013-07-13_Legoland Family Pic

While yes, it was rather warm & a bit of a learn curve for us to tackle a theme park with an [active] toddler, Liam was a trooper and we all had a fantastic time! I was amazed by how much he wanted to walk around himself and just hold our hand. So cute! Surprisingly, he even lasted until about 2:00 without a nap….it clouded up about that time, so we had to put him in the stroller while the rain moved in briefly & he passed out at the point. It was perfect timing.

2013-07-13_Legoland 1

2013-07-13_Legoland 7

2013-07-13_Legoland 8

2013-07-13_Legoland 9a

2013-07-13_Legoland 10

The pictures above are from Duplo Village. This is a specific play area for toddlers. LOVED IT!! They even have an AIR CONDITIONED facility for changing diapers, family restrooms, and private nursing rooms. Can we say amazing?!?! …top that off with the fact that when we brought Liam in there, we were the ONLY ones in there. I’m telling ya, insane!! Every theme park needs that building!

After Duplo Village, we headed over to enjoy a car ride with Mommy & a Β water ride with Daddy….they got soaked πŸ™‚

2013-07-13_Legoland 13

2013-07-13_Legoland 15

Since they were already drenched after this fun ride, we found a splash pad that Liam had crazy fun with. He was a hoot sticking his head in the water spraying up and then he would turn around and do his butt….silly, silly.

2013-07-13_Legoland 21

2013-07-13_Legoland 23

After a quick change of clothes, we made our way over to the carousal…this was also Liam’s very 1st time on the Merry Go Round!

2013-07-13_Legoland 28

After taking a break for lunch, we headed over to the other side of the park to explore the mini worlds built out of Legos. That was pretty cool. There really was so much to see!

2013-07-13_Legoland 31

2013-07-13_Legoland 49

2013-07-13_Legoland 45

Overall, the day was great fun, and we were so happy that were able to give Liam this special day & make some awesome memories! Definitely recommend Legoland to any of you out there with smaller kiddos. We’ll bring him back in another year or so, as there were several rides he was still not tall enough to even ride with one of us, yet πŸ™‚

I mentioned at the beginning of my post that this trip was kind of a practice run for Disney…I’d say that we are good to go now. ha! …We’re actually planning a special trip for his birthday, but more about that later!!

It’s been a busy few weeks here in Casa de Murphy and it’s been quiet here on the blog since the 4th so you’ll be hearing from me again soon! …until next time!!