Disney World Trip: Hollywood Studios

 

Our family did a lot in 2016. We finished jobs we loved in Nashville and moved to Georgia to start new jobs and meet new people. Tim and I also celebrate our 10th anniversary this month. We decided that rather than do a big anniversary trip, we would take advantage of the fact that we can drive to Orlando and take a family trip to Disney World! (We're one of those Disney-Lover families.) Aunt Aubrey had been waiting her entire life to take nieces and nephews to Disney, so it worked out as a win all around. Once in town, we picked Aubrey up from the airport and headed to Disney Springs to pick up our tickets and dinner. Ty was stoked to spend the money from Grandpa and Grandma at the Lego Store, and he even entered the Lego car race with a car he had build ALL BY HIMSELF and WON! All the older kids had parents helping them, so we were very proud of Ty!

 We spent our first day at Hollywood Studios and ran to the Toy Story ride first thing.

 Lucy looked a little like Mr. Fredrickson from the movie UP with her 3D glasses on!

 The kids were spoiled the entire week by Aunt Aubrey.

 All of the Star Wars sights are at Hollywood Studios, so the kids (Tim included) had to play with light sabers a bit.

 It took a little bit for the kids to warm up to meeting characters, but once they did, they were all about it.

 

 Lucy still can't stop talking about "Fia" saying "Fia...hugs." and "Fia...nice." She was pretty star-struck.

 Ty loves the old Chip and Dale cartoons, so he had a lot to say to them.

 and, of course, Mickey and Minnie.

On our way home from the park we stopped by the new Animation Resort to see the Radiator Springs area. It just may have been the highlight of Ty's life. 

 

 

 They had all of the cars from Radiator Springs (except Red, the Firetruck), and Ty just ran back and forth between all of them yelling, "my friends!" He would then talk to each one and pretend to go on a ride in each one before moving on to the next. It was a great way to end our first day!

2016 Larsen Family Christmas Card

Happy Holidays from the Larsens! We hope you’ve had a wonderful year!

First and foremost, we’ve moved again! Last summer, we left big city Nashville life to settle in Rome, Georgia, a small town about 90 minutes northwest of Atlanta. Tim finished teaching at Vanderbilt and took a tenure-track position at Berry College where he teaches Economics in the Business School. Berry College has the largest campus in the country, complete with hiking and running trails, a reservoir, and ample deer(!). We bought a house in July and have since been getting used to both small-town life and home ownership. Tim has been especially busy managing work, house and yard maintenance, and serving as the Young Men’s President at church.

Ty (4.5 years) started full day preschool and, though every morning is a battle, is doing well. He has taken up drawing (after a visit from his cousin Mackenzie and previously never even wanting to hold a crayon). His preschool teacher has since told him he needs to take a break from the art table or he will use up all of their paper! He is also a pretty good little Lego builder, specializing in vehicles that can be found in pieces all over the house.

Lucy (21 months) is a perfect mixture of sugar and spice. She is starting to talk in sentences and often acts like a little parrot repeating what we say, and often includes the phrase “do dat.” Once a week, she goes to music class on Berry Campus and visits Tim for lunch afterwards. Lucy also loves to get out and be social. She has made a few sweet new friends in Rome, but her number one is always Ty.

Both kids have enjoyed being closer to Tim’s parents’ cabin (or “tabin”, as Lucy calls it), where they love to play and spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. They have also enjoyed a family trips around the South, a vacation to Utah in the summer to see all of Tanaya’s family, and crashing one of Tim’s conferences in Washington, D.C.

Tanaya has settled in to Rome really well. Through running, church, and hanging around town with kids, she’s made a lot of new friends. She has also started teaching yoga at a local studio and a kids’ fitness class at the YMCA. At one point, Tanaya was tired of not knowing what was going on around Rome, so she started her own website and Facebook page called Rome Ga with Kids and enjoys the social connections it’s created.

We are grateful for all of our blessings, but most especially our family and friends. We love and miss you and wish you the Merriest Christmas! 

 

Warm Wishes,

The Larsen's 

Tim, Tanaya, Ty, and Lucy

Turkey Day 2016

 We had a great, low-key, stress-free Thanksgiving this year. It was our first year in our new house, and so we invited Rod and Diney to join us. It worked out perfectly to have them occupy the kids most of the day. Here they are making cookie turkeys! I even got to run while Tim went to a turkey bowl.

 Tim's favorite part of Thanksgiving is eating all of the appetizers.

 

 

  Rather than cooking a whole turkey, Tim and I each made a turkey breast. He found a way to create a homemade smoker and smoked the turkey while I seasoned mine with citrus. They were both so yummy! The whole meal and day went nicely, and we finished by heading up to the cabin, where Christmas was already set up and we ate lots and lots of pie!

I have so much to be thankful for this year, but my family is at the top of the list. I'm so grateful we are all happy and healthy. I'm grateful we are settling into a new house and new town. I'm grateful for Tim's job and the little bit of teaching I get to do (and am scheming to do more soon!). I'm grateful for our church, the friends we've made and friend's we've had to leave behind at some point. I'm grateful for all of the comforts/luxuries we have and for the beauty I get to see all around me every day in the trees and sky and ground. I am grateful for the trials I have because I know they shape me and are often not near what others have to experience. I could go on and on, but I am so grateful!

Tagging Along to DC

Tim had an Econ conference in Washington DC and we found some super cheap tickets, so the whole family packed up and tagged along! Ty and Lucy were very good on our late flight, but the excitement definitely helped. Tim had a hotel room right downtown, so we were able to walk or ride the Metro everywhere. It was fun to be right downtown (but also a little claustrophobic being in this busy city with two kids!)

We arrived late Thursday night, so Friday morning we headed to the Air and Space Museum.  A few days earlier, we had borrowed the movie Night at the Muesum: Battle of the Smithsonians from the library, so Ty was pretty excited! 

We are lucky to have both of Tim's siblings live near DC, so Aubrey met up with us to help. She was a lifesaver! It has been a LONG time since Aubrey has seen the kids. Luckily, everyone warmed up to each other quickly and Lucy was her fast friend.

After the museum, we wandered around the National Mall, rode the carousel, and played near the Washington Monument. It was a beautiful day.

 

Friday night we just ate burgers at Shake Shack and got to bed early. I woke up early on Saturday morning to take a sight-seeing run at sunrise. It was just beautiful. 

 

The temperature dropped about 20 degrees by sunset and rain and wind set in, but the trees were absolutely perfect for my run.

 

We moved away from the area before the Martin Luther King Jr Monument opened, so I made a point to check it out. It's pretty cool. There is a big mountain with the middle pulled forward and MLK carved into the middle section. On the side, it reads: "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope." There are also several walls with other quotes from MLK.

 

The run would have been perfect except for the fact that I realized I lost my credit card, had to re-trace my steps, and didn't find it. We quickly got things taken care of once I got back, but it made the morning and getting to the National Zoo to meet cousins a little more stressful. Nevertheless, we got everyone together, even Tim and Aubrey, at the zoo for some fun times!

Cute cousins:

 

Mackenzie and Lucy had to get their girl cousin time in too.

 This woman in the picture below has what I can only imagine would be Aubrey's dream job: the Panda surveillance. She watches pandas and only pandas. All. Day. Long.

We spotted some wild animals!

 

I got to meet little Jonathan for the first time. He's a little bowling ball, but he's a cutie. Lucy liked him too.

Tim and Aubrey had to work on Sunday, so I took the kids on the Metro up as far as it would go and Scott picked us up and drove us to their house. The cousins just played all day, except for some quick "calls" Lucy had to make to Tim and "Gama and Papa."

Monday was our last day in DC. Aubrey met us for breakfast, then we started toward the Building Museum. It was a cold day, and Lucy loved wearing her pink hat!

There were a bunch of canned food sculptures in the lobby of the museum, all with a movie theme. Above is Ty at the Box Office and below are our favorites. There is the house from UP, an alien toy from Toy Story, Snoopy on his doghouse, and a shark eating Minnions. So creative!

The Building Museum has not one, but TWO fun play rooms for the kids (the reason we went)! We pretty much just spent the day letting the kids play.

 

 

 

 

 

Ty finished the day building this awesome car (above) while Lucy had other plans (below). We got dinner in the city then headed back to the airport to complete our fun tag-along trip!