Our 16 year anniversary :)

It seems like just yesterday...

I know. I know - we've hardly changed at all...;)

To celebrate our 16-year anniversary, we went over to one of my favorite places, Mount Dora, for a little hike, some shopping in the antique stores and lunch in one of their adorable restaurants :).

We saw a plane land on Lake Dora just as we started out on our walk by the water (on purpose - it had big inflatable things on the bottom:)). I was loving the birds, the artists and the general peacefulness by the water... 

...and then Maddy and Mike saw that someone had dropped their camera in the lake.

Now some people would have just walked on by but that's not how my crew roll...

After the stick contraption failed - Mike came up with another plan...it's time to send in the kid...

And she did it!! We're not sure if we'll ever get to see the pictures taken by the previous owner but we have their camera sitting in rice to see if it will ever dry out and reveal the mystery!

After the cockamamie scheme of the day, we had a more laid back afternoon. We also saw this beautiful train drive by on the way home!

A random day full of laughter, exploration, adventure and fun. Much like the past 16 years...Happy Anniversary Michael - thank you for making me a very grateful wife :)

Merry Christmas!

We drove over to our favorite neighborhood house and met "Holiday Joe" a few days before Christmas to check out his decorations. They were amazing!

 

 

We got crackers for the guests again this year to bring a touch of England to the Christmas Day festivities:)

 

In the morning we exchanged gifts and I got a fitbit, ipad and a METAL DETECTOR!!! for the next time we go back to Vero beach (hidden treasure link here!). Mike was thrilled with his new watch, trail sneakers and Nook. Maddy got gift cards, a spa certificate and two tickets for One Direction!!! We were all super grateful :)

Maddy wore her beautiful new dress from Nana for the big day...

 

We had 4 Rivers do the food again (since I wouldn't dream of cooking for anyone I care about :)) and the brisket was particularly spectacular...

 

The weather was perfect to enjoy the garden while we ate...

 

And we all had fun with Mike's T-Shirts when it was time for gifts!

 

But my favorite gift was handmade by Maddy - my lovely blanket which I snuggled up in once everyone had gone home. Merry Christmas everyone!

My first Segway tour!

To celebrate the Holiday season at work my team decided to take a Segway tour at Fort Wilderness. We admired the beautiful Disney horses before we checked in. This one had a hidden Mickey!...

 

 

We had a 30 minute training which it turns out was not overkill at all! This Segway thing is trickier than it looks :)

 

But once we got the hang of it - we had a blast on the trails at the back of Bay Lake...

 

It was a really fantastic experience and I would totally recommend it:)

Christmas celebrations at Disney:)

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a day at the parks with the Simards to celebrate the season:). This year we started out at the Boardwalk and saw the beautiful new carnival booth gingerbread display...

We then headed over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for my favorite - the American Idol Experience! I don't know what was more fun - the show, or watching Mike's face (he hadn't seen it before and loved it :)). He had also never seen the Osborne Family Dancing lights which are amazing :)

We walked over to Epcot to catch the Candlelight Processional - a holiday event with a choir and orchestra and celebrity narrator. Ours was James Denton (Mike Delfino from Desperate Housewives)...

 

 

We went to Germany for some shopping, a dinner show and incredible buffet!

 

And ended the evening with the extended fireworks which were crazy!

 

 

Happy Holidays!!!

 

Chloe and Chef :)

I haven't posted any pictures of our babies in ages. The chins are both really well and doing a great job of...well just being generally adorable...we love them:)