I Like #93

Lots of things to like since I missed posting last week.  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

1.  I was so grateful to get to be with my family; my parents and I and my sister's family took a road trip to Florida to introduce the kids to Disney World, and I think we all had a blast, though my dad doesn't care for the chaos of Disney.

It was the first trip for my niece and nephew and they got a chance to meet lots of characters and go on all the fun rides.  It's so much fun to hear them giggling and laughing.  They even had turkey hats to wear :)

It was fun for the adults too- a lot had changed since I'd been there before and there were several new attractions at the Magic Kingdom in addition to old favorites.  There was also a whole new Avatar land at Animal Kingdom which was just amazing.  I didn't even particularly love the Avatar movie, but the Avatar world at the park was just everything that was wonderful and creative.  The whole landscape is filled with miraculous fantasy plants seamlessly blended with the real lush landscaping, and both Avatar rides were really really cool.

I loved these mosaics, the top one is from EPCOT and the bottom two are inside Cinderella's castle.

My mom and dad got matching hoodies for me, my sister, and my mom.  We did lots of scurrying around to find one we liked in the right sizes.  Of course by the time we thought to take a picture it was late the night before we were leaving and everyone was scurrying around trying to pack and clean up!

2. We also got to visit Homosassa Springs State Park which is a wildlife refuge for Florida animals and Lu the 59 year old hippo.  I'd remembered him from our previous visit 15 years ago- and he's super cool.  He was made an honorary Florida citizen so he'd be allowed to stay.  The park is also a haven for manatees, which are just awesome.

3.  I was also excited to have two days in the car on the way out there (I flew home separately), so my mom and I could start our new complicated knitting project.  It took a lot of ripping and confusion, but now we're both finally making progress on this shawl.  It's lots of short rows which I'd never done before, but I've got the hang of them now (knock on wood).

4. I got to visit my nephew's Montessori school!  My sister has asked me to make a banner for the kids to carry into Chapel; her son is graduating from the Montessori school this year and it's the school's 50th anniversary, so she thought it would be a great piece of art to donate to the school.  On the way back from the trip I met with the school director to look at the school and associated parish and it brought back tons of fabulous Montessori memories from when I was a little kid.

5.  And of course the monsters :).  I was super happy to get back to them, dog snuggles are always good.  In the process of arguing over the armchair in the studio the other day (and in spite of the presence of the pouf), Blue pushed the seat cushion off and Bentley promptly claimed it.

Wishing everyone a good week!  I love advent-  it really is a wonderful time of the year, and I've been enjoying getting out my Christmas decorations!  Linking up with LeeAnna who keeps us positive!