Family Florida Trip

Well I was a complete slacker during the two weeks of Christmas break, but honestly, having such a long break from technology was AMAZING. It was freeing. I should do it more often. I wouldn't have gone on the computer at all if Dalin hadn't shown me a few articles during our trip.

What trip you ask?

For those of you who didn't hear, Dalin, Tenley, and I flew to Florida to spend Christmas with my parents, brothers, and cousins from both sides of the family. It was probably the best trip Dalin and I have ever taken together in my opinion. I didn't even bring my laptop or Kindle because I just wanted to be able to focus completely on being with my family and taking in our experiences.

I have lots of fun photos to share, but there are so many I'll have to go through them and pick my favorites.

But about our trip:

December 23:
We flew to Orlando--which is the dumbest airport I've even been in as far as quality goes (it's super huge and really cool inside with its own hotel, indoor trees, Disney and SeaWorld stores, etc. inside) but they have serious crowd control and customer service issues. They lost Tenley's car seat and stroller (and tons of other people's luggage from our flight) which was ridiculous, but then it was going to be okay because they told us they replace lost ones, so we went through the process of acquiring new stuff when, almost two hours after we'd landed, they suddenly found them. Sheesh. But at least we got them back.

My parents picked us up in their car which they had driven down over the last 48 hours (it's a 24-hour drive, but they decided to break it up) and we met up with my brothers at the Hilton Orlando, which is a really cool hotel. My parents booked a hotel for a few nights just around Christmas because we didn't want to impose on our family for the holidays (though I know they wouldn't have minded). Our rooms were connected and the hotel had an amazing pool, water slide, lazy river, basketball and tennis courts, fire pits, etc. It had several other things too that we didn't even use. We went to Ihop for a late-night dinner then stayed up in the hotel room talking and catching up with my brothers.

Christmas Eve:
We went to SeaWorld (like two minutes from our hotel) and enjoyed the dolphins, rides, and particularly the new ride called Manta which is amongst our top favorite coasters now. We also went to a special Christmas-themed Shamu show which was especially awesome because they actually included Christ in the music and message. Afterward, the boys played on the basketball court while my mom, Tenley, and I roasted marshmallows and relaxed. Well, Tenley just relaxed ;)

Christmas Day:
We opened our stockings while listening to Christmas music in our hotel room, then we spent the majority of the day down by the pool. We "tanned" (ha ha, except I'm still snow white) and played in the lazy river, then played doubles on the tennis court. We ate some very good homemade pizzas at the hotel restaurant and had tropical drinks. It was definitely the most unique Christmas we'd ever had. We wouldn't trade the experience, but it was very weird having no snow, Christmas tree, or Nativity (we left all those at home). Still, I don't think anyone wanted to trade it.

The next several days were a blur a fun and tiring activities. We tried to fill every moment and truthfully over-planned a little. Or a lot. But it was awesome and I'm so glad we took advantage of every day! Here are some more highlights from our trip (December 26-January 3):

Payson taught Tenley to grab her feet which she now does frequently. She also loves sucking on her tiny toes. It's precious. (This is a milestone for babies so it's a big deal ;)

He also taught her to roll over but she can't get completely over by herself yet. She's so close though!

We also taught her to sign "I love you" back to us in ASL. I'll post a video if I ever catch it!

We went to Islands of Adventure and spent the majority of our time at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which is amazing (but SO busy during Christmastime!)

We rode Dragon Challenge and the Forbidden Journey.

We ate authentic British food supposedly--delicious fish and chips (fries)--in the Three Broomsticks.

We also tried Butterbeer both in slush form and regular (I preferred the slush).

We visited Honeyduke's, Zonko's, Ollivander's, and Dervish and Banges (obviously we had to go in every Harry Potter store...)

We also rode the Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, and plenty of other rides at Islands of Adventure.

We took Tenley around Dr. Seuss world (too bad she won't remember it...)

Uncle Payson held Tenley like 50% of the trip. She just LOVED him.

We were fed numerous amazing and authentic Swedish dinners from my Swedish cousin, Arielle and my aunt Nina.

On Sunday, we went to Church with our Swedish cousins.

We visited with a lot of wonderful family members from each side of my parents' family.

We ate at the Black Hammock and Payson and I shared gator, catfish, and frog legs for dinner. 

We also held Max, a small gator.

After, we took flashlights and went gator hunting in the dark by the lake (so freaky when you see their eyes glowing in the distance).

We visited Blue Springs and watched wild manatees swimming down the clear blue and green river.

We drove to Tampa to Busch Gardens and rode the water rides and best of all, Shiekra. We also liked Cheetah Chase and the Sky Ride which took us right over the animals.

We got free Quick Queue passes at Sea World just because a worker saw my dad's Red Sox shirt!(meaning we got to skip the regular lines).

We caught dozens of joeys (that's our name for those little lizards that are everywhere)--especially while waiting in line for rides.

We rode Manta, Kraken, and Journey to Atlantis at Sea World.

We spent more quarters (and more money) squirting people on the water rides with my dad than probably anything else at every park we visited.

We ate way too many turkey legs.

We learned that Florida drinking water is awful no matter how many times you try it.

As a result, I drank more soda during the trip than I have since I married Dalin (who doesn't drink soda and it rubbed off on me).

We loved the Men in Black ride, Transformers, E.T., and the Mummy ride at Universal Studios.

We started collecting magnets from the places we'd been on this trip.

We roasted marshmallows on New Year's Eve, watched the ball drop, played Bananagrams, and cheered 2014 with Sparkling Grape Juice (no one in our family drinks alcohol).

We went to an awesome outlet mall and my mom bought Tenley some rad little Nikes.

We got a tour of the University of Central Florida from our cousin, Nathan, and checked out the Psychology building for Dalin.

We watched a Knight's game with family and ate the most delicious filet mignon you could ever imagine (courtesy of Uncle Brad ;).

We canoed/kayaked down a crystal clear and winding river through Florida's swampy woods at dusk (it felt like we were in the amazon or somewhere crazy and was one of the coolest parts of our trip).

We got rained and poured on (unusual for us when we've visited Florida).

We laughed so much with all of our family.

We dreaded leaving...

So we extended our trip another 24 hours and looked into extending it further (but all the flights were sold out).

We decided we should probably go back soon.

Prepare for a photo overload. Seriously, it was so hard to pick just a few.

My parents surprised us with these cute plates. #Favorite grandchild ;)

Christmas morning in pajamas!

The water slide leading into a very small part of the humongous pool at our hotel

Flaring her nostrils at me. Can't handle the cuteness!

Slightly excited to be at Harry Potter world

A joey.

Realistic reaction to getting mauled by a T-Rex.

Wild manatees (a mom and two babies!) at Blue Springs!

My brother, Donovan, holding Max the baby gator

Grandma Searle and our sweetheart, Tenley

This was so cute of Tenley and my brother, Payson, how could I NOT put it?!

Canoeing down the Amazon...jk, but it felt like it!

Looking much happier than I felt to be leaving Florida :(

What did you do for Christmas and New Years?

Have you ever been to Florida before?

What about Orlando? 

Is there something you love/would love to do there?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all from the little Gunnell family!!!!

I'm about to start another game of Bananagrams with the family so, to make a long story short, we've spent the last two and a half days in Orlando, Florida where we met up with my brothers and parents who drove down from New Hampshire. We have a gorgeous hotel with the sweetest pool we've ever been to and have spent the last two days at SeaWorld getting some sun and riding the roller coasters. We'll be staying with cousins the next week, and have many other things planned (I'll tell you about them later). 

But for now, I'm going to enjoy the time I have with my family and wanted to share that I know Christ lives. I am very grateful for His birth and for His atonement. He is my Savior and I am trying to be more like Him every day. Do not forget that He is the reason for this holiday!

Merry Christmas again, and enjoy a few family pictures from last month. Gotta go! ;)

Have a happy, joyful Christ-centered Christmas and 2014!
I hope everyone has a magical Christmas!

Christmas Parties & Games

Dalin and I had an awesome and busy weekend. On Friday, we went to a Christmas party at the apartment of some good friends of ours, Hillary and Andrew. (Hillary is the one working with me on our new blog, The Mommy Tales). There were four other couples there, tons of delicious desserts, and several fun games, which I will share with you to use at your own Christmas gatherings!

Alphabet Race
Very simple, challenging game. List A-Z on a piece of paper and in an allotted time (we did like three to five minutes), list something Christmas-related for each letter. After the time is up, the game is kind of like Boggle, in that everyone reads the words on their list, and crosses them off if someone else has it. Whoever has the most unique words (which no one else has written) wins.

Bea Arthur (3 Parts Charades)
At least, that's what we call it. Basically, it's a charades game with three parts. Everyone starts by writing down three names (or, in the case of this party, Christmas-related things) on scraps of paper, which they fold once and stick in a bowl. Once all the names (or things) are in, the group is divided into two teams. One person from the first team goes first. Round one, each person has one minute to describe as many people/words in the bowl as possible before time runs out. In round one, players can say anything but any words contained on the paper. The round lasts until the names run out. Round two*, the same names are put back in the bowl, and players still have a minute to get as many names as possible, only this time, players can only use one single word to convey the name so they must choose wisely. They can repeat the word over and over, but they can only use one. Play until the names run out. Round three, the same rules apply. Names go back in the bowl, players have one minute each to get as many as possible. But this time, no words can be used, only acting. It's a very fun game that can be played anywhere as long as you have some paper, a bowl, and a group.

*Variation of the game: switch rounds two and three. That's how we played at this party!

Pictionary Telephone
This is a fun game which only requires some paper, pens, and a group (and your individual imagination, but that becomes clear). Every player is given a piece of paper and a pen with which they write a single sentence at the top of the page. The sentence can be random, silly, serious, whatever. In our case, it had to be holiday-themed in some way. Players should be instructed not to take up much space, as the rest of the page will be used. After the sentence is written, the page is passed on to the person sitting next to them. That person, reading the sentence, must draw a picture just below conveying its meaning. The picture, like the sentence, should be small and not take up much of the page. Once the drawing is completed, the person should fold the top of the paper so it completely covers the sentence at the top. With only the drawing visible, the page is passed to the next person, who, seeing the picture, must invent a sentence for it. Once their turn is over, they must fold the page over the drawing, so only their sentence can be seen. Essentially, the game will go: sentence, picture, sentence, picture, etc. (folding over the last piece each time) until the pages have been passed through the circle and reached the original writer. At that point, everyone can unfold the page completely and takes turns sharing the sentence transformations. The results are genuine, silly, and outrageous. No specific time is allotted for writing a sentence or drawing, but it could be for an added challenge. This game is a lot of fun in a group!

One-Handed Gift Wrapping
This challenge was just hilarious to watch. Each couple in the room, took a turn going against their spouse. Using one hand (and any other body part), couples had to wrap a box so no sides of it were exposed as fast as possible. Wrapping paper, a box, scissors, and tape were provided. It was so hilarious to see each couple with their own strategies. Some presents ended up wrapped fairly neatly, while others (most) were complete chaos. It was very fun as you can see below!

Watching another couple go

Stephanie holding Tenley for Dalin and me

First we had to unwrap them after the previous couple

It was a lot of pressure

Look at the determination in our faces...especially Dalin's

So hard to do nothing with your other hand!

Crappyyyy cutting job

Dalin won :P Barely. ;)

So the Dobbin's Christmas party on Friday night was a blast, and the treats were amazing. Then on Saturday morning, I went (late) to the baby shower of a friend in the ward. She's having a little girl and I know she's going to be the best mom! We ate delicious yogurt parfaits with granola and fresh fruit (my favorite!) and had fun telling her all about the fun in store for her (topics ranging from labor, to birth, to post-partum details, to breastfeeding, and so on). It is always fun to compare stories with other moms and I know I had a wonderful time with the lovely ladies who were there.

Then, Saturday evening was the ward Christmas party! The party was hosted in the Wilkenson Center Ballroom on BYU campus and was even better than last year. The decorations were so beautiful and the tables looked amazing (especially with the most delectable-looking desserts on them!). We were encouraged to dress up, so everyone looked really good and so Christmasy. And I can't even describe how delicious dinner was (though I'm about to try). After lemonade, rolls, and salad, we were served chicken cordon bleu (freaking good) with mashed potatoes (amazing), and buttery green beans (loved them). It seriously was so good that it was hard not to lick my plate clean. But I definitely ate everything on it. I had already eaten my dessert before the food showed up, but that was delicious too. It was some kind of raspberry cake with frosting, fresh raspberries, and a layer of white chocolate which was my favorite part.

After eating and enjoying the company of those at our table, each couple with children received a little present, which contained a board book version of one of my favorite children's books! ("You Are Special," which I had read for the first time when the mom of a high school friend sent it to us for Tenley!) After that, we did a White Elephant gift exchange. Dalin and I forgot our gifts, so we had hurried to the bookstore and grabbed some bright-colored socks and Christmas candy which we had wrapped for free upstairs. There were so many families at the party, that we had to do the gift exchange by table. We got a "Best of Bill Cosby Shows" DVD (which I was excited about) and a loaf of Organic Wheat Bread with a hilarious back-story shared on it. After the gift exchange, the holiday music was switched for dance music and everyone got up to dance! Dalin and I slow-danced, holding Tenley at the same time (you should have seen all the couples dancing with their babies), then we headed home in the snow. Check out pictures from the ward Christmas party below!

The tables looked gorgeous. The photo doesn't really capture it.

Check out those AMAZING desserts all around!

The little Gunnell family :)

My babies ;)

Holding the sweetheart

I love our darling girl!

Enjoying the party

Some silly guys from our ward, during the dance competition

It was such a fun weekend! If only Dalin didn't have to work tomorrow for his Sunday of the month, then it would be perfect. But overall, we had an awesome, party-filled weekend which I enjoyed every second of.

What is the best White Elephant gift you've ever given or received? (We gave an Obama Chia Pet one year amongst a conservative group, which was pretty funny)
Have you been to any Christmas parties yet this year (or hosted one yourself)? 
Are you planning on attending any parties? 
What is your favorite dessert? (Mine is anything with fruit, preferably fresh)