Camp Webster

Let me just say that you all should be very thankful that I did not have a blog when my nieces were babies. If you think I am crazy about posting pictures of my kids, you didn't know 22 year old Lauren Suttle who was obsessed with her nieces.

I found out I was going to be an aunt my senior year in college. I immediately ran to a toy store and bought a stuffed animal. I lived in a house with my 5 college roomies and we would write phone messages for each other on this large dry erase board. I demanded that any messages left for me were to be addressed to "Aunt Lauren." I seriously wanted to be called that when my sister was, like, 8 weeks pregnant.

I was traveling in Europe when my oldest niece was a baby and I drove everyone nuts looking for toys for her. I was working in a TV station when my sister had her second little girl and my office was plastered with their pictures. I begged my sister to let me keep them all the time. Even before Rob and I were dating I would keep them in my apartment and we would make brownies and watch "Sleeping Beauty" together.

We went to the beach together, I took them to the zoo, to the playground, to the park, to plays, to tea parties, and much more. And this was all before I even had kids of my own.

All this to say, I love my nieces!! And so I was thrilled when I got the opportunity to keep them for a week after Disney World. I don't have a ton of pictures, because I was just enjoying hanging out with them. But we had a wonderful week. We kept our connection strong when we moved to Kansas City and since we moved back we have picked up right where we left off. And now they adore my children and seeing the bond between the cousins makes my heart so happy.

And I have to say that being an aunt to teenagers and pre-teens is so much fun in a completely different way. Instead of them running in my room at 6am begging me to make them cheese eggs and take them to the park, I am now waking them up at 11am and dragging them downstairs. But I love having them sit on my kitchen stools as they groggily chat with me while I make their breakfast. I adore every stage of being an aunt and I am so grateful for these blessings.

While watching a movie cuddled up with his cousin one afternoon, Will slumped over and fell asleep on her. For 2 hours! Sweet Piper didn't want me to move or wake him so she let him sleep on her for two whole hours. Such a great moment.

 Cousins are your first friends. I should know. Mine were.

 Walking across the street to our neighborhood park one afternoon.

 Sutton hanging out with Lainey at Water World.

 My favorite crew.

Disney again..... I could get used to this.

We headed back to Orlando for our second trip in 4 months and this time we brought along my whole family. My brother-in-law couldn't get off work to join us, but the rest of us went to celebrate some birthdays. Will, my Dad, and my niece all have birthdays within 5 days of each other and so where better to celebrate than the happiest place on earth?

Side note- I truly wish their birthdays were all in January. The Heat is not my friend. And I'm not talking about LeBron. I'm talking about sticky middle of June in Orlando humidity. But that's another story.

We got to Disney and headed straight for lunch at Wilderness Lodge. We do not mess around, people. You give us 48 hours in Disney and we are going to make the most of every one of those hours. Here are my parents with their 6 grandchildren waiting for lunch. Maybe Will is sad in this picture because it is dawning on him that he is the only boy.

 The oldest and youngest of the grandchildren. Both are absolutely beautiful.

 Horse races at Whispering Canyon!

Look at her little face! That is the face of pure delight.

 I got some very shaky video of the horse races. All the other diners wave their napkins as the kids run by. Disney makes even meals at resorts fun.



Having lunch with my fam. This was our first vacation all together in 2 1/2 years.

Make sure to ask for ketchup when dining at Whispering Canyon.

You have to look closely but I hung a birthday poster on the wall in our hotel room. It is a picture of my Dad, Will, and Piper celebrating their birthday two years ago and so we had to get a shot of the birthday crew in front of their poster. 

And I had these little welcome/birthday treats waiting for each of them in their rooms. 

After an afternoon of swimming we headed over to the Boardwalk Inn for dinner, presents, and cake.

Beautiful location to celebrate a birthday.

 Happy Birthday to three of my most favorite persons!

 Opening gifts

It's hot out here, but give me some paper plates and I'm gonna have a good time.

  You never know with this goofy one, but I absolutely love that about her.

 Happy Birthday, little guy.

 Post dinner magic show in the Boardwalk.

 My family.

 After the kids went to bed, I left the room to stroll around a bit. I could seriously just soak up everything about Disney all the time. It is the little touches that make it so amazing. I loved that our pool was hopping at 10:30 pm with Disney trivia games, Disney movies playing, and much more.

 Maybe one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I absolutely love this shot of my little princesses getting ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. We were all so excited that morning. There is nothing better than getting ready for a day at Disney.

 Here we go!

 All of these kids have been to Disney many times, but this was their first trip all together.

 We always take the buses to the park but we tried driving ourselves this time and riding the boat. Not sure if it was faster or not, but it's always fun to try new things. Here are my parents on the boat.

My sister and Piper ready for the day. Notice how Piper had a button on saying that it was her birthday and you can see my Dad's button in the picture above. If you are wearing a birthday button, Disney cast members go out of their way to wish you a Happy Birthday. They got free cake at meals and special hello's during the parade, and more. I think the highlight of the trip for me was watchingWill hold up his button to every person he saw. It was adorable.

 Princess in waiting.

  I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to get there to see the opening of the park. It gets me every single time.

 Hurry up already, would ya?

 Someone is ready to party!!! 8 months old and already on her 2nd Disney trip. No big deal.

 Look who we found first! Of course.

 Ariel has been her favorite since she was 2 years old. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

 Okay, so maybe this is my favorite picture from the trip. Look how alert she is. Already a pro at riding Disney rides. Love love love love this little thing.

Waiting in line for Belle's Storytime.

Okay, let me pause and talk about Belle's Storytime. The official title is Enchanted Tales with Belle. We have done it so many times in the past and it was always cute and fun. When they opened the new Fantasy Land they completely revamped it. We missed it for some unknown reason on our trip in February so we were determined to catch it this time. The wait was 55 minutes and most of it was out in the extreme heat. Everyone told me that it was so worth it and that we couldn't miss it. I was hoping they were right when everyone was so hot and sweaty and we were only 20 minutes into out wait. And guess what? They were. It was amazing! I won't go into too much detail but let's just say that it put the old story time to shame. Every child got a chance to participate, the special effects were amazing, and it was absolutely worth every second of the wait. If you go to Disney, do not miss this! I'm so glad we got a second chance to see it.

Bennett got picked to be Phillipe, the horse. That was kind of perfect for her.

And my Dad was chosen to be Belle's father, Maurice. He was a natural. Ham, that is.

And guess which birthday boy was chosen to be the Beast? I could have died.

I absolutely cannot believe that I do not have video of them dancing together. but Rob was chosen to be a guard so I was trying to take pictures and video and I had Lainey on my lap. Rats! I so wish I could have gotten video of this, but to say that it was magical would be an understatement.

I do have video however of the kids (and the kids at heart) marching around the room to Be Our Guest.


Beauty and the Beast. Fantastic.

From Beauty to Stepsisters. Alrighty then. A friend of mine wondered if their faces get tired from grimacing all day. Good point.

Getting "Sprinkled" at Cinderella's castle. An extra dose of pixie dust never hurt anyone.

We convinced Will to ride Splash Mountain. He was absolutely terrified during the ride but loved it once it was over and it is all he has talked about since we got home. Here he is giving two thumbs up after the ride.

Fascinated on It's a Small World. Both of them.

Waiting for the parade.

Best seat in the house.

Taking a break from the heat.

While Will was riding Splash Mountain, Bennett just wanted to go see shows. Between the parades, shows, and entertainment, you could have an amazing day at Disney World without ever setting foot on a ride.

My family in front of the castle.

Rob "claims" that these make him sick so I always get stuck riding them.

Dumbo! Not the girls. The ride.

I love each and every one of these faces so very much.

Will was clearly not meant to be King Arthur.

Neither was Bennett. Guess I'll never be queen.

Me with my Prince Charming.

Another favorite shot from the trip? Notice how all my favorites seem to be of Lainey? But does it get any cuter than this?

Love, love, love.

The next day we hung out in Animal Kingdom Lodge for a bit. The animals were roaming around and the kids enjoyed exploring the resort. Then we headed to Downtown Disney.

And all Will wanted to do for his birthday was go bowling at Splitsville Lanes. We had decided against this due to cost but it was so crowded and hot at Downtown Disney that all of a sudden, bowling didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Heading home. Even stops at rest areas become lessons in nature with my husband.

Annnddd.... they're out. How all of us felt after a whirlwind weekend at Disney.

I have to thank my parents for taking us all on this trip. I truly appreciate them making this such a wonderful and special birthday for Will. And yes, I am already planning my next trip. But it won't be in 4 months. I can tell you that much.