It’s that time of year when I like to take an inventory of all the fun stuff I did. A few things I enjoyed were reading and cooking with my daughter. In ‘The Calendar Kids’ series, I got to do both. There are 12 books, one for each month, and each book focuses on one kid (named after the month) as they explore seasons, holidays, and memorable moments with friends and family. Each book has a cooking recipe that is tied to the story, and it’s been fun reading the book each month and trying all the recipes.
The recipe was actually a snowman pancake recipe, but we made hearts instead.February was chocolate-covered strawberries. I admit it’s not our finest work lol, but it was yummy.This month, the recipe was a rainbow donut. We did munchkins instead. April we did dirt pudding! It was so good.May’s recipe was a Cinco de Mayo salsa. Which was yummy.June’s recipe was Dad’s famous burger recipe. I made them mini burgers to make it easier for my daughter to eat.
I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I’m currently curled up on the couch with my favorite people and reminiscing about the past year.
I picked up a new hobby this year, collecting pins. It all started during my birthday trip to Disney World (more on that next week).
I bought pins after riding Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios and Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. I don’t know what compelled me to start buying them, but these stores had a great selection of pins, and I just picked the ones that spoke to me. I did not choose the Ursula pin, though. I actually hate her, but my husband and daughter decided it would be a hoot to buy it for me as a surprise.
I also randomly got three mystery pin boxes, Up, The Incredibles, and I picked up a Star Wars one in another shop. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my pin journey.
I have since bought more mystery boxes (mostly Disney-related) and I’ve been enjoying opening them with my daughter. I’ll share more another time.
I can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve. Although I’m slightly in denial, I have had a great few weeks celebrating.
Thanksgiving PJsTree at the YMCACold day at the parkSanta in AstoriaNativity Scene💗Dressed up our tree at churchCan’t get enough of DisneyMade reindeer foodLetter to SantaTime with Santa and Mrs. ClausWatched My First Nutcracker with her bestie.😍Visited The LotteVibe at my work’s holiday party.
Advent calendars are my jam. I think this will be my families fifth year participating. This year I kept it simple, but still fun.
My daughter Maxine loves all things Gabby.My cats BB and PJ are sharing treats from Country Kitchen. My husband and I are sharing the WSJ wine advent calendar.I got my parents chocolate calendars.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I’m really grateful I got to do some amazing things to celebrate this year.
Halloween craft time with familyMaxine got to make her trick or treat bagShe also got to build a bearDuring our trip to Disney, we were able to go to the Not So Scary Micky’s Halloween PartyMy daughter wanted to collect pumpkins lolMaxi made a Halloween themed gingerbread houseMade a haunted houseThe school’s Trunk or Treat eventHalloween at Queen’s FarmAnnual Lil Goblins party at the New York Junior LeagueBest MagicianUnicorn balloon !Halloween bowling school trip
I visited the Morgan Library & Museum to see the Jane Austin exhibit before it closed. It was packed and crowded, but doing something different with my family was great. The day’s highlights included afternoon tea at the cafe and enjoying the small garden.
Two more days until our Disney Cruise! I’m revisiting some of our past cruise vacations to get us pumped and ready to go.
In October 2024, we enjoyed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the MSC Meraviglia to celebrate my birthday this time. We learned a lot from our first cruise in February! For our NCL cruise, we waited to book everything on the ship. Frequent cruisers know that booking packages in advance is the way to go; it’s cheaper, and you have more options. So we bought everything in advance! We got the drink and wifi package (worth it to us), we got the specialty dining package, and enjoyed four amazing restaurants. I prebooked excursions, spa treatments, and little goodies throughout our cruise. I even booked a little photo shoot for us. It was all worth it!
We had the best time! Learning from our February cruise, we took advantage of every amenity we could. Our daughter participated in the kids club this time, while my husband and I enjoyed the spa and the nighttime entertainment. We also got to enjoy some shows with our daughter. She slept through one show (lol), but she enjoyed the acrobatic one, in the carousel lounge. My daughter was better potty-trained this time, so we got to take advantage of the pools more. The one negative we experienced was the weather. It definitely wasn’t on our side, and we only made one of our ports, but we made the best of it on the ship. The ship had tons of activities to participate in. We plan on going on another MSC cruise in February 2026!
MSC MeravigliaMaxi got a bunk bed!Cheers!Taking in the views while we leaveSigned up for the kids clubTook all the pictures!Specialty Dinning Reservations Cheers!Exploring the ship!They had a small arcade sectionAndrew was here every nightHappy Birthday to me!Birthday cakeGot a great seat for the showposingour only port stopWhite Party!We participated in the kids club game night partyPhoto shoot readyPool time with Daddy The formula one experience!
The Casual Explorer 