On a Sunny Afternoon

 

How they entertain themselves!  The Princess and the Guard.

3rd Annual Day of Fun

For the last three years, my sister and I have gone off on our "Day of Fun".  Grandma watches the kiddos and the two of us take off for an afternoon.  This year we decided to return to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, where Alyssa talked me into trying a burger instead of my usual sandwich.  So we both ordered the same thing and proceeded to enjoy our time together.  After a yummy meal of burgers and cheesecake we decided to do a little shopping.  Unfortunately we didn't get far before being hit with food poisoning.  We made it home just in time to both collapse in a pile of misery for the rest of the evening.

At least we spent our day of fun suffering together!

Justin Ready to do Battle

Ready to fight crime, and mommies who make him clean up.  Yes, that's 3 swords in his belt and a lever action rifle.

Norah and Her Dolls

Norah came up to me and said, "Mom, I have 10 girls, three guys, and one man who's naked!" 

Not really sure how to respond to that, but thankful she was just talking about dolls.

Norah's Question

Norah just asked me: 
"Will you and Daddy recognize me when I come to your house when I'm all grown up?" 

Talk about melting my heart. 

 I assured her that her daddy and I will 

ALWAYS

 recognize her.

Disneyland

After the picnic at the beach, we loaded up and headed out, adding my cousin Sydni to our group.  We drove to Anaheim, where we would spend the next two days at Disneyland!  From our hotel room we could see the park, and at night, we could watch the fireworks from the comfort of our beds. 

 

We were ALL excited about our room, as it was composed of two rooms, with a conference type room between the two.  The best part of that room was that it boasted a large table with a television.  This was quickly designated as the "warroom" and the "Planning and Strategy" table.  Matthew and Jeff set out to procure maps of Disneyland, and we all sat down to work out our plan for the next two days.  Sort of.  Most of our time was spent trying to talk over each other, while using as many acronyms as possible.  Needless to say, very little planning or strategizing was accomplished, but we had a lot of fun doing it.

The next two days were a blur of fun and true Disney magic.  The kids tried some of the bigger rides which really impressed us, but not surprisingly enjoyed the smaller ones much more.  They loved Winnie the Pooh, Autotopia, Finding Nemo, the Jungle Cruise, Dumbo the new CARS ride, and the Mater ride.  But their all time favorites were the Sleeping Beauty's Carousel and the Tea Cups.  Papa took them on the carousel as many times as they asked, and Daddy took them on the Tea Cups about 400 times.

Unfortunately our camera experienced a malfunction and we had to rely on the kids' cameras they'd received for their birthdays this year (thanks Granny and Gramps!).  So we don't have as many pictures as we'd like.  But it didn't  slow us down.  We got to go see a Star Wars show where young kids were picked for Padawan training.  Justin was desperate to join them, but was obviously just a little too young.  Norah got to meet Tinkerbell, who she described as beautiful.

Our first night at the park Grandma and Papa treated us to a very special dinner, which provided us with amazing seats for Disney's World of Color light show.  Afterwards, they took their two very tired grandbabies back to the hotel room, while the rest of us went on as many rides as possible before the park closed.

The second day was filled with lots of yummy food, fun rides, and we let the kids pick out their souvenirs.  We ended the day with fireworks as we ate dinner, then watched Fantasmic.  While we were all exhausted it was an amazing two days and we are so thankful that we got to enjoy them with our family.

Some things we learned:

• The kids were scared of everything at first, but had fun once they realized what it was.
• Just because they say they want to go on a ride doesn't necessarily mean they'll ride it (Norah and Pirates of the Carribean).
• Just because they say they are scared of a ride, doesn't mean they wont ask to ride it first thing the next day (Justin and Pirates of the Carribean)!
• While they may be silent when meeting characters, they will talk about it nonstop after everyone has walked off.
• They were EXTREMELY patient in lines.  We've never been so impressed. 

 

 

Picnic at the Park

The day after the wedding, we got up, got dressed and headed to a park right on the beach.  Brett and Traci wanted to spend more time with all the family, so invited everyone for a picnic.  The weather could not have been more beautiful and we spent the afternoon visiting with family and eating the most amazing, freshly made tacos.  Norah and Justin quickly made their way down to the playground and then decided to play in the water.  Amazingly no one ended up soaking wet, and everyone enjoyed themselves.  It was the perfect way to celebrate!