Home At Last

We got up on Saturday morning and hit the road for home. We knew it would be a long day, but we just prefer to get it all done in a day if possible. It makes it that much easier on the kids. We made it home at about 2:30 am Sunday morning. The next day was obviously "recovery day" This is what happens on days like that......


Poor Molly, Spread out on the ground with a Wii remote. She must have been tired!

Characters

We saw a ton of characters. It was really fun to be able to see them all. Lilly loved them all except for the Queen of Hearts because she thought that she was mad at her. We had to explain that she wasn't mad at all. We were really happy that we got to see almost all the classic characters. We didn't get to see Daisy Duck, but that was about it. Molly loved the characters that weren't real people. She thought Minni was the best and just kept trying to hug her the entire time. She cried when we left. One of the other really great ones was Jessie the cowgirl and she had two soldier men with her. Their names were Private P. Arking and Private Eyes. They were hilarious and would give missions to the kids. It was really fun! I joke now though that we won't be waiting to see characters for a while. I kind of became a little stalkerish trying to find them all to fill our book. I would check on my phone with my Disney mobile magic to see where they were. At one point I was even running to jump in line and Aaron had to bring the kids with him. It was pretty funny. Aaron's favorite was Mary Poppins and Bert. They were so fun and Aaron kept talking to them like they were the real deal, it was cute.

Left: Lilly with Tigger and Pooh; Us with Eeyore

Right: Goofy acting shy; All of us with Goofy; Buzz Lightyear and Lilly

Left: Us with Jessie the Cowgirl Privates P. Arking and Eyes; Lilly and Heather with Mater and Lighting McQueen; Stitch and Lilly

Right: Lilly and Handy Manny; Us with Sully

Left: Us with Mickey Mouse; Lilly and Aaron with Mary Poppins and Bert; Pinocchio and Lilly

Right: Us with Minni Mouse; Us with Pluto; Lilly and I with The Queen of Hearts

Left: The girls with Chip and Dale; Aaron, Lilly and Molly with Donald Duck

Right: Molly hugging Minni Mouse

Disneyland - Day 5

Our last day! We had a great time riding things again that the kids wanted to do. We were definitely more tired on our last day and I think we were pretty much done. We spent a lot of time just seeing some characters because I had a personal goal to fill up Lilly's signature book. We did it! We filled up the entire thing! It was a lot of fun to do it. Because we spent so much time at Disneyland it meant we had more time to meet characters. We have never been able to really do that before. All in all it was a really great trip!

The last time on the teacups!

Lilly

Aaron on the teacups

Inside Minni's House

Fun Car in Toon Town

The sign for World of Colors - I thought they were just really pretty

Aaron and the Girls

Disneyland - Day 4

On our fourth day in Disneyland we went back and forth a little bit. We finished up a few things in California Adventure that we didn't get done before. We played for quite a while in the Bug's Land and the girls loved it. They spent a lot of time at the splash park. Then we headed over and went to Turtle Talk with Crush. At first I thought it would be some show where crush comes out and just says some stuff, but it ended up being totally awesome. It was like he was actually talking to you. I even got to ask him a question and he said that my name was Hang Ten Heather. The kids thought it was pretty cool to talk to crush. We then went back to Disneyland and stopped to watch the parade. It was tons of fun. Lilly got picked to go out in the street and dance with the characters and dancers. They even started a conga line. She had a ball. That night we stayed late so that we could take the kids to see the World of Color show. We went to a fun dinner in Downtown Disney. They had this guy going around to tables and making balloon animals for the kids. Lilly got a Little Mermaid balloon and Molly got a lady bug. It was a fun day!

Lilly's Ballon hat

Molly's Ladybug

Getting ready to watch the show

In A Bug's Land

Aaron really is a record catch!

I think we wore them out!

Dancing in the parade

Princess Lunch

We decided that for Lilly's birthday present we would take her to a Princess lunch. It was so much fun. We got to see all of the princesses in one spot and we didn't have to wait in line. They came to us. Lilly was a little shy with them, but she quickly got over it. The food was good and the atmosphere was even better.

Top: The entrance to the lunch; Ariel with Lilly, Jemma, Sarah and Braden

Bottom: The prince who announced each princess, Snow white, and Cinderella

Left: Princess Aurora with Lilly and Braden; Princess Jasmin

Right: Molly with Princess Aurora; The girls with Snow White; The dessert - it was just so pretty!

Disneyland - Day 3

On our third day we went to Disneyland California Adventure. We spent a lot of time on the carousel and then on tons of other things. Aaron finally got to ride the California Screamin' Roller Coaster for the first time. He loved it! We also went to a princess lunch (more pictures to follow). We ate yummy clam chowder for lunch and we again saw a lot of the characters. We also went to the Playhouse Disney show and the Muppet show. The kids thought it was pretty great. It was definitely one of our more relaxing days in the park.

Disneyland - Day 2

We spent our second day in Disneyland having a great time. We saw a lot of characters and we rode a ton of rides. The kids of course had a ball and they were so excited all day long. We had a great lunch at one of our favorite places - The New Orleans Cafe, and then we even got to see Aaron's sister Lauren. They came down for the day and so we spent a little time with them. We must have had a great time because we didn't take a ton of pictures!

Ah - The Castle
Chelsea and Lilly

Eliza and Lilly

Molly, Aaron, Jasen, Braden, Sarah, Jemma, Heather and Lilly

We can't seem to get a decent picture!

Molly and Dad

Lilly and Dad

Disneyland! - Day 1

We just went to Disneyland! Our first day happened to be on Lilly's Birthday so it was made that much more special for her. We decided to do all kids rides that day so the kids could do everything. It was pretty warm but we still had the best time ever! The girls loved the rides and Molly would cry every time we had to get off of a ride. She just loved everything. It was definitely different than the last time we were there. Molly enjoyed her time so much more this time around. We arrived in the morning and did a lot that first day. Then our friends the Feils arrived and we all spent the rest of the day together. Later that night we got to our hotel, got some dinner, did some shopping, which included mass amounts of water because it was so hot and we sweated buckets, and then we fell into bed. Everyone slept so good! We decided that since we would be at Disneyland for 5 days, that we would take it really slow. We never got to the park super early and we always left by 6 pm that evening. Aaron and I got to go back one night which was super fun. We rode all our favorite rides and then we got to see the show World of Color at Disneyland California Adventure. It was an awesome show and so beautifully done. It's amazing what they can do with water and lasers! We had a fantastic time and it was even more fun to hang out with our friends all week. Thanks Feils for letting crash with you and hang with you. We had a blast!

The Carosel was the most loved ride. I think we rode it 3 times that first day and then many more times to come.

We went to a prince and princess coronation ceremony. The taught you how to be a princess and then they danced with you. Lilly thought it was great.

The teacups!

Happy Birthday Lilly!

Today Lilly turned 4 years old! I can't believe how big she is now! This year she is doing things like preschool and swim lessons. She loves to dance around and it is almost impossible to get a good picture because she loves to pose and dance for the pictures. She loves being a Sunbeam in church and she is making new friends everyday. She is such a joy to have around and she loves to be extra helpful where her little sister is concerned. Happy Birthday baby girl! We love you!

A Joint Birthday Party

While we were with family in California we decided to have a joint birthday party for Lilly (whose birthday is the 23rd) and her cousin Cooper (whose birthday is the 20th). This is the first opportunity that we have had to be with Aaron's side of the family for any birthday, so I was really excited about it. We made cupcakes and reserved a place at Antonio's (A Pizza Joint). We had a great time! It was really special because of everyone that was able to come. Aaron's parents even made it after they had been traveling all day. It was a fun get together. Thanks everyone for coming and thanks Camene for letting us celebrate our kids birthdays together!

Lilly was turning 4 and Cooper turned 3!

They got cute presents and gave each other the biggest hug. It was so cute!

Molly loved trying to play the arcade games

Chelsea and Lilly loved playing together

Molly and Aaron

Our First Stop

We just went to California and we had a great time. Our first stop was at Lauren's house. We always have a great time there and it was so nice to be able to swim and relax. We went on some walks with Lauren and Eliza was nice enough to drive the girls on their "trike". This was the coolest bike ever. The girls loved it and it was a good workout for anyone unlucky enough to drive the girls. Thanks Lauren for a great time. We loved staying at your house.

Rock Bottom... Or What?!?

Have I officially hit rock bottom? I mean here I am a 20-something woman with 2 great kids and a fantastic husband. But I swear lately it is like anytime I get out any kind of food, no matter what it is, or what time of day it is, here comes someone asking for a bite, or telling me they are suddenly starving or whatever it may be. So tonight I pulled out a little snack. Okay, okay I'll admit it was the most unhealthy thing, it was a ding-dong, but come on, sometimes a girl just needs her chocolate fix. Anyway, I pull it out and I swear my children can hear from 2 rooms away. So I see Lilly coming my way, and what do I do? I go and lock myself in my bedroom for 3 minutes so I can eat my big and disgusting ding-dong in peace. That is of course after Lilly knocks and asks what I am doing. I then proceed to drool chocolate down my chin, while I am telling her to please give me just a minute. Not a pretty picture in the mirror if you ask me. So you tell me.... Is this rock bottom or what?

I Can't Wait!

I just can't hold it in anymore. We are going to Disneyland in 12 days! We are so excited!

Molly

Molly is getting so big. She is walking all over the place, talking non-stop and just growing up in front of our eyes. Today she grabbed the camera and handed to me and just stood there saying "cheese, cheese, cheese". I just love this girl.