Disneyland Day #3

Pointing at the parade
Brielle "fueling" up
Nick and Emma on the jellyfish ride

As usual, the girls were up early so we headed to Disneyland. We had about 30 minutes before the park opened so Emma and I wandered through Downtown Disney stores. I think that is a child's dream to explore a store where everything is for kids. Emma wanted a black, velvet bag to put plastic jewels in (from Pirates of the Caribbean); luckily, I didn't bring any money! So we headed to California Adventure- A Bug's Land- first. All of their rides were perfect for Emma and Brielle and it was early enough to walk right on (we did each ride multiple times). Then we went to Monsters, Inc (ride) and the Muppet's (3D movie). On our way, Emma was able to meet Snow White and Woody. Very exciting. Our lunch consisted of chicken nuggets and a burrito that was not worth the money and then we hit more rides at the back of California Adventure. We also came across a talking garbage can that noticed Emma and Jill (her cousin) were pushing strollers so he asked if they were old enough to be mothers. Emma thought that was hilarious. "Mom," she said "I have never seen a talking garbage can before." (only at Disneyland)!! Since that park closed at six, we finished our night at Disneyland; back to the tea cups (of course) and other kids rides we had not been on yet. To top it all off, we watched the "Parade of Dreams" with characters from the Lion King to Pinocchio before we left the park. The girls loved it. What a show! Total time at Disneyland/California Adventure: 10 hours!

Disneyland Day #2

Our pictures from the Disney Princess Lunch! It was fabulous!!

Disneyland Day #2

Rain....our second day started with rain. But, we're from Utah, no big deal! So we headed over when they opened and the first 3 rides we walked right on. It was great. A couple of the rides were closed so we headed to Toontown. On the way, Nick tried to get Emma to go on the Matterhorn because it was closing the next day. But she saw that it went in the mountain and she didn't want to go (even after Nick tried bribery). So after we arrived in Toontown, we found the roller coaster closed, but we went to Mickey's house and got pictures with Minnie, Goofy, and Mickey. Emma was a little surprised with these life size cartoons and Brielle wanted nothing to do with them! The rest of Toontown was perfect because there was hardly anyone there and everything was kid-sized. Then, we headed to Thunder Mountain (Nick's other favorite ride) to get Emma on a bigger ride. After 30 minutes of waiting, Emma came off the ride complaining that her stomach hurt! What mean parents we are! Luckily, the next thing on the schedule was to have lunch in Ariel's Grotto with the Disney Princesses. Once we arrived, we met with Ariel and then sat down to eat. The kids got to color their menu and decorate crowns while we waited for our food and the Princesses to arrive. We were privileged to meet Belle, Jasmine, and Cinderella. They came around and met with each table, took time to autograph books or menus, and posed for a photograph. Emma was in heaven. She really wanted to meet Sleeping Beauty but we saw her later. If you have a "princess" daughter, I highly recommend the Princess Lunch. We had such a wonderful time and the excitement on Emma's face was priceless! After lunch we stayed in California Adventure to go to "A Bug's Land" and the merry-go-round. To finish our day, we watched the Electric Light Parade in California Adventure (Brielle was pointing to all the lights and dancing to the music!) and then watched the Disneyland firework show from Downtown Disney. (Emma slept through the fireworks!! It had been a long day!!!) Total time at Disneyland/California Adventure: 12 hours!

Disneyland Day #1

It started very early.....2:50am to be exact. I wondered at that moment why I thought saving $40.00 a person was worth getting up for a 6:00am flight. We woke up the girls at 3:30 and Emma was so excited she didn't sleep at all on the way to the airport (which made Brielle stay awake to see what Emma was so excited about)! We drove down with Nick's sister Sarah and her family. Amazingly enough we got through security with no problems and arrived at the terminal just in time to board. Luckily, Brielle fell asleep for the first 20 minutes and Emma loved taking off. Drinks, treats, and cartoons kept us busy for the 1 1/2 hr flight to Long Beach. Now, I am not a world traveler by any means, but it surprised me to disembark outside! I thought I was the President of the United States or had flown back to the 1950's. It is so weird! FYI- The Long Beach Airport is small (maybe the size of my house) and we had scheduled the shuttle 1 1/2 hours after we landed to give us plenty of time to gather up our luggage, go potty, and eat breakfast. So, we got to enjoy the California palm trees for about 1 hour 20 minutes! Thankfully, for the next leg of our journey I sat in the back of the shuttle and missed the "near collisions" with other Cali drivers. We arrived at our hotel (Castle Inn) breathing a sigh of relief that we were finally to Disneyland!! Once our suitcases were put away we headed to "the happiest place on earth"! First ride? Obviously, the tea cups!! Then, the rest of Nick's family joined us and we sat down to enjoy our Disneyland pizza! (for $25.00 YIKES!) After that it started to rain so we headed back to our hotel to take a nap. It was still raining later so after dinner at Subway and a trip to the ABC Market for milk and cereal we went back to our hotel to crash for the night. We were pooped! Total time at Disneyland: 4 hours!!

The Happiest Place on Earth...

is HOME! After a whirlwind 5-day trip to Disneyland with Nick's family it is wonderful to be home. Not that we didn't have a good time. Nothing will beat the experience of hearing my 3 yr old giggle uncontrollably as she spins in circles or watching my one yr old point out the amazing floats in the electric light parade. We had an fabulous time, but we also wore ourselves out. I wish I would have brought my pedometer to see how many miles we covered. Luckily, most of the weather was great, we didn't lose anything in the airports, and no one got sick. I think I will write a blog about each day in Disneyland, so I won't forget all the details. (I'll put in some pictures, of coarse, to make it more interesting). And as far as "the happiest place on earth"? It probably comes in a close second place!

Our New House

No we didn't move! After 6 1/2 years in our home we decided to redo all of the flooring. (what we really needed was new carpet, but if you are putting in new carpet, you might as well update it all right?) So here is the new tile in our bathroom (old gray linolieum gone!); our new laminate flooring in the kitchen (gray linolieum and carpet gone!) and our new carpet. It is so soft compared to our old turf carpet. Nick and his dad did the tile and laminate which took almost two weeks and a couple of late nights, but we were ready for the carpet when they finally arrived, and they finished in one night (we thought it would take two nights.) The girls were tough cookies through it all because we were constantly sleeping or hanging out at other houses so we were not getting in the way. We also moved some furniture to the kitchen which meant lunch and dinner were served on a picnic blanket in other rooms. It was an adventure which I hope not to repeat in the near future; however, it has given our house a new, fresh feeling and I love that!

Simple Fun

Do boxes ever get out-dated? I remember playing outside in a huge box that alternated between my house and my car. I think that kept me busy for weeks until it fell apart. This box was from our new vacuumn and they probably would have played in it longer if the next day wasn't garbage day!