Family Disneyland Trip

We had one day left on our 3 day military passes and with Henry is turning 3 this week, we wanted to visit before we would have to buy him a ticket. We finally made that happen on Saturday. We hit the park right as it opened and stayed for about twelve hours. I was so exhausted by the time we left, but we had a blast! It had been two years since the kids had last been there and neither of them really remembered it. The highlights of the trip included Cars Land, especially Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Toon Town's Gadget's Go-Coaster, and the Aladdin show. Lillie also got to go on Splash Mountain and Soarin Over California, which she loved! The excitement and joy on their faces the whole day made it SOO worth it. We enjoyed going without our kids the other week, but it was equally as awesome with them. They could have gone till the closing of the park, but Eric and I could not. Lillie even asked if we could move down to Anaheim so that we could go every day. I wish, Baby, I wish.

Henry was in heaven walking around Cars Land and enjoyed his time hanging out with his pal, Lightning McQueen. He loves Lightning!

Lillie loved Soarin' even though she was a little nervous before it began.  She wanted to hold my hand the whole time, which was nice.  I loved hearing her little shrieks of joy during the ride.

Visited Mickey and got one terrible picture out of it.  Thanks, photographer, for making us stand right under the red light.  Very flattering.  Ugh.  Henry loved hugging and talking to Mickey though.

Lillie and Eric got soaked in Splash Mountain, but dried quickly in the warm sunny weather.

Waiting in line at the Jungle Cruise.  We felt like Saturdays weren't nearly as bad as we thought it would be.  We avoided the busy rides and didn't wait longer than ten minutes for a ride.  I think that's the key to keeping kids happy all day long.  No body likes waiting in lines and pretty much no ride is worth waiting forever for.

The Mater ride in action.  Eric said it was like being pulled behind a boat on an inner tube.  Lots of fun!

I think the ice cream bars were as good as any other part of the day for these two.

Couldn't make it through the day at the Happiest Place on Earth without a fit or two.  Lillie had to spend some time in Time Out.

List of Rides/Things we Did: Luigi Flying Tires, Soarin' over California, Redwood Creek Trails, Train at Disneyland, Gadget Go Coaster, Mickey's House, It's a Small World, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin Show, Turtle Talk with Crush, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Monster's Inc., Flik's Flying Ride, Play Parade, Little Mermaid, and probably a bit more that I can't remember

Mother's Day 2013

I wanted to edit my stupid bangs in this photo before posting it, but because it's almost been a month, I give up.  I had a really great Mother's Day filled with thoughtful gifts and yummy food.  Eric made a slide show with pictures of us and the kids over the past ten years, it so sweet and made me bawl.  It has seemed like every day has been Mother's Day around here the past 3 months, with Eric doing most of the housework, cooking and kid tending when he's home.  I am a really lucky lady.  I sure love being a mom to these kiddos, and I especially love this picture of them.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Memorial Day weekend, we went to Lake Cachuma with friends to camp. The campgrounds were actually quite nice! Our campsite was overlooking the lake and there were flushing toilets, showers, and a playground. We roasted s'mores and the kids ran around the campground like crazy until bedtime. Our kids went down relatively easily and slept through the night, which was much more than I can say. It was super cold that night and I kept waking up to a cold face or a frozen body and wondering if our kids were warm, etc. Basically I didn't get much sleep and neither did Eric and so we were both grumpy the next day. But the sun came out warm and bright in the morning and so we spent our time down at the lake, exploring the campgrounds and at the playground. Our friends brought their croquet set which was a hit with the kids and dads. We had a really good time, except for during the night, but would do it again in a heart beat. So fun!

Like I said, it was a rough night!



Lake Cachuma was pretty, but it would be a whole lot more awesome if you could swim in it. All you can do is fish and boat. Boring, but we think it might be fun to rent some kayaks next time.

Eric lost at croquet and therefore the bet, and had to climb up the tree and yell like Tarzan.

Celebrating 10 Years

Eric planned a trip to Disneyland for our ten year anniversary! We had our kids stay with some very awesome and gracious friends and spent two days at the Happiest Place on Earth. I think it should be noted that our kids were not upset that they weren't coming, but were way more excited to be spending the night at their friends' house. No joke. And they never cried for us while we were gone or said they missed us or anything. Lillie did cry... when we came to pick her up because she didn't want to leave, and Henry wouldn't even acknowledge us, he was too busy playing. That should tell you just how awesome these friends are. Anyway, we spent our time going on our favorite rides and trying out some new ones that weren't there two years ago, sometimes breaking the expectant mothers should not ride rule. And now as I look at these photos, I'm clearly pregnant, so my bad. It was a ton of walking, more than I did the entire past two and a half months combined. Seriously, I'd been laying on the couch or in bed about 97% of every day, so it was a big adjustment for me and I am SOOO sore now, I can hardly walk. But we had a really good time, such a good time, I'm so glad we took a chance and went.  

 My favorite ride is Space Mountain and Eric's is California Screamin'. So we went on Space a couple times and Eric went on Screamin' by himself. Cuz that is too much roller coaster for me to handle. We checked out Cars Land, which was super cute and we can't wait to take Henry to see it.

We stopped mid-ride right in front of some triangle and diamonds and so Eric was able to rack up his score to over a million, putting him at Galactic Hero level.  Even with the stop, I only made it to level 5.  I swear it was because he was hogging all the high point targets.

We went for an anniversary dinner at the Blue Bayou on Thursday, the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was a really neat experience, something I always wanted to do when we lived down there, and the food was really good, we'd heard mixed reviews, so we weren't sure, but picked items on the menu that others had said were the best and liked them. It was really expensive, however, and we would never take our kids there.

We saw the World of Colors show to finish off the day. And then did it all again and went on a bunch more rides on Friday before cutting out early to head home. I was so beat by Friday afternoon. Like I've never been so tired in my life.  

We had terrible Friday traffic to deal with on the drive, it took us an extra hour and a half to get home... kill me now. But it was still worth it. Eric surprised me with roses in our hotel room and got me a gorgeous birthstone ring. I didn't get him anything. Oops, I'm a terrible wife.

One Decade Down

Ten years ago I made the best decision of my life.   Here's to an eternity of years to come...

First Campout

Eric and I used to go camping at least a couple times a year before we had kids. There is nothing better than being out in nature, enjoying the peace and quiet and electronics-free environment. After we became parents, we often talked about camping again but have never done it, I was always afraid that the kids would take forever to fall asleep and/or wake up constantly through out the night. Sheer torture and no way to escape it. So I played it on the safe side. Last night was supposed to be the father sons camping trip for our stake. Unfortunately, Eric was on-call for work, which we didn't know about until yesterday afternoon, so he wouldn't be able to go. Also unfortunately, we'd already mentioned to Henry and he was excited to go. So, our compromise, which worked out better because I wasn't left home alone and Lillie was also able to camp, which she badly wanted to do, was to set up the tent in the backyard and have a campout back there. We started off the evening by cooking hobo dinners, in the oven so that they could cook evenly and quickly, then started a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Lillie and Henry then went inside the tent so that Lillie could read bedtime stories to Henry, then we tucked them in and laid down. It took them a little while for them to fall asleep, but it was probably faster than a typical night, we often hear them running around upstairs an hour after being tucked in. I came in later to sleep in my bed but the kids and Eric slept all night in the tent without any problems. I was shocked. My kids are afraid of the dark and so I thought this would be an issue. But they did so well and loved it! Lillie said she wants to sleep out there again tonight, but I don't think Eric will want to do that again for a while. We all had an AWESOME time and was totally worth the effort. Oh man, this last picture is just awful, Eric looks sick but he had chocolate all over his face by the end of the s'more. haha

A Visit to the Zoo

Last weekend we were itching to get out of the house and although I knew it would be difficult for me, I knew the kids needed a change of scenery and so we took a chance and headed to the zoo. The weather when we left home was beautiful, but changed by the time we got to Santa Barbara, it was windy and cold. Luckily, we already had the kids jackets in the car, so they stayed warm. The highlight of the trip was getting to see two baby giraffes, one of which was born 6 days earlier. We got there just at the right time because the mom and baby were interacting and you could easily see the love this momma had for her baby. So sweet. We made our rounds at all the animals, ate lunch, and then left in time to get home for a nap. Worked out perfectly. The trip was great except that Lillie was not on her best behavior, throwing a couple of embarrassing fits, which made me question why I even try to take her out to do anything fun. Ugh. The last picture is the only one taken of me and is quite appropriate, I was only feeling slightly better than okay during our visit, so I tried to sit on as many park benches as I could while the kids enjoyed the animals. It was probably a little too soon for me to be out taking such adventurous trips. Can't wait to get back to feeling more like myself.