Veterans Day Parade

I am so far behind on blogging, I just now uploaded my photos from November and December so I will try to post regularly to get caught up!

California Adventure Part 3 | Beach

I almost forgot about our quick stop at the beach. The kids had so much fun during our quick stop at the beach on Saturday so we decided to make a quick stop before we headed home. We had the most delicious doughnuts on the foggy beautiful morning at the beach.

California Adventure Part 2 | Long Beach Aquarium

We started the day Saturday at an early 5:30 in the morning. The time before the sun was spent curling hair and ironing clothes. We headed up to El Segundo to have our family pictures taken on the beach by THE amazing Amy Shertzer. It was difficult as alway to be on the other side of the camera but Amy was great and if you are looking for a photographer in Southern California you should definitely look her up! You can see the rest of the session on her blog here.




After we finished with our session we grabbed some breakfast and headed over to the Long Beach Aquarium. We've been to the aquarium probably 6 or 7 times over the years and it's fun every time. The kids love the Lorikeet exhibit, but man they have jacked up the cost of the nectar for the birds. It is still very fun to have the opportunity to feed the birds.

The aquariums are awesome, the marine life is so colorful and amazing!!



After the aquarium we headed back to the hotel and left the kids for a bit to have some alone time at dinner, just us grown ups. It was nice and relaxing not to be wrangling kids for the first time all weekend! We headed home the next morning. It was a fabulous trip and I hope we made some memories that will last a lifetime!

California Adventure Part 1 | Disneyland

The last time we went to Disneyland was November 2004. So it's been awhile. We wanted to surprise the kids with this trip but Brett being the eavesdropper that he is, he had precariously positioned himself as we were discussing the upcoming trip so he was in on the secret. We wanted to tell them on the way down but Brett blew the secret the. We were a little bummed but it didn't take the sweetness out of their excitement. With the 4 day weekend we (and the rest of las vegas) headed down to Anaheim on Wednesday after the kids got out of school. We stayed walking distance to the park which was nice not to have to pay for parking, not so nice when we had to walk over a mile home with really tired legs and feet!
I debated whether or not to take my big camera into the park or not. I'm glad I did, I just with i had carried it both days! THe second day we hit the California Adventure park and I missed so great photo ops!


The dumbo ride is always a favorite. Brett was too cool. I will always have fun on any ride that flies me through the air!!


The girls had to ride the carousel.


The teacups is one of my favorites. I love when I catch true emotion and motion in my photos.



Autopia was fun, Brett freaked (like he did on most rides, sometime his anxieties really put a damper on my big plans) as you can see from the photo he did not want to drive by himself but that was just silly. He had fun after we forced him onto the rides, but didn't want to do them again. Bonnie was a trooper and did all the rides she was tall enough for including space mountain, big thunder mountain and splash mountain.


The longest wait we had the whole trip was to see the princesses. Bonnie was so excited but freaked out when it was time to see Cinderella, she thought her hair was weird.



We had so much fun and are already talking about when we go back. I think we are going to start a disney fund for the next time!
Stay tuned for the rest of our trip...

Halloween

I'm working on a Disney post I promise but I have like 700 pictures to go through so it's going to take me a minute. So to tide you over you just have to look at my stinkin cute kids in their halloween costumes.

Samantha was Belle. This wil probably be the last year she dresses up so I am glad she picked a good one for this year!

Colby was a ninja, can you even tell it's Colby? The facial recognition software on facebook didn't recognize that there was a person there. He had some sweet moves!

Bonnie was "Princess Butterfly" and as cute as she was those damned wings shed glitter from hell to breakfast!

As you can tell we had a pleasant day on Halloween, the weather was a nice 85 degrees and I couldn't have been happier about it!

4 year olds don't take naps.

Guess what I learned this week....4 year olds don't take naps, or at least they would like to think that they don't. I have shown her a thing or two about who is boss and that 4 year olds DO take naps since the birthday of my spunky little girl. We just had a little quick party at the house. Presents and a 6 layer rainbow cake made for a special day. The cake was delicious by the way, me and my girl Betty made a delightfully colorful tasty cake that please all in attendance!! Favorite presents were Magnetic alphabet, pompoms, stuffed puppy and a mini piano book. I am sad to say that though she is growing up faster than ever. And by my sheer persistence, will continue to take naps. I thought her being my last baby, I would be able to keep her small for longer but she proved me wrong with that one when she started walking at 8 months. She is super smart and fun but man does she have a strong personality, but then again, I don't know how to make kids with out STRONG personalities!! We love this big ol' 4 year old!

Lunch with the Ladies

When I was a little girl I can remember coming home from school and hearing the laughter of my mom and her mom and sisters. I just knew that they had spent the day playing and having fun and i had been stuck at school LEARNING...yuck! Well know I am grown I get to join in the party while my kids have to go to school and LEARN, muahahahaha!! (that was my evil laugh by the way just in case you were wondering) My mom picked me up on her way and we continued on to St. George to spend the day with my Grandma, Aunts and some of my cousins. It was nice to get to spend the drive just visiting with my mom, we don't see all that much of each other since I moved and I miss the time we used to hang out! It was so much fun to catch up with these wonderful women as well. I wish I lived closer so I could hang out with them all the time!! You don't think Terry would mind if I added another hour onto his commute do ya?? (J/K mom, I know I would really never see you then!!)


p.s. The only thing missing is my baby sis, she had to stay home with kids, maybe next time Stac!!

A Boy and His Bike

It's important when you are a boy with a bike that you keep it in top running performance by regularly scheduled maintenance.