DISNEY LAND...HERE WE COME - day 1

I’d laid out all the kids clothes the night before cause I wanted nothing to get in the way of us getting started as early as possible…trust me when I tell you we always take longer than needed/wanted to get our crew out the door when it comes to early morning!    Everything was going great; the kids were all dressed and ready to go to breakfast.  Mom and Dad sat them down on the couch to tell them the ‘big’ news, and when the kids found out I must say their reaction was not so exciting!  At least Mark and I were jumping up and down yelling, “Yeah…we are REALLY going to Disney Land!!”

                 The kids were excited that much was obvious, but I was looking for more of complete super hyper explosion of excitement!  I think Keegan was more excited about eating breakfast! Ha!!  Our timing was great until breakfast…I guess every other guest there had the same plans as we did…no problem, we got through and were on our way to the shuttle bus!  I can see the kids’ excitement levels rising as the bus pulls up…too bad the ticket taker machine on the bus STOPPED working so instead of this nice little 10 minute ride it took a nice 45 minutes-an hour to get there!  That poor bus driver had to stop and sign everyone’s ticket!  Be like the fur tree…brush it off, flow with the wind…no problem…so we missed our meeting all the characters in Toon Town before the opening…we’ve got tomorrow, right? 

                                I wish I could have captured the look upon my babies’ faces as we walked into the park!!  It was going to be a great day!  Check out these pictures…We started with the famous, “It’s a Small World” ride…and it was over, and they were hooked…more and more! 

Come on Paw-Paw...faster!

The real princess castle!  After we saw this we could see Ella's wheels turning and Nauna asked her, "Is this everything you thought it would be...or maybe a little different?" Ella replied,"Yea...but different" after prodding a little more it turns out Ella thought that once we entered this Magical land...we'd become cartoons like the movies...it was cute.  Mom told her that it was more like what it looks like to see the cartoons come to REAL life!  Ella was satisfied!

"It's a Small World after all...it's a small, small world" Come on...sing it...you know you want to!

"Woody, Woody, Woody, Woody, Woody, and Hee-Haw!!" Grissom still goes nuts after seeing this picture!

'Allison' Wonderland...to Ella...better known as Alice IN Wonderland to the rest of the world!

This behind the tree is Rapunzel's tower.  She sat inside getting pictures with kids...even Ella wasn't up for the 2+hr wait just to stand by her.  She got a good peak at her though, and again Magic came to life in her head!  From then on she HAS to sit and sing the 'Flower' Song while someone (Nauna started this - THANKS Nauna!) brushes and brushes her hair!!

Ok...let me explain this one.  We stopped at this BBQ place for lunch and they sing while you eat.  We got front row sitting.  This lady asked for the little kids to come help her.  Ella wanted to go...but Keeg was a NO WAY, so we told her to take Grissom up...so she did and he went unbeknowest and happily.  He's the kids in the VERY middle with the Ga-Ga (Pacifier) and NO shirt just standing there with his fingers in his belly button.  Ella on the other hand you'd have thought we forced to go up.  She stood with her back to the crowd and a grumpy face this entire song...I guess this was her getting over stage freight cause the next time this lady asked for helpers she was the first to go and front and center every other time!

In fact, while the lady was doing a song Ella walks right up without us paying much attention and gets her picture!  what a brave little girl!

And yet when the man came over to sing to her she got super embarrassed!

The guy sang a nice little lullaby for Grissom and help me get him to sleep! He was a hit!!

Mr. Map...good thing he kept us going!

Peak-a-boo, I love you!!

After the Winne the Pooh ride we got a family pic!

then cotton candy EVERYWHERE!

I Loved riding the rides, Grissom ONLY wanted mommy...he felt mommy was the only one who could protect him...some of these rides were a little scary...but MOMMY LOVED IT!

We tried to no avail to pull that silly sword out of that stone...

We got to see the first parade of the season!  This was a huge highlight...we ALL loved it, even Mark...the man who hates parades!

Look at the bottom, you'll see Mr. & Mrs. Duck paying Homage to the great o'Mighty Swan!!  It was funny!

Back to the parade!  I think Grissom was really working hard not to fall over...poor kid

Ella was LOVING all the princesses and their dances...ok...mommy too

Rapunzel was at the end of this one...which again struck a chord of magic in my little princess

What a great way to end the first night!  We did a few other things after this but everyone was pretty pooped - Mom and I ran into the shops on our way home and Nauna & Paw-Paw bought the boys fun Pirate shirts and Ella a Rapunzel dress...She went ballistic when they gave it to her...she was TOO excited to wear it ALL the next day!!

We had not ONE complaint from any of my children...not one...and I'm NOT kidding!  I thought it too good to be true so i was preparing us for day 2...a meltdown from someone HAD to be on its way.

Once we got the kids down Mark and I slipped away for some hot tub'n time!  Relaxing!!

To be Continued...

Nauna FINALLY came!! (this was way back from June 1st!)

                     I'm playing catch up with these blogs - I've got LOADS to tell you and tons of pics to show so forgive me as I get caught up again!!

                  About 26 days before Nauna was set to arrive I got tired of having to RE-count how many days were left until she comes…SO the kids and I made a countdown chain out of construction paper.  You know what I’m talking about; you made them for Christmas as garland for the tree or just as decorations.  Anyway, before we made this chain I wrote on each strip of paper a number counting down to Nauna’s HERE!  We taped the very long chain by our calendar and each day before she came Ella and Keegan took turns tearing away one link at a time to see how many days left…then we stuck that number up on the fridge to help remind us…life got very unruly when day 3 hit…the kids just were so excited…wait…and mom was SO excited we could hardly focus on staying busy not thinking about it!! 

                It was finally here, the day of her arrival, Wednesday, June 1^st…the kids were up and dressed at about 6:45 a.m.  OH, no they didn’t…Mommy saw her clock and jumped out of bed and I told them to get back into their beds; read some books, rest, or fall back asleep cause I wasn’t having that!!  This mom doesn’t get out of bed until 7…not a MINUTE earlier and normally no one gets up until about 7:30-8 a.m.  but knowing that mom didn’t come until about bedtime I wasn’t about to start this day that early! Ha!!  Mean mom, I know!  Believe it or not but all 3 kids fell back asleep until about 8:15!!  YEAH for that mean mom!!  So we got through breakfast jumping and running and screaming for joy that Nauna was finally coming!!  It’s about 10:15 and Ella says, “Ok Mom, let’s have lunch and go on over to my gymnastics class, then Keegan can have his make-up gymnastics class and we can go get Nauna!!”  I laughed and explained to her that we can’t rush through our actives today…that won’t make the day go by any faster…and if we do we’ll find ourselves sitting in a corner picking our nose waiting for the time to pass by REAL slowly!!  We had plenty to do to get ready for Nauna that will pass the time quickly!  We headed to the library to exchange our books then headed home for lunch…time really was flying cause then it really was time to take off for the gymnastics classes, once we got home we set up Nauna’s twin airbed and I had to LOCK the kids’ door do no one could go in…I made that bed a good 3 times Grissom Unmade that bed every time that little stinker!  Each time he’d say, oh, no!! like it happened on its own right in front of his eyes and he couldn’t do anything to stop it!  Ella’s coloring pictures for the door and for her pillow…Keegan’s busy watching Bear (Man vs. Wild). Before we knew it we had eaten dinner and it was time to pick her up!  I decided it would be easiest if the kids just had their jammies on ready for bed so we didn’t have to go through that circus when we got home and we could visit with her for a few seconds before bed. 

  Ok so Grissom had said NOTHING about Nauna this whole waiting time.  Everyday we’d talk about how many more days until Nauna comes and he never acknowledged her…until we got about 1 mile from the airport.  Out of the blue he yells at the top of his lungs with his hands cupped around his mouth, “We coming Nauna!!  WE get’chu!!”  It was cute. 

                We get to the airport and it’s a dinky little thing…they had one waiting area for all arriving flights so I sat there while my kids in their jammies RAN around in circles.  I have to give them credit cause they started the first 6 minutes sitting down we had a huge clock in front of us and I told the kids we have 8 minutes until her flight landed and told them what to look for on that clock…Ella sat and stared until her eyes watered.  I’m sure she was thinking it would light on fire if she stared hard enough.  That time came and passed we sat in the airport for a nice 25 minutes before she got there.  But it was worth it they gave everyone there a great show!  We’ve never received so many comments on their cute jammies!  Nauna was bombarded with love and excitement the entire car ride home (all 8 minutes) was nonstop chatting from the back.  My ears were ringing!  We got mom upstairs and she’s looking around and says, “Well, this place isn’t that bad…ummm, where do you think I should put my suitcase? Is there any place it will fit?” Cause I’m serious when I tell you that there was NOT space in the kids room for her bed and luggage…so it’s out on our coffee table pushed up against the wall in the family room!  It took forever to get the kids to calm down enough to fall asleep but once they did it only took seconds for their eyes to shut!  I was SO glad…SO glad to have my mom here!  But I have to tell you I REALLY felt bad when she laid down in that silly twin air mattress because that thing swallowed her up from all sides!  She claims she slept ok, but I wasn’t convinced.  We added air in the morning!!

                The next morning we got all packed up and ready.  About 10 we picked up our rental car.  It was SO nice cause Mom and I drove that while my amazing hubby drove the van with the kids in it!!  I know what you’re thinking…why did they have to rent a car?  Well, mostly because we didn’t have enough space to carry all of us once we got dad (we left one of our captain seats at home) so this was easiest and mom and I loved it cause we got to spend time together.  We headed to L.A. for our DL trip!!  The kids had NO clue we told them that we were meeting Paw-Paw at this far away airport to visit with him at a hotel (cause he could only come for the weekend).  It seemed to have taken forever, but the kids did fabulous and Mark and I didn’t even think twice about the length.  We got to the hotel long enough to order dinner for the kids then mom and I took off to pick dad up at the airport.

Now let me step back and tell you about this rental car…they tried to give us this enormous bus/car like thing.  I was scared to drive it…it totally reminded me of an old person’s car…No offense old’er’ people!  So they gave us this classic red Chevy HHR…it looks just like a PT cruiser.  I loved it…until I started trying to look out the front windshield.  The rearview mirror  was SO large that I had to bend down just to see the whole picture…I felt very close to mom (which compared to my minivan I was TOO close) but what cracked me up the most was my side window…we stopped at Starbucks to start off our trip the right way and I was concerned about getting my coffee to fit through the window…I decided to order a grande (medium) so we didn’t have to tip it to get it through this window…I’m serious…but mom found that incredibly funny!  I guess you had to be there.  Anyway this car was…felt small I’m just too used to driving my big’ol mamma van!  So we are headed to L.A. with the quest of the D.L. (Los Angeles to hit Disney Land!!) the kids were completely clueless.  Mom and I had a great time together catching up and laughing…the kind of bonding that you just can’t make happen…so much talking that I put mom to sleep!  Oh, how she missed me! HA!  Love you mom!!

                       What a time we had getting to the airport thru L.A. traffic!  We felt overwhelmed and a little nervous about not knowing the area so instead of trying to circle this ginoramus place until it was time to pick dad up we decided it best to park and walk in…when we got to a good spot to yell and jump up and down when we see him so now it was time to wait.  As we waited in the designated waiting space (we had a line on the floor that we were told not to pass – I assume we would have been ambushed by the army if we did so we were not about to test those waters) then all off a sudden we were taken by this guy who obviously felt he was too good to stay behind the line.  His apparent pride fullness got irritating very quick…my sarcasm started to surface.  When I tell you he wouldn’t even stand still pacing and blatantly crossing over way too far passed the line I started to get nervous thinking this guy was obviously a terrorist.  Even the flight people who worked there had to keep telling him to stand back behind the line!  Mom and I were making light of it but I was mentally preparing to jump him and TAKE HIM DOWN to save the world!  All of a sudden he disappeared and within the next second there stood a new guy too big for me to take down, but this guy was holding a camera and jumped right in front of us but he had the decency to follow the rules and stay behind the line.  It hit me when I realized he was taking tons of pictures that he must be paparazzi and that means there must be someone special…so I looked and there we saw this cutie little lady headed down stairs…I knew immediately it had to be my best girlfriend, Meg Ryan!!  “AAAh, Beautiful!!” She was cute as could be!  I knew if those silly guys hadn’t been there she probably would have noticed me and we would have chatted for awhile, but I knew she needed to get out of there and fast so I wasn’t offended, next time Meg!!  But this explained that completely nervous guy who wouldn’t obey the rules!!

                We got a hold of dad and took him back to the hotel.  I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful of a feel that was to have BOTH my parents in a car alone with just me!  It was SO good to see and hug them!  I didn’t realize how much I missed them until they were right there with me.  Meanwhile, Mark manned the kids taking them swimming then getting them into bed: after seeing this picture you might think we’d already been to Disney!  But at this point they don’t even know we are going!!  Mom and Dad are going to tell them FIRST thing in the morning!!  I'm not sure who's more excited...mom and dad or Mark and me (Mark's never been either!!).

The Monterey Aquarium

 Feeding time!

These are the pricest pearls ever formed!!

Playing IN the water!

This was a dragon sea horse...I love this picture!

Grissom loved picking Strawberries!

Yummy!!

17 lbs later...holy Strawberries!

My son's got it down.  He leaned up against this tree and said, "Ma, picture...me!"

Beautiful day at the beach!!

The Seals are having a PARTY!!

Mark found free material scraps on Craig's List...I got excited thinkin I coud use them to sew fun things, turned out I can't sew with this type of fabric yet...so the kids have had a BALL playing with the pieces.  Here they were making a cot like Bear from Man vs. Wild!!  Ha!!

Poor little guy!!

Finger painting!

Keeg said, "Oh...Papaw is going to LOVE this car!" (talking about Scott, Mark's dad)

Then this red one they thought Paw-Paw (my dad) would love! Cute, picking cars out for their papaws.

I LOVE this tent!!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting…Memorial Day Weekend

So, today was finally a beautiful and sunny day.  So after we got our week’s groceries we decided to head over to our favorite beach location…Ft.  Ord!! It was still pretty breezy so we used our new umbrella tent, made for the sand – it worked great!  Mark and I both sunbathe while the kids played on the dunes.  I read my handy-dandy Kindle while Mark took a much needed nap…wonderful!  I’m reading Crazy Love and REALLY enjoying it.  Chan writes as if he knew my thoughts…I’m very much enjoying this one. 

                      Grissom ate the cement with his face on our way back home for lunch today…poor guy…it looks terrible.  Keegan held his hand while I cleaned out all the little ricks and put medicine on it.  It was cute to watch Keegan being so caring towards Grissom.  I’ve got a picture of his little face!    Afterwards he ate the biggest lunch I think I’ve ever seen him eat!  2 hot dogs, ½ a pear, 3 huge strawberries, a go-yurt, an egg, and his milk…he was super hungry and I was totally glad to feed him!

                  We got cleaned up, Ella wanted to dress up so we put on dresses, did our hair and make-up and she added her card stock Princes crown that we’d made earlier this week to her head and we were off with the boys for a ‘family’ date night!  We went out to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen – LOVE it!!  Mark and I shared a BBQ Chicken salad with fresh avocado on it…yummy!  Then we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 super cute!  Mark bought special treats before at the store and we got popcorn to share!  Grissom again pigged out!!  The movie was great.  Keegan and Ella really enjoyed it; Grissom watched 90% of it and wooed the crowd around him by yelling cute things here and there at the movie like, Get’em Panda…Oh, yea!!...Where’s the baby??  Anyway…he was acting kind of strange very ‘in the mood’ to be crazy tornado! 

                         We got home threw the kids in bed and were getting ready for no kids time together and we hear Ella scream – “Help…Grissom is going to throw up!!  And it’s going to probably touch me!!”  I ran a grabbed him out of bed, he was almost acting as if he were having reflux (which would make complete sense after ALL he’d eaten today!) so we headed for the couch where I was just going to hold him sitting up for awhile.  We made it to right in front of the couch and he let loose all over the floor!!  Good thing we weren’t at home - wasn't MY carpet, ha!                                       Anyway needless to say we had a nice smelly mess on our hands.  Mark runs in with the bowl, I’m trying to hold my own cookies, Gris continues…in between his heavings he’s sticking that stupid pacifier in his mouth getting a suck here and there…but I wasn’t able to take it from him for fear of getting something slimy on myself! 

                                              Anyway, he looks up at me and says, “All done…my bed mom!”  It was too cute!  Once all was cleaned up I sang him to sleep in my arms!!  It was totally worth it!  So instead of a quiet night with Mark we ended up doing a little extra load of laundry!

                        Oh, I forgot...After the movie we ran into our neighbors downstairs.  They are nice so I don’t want to put them down they just smoke way too much of many things…1 of which we know to be not so legal…anyway, we talked to them a few minutes then later in the car Ella said, “Mom, they aren’t mean…they were nice.”  I said, “Of course they are nice.  Nice people can smoke.  Their smoking is just not fun when we have to live on top of their house…cause we have to smell it!”  Keegan then adds, “Why do they like smoking those candles…in their mouth?”  It was so funny Mark and I just laughed!  Ella corrects him of course, “Keeg…they aren’t real candles…they are called smoker sticks!”  We love our babies!!

                                Saturday was a day FULL of funness!!   We got up early and it didn’t take much time to get everyone ready.  Grissom acted as normal as could be so we blew it off.                                                     Funny cause some mornings Mark and I seem to be battling each other trying to get what needs to be done to get out the door and yet some mornings it’s like butter…we just work SO well together…this just happened to be one of those mornings.  We got in the car and drove a nice 45 minutes away to the city of Hollister, CA (this is where that brand of clothes comes from…it’s like Abercrombie & Fitch but not).  Anyway, we are turning into the airport and Keeg says, “Yes, the airport…Ella, look…we need to go see all those cute little planes!”  This was the reaction we wanted cause we weren’t sure how the Hollister Air Show was going to go over with the kids but it was a fun in the sun activity that wouldn’t break the bank for us!!  We took a picnic lunch, Mark set up our sun/wind tent and our blankets and my chair and we sat, ate, and watched the cool planes go straight up and then straight down looking like they were going to crash, etc.  Jumpers came from the clouds, and a helicopter carried then dropped a car!  The kids ‘wow’ed and ‘ahh’ed and we ate our kettle corn and LOVED IT!!                  When things started to get a little boring for the kids we went out and found their own little toys; Ella got a space shuttle (she says, it’s just a plane), Keegan got a bomber jet, and Grissom got a tank (it’s the only tank that flies!!).  This kept them busy and kept everyone around us entertained because our kids ran everywhere trying to keep up with the planes in the air!  It was funny. 

SIDENOTE:

Oh...when Grissom was running after Ella on the way back to the apartment Friday and he totally tripped and ATE the concrete…literally I had to pick out little pieces (yes, I almost fainted…but I held strong cause I’m THE MOM!).  After we got him all cleaned up he sat down at our table to eat lunch and he said, “Peanut…Paw-Paw…” I turned to look at him quickly cause he hadn’t even acted as if he’d remembered Peanut…then he started crying!  I asked him if he missed home, and he just grabbed me to hold him!  Poor little guy!  Got his face scratched up and remembered he was missing home!!  Probably cause neither Grammy nor Nauna was close by to kiss his ouches!  Anyway, just as we were told, it got worse before it started looking better!

                          Saturday night we were all so tired we had dinner in our jammies and cuddled to a movie – one that I fell asleep to almost before it started.  I was feeling kind of strange…but I couldn’t put my finger on it and I wasn’t willing to say anything to anyone because after church we were planning on hitting the beach to play and watch a super cool surf competition!!  Not to mention our cook-out that we were planning for Monday…and then more beach fun!

                                                  Sunday came, I woke up just feeling tired, but the show MUST go on!  Church was great, the preacher talked about Mary vs. Martha in a different light not just the Martha = too busy and Mary = sitting at Jesus’ feet he threw in a twist about how they both LOVED Jesus in different ways and connected that how we love Jesus in different ways but none are wrong.  He referred back to when their brother, Lazarus died.  They sent word to Jesus that the one he loved was not well hoping He'd come and heal him.  Everyone knew that Jesus loved Lazarus and everyone assumed Jesus would come and heal him immediately.  Jesus waited until after Lazarus had been dead for 4 days and even been laid to rest.  When Jesus had finally returned to Mary and Martha it was Martha who took action (again) and went OUT to find/meet Jesus to see why he didn’t come earlier.  Mary asked the same thing she just waited until Jesus called for her to come.  Pastor Kevin’s point was everyone is different; just because Martha was a ‘get’er done’ girl doesn’t mean she didn’t loved Jesus less or didn’t follow him wrongly, and just because Mary sat back and waited doesn’t mean she was ‘better’ at loving Jesus then Martha.  I’ve always struggled with this story because I’m more like Martha…I don’t like to sit and wait, I want to be prepared and ready, but I LOVE Jesus with all my heart and I never mean to be too busy for Him.  But I’ve always taken away a warning not to be ALL Martha cause she’s not sitting at Jesus’ feet like Mary.  It was just nice to hear these two stories put together to describe how everyone is different and will love and follow Jesus in different ways and what works for you might now work for everyone else.  He gave a book reference:  Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas, one I plan to read.  It talks about the different ways we can meet with Jesus to build our relationship with Him – check it out!

                             Anyway, we came home and I was done…couldn’t play it thru…and it was a good thing we didn’t leave the apartment cause I would have been in big trouble…I had the pukes and everything else…no fever just an nasty emptying of my body.  So this means Grissom had something too…it wasn’t teething…this also means that Mark, Ella, and Keegan are all left…This bug took me out for the rest of Sunday and I was super weak on Monday.  The kids ate lunch and we were about to hang our kids by their toes.  I still felt terrible but my emptying had ceased and after trying a banana and keeping it down I knew I too needed to get out of the shoebox.  So the kids and dad came up with a plan.  I could hear the whole conversation from the bedroom; Mark said, “OK guys, we gotta get out of here and take Mom too.”  Ella said, “Let's take her to the beach!” Keegan added, “Let's sit her down and just play around her!”  So that was the plan.  On the way to the beach Ella’s naming things she wants to do; eat pizza out then get ice cream, etc. my response was, “Oh, Ella…that sounds yucky right now…member just cause mom’s out of bed doesn’t mean I am all better…mommy’s still sick, I’m just feeling good enough to get out.”  Dad then says, “Hey guys, God Answered our prayer from this morning, remember?”  Ella said, “Yea, we prayed that Mommy would be…” Keegan interrupts her and says, “…that Mommy would be NICE” (HA!!) “No, Keegan, that she’d be better!!”  Ella corrected.  He is SO funny – yet its true mommy doeses have her not so nice moments, but the strange thing was that I hadn’t even been near them for 24 hours.                                 They got me to the beach, Mark put up our tent to block the wind, and I laid in the sun and felt better by the end.  We got PF Changs to go (hmmm…I got rice! Yea!) Then we sat on towels on the family room floor and had our ‘cook-IN.’

Tuesday morning I woke up still feeling a little uneasy, but much better.  I was able to get my hair done too!  Boy, oh, boy it’s pricey to get your roots done here!  But at least it looks good – very blond!  When I got home it was time to try-out the REAL cook-out…Mark took the Brats and dogs, the corn, and the new potato foil pouch to the grill while I made macNcheese and brownies…we all came together and had a great time!  We did have to eat IN the apartment cause the fog rolled in and made lunch hour rather windy and cold – but we had sun before and after which was nice!  I got to eat a little!!  Ella and I took off to get an air mattress and some sheets for our visitors!!  Nauna will be here by tomorrow (Wed.) evening and we are SO excited!

I finished this day cleaning like crazy…this place is in tip-top shape clean from top to bottom!!  Now I'm off to bed dreaming of fun times with my mom!! NIGHT!

I'll add pictures tomorrow!