Project 52: April 26-May 2

 

Sunday snapshot is a selfie of us at Target on a date night:)  We had the chance to go to dinner alone one more time before our vacation to California.  We of course spent our time after dinner buying diapers (that's what date night is for, right?!) and we scored some great deals in the dollar bins at Target for the trip.  We picked up a couple road trip activities as well as some souvenirs for the kids so we could give them something small while at Disneyland.

 

Getting excited...Mickey pancakes this week for breakfast!

I just LOVE this flower! It's beautiful and is always in bloom. Just love it!

 

We were given a treadmill from a friend.  I was walking on it this week and Declan woke from nap.  The kids aren't allowed to be near it, for obvious reasons, so he found himself a little seat.  He was so excited about the perfect little spot he made to sit and watch me. 

 

 

And then the day was finally here.....

The day we ALL had been waiting for! Wednesday the kids took down the last 'Mickey Mouse' from our countdown and we headed off to California!

**I'm only selecting some of the favorite pictures from the trip.  I have made a shutterfly book with all of the pictures and lots of details for us to keep forever**

 We took off around 2 and were able to only stop one time.  We fed the kids in the car and it was a smooth ride.  Raelynn didn't sleep at all and the others didn't sleep very long, but we were hoping that worked to our advantage considering we'd be all sharing a hotel room that evening.

 Brent found a steal of a deal on a hotel within walking from the park.  So when we arrived, we settled in and then let the kids walk to the park entrance.  We knew we couldn't expect them to go straight from car seat to bed.  A man there gave each of the kids a Disneyland first visit pin. 

eating breakfast in the hotel room bright and early!

 On Thursday we had tickets to California Adventure.  We got there extra early to be in the front of the lines so we could get fast passes to meet Elsa and Anna. 

 

Turns out we were there SO early (see photo below!) and had plenty of time to get to the line for the fast passes.  We waited a long time in the line to get in the park, then they open the gates before the park actually opens so you can go stand in more lines for fast passes:)  The kids were troopers, but it was a rough way to start off the day because it wasn't too exciting for them. 

 

We were about 3rd in line for what we thought was fast passes to see Elsa and Anna, but they instead just took us right in to meet them.  So that was nice! We got that right out of the way first thing!

 

sisters

it isn't every day we get to twirl with royalty!

 

Colt was just as excited to see Elsa as the girls were.  He can say Elsa and loves to sing Let it Go!

On our way out to lunch (we left the park to eat at an all you can eat buffet) we met the first character-Pluto!

It was so much other than we had anticipated--it was in the 90s! We had a lot of fun riding the rides and going to Frozen Fun.  We loved the sing-a-long show! The kids LOVED the parade and Raelynn has been singing the song from it for weeks after. 

While Brent got seats for World of Color water show, I took Raelynn and Declan in an area that is all ropes and climbing.  She saw this zipline and I didn't think she would be tall enough to ride, but she was.  I was so nervous she would fall off, but she did great! She zipped down so fast and held on tight! it was neat.




Thursday night Marissa and Kacia met us at the hotel room so they could join us the rest of the weekend. 
We were up bright and early to head to Disneyland on Friday. 

Disney Dollars in hand (from Grandma) and ready for day 2!

We had expected that Kyle and the kids were meeting us on Friday morning.  But we didn't know Grandma would be coming too, so that was a nice surprise.  They all drove over just for the day on Friday and it was fun to make memories with them for one day at Disney!

It was a busy day going around to all the rides and finally we watched the parade.  The kids loved this parade just as much as at California Adventure! After the parade we continued the rides and with so many adults there, we were able to take turns going on the 'big kid' rides too!

Declan fell asleep on Pirates of the Caribbean

 

 

Driving the car in Autopia

Sleeping arrangements worked very well in the hotel.  Raelynn on the top, Dec and Elliana on the bottom and Colt was in a pack and play

 

Saturday morning we had breakfast with Minnie and her friends! It was such a unique experience and the food was so delicious on the all you can eat buffet.  It was great to meet all the characters here because then in the park we didn't stand in the lines.

One of the highlights from the trip was Splash Mountain.  Raelynn sat in the front seat and was so brave! She put her hands up practically the entire ride.  We got soaked and it was A BLAST!!! Since then, she will sit in the recliner at home and pretend she is riding splash mountain :)

It had been so hot the past couple days, but then Saturday night there was a weather change.  It got very chilly.  Because of the weather they cancelled the fireworks show, but thankfully there were some fireworks in Fantasmic because the kids had been looking forward to them.  We ate our dinner while we waited then watched the show.

All weekend Raelynn talked about riding the monorail.  It had been having mechanical issues and the lines were very long so we kept putting it off....So finally, it was the very last thing we did!

Apparently it wasn't quite thrilling enough.....it put her to sleep:) That is what four straight days of no naps will do!

Each night we would put the kids on opposite ends of the bed with their feet toward the inside.  Brent woke up in the middle of the night and saw them like this:)  So precious.  And good job for daddy taking a picture!

Going in to the trip I was a little nervous how it would go.  We sort of planned to have the younger kids go back and nap at some point and have one of the aunts stay with them, but it worked out so well with them just sleeping here and there in the stroller.  They had great attitudes and we just had a purely wonderful time! We made some wonderful memories and cannot wait until we can go back!

 

Project 52: April 19-25

Sunday Snapshots:

make room for Auntie Dre on the bench!

 

 

a picture to send to mom!

Saw an opportunity to take a picture of Auntie Dre reading to the kids and Elliana thought it was a picture of her:)

Sunday afternoon Andrea and I went to AJ's again for tea and petite fours.  Growing up we always enjoyed petite fours so this was a special treat.  We were laughing because we didn't realize they can come in different shapes and sizes.  This one is much larger than the ones we always ate!

 



enjoy red vines:)

Brent surprised me with a camera as an early mother's day gift so I could take it to Disneyland.  I haven't had a camera in a long time and my phone doesn't take very good quality, so I was so surprised and excited!! It has a lot of features including a 'continuous shot' mode so I was playing around with it.  I have the entire series of photos from this kissing exchange between auntie Dre and Raelynn.  I only chose these few cute pictures but the whole series was so adorable!

Monday morning we took Andrea to the airport and we are just anticipating the next time we can see her, which we aren't sure when that will be yet!

One of my favorite pictures of him.  Love all those little gaps in his teeth and how he loves to smile!

enjoying the glider! (Elliana loves wearing her "Elsa Dress" which is pajamas!)

 

 Wednesday night we had pictures taken for Grandma to update her framed picture of the six grandkids.  Here are some of my favorite pictures:













 


Thursday night we took the kids to a coinstar machine to cash in their piggy banks.  It was a really big deal to them because we had told them a while ago that they needed to save their money for Disneyland.  Since then, they have worked hard to do extra things to earn money as well as search in couches and even maybe empty out their aunt's piggy banks.  Since it was close to our time to leave for our trip we cashed it in and told them they could buy a souvenir.  It's amazing how that change adds up!

 

 

 

 



The kids are currently obsessed with eating 'whole apples'.  Not apple slices.  They request 'whole apples'.  They keep them busy for a while and Colt does well with them, too.  He can actually say "apple" very well now!



 
This week the kids collected some pinecones at the park so we made birdfeeders with peanut butter and birdseed.


Friday night we had our first 'repeaters' for Friday Night Meatballs.  We were happy to have our friends over one more time before they welcome their new baby girl to the world.

Mr. Howard with the girls and his son Kaleb

Colt is really growing up lately! He is talking a little and saying 'vroom' when he plays with his cars, which is something he really loves to do.

   

 

 

Summer is here!! We've been eating a lot of watermelon....