Disneyland 2010!

One of the main things I wanted to do in California was to take the boys to Disneyland. When I was a little girl, my Grandpa worked for Disney and got free tickets so we went all the time...it was wonderful! So, of course I want my kids to experience the "Happiest place on Earth". We found some way cheap park hopper tickets through Craig's List and headed to Anaheim. My parents and sister Eryn and her boyfriend Reed all came with us. It was so nice to have all the extra hands to help take care of the kids. Here's the whole group (Reed took the picture):Eryn and Reed:
We headed to California adventure first and did the rapid ride. It was way fun but and Noah was really looking forward to riding it but he was like half an inch too short! Poor guy! We did take them on the Toy Story ride and both boys {Loved} it! Here's Grandpa Lynn and Logan:On our way over to Tower of Terror, we ran into Chip and Dale. They totally loved Noah and he loved them too! Poor Logan missed it because he fell asleep.I think my very most favorite ride between both parks is Tower of Terror. It just doesn't get old! I took a picture of our picture on the ride:Did you notice the huge grin on my Dad's face? Time of his life! Then we headed to Disneyland and got to see Captain Eo. I haven't seen that since 1980...something.
We got to do the submarine ride, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and lots more fun stuff. We all loved the Haunted Mansion because it was all decked out for Halloween. It looked amazing and Noah loved the ghosties!The one thing that Noah was looking forward to most at Disneyland was Jedi training. They bring out a couple of Jedi and show the kids how to use a light saber and then Darth Vader and Darth Maul come out to fight the little paduan. There were so many kids there waiting for training that of course Noah didn't get picked to do it. I was heartbroken for him and almost cried. Silly, I know but he still had fun seeing the Star Wars guys.By the end of the day, we were all so exhausted but we got to see one more thing in California Adventure called World of Color. It was amazing but Noah was so tired, he actually fell asleep right on the ground!We had a great day and can't wait to go back in September with Jason's family!

Traveling

Last week we took the boys and drove to California to visit my family for a few days. The trip takes us about 10 hours to drive so we decided to break the trip up and stay the night in Las Vegas to keep our sanity. Vegas doesn't have much to offer for a very conservative family but I thought Stratosphere might be a fun place to stay. I found us an amazing price at expedia and Noah was so excited to stay at the tallest hotel in Vegas. We rode the scary fast elevator to the very top of the tower and watched 2 people bungee-jump off the building. It was really amazing how high-up we were. There wasn't much to do at the hotel especially for our little boys so the next morning we took them to the M&M store and we all got to pick out our favorite color of (seriously overpriced) M&M's.When we got there, my parents took us out to dinner for some amazing fish & chips at Lucky Baldwins pub in Old Town Pasadena, while my little sister Eryn stayed home to watch the boys. The waitress was so funny when we didn't order any alcohol, I think she was in shock! It was a fun adventure and I actually tried the fish and it didn't even taste fishy. It is an Irish pub so they serve peas with every meal!
During our stay in California we took the boys to Disneyland (which I will blog about next), Jason and I got to go out on a date to the movies and I got to get my shop on!
On our way home, we stayed in Vegas again but this time we went a little more family friendly and stayed at Circus Circus (again, for a very low price). The boys loved jumping on the beds and wrestling each other. We also had an awesome view right outside our window!The hotel has a huge arcade and carnival games area that Noah just loved. They also had this huge fundome filled with more arcade games and rides; even a roller coaster!Unfortunately, the casino was directly below the arcade so we had to smell the awful cigarette smoke. Every 45 minutes, they have live performers doing various circus acts. The performers were all so talented and strong. It was fun to see them!
We made it home safely and plan on going back in just a month for Thanksgiving. Oh I hope I get my SUV by then!

Carrots

I had to do a quick post to show off my beautiful baby carrots. Actually, they are kinda sad little carrots. Not one of them is bigger than my big toe. Looks like I need deeper soil! They are pretty cute though and next year maybe I can get a backhoe and dig out all the rocks in my garden and fill it with nice soil.

2-wheeler club

Noah and his good buddy Ethan decided it was time to say goodbye to their training wheels and join the 2-wheeler club. They both picked it up right away and were zooming around on their bikes like pros. Noah's bike is a little tall for him so he was having trouble starting back up after a stop but we showed him how to position his peddle so he could get a pushing start. He is doing really well on his 2 wheels and tries to do all sorts of tricks. He has even asked Jason to make him a ramp!
Daddy and Mommy helping Noah get started.There goes Ethan! The 2 proud cyclists, thank goodness they are wearing helmets!

Field Trip

Noah had his first field trip with preschool and I got to go as a chaperone. The kids went to the farm at Thanksgiving point. It was a bit chaotic with all of the kids that went but we still managed to have a good time.Here's Noah with his good buddies from school.Logan even got a popsicle!
Going on the wagon ride.
Noah is really enjoying preschool and asks me everyday if he can go back. I hope that lasts for a while! Next month we get to go to a corn maze for our field trip!

Hogle Zoo

Jason has been working quite a bit lately finishing up a project and it has required him to work a lot of overtime. Well, the project is finally done and we have our Daddy back so we decided to spend some time together at the zoo! The boys hadn't been since last year so it was fun to see all of the animals again.Of course the boys didn't look at the camera. They loved the new little baby elephant named Zuri, she was so cute!This year, they have a special exhibit called natures nightmares and it features bats, tarantulas, piranhas and vultures. The bats were out in the open hanging in the trees upside-down. Noah thought that was really cool.They are hard to see, but the bats are all gathered in the tree above Noah.We had lots of fun and we are so glad to have our Daddy back!

Mischievous boys strike again

Noah and cousin Tatum were in the basement quietly playing with Logan. When they play quietly, you know they are up to no good! I went down to check on them and sure enough, they were definitely up to no good! All 3 boys had gotten into the spare closet and into my craft buckets with paint and they were painting the walls, the carpet and the boxes in the room. Unfortunately, it was craft paint which is not washable. When I told Elyse what had happened, she quickly came over to help. Fortunately the paint did come off the door easily and most of it came out of the carpet but you can still see remnants of macaroni and cheese and charcoal colored paint. It did not come off the textured closet wall so Jason and I have big plans for this closet. He is going to make it a little toy room with stairs and platforms for the kids to play on. I can't wait until it's done!So, even though I was pretty mad about the whole paint situation, it will be pretty cool in the end! Here are my boys enjoying a post-paint bath with way too many bubbles. And, I threw away all of my craft paint and the boxes are all up high. Wish I had done that earlier!