End of Disney and San Diego Beach

At the end of the last full day of Disneyland, Ryan (who was incredibly tired) said, "I don't want to go to Disneyland every day, I want to go just one day." I understand how he felt - but we had a great time and I know that both boys loved every minute of being in the park - it was the having to wait for a tram to take you to the parking garage to then walk to your car and drive back to the hotel that was too much for them (especially Ryan). We went for a couple of hours yesterday morning and then drove to San Diego (while both boys napped in the car) and then the boys all went to bed early (I was up doing laundry) and slept in late today - they are now all taking a long nap after a fun morning at the beach.

Highlights of Disneyland:

• The Pixar Parade was great - I'm glad we made it back for that. The boys got to stand right up front and even got to give a high five to several of the characters. Luke was observant and not too involved, but Ryan clapped to the music the whole time.
  
• The crowds were small the whole time and we only had to wait in line for more than 10 minutes on a couple of rides (and even then it wasn't for more than 20 minutes).


• Ryan had the best time playing in the Bugs Land water feature. Luke stayed back after he got just a little wet, but Ryan was soaked. I ended up spending over $40 to get him a new shirt and shorts because he was so drenched (and it was almost evening by then and we were planning on staying for the fireworks).


• Greg halted the ferris wheel ride so we could get off before I had a meltdown. That thing was terrifying - don't ever go on it. Remember the picture of the boys in front of the big ferris wheel in the previous post? That innocent looking ferris wheel is its own house of terror. The cars don't stay still and go around and around - instead they move on their own on a roller coaster track to the middle of the wheel and back out as it goes around - during this free fall the whole car swings back and forth (nonstop) at at 90 degree angle and you're not strapped in. I can do roller coasters - I love them - but this scared the crud out of me. Ryan said he wasn't scared, but Luke was, although he wasn't crying. I didn't freak out while I was on it, I told Luke to close his eyes because that helped me - but afterwards, I couldn't stop laughing about horrible the whole thing was. I was glad Greg made the decision to stop the ride because the whole thing would have lasted 9 minutes.

Below, Luke is holding the Mickey Mouse candied apple that we ate for dessert last night. And above, Ryan had a blast getting soaking wet.

Today we went to the Coronado Island Beach. This was the boys' first experience with the ocean and a beach. They had a great time until the end when Ryan got pretty wet in the super cold ocean water and had a meltdown. I don't really care for beaches because I don't like how the sand sticks to everything, but overall, the boys had a blast and it was totally worth it. We're going to be staying a beach resort in Mission Bay the last 2 nights, so we'll definitely go to the beach again (although I don't think we'll get Ryan back in the water).

Videos below: The first one is of the Pixar Parade; the second is of Ryan playing in the water; and the third is at the beach today.

Disneyland 2.5

The boys (all 3) are now peacefully napping after another morning and afternoon at Disneyland. We are hoping to make it back for the Pixar Parade this afternoon and then stay up late tonight for the fireworks show. Minus some grumpy moments, the boys are doing great. They are having to walk every where and they're holding up pretty well. The pictures below are in no particular order - I'm having a hard time moving pictures around on Greg's computer - so these

start with today and end with the day we left.

Another picture with Mickey - but this time in a different outfit (yesterday he was dressed as Steamboat Willy). We haven't seen him yet dressed in his normal clothes. I have been surprised by the few Disney characters that we have seen - I remember seeing them walking around when I was a child, but now they are in certain locations at only a few times with an orderly line of kids waiting to meet them.

Ryan and his letter R.

Luke and his favorite letter A. I took a picture of him on the L, as well, but the A is his all-time favorite (his favorite number is 100 in case you're curious).

The boys were pretty excited to meet Woody.

Greg, Luke and Ryan at California Adventures.

Ryan thought Tigger was hilarious.

Winnie was as sweet as he looks.

No trip to Disneyland is complete without getting completely and totally filthy eating a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream treat.

To Infinity and Beyond.

The entrance to Main Street USA - too bad that lady can't be cropped out without cropping out some of Mickey.

The boys and their backpacks.

Getting ready to get on the plane - I was trying to get their pictures with their tickets, but they showed me their silly faces instead.

Lastly, a short video to put a little song in your head all day.

Disneyland Days 1 and 2

We made it to Disneyland! The boys are having a great time. We left Denver yesterday afternoon and flew to San Diego. After a short drive to Anaheim and checking into our hotel, we went to Disneyland last night. Luke was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse. The park has a nice controlled way to meet Mickey - he has his own house and they only let a handful of kids in at a time to actually meet him and to take their picture with them. For little kids, this was a great way to see a giant Mouse without being overwhelmed by a million other little kids mobbing Mickey at the same time. We rode a few rides last night and were pleasantly surprised by the small crowds. This morning, we headed back and had another great day with small crowds and lots of rides. We discovered that the boys love roller coasters (although they are the tamed Disney coasters). After every ride, they immediately said, "What's next, Mama?" It really helped that we never had to stand in line for more than 10 minutes. Tomorrow we are going to go to California Adventure and the only thing we have left to see at Disneyland is Fantasyland (think Flying Dumbo and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride). On Saturday, we'll head back down to San Diego for the rest of the trip.

We debated what to do about nap. Our hotel is about 10 miles (which is not 10 minutes in LA)from Disney so we decided that it was too far to leave for a nap - instead, we stayed at Disneyland until about 4 and then headed back to the hotel. The boys were so tired. There are distinct phases of Luke when he does not nap - it starts with defiance/disobedience, turns into total hyperactivity and then a complete meltdown - all which happened right on cue tonight. We are changing hotels tomorrow night because we decided to stay here an additional night after hotel reservations were made, but our hotel will be closer, so a nap will definitely happen tomorrow - which will work out well since there will be a fireworks show tomorrow night.

I have a lot of pictures that I'd love to add, but the hotel internet is frustratingly slow, so I'll have to do it later.

Baby Tiger and Last day of School

Too much to catch up on, and not enough time right now. We've had a busy couple of weeks and a great birthday party for the boys on Saturday. But for now, we are leaving for Disneyland in the morning and I'll catch up later.

Luke's best friend (besides his brother) is his Baby Tiger. We got him Baby Tiger at the zoo when he was 1 and he ignored him until about 9 months ago, since then he has fallen head over heals in love. Last week Baby Tiger disappeared. Luke thought he had left him in the sandbox and I looked for him before I put him in bed - everywhere inside and out. After putting a tearful Luke to bed that night without Baby Tiger, I went outside and looked again with a flashlight, but no luck. The next day after school, we resumed the search - a couple of hours later, I found the dog outside chewing him up. Luke was devastated. He cried (as did I), not a meltdown kind of cry, but a heartfelt sad cry. We called Greg and then Nana to tell her and to see if she could fix him. (Side note - Ryan was very sad for Luke, he said he was very sad and angry at those dogs and then proceeded to chase them around the yard with the plastic baseball bat). This weekend Nana and Grandad were here for the birthday party and Dr. Nana brought along her emergency sewing supplies and did her magic. He looks great and Luke is thrilled. She patched up his neck and gave him a new tail. Before she fixed him, we stopped by the zoo after taking dad to the airport and found a new Baby Tiger (the exact same one), just in case the old one couldn't be fixed. Now Luke has 2 Baby Tigers and he now loves to take care of them both - they will both make the trip to California in the morning.

The before picture (he was also missing his tail):


Today was the boys' last day of school. Ryan had a meltdown this morning over something completely ridiculous so he was not willing to smile for me.

Last day of school.

First day of school.

Happy Mother's Day

What a week and weekend! I've been super busy at school with AP testing and we had a great but busy weekend, as well. When we bought our house 2 years ago, we loved the inside, but the front yard needed some work because there was no landscaping. Last year we put in a pavestone walkway and a new stone border and then ran out of time and money to actually plant anything. That finally changed on Saturday. I've been researching plants and visiting a local nursery since last May to get some ideas on what to plant in our yard. On Friday night, all 4 of us went to the garden center to buy everything and on Saturday, Greg and I spent the day planting everything. It looks like a new yard to me - but that is because I've been looking at dirt and no greenery for the last 2 years.

Hopefully in a couple of years everything will fill out - and since everything is a perennial it should come back every year.

Today we went bowling. A friend of mine from school has an annual tradition of bowling every Mother's Day, and we joined them this year. The boys had the best time bumper bowling. They even had a little ramp so all they had to do was push it down the ramp. As a result, their scores were better than mine and Greg's.

Who knew they made bowling shoes for little boys?


Ryan's reaction to knocking pins down was to give us a thumbs up.
Below, video of Ryan bowling.


Tonight we went to Pei Wei for dinner. Not really an exciting Mother's Day restaurant, but it is my kind of place because we didn't have to wait for a table. The boys had a great time eating with their chopsticks aided by the chopstick holder on the end (something Greg and I would have to use, as well).


Overall, it was a great Mother's Day. Greg took the boys to Sur la Table on Friday to let them pick out whatever they wanted for me (with the idea that I could take it back for something that I really want, but I don't have to heart to do that). Luke picked out a rainbow colored whisk that I can use with my non-stick cookware and Ryan picked out several different colors of sanding sugar.



Ryan drew this picture today of his family on a boat. The sail is in the middle, the water underneath, and the 4 of us are on either side .
Below are the strawberry cupcakes that I made last weekend - the strawberry cream cheese frosting was delicious.


Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there, especially to my mom and Greg's mom.