Our Trip!

After years and years of planning and waiting, our "Summer of 2012" Disneyland trip finally came...And now it is just a memory! Thank goodness we can so easily take pictures and videos to remember all of those memories made!

My parents came on the trip as well and it was so fun having them along. They helped us out a lot and it was nice to have someone to travel with.

We drove to California, stopping in Vegas for a couple nights to visit some family there. The kids were amazingly good on the drive and had so much fun getting to play with their second cousin, Ella.

We arrived in California on Memorial Day. The kids were super excited to see our hotel! We headed to Downtown Disney to get our tickets and look around. Of course the kids wanted everything they saw.
Then we headed to Knott's Berry Farm to eat dinner. It was so incredibly delicious! Waaay too much food!
Here we are starting our trip! The Anaheim Resort Transit was actually great and the kids loved riding on the buses...Especially Coy. I think he thought he was so big not being in a carseat. I was a little paranoid myself with our first crazy driver, but other than him, the rest were great.
Entering the park at last! We didn't get to do our photograph right in front of the Mickey flowers; that spot was already taken. We would soon find that we chose to go on our trip in the busiest week in May ever. According to regulars there, it was unseasonably crowded. Lucky us! That first day was the worst of all. Imagine being stuck in crowds so thick, you can't even push a stroller through...It was a little discouraging, but we made it through! Good thing we planned on three days to do everything!






The Kids' Favorite Rides:
Coy: Probably It's a Small World. He also loved Haunted Mansion and anything that had to do with "Yee-ah" aka Woody.Mylie: Definitely It's a Small World. Luckily we never had to wait too long for that one, and it was a good one to rest your feet. Mylie tried every ride she was big enough for at least once, including Tower of Terror. But she really liked the cute themed rides with no thrills!Bennett: He still can't decide between Space Mountain and Star Tours. I think it is Space Mountain right now. He also loved Tower of Terror. I think my favorite thing of all was the Parade! I loved seeing all of the characters and feeling that Disney "magic." It was fun seeing the kids getting excited and waving at all of the characters!

On to the second day. We spent most of it in California Adventure. I didn't love that place as much as Disneyland. It doesn't quite have the same overall feel to it. But we had a pretty good time there!






A Note on Souveniers:We gave each of the kids $20 to spend. My parents also gifted them each with $20. So basically they could each choose two things. We tried to help them choose carefully and think about what they really wanted, because believe me, they wanted everything! If they were still thinking about a certain item the next day, then I knew it was something they really wanted. Mylie really wanted these princess Minnie Mouse ears. She saw them the first night at Downtown Disney, and couldn't stop thinking about them. So she found some at Disneyland the next day, and had so much fun wearing them on the trip! She also chose the cutest Snow White doll from the Animator's collection. Bennett chose some Star Wars toys like my mom got years ago. He has always wanted some and after all these years of telling him he could get some when we went to Disneyland, he finally did! He also wanted the Pixar characters that came in the same type of toy. We helped Coy choose a Toy Story Bullseye plush toy that he still sleeps with every night.


On to the third day. Mylie still sporting her Minnie Mouse headband.

Meeting the Princesses! As promised, I was finally able to break away with Mylie so she could do the Princess walk-through. I was surprised after all that waiting that there are only three princesses in there, and you never know which ones they are!




I think Snow White's Wishing Well was about our last stop before we gave up and called it a trip. We also relaxed and watched the parade one last time.


Overall it was a good trip, and the good memories definitely outweigh any bad ones (like the crowds and ornery children). The next day we headed to the beach, so hopefully I will get that on here next!

Take a look!

See the rest of this family's photos HERE!

wrapping up the school year~

It seems like only yesterday I was writing about Bennett's first day of school! And now it has been almost a month since he said goodbye to Kindergarten. It was a great year, but so far he says he doesn't miss going to school! I've been enjoying the laid back summer time with my kids lately, and am in no rush to send him off to first grade...But I am sure it will be here before we know it! I'm excited for next year because Bennett will get to learn Spanish...I'm glad he will have something to challenge him. Hopefully the program works, and in a few years I may have a bilingual kid!

He got to finish out the year with a fun fieldtrip to the zoo. I tagged along, of course, and the weather was beautiful! Then of course there was the Kindergarten Graduation. It was so cute! And now that Bennett has graduated from preschool, and Kindergarten, he won't get to graduate again for another 12 years. I'm hoping time will slow down a little bit here! These kids just grow up way too fast!






Oh and this is just some randomness from our lunch time. The kids like to make turkey masks. And Coy is enjoying his new booster seat so he can sit up to the table with the big kids.

just the kiddos~

I am so blessed to be the mother of these three beautiful children!

more easter~

I have so much I want to get on here! I need to get caught up so I can document all of the things I want to! I have so many pictures to go through, especially since we just returned from our trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth!" So I'm back to the Easter posts I never finished.

Here is our Easter Saturday.

A little family pic:
That morning we had a litte hunt at our house.







Mylie got some Princess CDs. She was in heaven dancing along!
Mylie drew this picture to give to my Grandma at the Easter Hunt she holds every year:
So we headed over to my Grandparents for the best Easter Hunt of the year! It is always fun to see everyone and the kids love the hunt, and everyone loves the pinatas!
Waiting in line to get out there and hunt:




Coy was a little terror that day. He didn't want anyone to help him, touch him, hold his hand, or hold him. He finally had to be confined to his stroller so as not to inflict injuries upon himself. He was happier when he got a little ice cream in him.
These are all of my parents' grandchildren...except for Blake. We wish he could have been there! Quite the group! (Yes mom, I will get you a copy of all of these group pictures if you want!)
Showing their true colors!




And Bennett brought home a little pinata souvenir, worn as a hat. He really wanted a picture of it.


There you have it! Our Easter Saturday in a nutshell!

easter festivities~

After we returned home from our little getaway, that Friday night we started our Easter festivities at Russ's parents. Russell's mom did the cutest egg treasure hunt with each of the kids. Each egg had a clever little clue inside (with a little treat) to take the kids to their next egg. Each hunt was individualized for each of the kids. At the end of the hunt, they found their "treasure." Bennett got his next set of Magic Treehouse books (he was thrilled) and Mylie got The Napping House (such a cute book) and Coy got The Going to Bed Book. The kids then got to color Easter eggs. I love their garbage sack shirts. They worked great! Coy mostly spent the evening playing with a musical Easter Bunny.

Bennett was right to reading his new books the next morning. Even before we started our little hunt at home.

Spring Break 2012

I'm going to try and play catch up on here. Back over Spring Break, we took a little trip not too far from our home. We just decided to stay at a hotel, go swimming, watch movies, and go out to eat. It's amazing how just a simple trip like this can mean so much and be such a big deal to the kiddos. It's just fun to stay overnight somewhere else besides home! Here is a little collage of our trip:

Take a look at these cuties HERE

Perfect time of year for pictures~

New preview up on my photo blog!

I Am a Superstar!

Mylie has joined little girl heaven! I was hesitant to sign her up for dance because of all of the "bad" that is out there, but she really has a lot of natural ability for it. So Russell was actually the one that pursued it and found a teacher that we both really like and feel good about! Not only does her teacher have great values and standards (which is really important to us), but she (along with her daughter) is an amazing teacher! (Almost all of her dancers won first place in their categories, and if not first they won second!) So if you are looking for a great dance teacher, let me know and I can refer you!

Mylie danced in two competitions (I know, kind of crazy to have them "compete" at this age), but her little group did really good! They got 2nd place in their category at the first one, and then 1st place at the one last weekend! Their dance was to a little song called "Superstar". Their little outfits are so darling. It's been fun to get her all dressed up--even with makeup! (Mascara, lipstick, and "flush", as Mylie called it). Like I said, little girl heaven!