First Food

Well Logan's a real boy now - eating rice cereal for his first time. The kids were so excited for him to eat food - he was practically smothered. He was excited too, it was like he could tell he was the source of excitement. I'm pretty sure after his first bite I heard him say, 'bring it on' - he loved it. The first time we fed Emmy rice cereal she burst out bawling - it was like we'd fed her lava or something, so this was much more pleasant for all of us! It won't be long until rice cereal isn't cutting it anymore!

Last days of Preschool

A Preschool Grad Lives Here!

It's official - Emmy graduated from preschool. She's had a great year going to school and has really enjoyed it. She's gone to a gal in my ward and neighborhood - what could be better than preschool in the neighborhood (I'll tell you what can be better - the fact that I carpooled! How awesome is that?!). She's had lots of friends in her primary class in preschool so that's been fun. She's done great and had lots of fun field trip - Albertsons, a pizza restaurant, fire station, and the nature center (that's where some of these pictures were taken).
Her graduation was really cute. They sang lots of songs and showed us how they do the pledge, calendar, weather, etc. Derek is out of town this week so he missed it. She told me that she'd sing loud enough for him to hear it - did anyone in Texas hear some cute songs? The best part was when each of the kids showed a life size cut-out of themselves showing us what they'll be when they grow up - ol' Emmy is going to be a dog seller (does that mean she's got a life of the Humane Society ahead of her?). The whole graduation was really great and everyone thinks she's ready for kindergarten (no one's asked me though!).

Dance Recital Pictures

Dance Recital

We had Emmy's dance recital this last Saturday. For those who need a recap let's just pause to remember her last dance recital . . . it was last Christmas and the dance recital was at her regular dance place. They'd just added a bunch of chairs but it was ultimately the same. Emmy was all smiles when she started, then it turned quickly into 'deer in the headlights' then it dove directly to crash and burn status - tears streaming, Emmy fleeing. It wasn't pretty (hilarious . . . yes, pretty . . . no). She sat through the rest of the recital on my lap and I was happy I didn't see any long term damage. So with this dance recital we had very low expectations - I figured it couldn't be worse - only room for improvement.
But this dance recital was held at our church. The girls were on the stage and the gym was full of chairs (there were 4 classes all having their recital together). This was a lot more intimidating so I even had lower expectations. When her class was up for their first dance I'm sure both Emmy and I were holding our breath. But she did awesome! Ok, at times her nervousness turned into giggles and all she could do was cover her face and laugh - but she wasn't crying! Her first dance was ballet and then her second dance was tap (to the song Locomotion which I have been singing all week!). She did great - and scored herself a rose and a Krispy Kreme.

Race Day

Becca, Stacia, Kim, Becca, Lisa, me

A few months ago a few friends and I decided to do a 10K race (6.2 miles). We started training and ran quite religiously to get ready for it. We followed Hal Higdon's training program and for a 10K he has your first run be a 2.5 miler. I couldn't believe I had to start at 2.5 miles! I hadn't run since early last summer. Nonetheless, I spent the last 8 weeks training for this race. Saturday morning 6 of us went down to the race together. The race started at 8:30 so I started picking people up at 7:00. We parked, shuttled to the start line, and promptly got in the line for the bathrooms. We almost missed the starting gun because we all were in the bathroom! The race started and was a great morning for a run. It went by the river so we had shade and some cool air from the water. At the finish line I was totally surprised to see my parents standing there! I didn't know they were coming so it was totally surprising to have someone cheering for me at the end.
My goal for the race had been to run in it an hour - I finished at 1 hour and 8 seconds - ah . . . so close!
Afterwards we went to breakfast. I told everyone that breakfast was the real reason I ran it. We had wanted to go to a place downtown I've heard is really good. So we went in and there was a 90 minute wait for a table - FOR BREAKFAST! Have you ever heard of such a thing?! That is insanity! So we settled for a different place and had a huge breakfast (we deserved it right?). We all had lots of fun running and eating.

Back to Normal

Monday morning found us back to normal much quicker than I wanted. Dentist appointment, laundry, cleaning - back to normal I tell ya. As I was getting Tyler ready for school he said, "I wish we were at Disneyland." Me too Tyler! Then that morning my sister-in-law Rainie called and asked if we were so sad it was over - YES! Then later that week I talked to my sister-in-law Megan who asked if we were ready to go back next week - YES! I guess that's a sign of a good vacation.
We had such a great time thanks to all the help we got with our kids - taking 4 kids under 6 to Disneyland isn't for everyone - make sure you go with tons of family to help. So here's my shout-out to Megan, Angey, and Rainie - thank you so much for all your help (your husbands and kids too!). Derek and I really could have had our hands full without your help. We definitely wouldn't have had as much fun. We had a great trip - I'm ready to start planning the next one!

Days 4 & 5

Ok I promise this is vacation blog is coming to an end - but we have to blog about our last 2 days! Saturday morning we slept in - yeah!! We had a leisurely breakfast - it was pretty great. Then we picked up our rental cars and headed to Huntington beach. It wasn't really warm but most of the kids ventured in (the moms didn't go in, and the dads couldn't get out!). The kids loved playing in the water and sand - no lines, no crowds, no nagging - we all loved the break! The ocean was really fun.
Then we headed to Riverside to see the mission stomping grounds of John and Sandy. We got to see their mission office and spend some time at their apartment. Sandy gave all the kids 4 dollars and we headed to the dollar store to spend their money. The kids loved it - and we got some great toys that helped on the flight home.
The next day we got to go to church with them. It was so fun to see them with their missionary tags! After church we went to their mission president's house and met he and his wife. They sure love John and Sandy.
Derek and I headed to LAX to fly out. The kids did great on both flights there and the way back (though Bay got a little too comfortable and began running around the plane like she owned the place - and those seat belts don't do anything as far as containing her when she can unbuckle so easily!). Derek did have to bounce Logan at the back of the plane for a while - and then once he got Logan asleep has was worried that sitting down would wake him up so he stood up a lot that flight!
The kids did awesome traveling - Tyler and Emmy both had their rolling backpacks and carried their own stuff. Derek and I needed all the help we could get - we took 4 suitcases, 4 backpacks, 3 car seats, and 2 strollers - thank heavens for sky capping!

Day 3 - Disneyland

Day 3- Disneyland

The kids didn't wake up quite as early or quite as eager this morning - but we were still ready for more. We had breakfast at the hotel and then back to the park. We were there by 8:30 and the park opened at 9:00. We hit a few more big rides - when we did Space Mountain we had 4 kids and 3 adults so we put Tyler and his 7 year old cousin together - and they did awesome! I rode with Emily and covered her ears the whole time because Emmy was more scared of the speakers blaring the loud scary music than she was of the huge roller coaster in the dark! The kids did great and she we headed to Autopia (the cars where you drive). This was Bay's favorite ride of the three days - was she big stuff!
After those we went to the Jedi Training Academy. This is out on an open stage where they have Mace Windu come out and tell the kids that he's going to pick kids to teach how to fight should they encounter the Dark Side. He picks about 30 kids from the audience. We were on the front row and Derek had Tyler on his shoulders (Derek was a man on a mission here). Tyler and his cousin Zack both got picked. They put these brown jedi robes on the kids and teach them a sequence for fighting the Dark Side. They first activate their light sabers and then they hit left leg, right leg, left arm, right arm, head and then the kids duck - and then back to more fighting. They practice this lots of times with the help of Mace Windu and other jedis. Then out run these storm troopers - and they look as real as it gets. Then the stage starts to rise and there is standing a 7 foot Darth Vader! He talks to the kids and tells them that he's got more help coming. Then out comes Darth Maul - red and black face and spikes all over his head. The kids then each get their own turn to fight one of them. Tyler got to fight Darth Vader - who said, "oh, the force is strong with this one". It was really fun to see such a production and have Tyler get picked. At the end he got a certificate telling us he's now a Jedi with the force.
Friday we let the kids pick out a souvenir. We'd told them just to look around the first 2 days and then we'd shop on Friday. Emmy knew just what she wanted - Minnie Mouse ears. I didn't even know what she was talking about until we went into the Mad Hatter store and she beelined for the Minnie Mouse ears. I got them for her with 'Emmy' stitched on the back. I was beaming while I was checking out - the ultimate Disney purchase. She wore those ears and was as cute as could be. Sadly, after 5 hours of wearing them we realized they were missing. We looked around for them but no ears could be found. I was a lot sadder than she was. For Tyler's souvenir he needed lots of time to shop. He looked all around and finally decided on a stuffed pirate Mickey. He'd just finished riding Pirates of the Carribbean and was all stoked about pirates. For Bay's souvenir we got her the cutest baby Minnie - she has a pink blanket that wraps around her - it's adorable.
We spent the afternoon in Toon Town with all of Derek's family. Then we watchted the Disney parade - the floats are just amazing.
That night was Fantasmic. I didn't know if my kids would be going strong for the late show but I ended up having 3 kids asleep in strollers during the whole thing. It was an amazing show. The grand finale was when the big white steamboat came out and there was every Disney character you can imagine was on it - Buzz, Woody, Pluto, Mad Hatter, all the Princess, and even chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins. It was the best!
At the end of the show Derek and I had to get the sleeping kids back to the hotel. Tyler, however, was still going strong. So we left him at the park with Megan and family while Derek helped me get kids back to the hotel. Megan told me that they did Big Thunder Mountian Railroad and Tyler was the only 6 year old doing it at 11:00 (with arms up the whole time!). Derek met back up with them and did a few more rides until the park closed at midnight. Then they all dragged themselves back to the hotel. It was a great last day of Disneyland.

Day 2 - Disneyland

Day 2 - Disneyland

Thursday we had early entry tickets so we could get into the park and hour earlier than regular tickets (that sounds neater than it is because everyone gets early entry tickets!). We were at the park at 8:30 to hit the 9:00 opening. Derek and I had the four kids in (and on) strollers so we could hurry to the new Nemo ride. We saw Rakelle, Steve, and kids early that morning too - it was so fun to see our friends at Disneyland.

We spent a lot of the morning doing the rides in Fantasy land and then headed to Splash Mountain. Both Tyler and Emily did it - they say they loved it, I don't quite believe them.

That afternoon we went to Adventureland and did the classic Jungle Cruise. Another highlight of the trip was when Derek and my brother-in-law, Lance, took all 7 kids so my sister-in-law, Megan and I could do Indiana Jones with no kids. That was awesome - awesome ride, awesome break, awesome husbands. When we went to meet back up with Derek and Lance they weren't there so we ran as fast as we could to Pirates of the Carribbean (don't tell Derek!). Lance and Derek took all the kids over to Tom Sawyer Island to do the Pirate's Lair - everyone had a great time (well maybe not Derek and Lance).

That evening we went to the Disneyland Hotel and ate dinner at Goofy's kitchen. This was one of my favorite things of the trip. They had a great buffet (the kid food was exhaustive - mac and cheese, pizza, nuggets, rolls, even worms in dirt for dessert). Then you get great character encounters. They just go from table to table doing autographs and pictures. The characters we had were Goofy (it was his kitchen after all), Pluto, Chip, Minnie, Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty. I loved it - they came to our table and the kids just ate it up! My kids loved the characters way more than I expected so it was even more fun for them than I'd planned on.

We ended the night with Matterhorn and again stayed until the park closed. That night I had gotten the girls in pajamas, brushed their teeth, turned around and they'd both crawled into bed and fallen asleep! Icing on the cake . . .

Day 1 - California Adventure

Day 1 - California Adventure

Our first morning there we went to Californa Adventure. We thought it was fun even to be standing in line to get into the park. The weather all three days we were there was a bit overcast, we wore jackets off and on, but I think that helped keep the crowds down so it was great with us. Early on Wednesday we saw our friends Angela and Rod and their kids - it was so fun to see them there. We ran into them throughout the day. At that park we hit some of the big rides - Soarin', Monsters Inc., Tower of Terror (Emmy even did that one - though only once!), Grizzly River Run (just Derek and Tyler - they got absolutely soaked), and all of A Bug's Land. We watched the Aladdin show, Disney Playhouse, and the Pixar Parade. I absolutely loved the parade. It had all of the fun Pixar movies in it - Cars, Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story, and Nemo. During the Nemo part bubbles started coming out of the street lamps. That is what is so incridble to me - there is so much over the top detail. The Nemo part was at the end of the parade and then I went with my sister-in-law, Angey, and her family to another part of the park. We ultimately just followed the parade through the park - with bubbles all the way. I just walked through the park with bubbles everywhere thinking how amazing Disneyland is.

California Adventure closed at 6:00 that night so we headed over to Disneyland which was open until 8:00. Right as we walked in the gates there were Mickey and Minnie to greet us. We got in line to meet them and Bay was a bit hesitant to stand by them for a picture. Mickey came over and with his giant mouse head gave her this kiss on the top of her head - maybe my most favorite Disneyland moment. It was adorable!

We walked right on to Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear that night and then walked back to our hotel. The kids went to bed thrilled to be doing it all again the next day.

Mickey Mouse Magic

It's true what they say about the magic of Disneyland - no one does it better than Disney. We had the best vacation - it really was the happiest place on Earth. Even with tired, hungry, crying kids - it was still completely magical. I loved every minute and soaked it all up - even though we're home now, I'm still gushing about how great it was.


We started talking about going to Disneyland when Derek's parents got their mission call to Riverside. It's about 40 miles from Anaheim so immediately the idea of visiting them included a trip to Disneyland. In January, we blessed Logan the day before his parents entered the MTC so with lots of Derek's family here, plans started flying. Soon we had 4 out of Derek's 5 siblings (including us) all ready to go. Over the last few months we've had a million phone calls and emails planning this trip - and then it finally came!
We all stayed at the same hotel which was really fun - we would have had more fun if we weren't completly exhausted every night! Derek's parents got special permission (Anaheim is out of their mission boundaries) to come with us to the park for a day and a half. The kids loved being with their cousins so much - I always had at least one kid off with another family - which was a huge help! We had 5 families, 12 kids (all under the age of 9!), 5 strollers, 2 missionaries, who knows how many diapers, granola bars, and fruit snacks and 3 great days at Disneyland. We had a blast.