Where the Wild Things Are...

We packed quite a bit into our trip. Two full days at Disneyland, and then we spent our 3rd and final day down at the San Diego Zoo. It was nice to have a more mellow day at the end-- I think we were all pretty wiped out! The zoo really was amazing. It had been YEARS since I had been there.
We got a kick out of this orangutan that came right up to the window and mirrored the kids. It was hysterical! She sat like that and would mimic the kids if they put their hands up to the window and she'd just stare right back at them!

Loved the pandas, the polar bears, the wombats, the elephants, the monkeys, the hippos and especially the reptiles! I was surprised that Kate was so into them! She wanted to look at every snake and find out where it was from and if it was poisonous or not... I guess she is definitely her BG's granddaughter.

The only family picture we have on the entire trip. Nice. Goes to show you that I definitely had a stuffy head while we were down there, because I didn't even think to get a family picture at Disneyland!

The Koalas were a huge hit

Riding the tram over the zoo.

What a great way to spend our last day!

The Happiest Place on Earth

We haven't been on a vacation, just the 4 of us, in 3 years...which means... before Jake was even born! Ahhh! It shocked us when we realized we'd let that much time go by! So it was settled. We'd take off a few days before Memorial weekend and head down south. Kate had been asking when we were going to go to Disneyland and we figured it'd be a good time to go because we could focus completely on the rides and things that were geared towards our kids.
Kate had her eye and heart set on the Mary Poppins horse on the carousel. We didn't get it the first time around, but ran for it the 2nd and 3rd time.... she was beyond thrilled that she got to ride it. Jake was happy to be riding on his own :)

The longest line we waited in the two days we were there was to see the princesses. It was an hour. I've heard horror stories about that wait, so we figured an hour wasn't SO bad. While in line, we "splurged" by letting her get her face painted--what it came down to is she saw the BEAUTIFUL princess dresses that were $65 and really wanted one...

I "happened" to divert her attention to the face painting and she got really excited! PHEW!

FINALLY!

We got to meet Princess Tiana...

Have a good chat with Cinderella...

And compare dresses with Ariel.

It was worth the wait to see the smile on her face :)

The rockets were a hit

Jake was MESMERIZED by the parade.

In fact, the kids liked it so much, we saw it again the 2nd day we were there!

Enjoying the Ladybug ride at California Disney

How can you resist these little bugs???

Caught in action-- the teacups were one of the kids FAVORITE rides.

I love their faces as we spun around again and again... I think we went on it 10 times!

Shockingly, the kids never fell asleep right away when we got back to the hotel. I think every night I heard Jake yacking and singing to himself as I drifted off to sleep.

We indulged in quite the treat at the end of our trip. We surprised the kids to breakfast at Goofy's kitchen. We found out that our good friends the Wollesen's would be overlapping our stay and so we were thrilled they could join us!

Kate was ecstatic to meet Sleeping Beauty... that beat the Mickey Mouse waffles and all you can eat dessert :)

Jake was pretty impressed with the sheer size of Baloo.

Great to be together!

Shea Butter

Have you ever used shea butter? It is some of the best stuff when it comes to super dry skin. I love it. I use it mostly in the winter time and so I keep it under the sink the rest of the year. It smells really good...and did I mention you only need to use a tiny bit to see magnificent results?
I honestly don't even know where I was when this took place. Probably folding clothes in the back.

The funny thing is, our house is so small, it's not as if I can't hear everything that is going on...

We went to see cousin Ben play baseball this very same night. Have any guesses as to who the bugs were attracted to? Jake smelled delicious! And his skin was extra soft too! Looks like I'll need to go get another container before winter rolls around again.

A Soapy Situation

We had a few birthday parties coming up--so we went to the store and Kate picked out bubble machines for the kids-- one for each of them and one for us. I thought it was a great idea because then I wouldn't have to be the one blowing all of the bubbles!!! So this particular morning, the sun was out and it was warm. The kids ran to the backyard after breakfast and while I was cleaning up, I realized I didn't hear my name being yelled for quite some time... that always means there's a possibility for disaster... I found them THOROUGHLY enjoying the bubble machine!

Notice Kate's matted hair? She was showing Jake the perfect stance to get just the right amount of bubbles on top of his head. Isn't she a great big sister?!

Why are bubbles so much fun? I love 'em too.

I left for a time only to come back to find them sitting in their chairs laughing about the morning's events with soap COMPLETELY covering the very tips of their heads to the bottoms of their toes.

By 10 AM they already had a bath

and were ready for their next adventure!

ET Anyone???

We came home after church one day and I just had to lie down. Singing time with the kids for 2 hours must have worn me out or something! So, I stretched out on the couch and before I knew it I was out. I woke up to this. I thought it was getting a little toasty in the house! The kids thought they were pretty clever. My favorite is Kate in her bathing suit WITH the undies still on. What a fashion statement. When I saw this picture that Joe took, it immediately reminded me of that one scene in ET... I'll have to dig that out and show it to them...