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!

Ohana

Ohana means Family in Hawaiian. That's the first thing I think of when I think of the islands. We got to return to Kauai and Oahu with all of the Patterson clan in August. Oh the fun we had and the memories that were made.

I have over a thousand pictures of the trip... it's a little overwhelming to even go through them-it's disgusting actually, that we take so many photos--but they are so fun to look at! I'll put together a slide show of just some of them if you want to see more of our trip!

Our favorite beach on Oahu...Major's Beach

Favorite person on that favorite beach :)

Love my family with all of my heart!

The girls

The.....Men?

Jake couldn't get enough of the beach... he'd bolt right for the water as soon as his feet touched the sand!

He couldn't get enough of the ice cream either :)

Jen and Chris... Sister and Brother...Best Friends

Love this one!

How can you not love the little guy?

Mahalo MoMo and BG!!!

Ahhh, Hawaii. That sweet air and warm breeze...I never tire of it! I recognize that I'm spoiled. Having a dad who was born and raised in the islands is a wonderful thing, because it means he likes to return often with his family! The kids and I were the beneficiaries of this generosity the last week in May. We had an absolute wonderful time with my parents. I just hope Mom got her much needed rest! Love you both. Thanks for an unforgettable week.

Doesn't Mom's hair look cute?! I was officially the one who took the longest to get ready! No one else had to dry their hair!

This was the trip when I explained to Kate that it was OK to pee in the ocean. I didn't want to have to run find a bathroom every time she needed to go. "Why?" She always seems to ask. I thought my response was pretty good, "Well, because the ocean is really big, and the pee gets lost in it." That was settled until we were in the pool the next day with everyone sitting within earshot.

I was with Jake in the shallow area when I heard, "Mom, it's ok to pee in this pool... it's really big!" You don't know how fast I moved to get her out of there. I'm sure I got glares but I didn't dare look up! It was lovely :)

This guy was fantastic! He couldn't get enough of the beach. Loved the water, loved the sand and would swim and splash until completely exhaustion would hit. One afternoon I literally took him out of the pool, wrapped him up in his towel and set him down to grab a dry diaper-- maybe 2 seconds--When I turned around he was sacked out. Mouth wide open.

We made it to Punch Bowl on Memorial Day Weekend. What a sacred place--every single gravesite had a lei and a flag. It was beautiful!

Jake waiting in the car while Dad and I took pictures.

Hawaii is the best place to get your kids to sleep well at night. Completely wear them out all day long and they beg for their beds when the sun goes down :)



We had a wonderful time, but we were sure excited to get back to Joe. He greeted us at the airport and had a pink rose for Mom, Kate and me. He's the best. We got home and I found that he had painted the hallway and bathroom, mounted a huge bookshelf on the wall, cut and put in new shelves in our hall closets, cleaned the entire house, did the laundry, mowed the lawn...all while working a normal, crazy week. I think I need to go away for a week every year! Thanks, hon! You amaze me!