Vacation Day #3

Day number three. I think we really out did ourselves yesterday. We started our morning off at Space Mountain. Instead of getting a FastPass for it, it was quicker for us to just get in line. I wasn't so sure of whether or not I should let Hannah ride, but she insisted so Tom, Rob, Madi, Hannah and myself all got in line. Hannah and Madi were cute in line. I think they were both nervous but didn't really want the other to know it. Hannah rode with me and I don't think I have ever held on to her so tightly, I was so worried about her falling out. She said she liked it but she also said she didn't really want to go on it again. At least she tried, right. =) Such a trooper. From there we met up with the rest of the gang at Dumbo. I hopped in line with the rest of them and was excited to ride with Emmie. She got in the elephant and then quickly decided that she wanted OUT. I hopped out and handed her off to my mom and rode by myself. Not so much fun by yourself when you're an adult. It turned out OK, because the camera wasn't working. I'm relying on Uncle Rob to get me a picture of Hannah on Dumbo for the scrapbook. Dumbo camera...

From Dumbo we headed to Autopia. Emerson was pretty excited to have a license.Tom was the brave one who got to ride with Hannah. I hear she's a crazy driver just like her dad.From there we headed over to California Adventure and started off with lunch. We ate at the cafe by Soarin' Over California and everyone agreed that it was the best meal so far. We quickly rode Soarin' and then headed to the Grizzly River Run. Hannah was really hoping to get wet but I think she left the ride with A drop of water on her. Somehow, she left dry, unlike the rest of us. I didn't get as wet as on Splash Mountain but I certainly wasn't dry. =) Becky, Jake and Emerson didn't ride the raft ride, instead they went to play at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail and we joined them afterwards. It was a fun little place for the kids to get out and run and burn off a little extra energy. It's also where we spotted our first "Hidden Mickey" which led to Madison buying a book on where else in the parks to find them. We spent the rest of the trip looking for those silly things. Tom thinks that in a few years we should come back and do a trip built around looking for those. Some of them are pretty tricky!

After playing for a little bit, the Walker family headed back for naps and a break. Both girls were having major meltdowns and the parents were soon to follow if we didn't leave soon. We met the Henry's back at the room after naps and Becky and I headed out to Target to pick up some groceries and other necessities. I can't seem to stay away from Target even on vacation. After our much needed naps we headed back to California Adventure where the Obee's had saved us seats for the Electrical Parade.

Hannah was really excited to see her first princess. Cinderella made an appearance in the parade and I laughed when I looked down to see Hannah doing this. She's made a heart on her forehead just like Taylor Swift did at her concert. Taylor did it at her concert to show her fans that she "loved" them. Apparently, Hannah wanted to let Cinderella know just how she felt about her. =)

Looking back on it, we didn't spend much time at either of the parks but it was a much needed break for us. Sad that it was only our second day doing the park thing. =)

Vacation Day #2

So this is the day that the fun all began. We got up early with hopes of getting to the park right when it opened, but someone in our room (Becky) took longer to get ready than the rest of us. =) We ventured down to the lobby and out to the front of the hotel where the shuttle would be picking us up. The park was less than a mile away but with all the walking we'd be doing there and the fact that we didn't bring strollers (we rented them inside the park) we decided to get a shuttle pass for the week. Even though the shuttle ran every 15 - 20 minutes we never did time it right. It seemed that we were always waiting 15 - 20 minutes. =)

My camera wasn't working as we walked in the gates of the park, but it did decide to work as we entered Main Street. First up...Goofy!

Emerson was fine as long as she didn't look at Goofy. We had to stop at City Hall to get Hannah and Emerson a "First Visit" button.Before we got to the park we all talked about how it would be a good idea for our first ride to be one that everyone would enjoy. That didn't quite happen, as we walked by Indiana Jones on our way to breakfast, we noticed that there was a 5 minute wait. The Henry's headed toward the ride and we all followed suit. Tom and I, as we were in line, felt HORRIBLE that the first ride in Disneyland was one that both Hannah and Emerson couldn't ride. My mom was nice and sat back with the girls and she said they were just as happy to be watching all of the people. After the ride, Tom took Hannah, Emerson, Jake & Madison to the tree house while the rest of us went and ordered our Mickey Mouse pancakes! I think Hannah was just as happy to do that, but I think that was only because she didn't quite know what to expect at Disneyland.

Hannah wouldn't look at me while eating, so this is the best shot of her and her very first Mickey Mouse pancake! Must. document. it. all! =)

After breakfast we ALL went on Pirates of the Caribbean. Hannah didn't want her picture taken but it was her first ride in Disneyland!

Yes, I did say that we took EVERYONE on Pirates. Emerson liked it at first and then she didn't like it and then she thought it was pretty neat but as we were coming up to exit the boat she started to cry. I felt horrible as people were looking at us like we were the meanest parents. There were parts she really did like. =) No, our meanest parent award was given to us when, after Pirates, we took the girls on the Haunted Mansion. Hannah LOVED it. Caitlin was her ride buddy (much to my dismay) and Caitlin told me that she was dancing in her seat most of the time. Emerson on the other hand didn't like it one bit. It was noisy, dark and the car kept turning crazy directions. Poor girl was so scared, that's when I felt really, really bad. I covered her ears and turned her toward me hoping that it would help just a little but she was done. As we were exiting the ride I kept telling her that we were "all done" and she looked at me with tears in her eyes and started to clap. Mean parents. Thank goodness she won't remember this herself.

From there we went to Splash Mountain. Hannah was a little disappointed because she couldn't sit in the front and even more upset because she had to ride in the back, but all was good in the end because she got to sit with Caitlin. She's a funny girl. I tried to talk Brittany into riding in the front, after all it was her birthday. She really didn't want to so I got stuck in front. Boy did I get wet. Literally there wasn't a dry spot on me. I was soaked but it was all worth it, right? While we got wet, Becky took Emerson and Jake to the Winnie the Pooh ride. Jake and Becky aren't big fans of Splash Mountain. We all thought that Emmie would like it, it was Winnie the Pooh after all, but apparently she cried through that one as well. We really did a number on that poor girl. After lunch at the Hungry Bear Restaurant we headed to Toon Town on the Disneyland Train where Emerson fell asleep before we even left the station. I knew we had done her in when as we were getting on the train she was shaking her head and doing her sign for no, over and over again. I can only imagine what she thought we were doing to her. My poor baby.

Hannah enjoyed Toon Town but really who doesn't with all the fun things to climb on and touch. Oh my!I think she was a little shocked to actually hear someone talking on the phone.Still sleeping. She slept most of the way through Toon Town.Tom and I took Madison and Hannah on the roller coaster. Can you can see Hannah in the second car back? All smiles, hands halfway in the air, and then we went down...

She really did enjoy the ride, giving it an "Awesome" afterwards, but you never would have guessed it looking at this picture. Tom really enjoyed his bad self on this ride.After Toon Town we went to Small World. Emerson protested at first and then she heard the music and saw the colorful kids. She oohed and ahhed the entire trip. It melted my heart and made me want to take her again and again and again. The long line stopped that thought real quick. After that fun trip, with the song still stuck in our heads, we headed toward main street for the Celebrate parade. I love Disney and their ability to put on a parade/show. It was a great parade, so fun and so colorful.

They asked for a few people to come out and dance, and our Hannah never misses an opportunity to dance.Doing the conga-line...After the parade we headed toward the Matterhorn but were side-tracked by the "short" 30 minute line at Pixie Hollow. For those that don't know, Pixie Hollow is where Tinkerbell and all of her fairy friends live and it is THE place to be!

Making wishes...aka throwing things (coins) into the water WITH mom and dad's permission.Emerson was all about having Tinkerbell and Iridessa sign her autograph book, but she wasn't so into having her picture taken.

After an afternoon apart, we met up with the Obee's (they had a 3 day pass and were trying to get it all in, where we had a 6 day pass, little kids and weren't in a rush) for dinner and a quick attempt at pulling out the Sword. No such luck.

After a birthday dinner we watched a little bit of Fantasmic and the fireworks then decided to call it an "early" night.

Both kids were SO tired after a fun first day!

Vacation Day #1

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the pictures that I took while on vacation. I loaded 452 pictures from my camera to the computer. I'm certain that the number of pictures that I actually keep will be considerably lower once I weed out the blurry, bad and unimportant pictures. Imagine how many I would have taken if my new lens that Tom got me for my birthday had actually worked all the time. It was very frustrating because it seemed to not want to work at the most inopportune moments, like when Hannah met Jasmine and Aladdin or when we were taking Emerson on Dumbo. Who knew a non working camera lens could cause me to be so grumpy. =) Thankfully, we had Rob, of Rob T Henry Photography LLC, with us most of the time. =) I think the easiest way for me to do this without overwhelming you along with myself is to load the pictures to Blogger by day. So, for now you'll have to wait to see the actual Disneyland pictures, because that was day #2. =)

We rolled in style to the airport. It was actually the same price for us to get a limo as it was to ride in a van. Hannah wasn't so sure about it but Emerson LOVED not sitting in a car seat and being able to move around.

Tom and I had many discussions about how we were actually going to tell Hannah the big news. Tom's idea was to not tell her until after we arrived in Anaheim saying something like "Oh s**t (perfect for a 4 year old) we got on the wrong plane". Although funny, it wasn't quite appropriate. =) We finally decided on Mickey Mouse Ears. We had a pair sent for each of the girls and we wrapped them up with a few Disney Dollars and lots of mouse ear confetti.

Before the unwrapping...

And the disappointment afterwards. She was NOT happy about not going to Idaho. I think we talked Idaho up a little too much and she was really concerned about not seeing Nana. I'm certain it hadn't really sunk in what going to Disneyland really meant. She pouted all the way through security and for 45 minutes while we waited for lunch. Not at all what I had hoped for. I was secretly hoping for a few squeals of joy accompanied by a few jumps and several big bear hugs followed by a "you're the best". =)

Watching the planes with Papa.It finally sunk in and she happily put on her ears and smiled for the camera.Could we be any closer to Mt. Rainier? Kind of scary but oh so cool!

Our second limo of the day. This time it was black and apparently it was "what she was talkin' about". She was giddy and broke out into her "woo-hoo" dance. Nonnie got in on the fun. What a good sport.

Once we were greeted by the Henry's we were all filled with crazy excitement!

We took the kids down to the pool in hopes of burning off some of that excitement. Afterwards we came back up to our room and gave the kids their backpacks. Becky and I put together backpacks for the kids that had their Disneyland essentials; autograph book, pen, hand sanitizer, sunglasses, lip balm, water bottle and a few other little snack type goodies.

They were all pretty excited. (side note...I have a funny feeling I'll be using the term "excited" a lot over the next few posts...=) )

And finally...the boys. Tom went Friday night to get his new phone. He opted for a Blackberry so Tom and Rob spent much of the first night getting him all set up and showing him a few of the really cool features. I think my dad might have a little Blackberry envy, I know I certainly do!

Before we left, Becky and I ordered groceries to be delivered so that we wouldn't have to scramble to get to a store once we got there. We had the fixin's for spaghetti delivered and we all had dinner together up in Sue and Dave's fancy room (they got the presidential suite). By the time we were done with dinner, we had just enough time to hustle up to the rooftop to watch the Disneyland fireworks. It was a great way to end the first night of a fantastic vacation.

A week in review...

Before I can post pictures of our big trip (I'm working on that right now) I have to get this out of the "draft" box. It's been sitting here since August 10. Yikes.

So between playing Farkle on Facebook, getting ready for our big trip, having a birthday and having house guests I haven't had much time to get on here and post.

First off...Farkle. If you've ever played the dice game with my family then you'll be happy to know that you can play a similar version on Facebook. Oh my goodness, I've been spending way too much time on there and here I thought bejeweled was addicting. =)

We are in the final days before our big trip and trying to pack ahead of time yet still have clothes to wear everyday until then is proving to be a challenge. I've crushed Hannah by telling her that she can't wear anymore of her Idaho dresses until we go. She is not very happy about having to wear shorts and or skirts until we go. I'm getting a little anxious for the day when she decides that she doesn't want to wear a dress EVERY single day.

This year my birthday was a little bittersweet. I've always celebrated my birthday with Grammy Na (hers is the day before mine) and this was my first without her and it made me really sad. The girls and I talked about her (well Hannah and I talked, Emmie just listened. =) ) and shared a few memories. We bought a bouquet of flowers and took them up to the cemetery and had our own little party. Hannah and I sang Happy Birthday and then the girls danced. I'm sure that Grammy was watching over us and probably not too excited that the girls were jumping on the headstone. =) I can just hear her now and it makes me laugh. Hannah decided that next time we should at least bring a cake or cupcakes, it WAS a birthday celebration after all. =)

For my birthday we celebrated with the family on Friday night at the Henry house. Hannah and Emerson were in charge of making my birthday cake since Tom was at work. Have no fear, I helped them with the oven portion. =) I have to admit they did a great job on the cake. Hannah has gotten to be quite the egg cracker. Mom, Dad and Caitlin made Krub (or Klub) for me and oh my goodness it was yummy. I was a little disappointed that Emerson didn't love it as much as the rest of us. I mean what's not to love about it?! For those that don't know what it is, you can click on the link that's on the word Krub. It doesn't look too good, but it's so yummy. I will admit that it is an acquired taste. Tom and I have been together for 14 years and he finally ate some this year. =) Better late than never, right? =)

I think they had a little too much fun with the cake. Silly kids. =)

Saturday was a busy day. I had a hair appointment in the morning, I had to run to work in Redmond to pick up a few things, I was supposed to meet up with Jen for a birthday lunch (which didn't happen because of my poor planning) all before going to the Mariner game with Tom. My mom and dad gave me Mariner tickets for my birthday and it was so nice to go and not have to worry about little ones staying seated or kicking the people in front of us. For as busy as we were we sure had a good day.

Sunday we had a bridal shower for my cousin Jeff's bride to be, Melissa. Jeff and Melissa are getting married at the end of the month in Hawaii. We're not able to go Idaho and Hawaii in the same year, let alone the same month, so we'll be celebrating with them in spirit and then again at the reception. As always the girls and I had lots of fun and there were tears when it was time to leave. The Aunts know how to throw a party, let me tell you. =)

Aunt Joanne, Melissa & Melissa's mom (I can't remember her name...)The always exciting dice game.The girls...Emmie & Madi swimming in the hot tub.Bathing beauties!
Like I said we've been a bit busy and it's only going to get crazier around here. I'm hoping that in this last week before we go, no one slips up. We've made it this far, I'd hate to blow the secret now. =)