Disneyland March 2010

It's been two whole years since we've been to Disneyland and Jeff and I were having serious withdrawals (I know we're ridiculous, you don't need to tell me). So off we went! We got a deal on a hotel, we got a deal on tickets, and only bought one meal in the park, so even food was inexpensive.Here are my cute excited little guys waiting for the park to open. They were climbing on the giant letters that spell out California. They're so cute!!!

Jeff's parents, Mike and Mary, came with us and they made it even better! The past two times we've gone, we've had some of my family come along, so their turn was long overdue. Having them there also meant that the boys were a little more spoiled than they might have been (take a look at the Disney shirts they're all wearing- thank you Grandma!)

Grandma also somehow got suckered into buying Mickey shaped ice cream. It must have cost hundreds of dollars- I didn't dare to ask. Gabriel felt deeply cheated that his ice cream didn't have a stick like all of his brothers- you can see how happy he is in the first picture, but once we traded with him, all was better than good.

My Funny Boys

When The big boys went with the other grown ups on Indiana Jones, the little ones and I went for a walk and then we got some french fries. Knowing that the big boys would be disappointed about not getting the novelty of fries, we quickly gobbled the last ones and threw away the container when we saw them coming. Then I said "Okay, little guys, those were our secret french fries, so we can't tell anyone we had them". As soon as Jojo saw his brothers he shouted excitedly, "GUYS! Guess what?! We had secret fries, but we can't tell anyone!". Hahaha!!! This was met with the disappointment I expected from the big brothers, but, oh well, they got to go on Indiana Jones.

Look at my cheesy little actors "trying very hard" to get the sword from the stone. They did this for several minutes before any of us noticed their theatrics- they're usually weird for their own enjoyment.

The first photo makes me laugh the hardest because, well, just look at Bear's face. But secondly, because one boy is pulling up and the other is pulling down. Hahahaha.

The Characters

The Tigger photo was taken right after Jojo actually knocked Tigger over from crashing into him with the worlds most insanely energetic hug. It was kind of hilarious.

The Rides

Notice the posed surprised face we all have on the Splash Mountain photo. Even Jojo did it!

Jeff, the big boys, and I all decided that Space Mountain was our favorite ride. Gabers and Jojo say that Pirates and Winnie the Pooh were theirs.

Disneyland wears you out. Especially when you miss a nap. But all the walking and sounds and excitement definitely proved to be too much for Gabers and he zonked out. Mary pointed out how funny it was that he sound asleep in the middle of the day wearing a festive button that reads:

"I'm Celebrating". Hehehehe.

Jeff has a very fond memory of going to Disneyland with his paternal Grandfather. He was so exhausted at the end of the day his grandpa carried little Jeff out of the park sleeping on his shoulder. When he and I realized that little Jojo's grandpa was doing the same thing, we had to get a photo. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Stools

Do you see them? Do you?! Aren't they beautiful? Comfy?
I love them so much!!!

You may think I'm insane for being so excited for stools. But you know don't know how much these little babies mean to me, do you? Well, let me tell you, when Jeff and I bought our cute little house we were so in love with it. It was ours. Our kitchen, our walls, our bathroom, our grass, our trees, OURS. We didn't care about the upkeep of an old house or other minor inconveniences like having no outlets in the bathroom.

Our house is 90 years old- it has the original doors and hardware on the upstairs rooms, you know the knobs with the skeleton keyholes that you can see through? So cute (although not always very private:-). The kitchen had been remodeled with LOTS of cabinets and counter space- I still love love love my kitchen- with one exception. When the kitchen was remodeled they put in a big island and rather than leave space for a table, they just put four chairs at the island rather than lose the storage space that the island created. So Jeff and I and our two boys enjoyed that seating situation for about a year or two... until we had a baby and lost the seat to him. And then we had another baby. Now we have four kids and four chairs. So for the past 2 years Jeff and I stand for every meal. I've been running around all day, then standing and cooking for an hour and when the meal is served, I continued to stand there and lean over the counter to eat the lasagna and steamed veges I just slaved over. There isn't room in the kitchen for more chairs at the island, the lip that you tuck the chairs up to barely fits the four that are already there. And there isn't a place around the island for any other seats that won't block the fridge or other cabinets if it's left there.

I finally had had enough. These two beauties now sit against the far wall away from the island. When it's time to eat we drag them over and, get this, sit down. WHAT?! I know! We sit down to eat dinner!

I love those stools...

Dinner with our Cousins

In January we went to have our little bi-yearly dinner with my Cousin Wendy and her family. She made some DEElish chicken and Caesar salad and then we chatted and played some guitar hero. Rick was still in town so he was able to come with us. It was, as always, delightful fun and most certainly worth the 45 minute drive. I wish we did it more often.

Me 'n' Wen getting silly.

Each one of our kids matches up pretty close in age with one of theirs. Except her baby- ain't he cute?

Our two year olds were TRU-BUL. It was funny how cute they were together. (I couldn't fit their horizontal photo in the other collage...)

We ARE guitar heroes. :-)

After we were done rockin' out, we found Paul doing the dishes! What a man.

Right as we were getting coats on the kids Wendy disappeared and came casually gliding into the room on this scooter with out a word- hahahahaha! Then of course it took 15 more minutes to get going because everyone had to try it.

I wish we all lived closer because it's hard to find a couple to hang out with that both spouses get along with. They are one of our favorite families to spend time with. Love you guys!!!

Window Dancing

Most people know that I'm pretty uninhibited. Most people know that my brother Rick is also. Most people know that I live on a vey busy street. Most people know that Rick and I always manage to create our own brand of fun.

One night in January when we had nuthin' better to do we decided to do a dancing show for all the passersby. It lasted for a good hour. We had no music playing but we didn't need it baby.

Nanos and Max played along too. I wonder how old they'll be when they finally decide that I'm an embarrassment and stop joining in.

FINALLY got my hair done!

It's been six months since I've had my hair cut and it was beginning to get pretty scraggley. Is scraggely a word? Whatever, it is now.

Here are some before and after photos. Not super exciting, but it feels so good to have it cut now!

This time I was able to go with Sara. Ren overlapped our appointments for us (which wasn't easy for him to do. He even cancelled someone else for us- what a guy!). It was really nice to hang out with them.

Thanks to Ren and Sara for a lovely Saturday morning. :-)