A Bad Day at Disney Beats a Good Day at Work

This morning it rained a little, but it still got nice and toasty as well as very humid later in the afternoon. Here is one yummy way to beat the heat.

I love seeing all the different Mickey's. This one was leading a band. He's so cute!

This was the only evidence of fall. I found a few leaves while waiting for them to get on the Grizzly River ride.
Emma on the carousel in California Adventure.
The kids rode the carousel over and over again while we relaxed on a bench and decided how much more we could handle that day. I noticed that the ride was taking a long time to get started and wondered what was going on. I started to walk closer and all of a sudden it started. I stood there to wave to the kids when it stopped again. That is when I saw my son standing on his fish. I gave him the look of death and the ride operator yelled into her microphone that you must stay seated. We decided that they were not quite old enough to be trusted on their own yet.

Andrew in his Jack ears getting ready to go through the Haunted MansionThe Disney Racers we a hot item this year. The kids loved playing with these while waiting in the lines.

Paul and I relieved to have air conditioning inside the Pirates of the Carribean
We are still celebrating the cool airThe kids getting their names on their hats
Two of my favorite rides together. It just doesn't feel like I'm at Disneyland until I hear that funny little Tea Cups song. I also love hearing the roar of the Snow Monster and the screams from the riders coming out of the Matterhorn.

Nope kids, that door still isn't going to open
Emma showing off her Tink pins

As I look through these pictures I realize that even with the heat, crowds and melt downs it is still a great place to visit and I'm glad that we went.

Disneyland 2008

Friday night we had Emma’s surprise party with her cousins at my mom’s house where she got to play pin the nose on the witch and pop some balloons with candy inside. I think she enjoyed the extra attention and the extra gifts. We ordered pizza and had cake and ice cream. My dad took us to the airport at 7:00 am Saturday morning. I mistook the seating assignment as the gate assignment on my boarding pass so the kids and I got to take a leisurely ride on the moving sidewalk admiring photos of scenic Utah. Once we got to the international area of the airport I realized my mistake. We turned around and got to our gate right before we had to board the plane.

Paul met us at the John Wayne airport and then we got a nourishing breakfast at McDonald's.

We got to the park Saturday morning prepared for crowds but it really wasn’t all that bad. What we weren’t prepared for was the heat. Holy cow it felt like we landed in hell. I have been to Disneyland when it was hot before, but this seemed different. Maybe it was the humidity? I had done my hair so I could wear it down but once it got stuck to my neck, up it went. I didn’t even ask for that many pictures because we looked so….hot and miserable.

After buying ear hats, getting fast passes for Indiana Jones and going through the Haunted Mansion we decided that Splash Mountain would be the perfect ride for a hot day. The ride operator threw a wrench in our perfectly planned ride order. (We always put youngest in the front up to Paul in the back so when they snap out photo you can see all of us. ) He said the front rider must be over 5’ tall. After waiting in line for so long I just hopped up and changed spots with Andrew. I wasn’t worried. You never get that wet on Splash Mountain.

What more can I say? Oh yeah, I got wet, really wet. This trip seemed to have one debacle after another. There were minor injuries, we got stuck on broken down rides and of course there were the heat induced melt downs. We got some fun pictures anyway. Without further ado...

California Adventure at Dusk

Meeting Goofy

Looking great in our 3-D glasses for the new Toy Story rideWe worked very hard for these next photos. We saw Mickey and Minnie leaving so I asked their handler when they would be back. He told us they would be in and out until it was time for the parade. We sat for close to an hour waiting for them to come out. When I saw them I yelled to the kids "this is it!" I grabbed them and off we went running to greet M&M.

I got this shot first (they were having some pictures taken together for publicity in their costumes) and then they split up to meet their friends and we finally got our pictures with them. Paul never left his bench. When I got back to him, my face all aglow, he said "in twelve and a half years of marriage I have never seen you move so fast." Emma in her cute Tink hat and new dangle Tinkerbell earringsThe Happy Family Yummy!Paul getting ready to go down Grizzly River Rapids with the kids. I knew better.The best for last. I GOT TO MEET CAPTAIN JACK!!!!! We were eating lunch and her just strolled by. I couldn't even think or move. Then everything clicked back in my head and I went running after him. He was sexy, even if he wasn't the real one. You could also tell that he loved having all the women drooling over him.

I have a few more pictures that I will add over the next couple of days (or at least I plan to) but tonight I am tired and off to bed I go.

Emma is TEN!

On Wednesday September 24th my darling baby girl turned 10 years old. The night before her big day she asked if I would make her a special breakfast. She wanted either cream of wheat of pancakes. Of course I made both.

Paul checked Emma out of class so that they could go out to lunch, just the two of them, no I wasn’t allowed to go, not even to take photos, to Taco Amigo. I was told (see I wouldn’t know because I wasn’t allowed to be there) that they had a wonderful time. After they ate they went and bought a bag of Halloween candy for her to pass out to her class as part of her special day.

When she got home we had her flip flop cake, balloons and piles of presents waiting for her. She had to wait over two hours for Paul to get home and before she was allowed to open any gifts. Does that qualify as cruel and unusual punishment? I made her spaghetti for dinner and once we had eaten she was then able to tear into the gifts.

She received clothes from Justice, Bakugans, Littlest Pet Shops, Webkinz, American Girl bitty twins and some other random stuff. Before she went to bed she thanked us for a fantastic birthday.

What Emma doesn’t know is that she is going to be surprised with another party tonight. We never get to spend birthdays with my brother’s kids and that is one thing she really wanted this year. When I found out that they would be there the night before we flew out to Anaheim. I asked if we could have a little party for her with her cousins. Of course my mom said yes. I can’t wait to see her excitement.

Emma is a wonderful daughter and I am so blessed to have her. It is really hard for me to believe that she is 10. Where has the time gone? I am glad that we can spoil our kids, just a little, and show them how special they are to us.

The Quest for Perfection

I knew that once we hit the school carnival, the rest of September was going to go by in a whirlwind. This is proving to be true. There are so many things that need to be packed into this last week and a half. We have celebrating, washing, cleaning, packing, haircuts, travel and work all on top of the normal everyday things like cooking, homework, piano, and dance. Oh My!

One of the most important things on my to do list was a trip to the canyon. I am still wanting and waiting for the PERFECT fall family photo. If we didn’t get up there on Saturday I just knew it wasn’t going to happen.

In the past it has been easy to pick up coordinating outfits at Old Navy for fall pictures. With me not working there anymore we had to scramble and just get things out of our closets. (Oh the horror!) We decided on black tops with denim. Aren’t we original?!? We packed the black clothes in the car (we didn't want to all be wearing black while we ate) and headed out.

We had decided that since Paul had class on Wednesday night and wouldn’t be home until later that we would take Emma to her birthday dinner at the Mayan on Saturday instead of Wednesday. We were pleased to find that they no longer serve their food cafeteria style. We enjoyed our meal and got to watch the divers perform twice. The kids also got to meet the enchantress who made the divers jump off the cliffs.

After we ate we drove up to Cottonwood Canyon hoping to get some pictures in the autumn leaves.

While the canyon was beautiful, it was lacking in red foliage and it was lacking in dryness. We hit some pockets of HEAVY rain. We gave up on trying to find a spot to take pictures (yes, I was pouting) and went to get ice cream sundaes at Leatherby’s instead. (Hello beautiful caramel) Since we were in West Salt Lake I asked if we could stop in to see the witches at Gardner Village. It ended up being a rather fun late afternoon. The kids loved all the goofy witches, especially the ones with the big lumpy bums.

I had resigned myself to taking pictures on Sunday after church. Alas it wasn’t meant to be. Instead of photos I got a three hour nap and Paul got to watch the Cowboys play with his friend Chris.

Finally, after the many trials and tribulations of the weekend, we got to the canyon with about 45 minutes of good light left on Monday evening. It was beautiful and cool. We got some fun shots but I am still on the quest for perfection. One of these years I will hire a professional, but for now, the timer and a tri-pod will have to do.

This is one of my favorites even though I would prefer to have a child hiding my mid-section.