Disneyland 2012

I've been doing all I can to get to Disneyland this year. Josh has only been once in his life so I really wanted him to be able to go with us. So I worked it out with my sis to watch the baby boys while Josh and I took the girls. He agreed to go so I went to work planning our trip. We used Josh's miles to fly there (one of the perks of him having to travel so much) and that was awesome to not have to drive. The girls were super excited about being able to go on an airplane. And I was excited about having a trip with just the girls and us - taking the babies to Disneyland would not have been fun. So thanks to Hayley for watching the boys so we could have this fun trip! We invited Greg to go with us too so it was the five of us headed to Cali!

We flew in to Long Beach and when we got there it was an overcast, drizzly day.

We spent the first day just hanging out by the beach and walking around Balboa Village. We were tired too so we took naps and played in the pool at our Hotel. A big thanks to Gayle and Kendra for getting us a room at the Marriott. We stayed at the Residence Inn just a couple blocks from the park and it was perfect!

The next day it was off to Disneyland!

Our first stop was Cars Land. We went right there to try and avoid the crowds and long lines later on in the day. Cars Land just opened a couple months ago so it was crowded even going there first thing. But it was totally worth it - they did a great job making it look just like the movie. Everything was super cute and the kids had fun seeing Mator, Lightning and the rest of the gang.

The new Cars ride is awesome too.  We went straight there when we got to the park and only had to wait about 20 minutes.  We noticed later in the day that the wait was up to 2 hours.  Crazy!

The girls of course had a blast on the Ariel ride.

And the carousel is always a favorite.

This year Rease is tall enough to go on all the rides.  I wasn't sure if she would be scared of some of them but she wanted to try them all.  California Screamin ended up being one of her very favorites.  The wanted to go over and over.  Brave little girl!

This is the first year I've been on the Toy Story target shooting ride.  It was super fun and one of my favorites now!

Halloween time at Disneyland is super fun.  And it's decorated so cute!

Waiting in line for one of the rides.  The girls were so fun to be with and were keeping us entertained.

We saw the World of Color show at California Adventure.  It is a pretty amazing show.  We loved the carousel all lit up in the background.

The girls were tired after a long day at Disneyland but they still had energy to goof off and be crazy!

The next day we headed straight to the princess walk.  The girls were dying to see the princesses and we wanted to get that long line overwith.  We were pleasantly surprised to have the newest princess Merida there.  The girls kept telling me how beautiful she was.

Dumbo - always a favorite for the little ones.  Rhen did not get tired of this ride.

Took a trip in the submarine to see Nemo and friends.

We watched the Pixar parade and the girls are hiding behind us to keep from getting squirted with water.

Greg hung out with Rease and Rhen in Bugs Land while Josh and I went on Tower of Terror.  I really like this ride - always a thrill.

We also saw a few more characters and that was fun.  Donald Duck.

And Jessie.

I wasn't sure how the the girls would like Splash Mountain but Rease loved it and Rhen not so much.  You can't see Rhen in this picture cause she is on Josh's left and is hiding underneath his arm.  She made sure to tell us that she did not want to go on that ride again. 

Greg had to get back to work a day early so after our second day in the park we said goodbye to our dear friend.  He was so fun to have with us and the girls love him like an uncle.  Uncle Greg and Rease and Rhen.

The next day we had tickets to Mickey's Halloween Party that night so we couldn't get into the park until 3:00.  We took a drive to the beach that morning and had a blast.  The girls wanted to find shells and I liked just relaxing in the sun.  It was a beautiful morning.

Mickey's Halloween Party was really fun.  Us girls dressed up as gypsies and Josh was a Bears fan.  Everyone in the park had costumes on and it was really fun to see. 

We also went on a few rides that we hadn't been on yet - the Tiki Room.

And the Jungle Cruise.

During the party there is trick or treating all over the park.  We got bags and bags of candy.  Way more than we needed but the girls had fun. 

We watched the Halloween parade.

And the villains were out during the party too.  So we saw the stepmother and evil stepsisters of Cinderella.

And Cruella DeVille.  The queen of hearts, Jafar and a bunch of others were out and about too.

We had a great time at the party and stayed until the park closed at 11:00.  The last ride we went on was Peter Pan and it was a good one to end on.  As we were leaving I grabbed this picture with the castle all lit up and spooky. 

We had a fabulous time at the Happiest Place on Earth.  Of course we missed our boys like crazy but it was so fun to spend a few days with just our girls.

Dad's eye

My dad had a scare this week.  He told us that he had been seeing a shadow out of the left side of his left eye for a few days.  He said he felt like it was not big deal but that he thought he might get it checked.  My mom immediately got concerned and called the opthamologist to get him in for an appointment.  He said he wanted to see him as soon as possible so dad was put on the schedule for the next day.  Dad had to cancel a few hours of his own patients to be able to see the eye doctor but then assumed he would be going back to work so from 10:00 on he had a full day of patients scheduled.  It turned out he wasn't able to go back to work that day.  The opthamologist told him that he had a torn retina that was already 60% detached.  If he would have waited even a few more days it could have detached into the nerve and caused permanent blindness in that eye.  They scheduled an emergency surgery that day to repair the retina.  We were all shocked because dad made it seem like it was no big deal.  So when he called and told us the news we all gathered at the hospital before the surgery and had a family prayer.  I think dad was pretty nervous because his sight is so important to his profession.  Turns out the surgery is pretty straighforward and has a very high success rate if it is caught early enough.  So the doctors were very confident going in that in a couple weeks his sight would be back to normal. 

The surgery did go well and he was home that night recovering.  He has to wear this cool eye patch for a couple days but then is able to go back to work.  We are so glad that all went well and hope he has a speedy recovery!

Growing

I am constantly amazed at how fast kids grow up.  It seems like just yesterday I had Rease and now, just 5 short years later, Baby Keen is here and growing like a weed.  Josh snapped these pictures of Keen with Rhen and Liev and it is amazing how big Keen is already.  True, he started out big, but he hasn't stopped growing since the minute he was born.  At 2 months old, he is just as sweet and chubby as can be.  

Stats from Dr. Erikson:

Weight 14.33 lbs.  - 94%

Height 23.54 in - 68%

Head 16.6 in - 92%

BYU Football

We have season tickets to the BYU Football games and we love going!  One night we had a couple extra tickets and Josh was out of town, so I took the girls with me.  Rhen rode down with me a little bit early and Rease rode with Papa.  Rhen and I went to the tailgate party by the stadium before and had a fun time getting into the spirit. 

 Rhen got a bunch of free stuff at the tailgate party and was super excited about her pom pom to cheer on the team.

 My favorite part - watching the band come in.  Rhen had fun listening to them play their songs to us.

 It was a chilly night so of course we had to have hot chocolate.

 Us girls enjoying the game!

Having Fun

My kids are good at making believe.  The girls are constantly using random items from the house and making them into whatever they choose.  Liev thought that the princess stool from the bathroom would make a good boat.  He played with this all afternoon.  

Imaginations at work in our house!

First Smiles

I caught these pictures on my camera phone of Keen's first smiles.  I just happened to be taking a picture of him and he smiled at me!

 Josh and I both commented on Keen's big mouth when he was first born.  Now that he's smiling, that big mouth makes for a great big grin!

Gardner Village

I try and take one trip to Gardner Village with the kids during Halloween because all the witches are out and it's super cute.  We went one night when everything was about to close but we still had fun taking pictures and checking out all the witches. 

Halloween Bunco

For our bunco group in October we had a "Witch's Night."  It was at Gayle's house and she always hosts a fun halloween party.  We have a great group and have been playing once a month now for almost 4 years.  Such a fun girls night out!



Rease's Artwork

Rease loves to color, draw or do any sort of artwork.  She says she's going to be an illustrator when she grows up.  I raided her art supply box and found a few pictures she's drawn lately.  Enjoy!