Disney Pilgrimmage, Part 3

Daddy had a big surprise in store for the girls that evening...

Dinner at Ariel's Grotto!  See that little sister?  The one who was scared of Tinkerbell and Silver Mist?  Yeah, apparently fairies freak her out but princesses are her best friends.  Go figure.  And when you do, feel free to come back and explain it to me cuz this one has me completely befuddled.

We were seated and treated to some fancy looking appetizers.

And then came the royal announcer guy.

And soon we were greeted by a whirlwind of princesses.

The girls found this to be utterly thrilling.

My favorite was Belle.  She was extra sweet to the girls.

And even snuck over to see if Mikey was having a good (er, tolerable) time.  He didn't get what all the fuss was about and was not about to be caught dead in any of the pictures with the princesses.  But he thought Belle was alright.

And then she went to say hello to the baby brother, too.  Who decided Belle looked hungry and offered her some bread.  Never mind that he'd taken a few bites out of it first.

And Snow White finished the princess procession.

Then it was time to tackle dinner.

Because before we knew it, dessert was served.  Seriously, they run a well-oiled machine in that grotto.

The boy found the dessert course to be utterly thrilling.

A few rides later and it was time to call it a night.

"They fixed their neon!"

Wonderful memories, definitely.  But sadly, this will be our last year doing a Disney weekend.  Phil says next year the conference will be held in downtown LA instead cuz it's cheaper.  Downtown LA?!  Where's the fun in that?

Boo, I say.  Boo!

Still, I guess a three year streak was a pretty good run when all's said and done.  ;)

Disney Pilgrimmage, Part 2

Up and at 'em kids, enough of this cartoon watching!  We're going to Disneyland!

Fortifying ourselves with hot chocolate and chocolate chip muffins first.  Breakfast of champions!

Catching a ride on Tinkerbell's latest creation.

My son, the ham.  These days, whenever I have my camera out, he'll run in front, pose a bit, and bust out a smile.  Love it.

Finally, after a long, long wait!  And guess who decided to be scared of the fairies after SHE was the one who initially wanted to go see them and ended up having her mother practically drag her to her sister's side because after that long wait, her mother was certainly gonna get a picture of them both, but chose to relieve her anxieties by biting her sister's shirt?  If you guessed Allie, you'd have to guess again because it was the other one.  The one who shall remain nameless for the time being.

So we decided that was as good a time as any to hop over to the other side to see what we'd see there.  Very cool to see Radiator Springs come to life.  Even though it was C R O W D E D.

Girls in one tractor.

Boys in the other.

Of course we had to see Ariel again.  But hey, now her hair is down!  It was up the last time we were here.

Much like his daughter, he too loves a happy ending.  And was thrilled when Ariel waved at him.  OK, I'm kidding.  He's actually much like his youngest son, a fellow ham.

This time around, we got to see the Aladdin musical.

Riveting entertainment.

We were pleasantly surprised by this live show and enjoyed it very much. 

Me and the Jonut.

The girls needed a bathroom break, so Daddy got this quick photo while they were waiting for us.  Except for Jonah who took one look at this gigantic ant, shook his head "no" and hightailed it back to the stroller.

I am a tiiiiiiiiyerd boy.

This is what I do when I am tiiiiiiiiyerd.

But no time for naps that day, we had more to see and do!  But the rest of the pics will have to wait for another day because now the mama is tiiiiiiiiyerd.  So for now, bye.  :)

Disney Pilgrimmage, Part 1

It was time once again for Phil's annual conference where he gets to go sit in lectures all day while the kids and I lounge around and do our thing at the hotel.  Somehow I think me and the kids get the better end of this deal, but who am I to say?  ;)

So two weeks ago, I packed us all up and we headed out for our yearly weekend at Disneyland.  Woo!

This year they put us up in the recently expanded Disneyland Hotel.

We all particularly enjoyed this headboard/nightlight/lullaby thingy.

The next morning, Phil headed off to his lectures while the kids and I lounged around watching cartoons before heading down in search of food and drink.  I somehow felt inordinately proud of myself for tackling breakfast in Downtown Disney on my own with my four in tow.  It seemed like such an accomplishment ought to be documented, so here it is.  ;)

The kids would stop and stare at this replica of Frontierland in the hotel lobby every time we passed by it.  And this was the moment just before she pressed her lips to the glass and began sliding them across it.  Just felt like that needed to be shared.

Even though temps were in the chilly 50s (downright frigid to us Californians!), the sparkly heated pool beckoned.  This girl and her sister thoroughly enjoyed the time in the water while the two brothers decided they were fah-reezing.

Ahhh, much better.

After swimming came long bubble baths followed by a viewing of "Enchanted".  Afterward, she contentedly sighed and declared her love for happy endings.  Love this girl.

Daddy finally rejoined us and let the boy get this.

While the girls got this.

Because, he reasoned, it's more fun when you can race 'em.

Slap me some skin, Mickey!

More Disney fun coming up next!

Her Half Birthday

Sometime back in September or October, Lauren's teacher noticed that she has a summer birthday and so asked me if I'd like to bring in treats on an alternate day during the school year.  She suggested doing perhaps a half-birthday celebration.  I readily agreed since that would put it in mid-January, well before birthday season kicks me into high gear in the spring.  I figured that the window after Christmas and before our rapid-fire birthdays would give me enough time and sanity to pull something special together for Lauren.

And it was all good in the hood.

So good in fact, that I completely forgot ALL about it.  So her mid-January date came and went without any ado whatsoever.

Mother of the year, right here.

So I sheepishly asked for another date and got the very next preschool day.  Which was a Friday.

So I scrambled a bit and made these for her birthday treats.  Potted flower cups, also known as dirt cups.

In seemingly unrelated news, January was also "community month" and the preschoolers were learning about different jobs people do.

And look who volunteered to come in and talk about his job?  (Never mind that it was February 1st and not technically "community month" any longer.)

There was first a little discussion about what a doctor does.

And sharing their vast knowledge about going to the doctor's office.

Then it was time to suit up because with a wave of his hand, Dr. Phil had magically turned their classroom into an operating room.

Because poor Mr. Bear is hurt and needs help fast!

Better check to make sure the stethoscope is working properly.

Good thing big brother was there to assist.  Whew, looks like Mr. Bear is going to make a full recovery.

They decided their teacher had several owies that needed bandaging up.

Testing out the gas mask.

Aw, I think he had just as much fun as they did.  Even though he was up the entire previous night at work and was running on fumes by this point.

Then it was time.

She was just a teensy bit excited.

She dove right in but others weren't sure their moms would like them eating dirt.  Even the teacher initially thought I had brought real potted flowers for each kid to take home.  A couple of the boys asked the teacher to wash the dirt off so they could eat the gummy worm.  They weren't going to let a little thing like dirt keep them from the gummy goodness.

They caught on soon enough though and we were saved from being that family who brought in dirt for birthday treats.

Overall, I think she had a marvelous not-exactly-half-birthday celebration.

Love this girl.