Beach Day

Well.  It's been a rather long, chilly winter with lots of illnesses being passed around.  Making for long days stuck inside staring dolefully at the steely gray skies and wishing the nip in the air would hurry itself away in favor of the postcard weather we've grown quite used to around these parts.

And then, for one glorious weekend in mid-February, the sun decided to break through the clouds and heat us back up into the 80s.  For one weekend only.  So we seized the day with the best of 'em and headed straight for the beach.  Because that is what one ought to do with an 80-degree weekend in the middle of February.  It is written.

The air was warm but the water most certainly was not.  That didn't stop these two, though.

It did stop these two, though.

Playing in the sand just seems to draw her in.

Apparently the sand drew him in, too.

Like moths to a flame.

Would someone tell these two to please stop growing up so darn fast?  They were seriously my babies yesterday.  What's the rush, anyway?

Explaining to me the finer points of how to make the perfect sand ball.

Shaping it just so.

And voila!

It only took her an hour or so before she decided to join her peeps by the water.

Him, too.

It took him a good bit longer to make it down there.  Those short little legs can only go so fast in the sand, you know.

When suddenly he stopped.

Without a word, he turned around and made the long trek back to the buckets and shovels.

He decided he's just a sand guy after all.

But with this sister,

and this brother,

and this daddy, I have a feeling he'll be out there splashing with the rest of 'em in no time.

Just not today, though.

Hoping to be back soon!  Just gotta wait for these chilly days to go away, already.  :p

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.  :)