Disneyland

Edit: I wanted this to post yesterday so my vacation was in order, but I hit publish on the wedding post so I moved this one to today. I hate when I hit publish instead of Post Options!

Thursday: We woke up ready to play. Although I was not quite as giddy this morning, I was still excited. We arrived at the park and took the obligatory pictures in front of the Mickey head. There were a bunch of other vacationers who insisted on taking pictures at the same time as us. The nerve! So we took a side angle shot.

We walked around Main Street and watched a little show with some of the characters. We knew we wanted to head straight back to Fantasyland where most the kiddie rides are. BG had experience with the teacups from the spinning ladybugs the day before and she was ready to go. Cue Daddy!

It only took one ride to get her back in the swing of things and she was ready to ride the Alice in Wonderland roller coaster.

BG loved the big whale so we took some pictures there. We took her on the Dumbo ride. After waiting for nearly 40 minutes and two meltdowns, we got on the ride. Even though at one point in line she cried that she didn't want to ride, she loved it.


We rode the carousel and BG loved the horses. We took a break for an expensive lunch before heading to Toon Town. By this point my sister and her boys had met up with us. BG wasn't so sure about the toon town and the loud noises, but Gavin and Taylor were happy to show her around.

Then came the moment we had talked up for months. MEETING MICKEY. We walked through Mickey's house and his barn to get to see the mouse. Eventually we made it and BG liked it. She hugged him and informed us "He not talking." Everyone got their pictures taken. Right as we walked outside Goofy came by so we jumped in line to meet him and take more pictures.

Next we made our way over to the princesses. For months BG has been talking about meeting Mickey and the princesses. Her favorite is Cinderella and she was pretty excited. We waited in line for over and hour before we got our turn to meet one on one. BG was in heaven. Our first princess was Ariel and she ran to her for a huge hug right away. When we tried to move on to the next princess (Jasmine) BG had a death grip on Ariel's hand. I had to pry her away. I think she was expecting to take Ariel home with her. All the princesses were so great. She was totally captivated by them and the look on her face was well worth the hour wait.



We went on It's a Small World. BG also loved this one and danced in the boat the whole time. Gavin insisted on going on the Buzz Lightyear ride, which was a lot of fun. My sister was kind enough to give BG a Build a Bear CG and we went there at Downtown Disney. She had a fun time choosing and building her bear. She picked out a pink princess shirt for her bear, which she named Rocko.

We were pooped by the end of the day and we hadn't even seen half the park. We only did the kiddie rides and didn't have time for any of the adult rides. JM says that just gives us something to do the next time we go back. All in all, we had a great trip and are excited to go back to see the rest of the park. The only downsides of the were 1- I lost my sunglasses and 2- The food is expensive

The Wedding

The real reason we went to CA was to see my little brother get married. We just went down a few days early to do Disney. Friday was the wedding and it was beautiful. They got married in the LA Temple and it was lovely. The bride looked relaxed and calm. My bro looked serious, like he was trying hard to remember every word that was being spoken.

We waited for them to come out of the temple and took lots of pictures. Not so much with my camera, since I only have a few pictures of the happy couple.


The reception was held at a beautiful home later that evening. It. was. cold. Not the weather you would expect for an April wedding in Southern CA. All the little cousins were there and BG had a great time running around with the boys. They found a ladybug and spend lots of time watching it. Taylor decided he wanted to "Defeat it" by stepping on it. BG was good and tired by then end of it!
BG loved the dancing and got turns with Mommy, Daddy, and Papa.
Congratulations J&R! They are now on their honeymoon cruise to Mexico San Diego thanks to Swine Flu.

California Adventure

Wednesday: We got up and got ready for a day of fun. I packed lunches and snacks and we all loaded into the car after a hotel breakfast. I was positively giddy about going to the parks. We got there right as the park opened and parked on level Mickey 1A, so we were obviously pretty cool.

We rode the tram into the park and BG loved it. After going through all the security checkpoints and taking a few pics on the giant letters, we made it into the park.

Our first stop was the Hollywood section. As we walked in, people were gathering in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we followed the crowd and went into the show. They dimmed the lights and started the show. BG was in awe watching Mickey and the gang. They did little segments from the shows Micky Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and My Friends Tigger and Pooh. BG was intrigued and a bit overwhelmed with everything, the loud music, excited kids, characters, and props falling from the sky (bubbles, leaves). She has never seen any of those TV shows and we walked out thinking we are either really great parents because she doesn't watch much TV or horrible parents because she had no idea what was going on.

Next we went on the Monster's Inc ride. She has seen that movie but was still overwhelmed by all of it. Then we went into the Muppets 3D movie. She didn't really know what to think of that and was a little freaked out by it. She didn't want to keep her glasses on.

We worked our way over to Bugs Land. We had just recently bought A Bugs Life and we watched it for the first time in the car on the trip down. We first tried to see the "It's Tough to Be a Bug" movie, but it was too scary for her and we ended up walking out. We had to convince her that it was just pretend and nothing was going to hurt her. Poor little thing.

I talked her into trying the little flying cartons in Bugs Land. The look on her face was so funny yet sad. She was nervous about flying up in the air and spinning around but we kept telling her it was fun. Next, JM took her on the spinning ladybug ride. (As parents we have agreed that he will take all kids on anything resembling teacups and I will do all roller coasters.) She really liked those. By this point she was getting the hang of things and enjoying the rides so we went back to the flying cartons.

We made our way around Bugs Land and did the little train and all the other things. We stopped for a snack and waited for my sister and her boys to join up with us. She was getting pretty tired but refused to nap.

We made our way around the rest of the park and did the Toy Story ride. That was a lot of fun.
We headed off to dinner and crashed by the time we got back to our hotel. The next day we got up and did Disneyland.

The Happiest Place on Earth

The one, the only DISNEYLAND! (Or Di-knee-lan if you want the BG pronunciation) We have been on vacation the past week. We spent one day at California Adventure and another at Disneyland. We had a great time at both. BG was a little overwhelmed at first, but quickly got into the swing of things. She loved Bugs Land at California Adventure and just about everything at Disney. But her favorites were the princesses (1hr+ line) and It's a Small World (10min).

Since I have nothing else to blog about, I will be taking the whole week to describe our trip. If you aren't so in love with Disneyland, feel free to come back next week.

Monday: JM and I had the day off work to pack and get ready. I still took BG to daycare, making the day much easier for me. JM planted our raspberries (which are already sprouting) while I did housework, shopped, and packed. I did make time for a pedicure and lunch with a girlfriend and he went to lunch with his dad and brother. It was a full and exhausting day.

Tuesday: Since we decided to drive straight through, I wanted to get up early and leave by 8. That, of course, didn't happen. We finally got on the road at 10am. We stopped in Cedar for lunch and played at a park. (Erin, I thought of you!) We hit the road again. We got BG to nap for about an hour which I counted as a success. We had lots of coloring books, toys, and movies.

When we hit Vegas we also hit construction. Vegas was smoky and smoggy. Driving through Vegas is always visually interesting but not a place I think I would want to live. For dinner we stopped at a self-proclaimed 50s diner called Peggy Sue's. After eating there we determined that they spend all their money on marketing since they had billboards every mile for 15 miles, but not on their food or establishment. After more driving we arrived at our hotel and checked in. We crashed that night after a LONG day of driving.

I awoke the next morning positively giddy about going to Disneyland. This is only the begining of what we did.

Men Just Don't Get It

I have been on a home decorating kick for a while now. Proof located here, here and here. I have recently collected a series of items that are awaiting their fate with a can of spray paint. I am waiting until JM goes on his next business trip so I can paint everything in sight, paint all the things he doesn't want me to have the time to work on my projects. He just doesn't get why I want to do these things.

The current list of things waiting to be spray painted include:

• The picture frame holding this project
• A little lamp I bought at DI
• The toddler bed I bought for BG
• A dresser I bought to go in BG's big-girl room

I really should complain too much. When JM did a run to Home Depot last weekend, he willing bought me a large, heavy duty drop cloth for the express purpose of using for a backdrop for these projects. Funny thing, he doesn't want the garage wall an abstract artistic expression of my overshot paint.

But on some things, he just drives me crazy. Not only am I trying to make our home more cosy and inviting, I am working really hard to do it on a budget. Sometimes it annoys me that he has veto power (no fear, veto power works both ways at our house). For example, I showed him this great idea for our laundry room.

I excitedly said "Look! She (Thrifty Decor Chick) had the same ugly shelf in her laundry room that we have and I hate. See how she changed it and it looks So Good! And it was easy. Just some painted wood and pretty brackets with a few baskets and cheap art. We could do that!" He responded, "Yeah, it does look nice but there are other things higher on the priority list." Curse the priority list. I want it now.

I also showed him this idea to frame large bathroom mirrors. Since I saw this on Southern Hospitality, I have been wanting to do it. After telling me he didn't love the look of it (What?!), he asked me what color I was thinking. I told him I would want to match the bathroom cabinets - which means wood tone or black since i want to paint the cabinets black. He said the project used a trim piece so it should match the existing trim (white). I said white would look stupid which is when he said "Exactly my point." Aaaggg... Can't you just not care and say "Yes Dear!" when I ask for something?!

Wordless Wednesday

Me and my princesss.

The Mom Haircut

How old is too old to have long hair? I typically keep my hair cut fairly short, but I have been growing it out for nearly two years now. My hair hasn't been this long since I was a sophomore in high school. For anyone keeping score, that would be over 10 years ago. But this has gotten me thinking; am I too old for long hair? The still-feeling-youthful part of me scoffs and says "You are still YOUNG, (Only late 20s), you can have hair as long as you want. It will make you look young and hip. Besides, all the celebrities have long, luscious hair. That can be you!"

Then the self-conscious mommy part of me looks over to tell me "Yes you are young, so long hair will only make you look like a high schooler. Celebrities have gorgeous hair because they have personal stylists that do their hair everyday. Long hair only looks good if you take the time to maintain it, and you don't. That's saying nothing of the product you refuse to buy or use!"

I also have a hard time deciding on a style. Every time I get my hair cut I got back and forth on the long hair style. Should I get layers or not? I love the look of one long, clean layer. Kind of like the shampoo commercials. Those girls have one long layer that is thick, shiny and beautiful. But then I worry that it will look plain, flat, and boring. Also, I have thick hair. If I didn't thin it out, it would double my weight.

So then I think layers are the way to go. But that's harder to manage. I use a flat iron and lots of different layers take longer to do. I am notorious to spend as little time as possible on my hair. I treasure my sleep. By this point in internal dialogue I usually shrug and give up. Will someone please tell me, what is the unwritten rule on long hair? At what point should a woman cut her hair short? Am I kidding myself thinking I can wear my hair long(ish)?

Shhhh.. it's a secret

I love my husband dearly. This past weekend was one of those wonderful weekends where we spent lots of time together, got a lot done, and worked on the house. It was the kind of weekend where on Sunday night you sit together and feel grateful to have found each other.

That is exactly why it makes it so difficult to admit that I have a lover on the side. Not another man; I don't have the time to keep up on something like that. My second love is of the edible variety. I'm having a not so secret love affair with Cafe Rio.






Cafe Rio has always been tasty. I have eaten there for a long time. But I mostly ate the chicken. See, I have this weird dislike of pork. It started back in high school when I was a vegetarian for a while. Since then I have just not really liked pork. Since I don't like pork, I never tried the pork at Cafe Rio. I think the chicken recipe got changed about a year ago because it's not as good as it used to be. After that, I had a falling out with The Rio. One glorious day, a few months ago, I gave in and tried the pork. Oh. My. Goodness. It was love at first sweet, succulent bite. I accused JM for not telling me about something so beautiful, so incredible, so heavenly. He rolled his eyes.

Since then, I have been feeding my lusty need for a pork salad as frequently as I can. When JM asks me what kind of takeout I want on a weekend, it's always The Rio. I think I would be happy not eating anywhere else for date night. When I picked up this weekend I was giddy when I noticed the new fridge magnet with their takeout number. No more looking it up online to place a pick up order. (Although I should just put the number in my phone. I already have Pei Wei listed in my contacts.)

Oh Cafe Rio, you fulfill my longing for sweet meat. Your handmade tortillas melt in my mouth. I would drink your house salad dressing as a beverage if I could. Thank you for being my one true love lover on the side. You complete me my meal.

Writer's Workshop: News Story

The prompt I choose from Mama Kat's writing assignment today is #3: Tell us about a local news story that's all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

I don't watch local news very often but I do check out the news websites and listen to the radio on my way to work. This is the story I have heard come up several times. This happened in a very conservative and Christian part of town.

Some middle school boys were on a computer at school doing different searches. At some point in their cruising the Internet, they pulled up pornographic images. Now everyone is all upset that 1- Young boys were looking at porn and 2- It happened at school where there are supposed to be filters to block that stuff.

The adults involved are trying to decide how to punish the boys, possibly sending them to juvy. The mom is upset at the school for not enough Internet filters and a lack of teacher supervision. The local radio show this morning was talking about it.

I think it just goes to show that no filter is perfect, boys are curious, and parents need to educate their children about what is appropriate and what is not. I don't think throwing these young kids in juvenile detention is going to help them. Education is more likely to be beneficial that severe punishment. I think all adults involved share some fault - the school, the teacher, and the parents. Instead of trying to blame someone else, all these people should work together to find a solution. But that's just my two cents.

The Emperor's New Clothes

As all you moms out there know, having a private moment in the bathroom isn't always possible. I have finally taught BG that going to the bathroom requires privacy and she will (usually) wait outside for me. However, her patience is shortlived. As soon as she hears the toilet flush, the doors swings open. (I may be known to take care of all other bathroom business prior to flushing for this very reason.)

Yesterday after work, I went to use the restroom. I knew I didn't have much time so I did my business quickly. Sure enough, as soon as I flushed, the door swung open and she was standing there with nothing but a smile on her face. Not a stitch of clothing covered her body.

I stiffled my laughter as I attempted to get an explaination for the disroping. We redressed her and went down to make dinner. Not more than ten minutes later I hear the russle of jeans. When I looked over, she had taken off her pants again. She is a speedy stripper! I am hoping it is a short lived phase.

Easter Dress

BG looked so cute in her new Easter dress. I even bought matching bows for her hair AND curled it. That takes more time and patience then we usually have in the morning.


She got bubbles in her basket so we had to spend a little time in the morning trying them out.

She had a great time looking through her Easter basket. These are little gel bugs, which she is still playing with and loving.

Pre-hair getting done and so happy with her goodies.

Easter

This year I have been so busy with other things that we didn't do much for Easter festivities. In fact, I still have my Christmas berry wreath hanging on the front door and Valentines decorations inside. I never bothered digging out the plastic eggs I have somewhere in the garage.

We did color eggs. I had ambitions to go organic and use things like blueberries or red cabbage to dye the eggs, but that ended up sounded like too much effort. So instead I bought a kit from the store two weeks ago and we finally got around to dying Saturday evening. BG had a fun time. I showed her how you can put a red egg in the blue dye and make it turn purple. You would think I just invented fire she loved it so much. I let her dip her red egg in the blue to make the end purple and she talked about it the rest of the night.

We didn't do an Easter egg hunt. Boring I know. The Easter Bunny did visit. He brought some clothes, a movie, bubbles, and a half eaten bag of Robin Eggs. That naughty bunny! Eating BG's candy!

So our Easter was pretty low key. I did talk to BG about Jesus and why we celebrate Easter. We asked her what she learned in Nursery. The only part of her answer that I understood was about the snack. She did look adorable in her new dress, even if she did refuse to smile for any of the pictures (which are yet to be posted).

Marriage

JM and I have had several deeply personal and emotionally revealing conversations lately and it's made me think about marriage and relationships. It's been an especially interesting view as I watch my brother prepare to get married in a few weeks.

I remember being back in the early days of our relationship. We were like any other couple newly in love. There was giggling, excitement, hormones, and more hormones. Every touch made my heart pound and the sound of his voice produced butterflies in my stomach. I have a very distinct memory of one date when we went to the mall to see a movie. We were sitting on a mall bench waiting to go into the theater and were daydreaming about our future together. It was the kind of daydreaming you can do when you've never had any challenges. We mapped out our future together; the perfect life. It was thrilling to plan on being together, what we would do, where we would go and the bricks we would use to build our lives. We were unstoppable.

Fast forward 6.5 years into marriage. We have gone through challenges. We have struggled, doubted, cried, and pushed on. The newness of our love has settled into a quiet comfort. Now planning our future looks different. It stills has the excitement of planning our lives together but now within the realm of reality.

What I really like about being 7 years into our relationship is the depth of trust and understanding we have developed. Little by little, chat by chat I have opened up more to him and our relationship. We have created a safe place where we can explore ourselves, all the corners of ourselves that we don't like to recognise. I have discovered some fears that are deeply buried in my heart. They have been able to come to the surface and be explored because I trust him and know it's safe.

So even though the new days of marriage are filled with romance and excitement, I love this stage too. I didn't realize then the depth and security that can be achieved in a marriage, but glad to be experiencing it. In light of this, I wonder what another 10, 20, or 30 years will go for our relationship. Thank you JM for many wonderful years, for listening, caring, and loving me. I love you!

I'm linking this to Mama Kat for Writer's Workshop. Go visit for more.

Planting Trees

We planted new trees in our backyard about three weeks ago and I have been meaning to post pictures. We are so excited to have some trees that will eventually provide us with fruit. Even though we won't get fruit for several years, I am so excited for it! We planted 2 apples and 2 peach trees.

BG had a great time helping. She even got to use her very own shovel, which she loved. She loved digging in the dirt with Daddy. We found a worm and she thought that was the greatest thing ever. We decided to let it live next to our tree in the dirt.

Helping Daddy dig up the "dirt". Our soil is really more like hardened clay. We mixed it up with Nutra-mulch to help the trees put in roots.

BG did a great job helping mix up the soil.

My hunky man working outside.

BG helping fill in the hole after planting the tree.

I didn't realize what hard work it is to plant a tree! Even though the basic steps are: Dig hole, Put in tree, Fill hole, it's not easy. Or maybe I am just horribly out of shape. Or maybe the local soil just really sucks. Whatever the reason, it was a workout for me and I was sore the next day.

We have been trying to get our garden cut out for a few weeks now but the weather and our schedule are not lining up. Hopefully we can get that done soon.

It Smells Funny

BG and I went to DI yesterday. (DI is similar to Goodwill for anyone who might not know.) We were walking through looking for great bargains. Just outside the store is a enclosed, but semi-outdoor part of the store. This is where they put larger items like furniture, sports equipment, bikes, etc. We walked out to look for a desk or dresser and BG starts saying (very loudly) "It smells like poopy. Mommy it stinks. It smells like poopy."

I had to laugh; because it was true. The DI does smell funny. My mom has tried to deny the smell for many years, but a 2 year old isn't going to mince words. When we walked back into the store she informed me that "It not stink in here." Great.

In case you didn't know, I will be in two boutique shows next week. I'm really excited since I'm never done any before. Click over to my jewelry blog for details. Or it you're too lazy to find the link on the sidebar, just click here. See, I'm making it easy for you.

Works for Me Wednesday

Today's Work for Me Wednesday is Backwards day. So I get to ask you a question and you can give me your answer.

We are going to Disneyland in April. We will be there for two days. In an effort to cut down on food costs, we will be eating breakfast at the hotel, packing a lunch and snacks and only eating out for dinner. I've heard there are a lot of great places to eat at Disney but you need a reservation. So tell me, where is the best place to eat so I can get my reservations before we go. I need something toddler friendly (I'm assuming anything at Disney will be, but you never know) but still adult-tasty. We don't want to pay more than $15-20/plate. Where would you eat?

On a side note, who forgot to send the memo that winter should be OVER! It's a blizzard here and I'm sick of it.