The Most Exhausting Place On Earth

So I have been asked several times over the last couple of weeks how we manage to go to Disneyland so often.

First I’d like to point out that we have passes.  Second I’d like to mention these passes were obtained after a series of unfortunate events that meant the family vacation we had saved up 2 years for was a no go, so instead we took the family vacation money and got passes.  I kept my week off work and we used them a few times that week (they paid for themselves in 3 visits).  The rest of the family Vacation Money went to buy our new TV that was recently destroyed by the kids.  A story for another day and reminder to us not to buy new things.

We take advantage of the fact we have passes and often will go for just a ride or two or maybe just an hour or two and then head home (usually before the crowds show up).

On Columbus day I had the day off so Justin decided after Taylor got out of school we’d head over as a family and spend some time.  We’ve been wanting to get on the new Cars ride, but the line is always nearly 2 hours long!  So we decided we should get fast passes.  On our way there a family stopped us and asked if we were going on that ride.  We said yes and they handed us their fast passes!  Which was good, because as we got up to the ride they didn’t have any left anyway (I found out later they usually run out within the first couple of hours).

So we went on the new ride (which was awesome) and spent some time in bugs land before heading home.  We found out the following:

Elijah really likes most rides and as we get on them his face looks like this:

…until they start and then you get faces like this:

Taylor is tall enough to drive herself on the bumper cars, but not old enough (which FYI they do not tell you until you get on the actual ride so you’d have no idea until it was too late)

The Chew Chew Train no longer smells like watermelon, that was the best part so now I’m sad.

Elijah really liked seeing Mater and Lightning McQueen…until they start talking or rev the engines then he turns into a coward (surprised? I’m not)

To tell you about the following Sunday I have to first tell you of how horrible and frustrating Justin’s Season Pass has been.  When we got our passes the guy that took the picture took on of Eljiah and not Justin.  This meant every time we went in they thought Justin was not Justin and would make him take his picture again after proving he was in fact Justin and Elijah was not Justin.  We were even told that they would not let us in once.  Lame.  So to say sorry Disney gave us 4 free tickets.

We used those 4 free tickets to hang out with the Webster’s (well 3 for the Webster’s and 1 was given to a random stranger who was waiting outside while her daughter was at Disneyland since she couldn’t get tickets for 2 people)

The day started off poorly when I was told once we got there that the park opened at 10 and not 8…we were there at like 7:45.  So we had to keep our kids happy for nearly 2 hours while we waited.  Once we got in we had a good time to start if you can ignore the nasty heat.  It’s OCTOBER PEOPLE!  Why was it over 90 degrees?! 

See sweaty kids and red cheeks as proof:

We made our rounds at Disneyland then headed over to CA adventure where Justin and my girls met up with us after church.  All the kids went through rounds of crankiness, but in between we got this:

Luckily the little ones knocked out for awhile and we sat inside and enjoyed the air conditioner while they slept. 

While waiting in line for the Disney Junior show a crany employee named Nora took it upon herself to snap at us for being in line "too early" and that "they put put up chains for a reason".  My response "well the chains are up so how would we know?" And her cranky response, "Well its not my fault the somebody took down the chain"...and in my head I thought "then how the heck is my problem that somebody took them down?!" Despite he horrible lady we got these which are some of my favorite pictures of the day:

To cool off we let the kids play in the water and went on a couple of rides in Bugs Land:

By like 5:30 the Websters and the Davis decided we were exhausted and left to go to McDonalds where the kids played while the adults rested (I was feeling super sick at that point too and I just laid in the car for awhile).

It really was fun to spend the time with the Websters and the kids had a great day.  I’m glad we got to do and am not trying to mentally prepare myself for another full day tomorrow with family from out of state.

My Large (Not Fat) Family

So what’s next you ask?  FAMILY.

I have a wonderful, big, mostly crazy family.  I love then and all their oddness.  It makes it easy to blame my crazy on them. Thanks guys.

I once made this stuffed shell manicotti recipe I got from Tawni.  Its delicious.  I let my dad try some and he loved it so I decided I would make for his birthday.  Which is October 2^nd, which is also my mom-in-laws Bday.

So since I had my great uncle Kenny visiting from his cabin in the woods in Nor Cal (stories and memories about that guy another day) we decided that I’d head to my parents house on the 7^th and cook for my parents, sister, Grandma, and Uncle Kenny.

That was the plan.

Things Changed.

In the end here is who was there (in no particular order):

+Justin, Me, Taylor, Jordan, and Elijah

+My Mom, My Dad, My Sister, My Niece Kaydance

+My Grandma, My Uncle Kenny and his dog

+My Aunt Dara, My Uncle Dan

+My Cousin Doug and his Girlfriend, My cousin Devin

+My Cousin Derek and his Wife Michelle and 2 of their 3 kids

+My Cousin Lori and a friend, My cousin Kirsten (no idea how to spell her name actually) and her son Maddex

+My Uncle Kenny’s Son Alan and his wife

+Some other relative I didn’t know and somebody else probably related I didn’t know

+My Cousin Darlene and Her husband Sean and their 2 kids

So yeah, a lot of people.

It was nice to see family that I hadn’t seen in what seems life forever and just enjoy each other and all our oddness.  No seriously my family is super weird.  And I love them all for that.

And here are a few more pictures I managed to get (or Justin managed to get that is).  Enjoy.

Oh and for the record...Taylor may have started developing a crush on her cousin (2nd cousin?) Maddex to which I kept replying "HE'S YOUR COUSIN!!!!"

And Then There Was Saturday...

As I posted yesterday about Friday I realized I was missing the details from last weekend to. So today you get two Saturday’s worth of information.  Try to contain your excitement.

2 Saturday’s ago Taylor had her usual trip to ballet/tap and then we headed to the zoo to meet the Fox’s.  We spent a couple of hours at the zoo and headed home.  That’s it really, but we have cute pictures so that’s why I’m telling you about it.

Last Saturday we started off our morning with Jordan’s 4 year old pictures (those will come in a later post) to get ready for her 4^th birthday in 2 weeks!! Holy cow!  After pictures we finished cleaning our house to get ready for a game night.  This game night was centered around my ECCU friends (with the exception of Travis, but he knew everyone going so it was sort of like he was part of the group).  We had the Fox’s (and baby Quinn), Sam, Travis, and the Blake’s (With Caedmon and baby Charli). 

It was a nice change of crowd and we got the chance to hang out with the Blake’s for the first time in nearly 2 years!  Caedmon and Elijah are literally 2 days apart.  Ali and I were due the same day.  The boys are vastly different in most ways, but there are also small similarities that made me smile.

The kids did a good job keeping each other distracted while the grown ups got to play some games.  I have to admit it was nice having Kurt around since our usual group tends to be fairly indecisive when it comes to picking a game and Kurt kept us moving.  Good job sir.

I also thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Ali and Tracy.  I don’t get to see either of them nearly enough and they are pretty awesome females.

I think Jordan may sort of fallen in love with Ali.  And the next 2 days after the game night Elijah kept talking about his friend Caedmon.  That makes my heart happy.

So that was Saturday.  We still have even more to come including a HUGE family gathering, Columbus Day, and Disneyland trip with the Webster’s (more of my favorite people ever).

Playing with Brendan and Caleb

I’m sorry friends.  I have failed as a blogger.  Work has been slightly overwhelming and most definitely stressful.  Add to the pile of work I barely had time to complete the fact I had a sick day, all day training, and a holiday in there that took 3 days out of my 10 days of work.  Yikes!

My plan is not to bore you with that though, but to pretend like it never happened and just move on.  So…

We had a busy weekend for sure!  It has been awhile since we have been that busy and it was nice.  On Friday we got a text from the Keys asking us if we wanted to meet them at Disneyland.  Although I really wanted to I knew that:

1. I had a lot of cleaning to do since I’d have a houseful of people on Saturday.

2. We’d be at Disneyland all day Sunday and that would be exhausting enough as it is without adding a Friday trip.

So I declined, but offered to take the boys off their hands if they wanted to get some alone time.  I am very happy they took us up on that offer.  The girls were SUPER exited to spend time with Brendan…although they called him Sammy most of the night which was followed by “I’m not Sammy, I’m Brendan!”  Elijah and Caleb got along great and spent most of their time following eachother around and passing toys back and forth.

 

They played and destroyed the kids rooms while Justin and I did all the boring house work that needed be done like scrubbing toilets and folding laundry (SOOO much laundry…If I wasn’t so embarrassed I would post the picture of the mountain we had to fold).

After we were done cleaning we settled the kids down with a movie and some popcorn.  At 8 we sent our kids to bed and at 8:30 Caleb asked to go to bed so Caleb and I headed to my room where I had a bed set up for him.  I decided to lay on my bed for awhile to make sure he was ok and apparently I fell asleep.  I vaguely remember hearing Scott’s voice and waking up around 10 to notice Caleb was no longer in his bed.  I got up to say goodnight to Justin and headed back to bed.

I have no idea how I was so exhausted, but I was out.  I woke up in the morning only to realize I hadn’t even gotten out of my jeans!

I’ll fill you on the Saturday festivities later.

So Sayith Tay and Jay #39

What do you want for your birthday?

Jordan: I want a person that has a kitty that is alive.  And make her pink and make her name curl like my other doggy's name (FYI she means one of those big beanie bag cats and not a real one - she doesn't like real cats very much).  And make her a circle present and have her little.  I want 2 kitties.  So I can put them in my 2 hands and then somebody can hold my pennies while I hold my kitties at Disneyland.  She'll love Disneyland.  She'll love the Disneyland rides.

Taylor: Um, Let me think.  A beautiful pony and I want flowers and some paint so I can paint.  I want Grandpa to get my paint for my birthday so he can paint my walls.  I want a pretty dress and what about an angel.  And I want an Angel and its a costume and its so beautiful   And I also want a princess for my birthday.  That's all.

How old do you want to be?

Jordan: Ok Ok Ok.  I want to be 5 because my kitty will love me.

Taylor: 100 because its the biggest number.

What should your Birthday Party be like?

Jordan: I will like a pink one.  A pink birthday cake.  And  present.  And a cupcake.  And 2 presents.  And then my toys I can play with them.

Taylor: Cinderella.

What would you put in a huge box?

Jordan: Ok Ok.  A game.  A kitty game so we can play with my kitty.  And I want a kitty in that giant box.

Taylor: Some painting buckets so I can paint myself

What would you put in a tiny box?

Jordan: Ok Ok Ok.  A tiny little doggy game with my kitty.  And I want my kitty to play with the little tiny game and there's a thing it called a geanie that's giant! And its a little real, but it wasn't.

Taylor: A little fairy.

So Sayith Tay and Jay #38

Tonight we had a surprise birthday party/dinner for Beach Grandma.  I will be posting pictures and letting the kids narrate for each one.  Enjoy:

Taylor: I'm cooking
Jordan: Its' Taylor cooking brownies for daddy.  For all of us.
What Actually Happened: Making Grandma's birthday cake.

Taylor: She is cooking.
Jordan: It's me Jordan making brownies with Taylor.
What Actually Happened: Making Grandma's birthday cake.















Taylor: We're about to eat it
Jordan: Cake.  It's Grandma's cake so we can blow out the candles ::blows:: like that.
What Actually Happened: They decorated her cake and put on globs and piles of sprinkles

Taylor: We're saying surprise for Grandma.
Jordan: Grandma's birthday.
What Actually Happened: The kids decorated letters to put up for decorations.

Taylor: You're about to cook.
Jordan: Beach Grandma's birthday was fun.  Grandma's birthday was...
What Actually Happened: Getting ready to make dinner

Taylor: You're about to mix it.
Jordan: It's me making dinner.  It's grandma's birthday today.
What Actually Happened: Me (only me) making chicken lettuce wraps for dinner)

Taylor: It's us about to eat cake, but we're first smiling on the picture.
Jordan: Its me saying CHEEEESE.
What Actually Happened: Picture after dinner (and right before cake).

Taylor: He's eating a cake. C C C C cake
Jordan: Buddy eating.
What Actually Happened: Elijah just shoved an entire piece of cake in his mouth.

Taylor: Jordan's almost done, but she's gonna eat it.
Jordan: It's me eating the cake and buddy eating the cake.
What Actually Happened: Jordan diving in for a second piece of cake.