Vacation Day #2: The Beach

We were all so exhausted from Disneyland that we slept in a little the next day. We had decided that we wanted to go to the beach that day. So we were in no rush and ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast in our room. After watching some cartoons and getting dressed, I sent Jon out with the girls, so Spencer could get a much needed good nap. Jon drove around to a number of different electronics stores, trying to find some different things for his laptop. He was not as successful as he had hoped, which just meant that they were gone for quite some time. That was okay with me! But once they were back, we all got our swim suits on and headed out the door. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and then drove down to the beach. We drove about a half hour before we found a great spot and were able to just park on the street, walk past some condos, and there was the beach! It was the coolest day out of all the days we were there, and it was really quite windy. But after dropping all of our stuff, Savannah went straight for the water. She spent a lot of her time playing in the little waves. She never went in past her knees because the wind made it a little cold. Spencer loved everything! He loved walking in the sand. He didn't even mind sticking his face in the sand. He had sand in his ears, up his nose, in his mouth and he still didn't care. All the girls that walked by thought that he was so cute walking around and had to stop and talk to him. I know, he's already picking up on girls! But he kept trying to run down to the water and I had to stop him. That little guy would have just kept running until a wave knocked him down. He didn't like how cold the water was, but other than that, he thought that it was pretty fun. Melanie did not want to get near the water. She was quite content to sit in the sand and dig. So Jon helped Melanie start a sand castle, while I played in the water with Savannah and Spencer. That didn't last too long, and then Spencer helped build the sand castle too. The large hole in the front of the castle was a perfect way to contain and entertain Spencer. We all worked hard on the castle, but I didn't quite get a picture of the finished product before part of it was knocked down. It still turned out pretty good though. Savannah helped out by running down to the water and bringing some back in a bucket to help the sand stick together. I love this picture, because it is so typical of the girls. Just 2 seconds before I snapped this shot they were standing next to each other talking. But when they saw the wave start coming in Savannah took off running toward the water and Melanie turned and ran the other way. And I love this one of all of them just sitting and watching the waves. What could be more relaxing? Here is proof that I was actually there. Everyone wanted to stay a little bit longer at the beach, except for Spencer. He was so tired! We got back to our room to find Savannah's new little Pooh Bear tucked into her bed! It was too cute that I couldn't pass up taking a picture of it. Everyone took a long nap, got a much needed bath, and then we went to dinner at the restaurant next to our hotel. Here's Savannah looking forlornly out the window at the gigantic Ferris Wheel at California Adventures. She really wanted to go on it, too bad it was closed. And we also let Spencer try his first pickle! As you can see, he wasn't very fond of it. It was such a wonderfully relaxing day!

Vaction Day #1: Disneyland!

For our vacation this year we went to California! We were so excited to get to see some friends from Law School! They live in Pasadena. So on Sunday we went to our 8 o'clock church, came home, ate lunch and jumped in the car. The drive over there was really not bad at all. It went really well for having 3 kids in the car. We stayed with our wonderful friends that night. We let the girls stay up and play for a while. And then we stayed up way too late reminiscing about Ohio and Law School.
Then we got up Monday morning and traveled to the chaos of Disneyland! We spotted Goofy right away and Savannah went running after him. I followed her and Jon had to come and find us with the stroller. Savannah was so excited to see Goofy, but Melanie was so scared. I tried to get a picture of the two of them with him, but Melanie wouldn't stand next to him. So I ended up in the picture too. We set off and found Sleeping Beauty's castle. The girls loved going inside and seeing the storybook pictures. We took our time looking in shops at everything. Then we headed off for Dumbo! The wait for that ride is always long. The girls seemed to really enjoy it though, and Spencer loved every ride. I love how he's peeking over the top of Dumbo. We then set off to find some lunch and came across Chip and Dale. Savannah was again very excited to see the characters, but Melanie and Spencer were not so thrilled. Notice how Spencer is crying and trying to get away...yeah, he didn't like it so much. After finishing up with the chipmunks, we look up and see Jesse. Savannah really wanted to see her, so we made our way over there. And then we saw Woody too. So we went and got a picture with him. It wasn't until later that we figured out that we had gone in the back entrance to an outdoor BBQ restaurant. We decided to stay and have lunch there and enjoy the little show that they were doing. This is the only family picture that we got during our whole vacation. Outside BBQ with a show was a great idea for lunch. Spencer was so enthralled with the show! It was fantastic that he was so entertained! Here's Jesse and Bullseye doing a little act. I tried to keep the sun off of Spencer while we were eating by putting Jon's hat on him, but that didn't last for long. Here's Woody and Bullseye doing a little performance too. We stayed at the BBQ place for quite some time. Savannah really wanted to pose with this post. I thought that she was cute. Here is the fantastic dessert that they brought to us. It was cupcakes in ice cream cones. They were really good. This was Jon's. Mine was chocolate, of course. After lunch we went and rode Winnie the Pooh. As you can see, Spencer loved it. Then we made a stop at Tarzan's tree house. Only Savannah and Jon went up. Jon said that the leopard growled at Savannah right when he took the picture and it scared her. Spencer finally fell asleep! It took forever, but he was so tired and finally crashed! So we took a little break and went in the Tiki Room. We then headed over to Tomorrowland and went into Innoventions. Off course there's no bathrooms in there and we had a potty emergency, so we made a quick exit. After all the bathroom breaks, we headed over to It's a Small World. I couldn't get Melanie to move her hand out of the way! But everyone really liked this ride. Then we headed over to Toon Town and got to see Minnie's house! Jon stayed outside with Spencer, who was hanging out in the stroller. The girls really liked getting to see Minnie's house. Savannah just asked me today: But how does Minnie get that stuff out of her fridge? She truly thought that everything was real. She was quite upset that none of the characters would talk to her. She kept asking: But why can't you talk? It's just so great to see the excitement in their eyes when they get to see something so fantastic! Jon took Spencer and Melanie over to Goofy's house and Melanie played on the little playground outback. Jon said that she really loved going down the slide. I took Savannah on the little Gadget Coaster. She totally loved it! Hopefully she'll take after her mommy and like roller coasters. We tried to make our way back to Main Street, which was terribly crowded. I did manage to find us a little spot to watch the parade. After Melanie went to the bathroom again and got a little food in her, she totally crashed! Savannah was so excited for the parade! She stood on the stroller seat so she could see. She loved pointing out all of the characters and just had a great time. Spencer was so tired though and so he hated the parade. I ended up taking him in the store behind us until the parade was over. He claimed a little Mickey doll while we were in the store. After the parade we let Savannah do a little bit of shopping. She picked out a very tiny Pooh doll. It was really cute. She also picked out a large Minnie doll for Melanie, who was still asleep. After a very long and tiring trip back to the car, the kids all crashed. Spencer snuggled right up with Mickey and was quickly asleep. Melanie woke up long enough to see her Minnie doll and then promptly fell back to sleep. After getting the girls in their jammies, Melanie was so cute and rolled over and snuggled right up to Savannah. They were just so tired! They all slept so good! *Thank you Allison for letting us stay at your house, helping us get to Disneyland and buy our tickets, and especially for letting me swipe one of your slings! It truly saved the day!*

A Clock

I have been wanting to get a custom clock for our house since we moved in. I originally thought about having one made and giving it to Jon for Father's Day. But after thinking about it for a few months, I decided that I wanted his input on how the clock should look too. So I told him what I had been thinking and we got to work picking out a clock. I am so excited for it to come. I think that we've finally decided on all of the details...the size (this was one of the hardest choices), the color, the texture, the text, the font, the font color, etc. Anyways, my good friend Staci makes and sells clocks, and has patiently put up with us as we have tried to figure out what we want. We can't wait to see what the finally outcome looks like. I'll post pictures when we get it. If you're interested in getting a clock, check out Staci's blog: clocksbystaci.blogspot.com She'll be happy to help you too!

Help Cancer Patient

My Sister-in-Law's Mother was diagnosed with cancer about 2 months ago. She is currently responding well to treatment, but costs are of course adding up. Here is a flier for one of the fundraisers that they are doing. I know that lots of you live just around the corner from here, so if you could, go eat at Baja Fresh in a little over a week, Monday, May 25th. Make sure you take the flier with you! Let me know if you need one. You can also check out her blog: http://www.margaretmanning.blogspot.com/ if you are interested in donating or can attend some of the other fund-raising activities that they have planned.

Being Sick

The girls ate so much candy on Easter that we wouldn't have been surprised if either of them tossed their cookies. But let me tell you, I was completely caught off guard when I checked on Spencer before going to bed that night and found him asleep in his own barf. The poor baby didn't have any treats at all, but he had hurled his entire dinner all over everything. Why does it always have to be tomato based? He woke up the next day with diarrhea too. I figured it was just a bug and he'd be better the next day. But when the vomiting and diarrhea continued into Tuesday, then I took Spencer to the doctor. The doctor said to just keep him hydrated and sent us on our way. We got back home from the doctor and Savannah started calling to me from the bathroom. She had actually thrown-up in the toilet! I didn't even know she wasn't feeling well, but I was so proud of her for running to the bathroom. We all took naps and Melanie woke up and tried to find me while I was feeding Spencer and ended up barfing on our family room floor. I guess that new carpet had to get broken in some time. Melanie ended up throwing-up 4 times in 2.5 hours. Luckily, the last 3 times were all in her barf bowl. She got over it the quickest and didn't throw-up anymore after that. Savannah and Spencer continued to take turns vomiting. I don't know how many times I washed all of Spencer's bedding. Savannah was so great to try and make it to the bathroom or use a bowl. It took a week, but we finally got over it! I knew that the girls weren't totally feeling back to themselves when I found them both passed out on the floor while watching a movie. I'm just so glad that we're all feeling better. Except Spencer now has a cold and the girls have started calling him The Snot Monster!

Easter

We had to wake the kids up extra early on Easter, so they would have time to look at their Easter baskets and still get ready for 8 o'clock church. I think it's so funny to see how they're actually sleeping. I don't know how Melanie even manages to stay in the bed. Savannah was very excited to get up, because she knew it was Easter. She was so thrilled with her basket. She especially loved that the Easter Bunny brought her a little pig that she had seen at the store and Mom didn't buy for her, despite her major fit. Melanie just wanted to keep sleeping. She finally got up after she heard Savannah being so excited. She was pretty thrilled about her basket too. Spencer didn't get left out either. He was very happy to find a bucket of beach toys in his crib, even though he looks totally sleepy-stupid in this picture. Here are the girls in their matching Easter dresses, along with their new stuffed animals. We managed to get one shot of all 3 kids in their Easter best, but Spencer wouldn't hold still for any more than one. I love his little pin-stripped outfit with the pink bow tie!We all got naps and then we colored a few eggs. I got an egg spinner at WalMart, and I love how the eggs turn out all multi-colored! And it's so easy! Then we went over to Jon's parent's house for dinner and an egg hunt. This was the girls 3rd egg hunt, but the first one that I had a camera at. The loved looking for the eggs. Melanie needed a little help, but she was so cute whenever she found one! Can you spot the egg here? It took Savannah quite some time to find this one, even when she was told where to look. She was quite proud of herself for finding it. The kids had so much fun that we emptied the eggs of all the candy and then hid them again. They had just as much fun looking for them the 2nd time, even though they were disappointed that the eggs were empty. The kids were pretty tired by the end of the day. The girls were very excited to get to wear their new nightgowns to bed! And they were being such good friends with each other, that they decided to both sleep in Savannah's bed. They're cute here, but I'm sure that they would have been on top of each other if left like that for too long. Hope you had a great Easter too!