Disneyland Part 3

Night was quickly coming on.  The wind was not letting up and we were freezing.  I didn't think Southern California could get that cold.

Megan wasn't going to let the cold stop her.

The line to Dumbo was way too long during the day so they settled for just flying on Dumbo's nose.

After dark the line to Dumbo was really short so we actually got to ride it.

I am very afraid of heights so I never really wanted to go on the Dumbo ride (plus I thought I would be too big for it) but Alex wanted to go so I decided to bite the bullet and ride Dumbo for the first time.  I'm very glad I did.

After Dumbo we wanted to go on the Tea Cup ride.  This is one the girls had been looking forward to all day but because of long lines we kept passing it up.  When the lines got short we rode this one just for them...again and again.



I told Alex to put his hands up while it was spinning to make it more fun.  He was so funny to watch as he tried to make sense of the world going round and round.

 Everything was lit up even more beautifully at night.  It really looked like we were in a story book.

Sleeping Beauty's castle in the day.

Sleeping Beauty's castle at night.



It's A Small World...of lights.



Dakota still loves to talk about the tree that has over 2000 huge ornaments on it.

Around 9:30pm everyone started getting tired.  It had been a long day of trying to pack as much as possible into it.  My parents took Dakota, Megan, and Xander back to the hotel while I stayed at the park with Lizzie and Rebecca riding everything we could until it closed at midnight.



All worn out.

Dreaming about Princesses.

Last part coming tomorrow.

Disneyland Part 2

After the ride on "It's A Small World" we thought we would take a break and watch the afternoon Christmas parade.  We found a spot on some stairs right at the beginning of the parade.  I sat on the stairs and let the two little ones go up and down the stairs to get their energy out (they had been riding in the stroller while we did all the walking...lucky ones.)  The wind had been really strong all day which made it colder than expected but we weren't going to let it spoil our day.  About 10 minutes before the parade was to begin a huge gust of wind came and we heard the tree we were sitting next to crack.  It was a very eery sound.  I looked up to see what had happened to the tree but really didn't see anything.  A few minutes later the lady standing next to me told me that I should probably move because there was a branch on the tree right above my head that was about to fall.  At first I thought that she was over exaggerating and I was not going to worry about it but something inside told me to at least get up and see what she was talking about.  I got up and looked at the branch.  I couldn't believe it.  There was a branch just dangling by a thread threatening to fall at any minute right above my head.  Honestly I couldn't believe it hadn't fallen already.  The next gust of wind came up and my whole family realized we were in danger because that branch was swaying very hard and we knew that if it were to fall it would be on top of us and it would become a very bad scene.  I quickly looked around to count my kid's heads to make sure that we had all gotten out of the way but I couldn't spot Alex.  I saw him on the edge on the stairs just watching the crowd right beneath the dangling limb.  I quickly grabbed him and pulled him out of the way and just like in the movies at the very moment we were out of the way the branch came crashing down.  There were many screams and a lot of people scrambling.  I remember seeing the sharp edge of the branch fall right between my dad and the lady that had warned me of the danger. I thought for sure that it had seriously injured my dad and that lady.  I also thought about my mom who moments before was standing right in front of my dad and would have been directly under the heavy part of that branch.  The employees rushed over to make sure that no one had gotten hurt.  I braced for the worst as I quickly found each family member and asked if they were all right.  I couldn't believe it but not a single person was injured.  Then I got a really good look at the branch.  It was actually larger than we had originally thought.

The picture doesn't show it really well but that limb was about 3 inches in diameter, very heavy, and the point at the end was very sharp.  It was that point that I saw fall directly between my dad and that lady only inches in front of me and Alex.  It would have been like getting hit hard with an axe.  That's why I was surprised that there weren't any injuries.  When the dust settled from the first branch falling we all looked up to see a second branch about to fall.  With the direction the wind was blowing there was a good chance it would have landed on us as well.  In fact when it finally did fall it landed directly on top of the other branch.

The parade was suspended and an announcement went out over the loud speaker that due to unforeseen circumstances the parade would be delayed until further notice.  After about 40 minutes of delay an engineer finally surveyed the tree and said that it was safe to resume the parade as long as there was nobody within 10 feet of the tree.  We tried to watch the parade and put the events of what just happened behind us.  I had Alex on my shoulders so I couldn't take pictures.  I looked at my dad who takes more pictures than I do in hopes that he was able to get the pictures I couldn't.  To my amazement he wasn't taking a single picture.  I told him I would take pictures and handed Alex to my mom. 

I couldn't wait to see Alex's face and ask him if he liked the parade that we had waited so long to see.  What I didn't realize is that about a minute after the parade started he had fallen asleep on my shoulders.  Poor little guy was absolutely exhausted and missed the whole parade.  After the parade I asked my dad why he didn't take any pictures and he said that he couldn't raise his hand to take any pictures because then the employees would have seen him bleeding.  WHAT?!



Apparently the tree had indeed hit him on the hand.  He just didn't want to say anything because he didn't want a big deal made out of it.  My mom and I kept trying to tell him that he needed to tell someone so that he could have it looked at but he refused.  It was actually worse than this.  After he had cleaned his hand up the first time I snuck a picture of his injury when he wasn't looking.  He joked about that being how close we came to being seriously injured or killed by that tree.  I didn't find it funny at first because I was so worried about him but after a while we were all able to laugh at it.

I know that the limb was not being held on by a thread but by angles just waiting for me to get off my kiester and get me and my kids out of the way so that they didn't have to hold it any more.  It was a miracle that I will forever be grateful for.

To be continued...again

Disneyland Part 1

I still can't believe we were there.  I had been wanting to take the kids to Disneyland for so long but didn't know if or when we would be able to do it.  When I found out that not only were we going to go to Disneyland but we were going there at Christmas time I was in shock...what a magical time to be at a magical place.  The time went by so quickly but we enjoyed every minute of our trip (except the part where I got us lost in California in the middle of the night for more than an hour.) 

We had only been on the road for a few hours when Megan did one of her "painting" jobs.  Remember when she "painted" hers and Alex's face and hands with lipstick?  That is only one of the many times she has pulled that trick.  This time I still can't believe how she was able to do it.  I had given Megan a mini Hershey bar, just the small little midget.  About three minutes later, thinking that she had enjoyed her little chocolate treat I turned to look at her and see if she wanted anything else.  I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.  She didn't eat the chocolate, she used it to paint her face and hands...again!  We immediately stopped in the next city and used a bathroom to clean her up.  What a start to our trip.

We finally got to our hotel very late on Wednesday and tried to get good sleep for the busy day ahead of us.  Thursday morning came and the kids were electric with excitement.  We caught the shuttle to Disneyland and just tried to take in as much as we could considering the crowds...wishing there were more hours in the day.  There were a few things that we really wanted the kids to experience, anything else we were able to do was a bonus.  We got a map and just let the kids take us where they wanted.  We were able to do much more than I thought considering how crowded it was, it was so much fun!  I loved all the Christmas music playing and all the decorations they had everywhere.  It was like a Christmas Wonderland.  Many of the original characters were also dressed in Christmas style.  The older girls just kept saying they couldn't believe they were there while the two little ones kept looking around as if trying to figure out if they were dreaming or if this place was real.  We made some really great memories there.

Taking a picture here is the traditional first activity you do before you even enter the park.

Alex and Megan feeling all grown up as they get to drive this crazy looking car.

The kids in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.  It was more beautiful than they imagined with all the Christmas decorations.

Another tradition Grandma loves to do is to get the kids an autograph book.  This is such a special keepsake from Grandma.

The girls really liked Alice, but thought that the Mad Hatter was a little creepy.  ha ha

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is one of Rebecca's all time favorite movies.  When she heard that she was going to get to experience the ride, that's all she could talk about so of course it was the first ride we had to go on.

The workers did a fantastic job on this Holiday set up.  The amount of work that goes into this seasonal transformation is unbelievable!  It was definitely one of our favorite attractions.

I had no idea that Jack Skelington himself would be there.  He was so amazing.  He is just as bony in real life and he sounds exactly like he does in the movie.  He really spent time with the kids talking to them and laughing with them as if they were old friends.

Rebecca isn't the only one who likes Jack.  All the kids really do so they were just as excited to meet him.  He was by far my favorite character to meet.

This was actually a first.  I didn't even know they had a sword until I saw it on a commercial.  This was also something I didn't want to leave without doing.  I had to see if any of my children could pull that sword out of the stone.

Rebecca trying.



Dakota gave it her best shot.



Megan thought it was so fun.

Xander thought he could just shake it out instead of pulling it.

The little ones were having fun but all the rides we had been on so far were more for the older kids so we thought it was time to take them on the one ride we KNEW they would love..."It's A Small World".

Yeah!  Finally on the boat after a very long 45 minute wait listening to the same 1 minute refrain of that famous song over and Over and OVER.  It was all good though. 

There was so much to see and hear in that ride that was geared toward Megan and Alex's ages that they were speechless the whole time.  I think that if the line hadn't been so long they would have preferred to just keep riding that one for the rest of the day.  They absolutely LOVED this ride.

To be continued...

A Special Family Home Evening

My parents were able to visit for Christmas this year.  I couldn't wait for the day to arrive that would bring them here.  They were scheduled to stay for 10 days which was wonderful considering their tight schedules right now.  The day they arrived we were scheduled to go the the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.  My parents and I went along with my Mom's best friend Martha.  We went early and had dinner before the performance.  We also looked around at some of the lights on Temple Square while we had a minute. The show was fabulous and we had a great time.  I didn't bring my camera so I took some pictures with my Mom's phone and emailed them to myself.  Unfortunately I still don't know what I am doing when it comes to cell phones so I never got the pictures.  Oh well.

The next day was the Sunday before Christmas.  I was excited to have my parents there the day Dakota and I sang in the ward choir and I also directed my little Primary kids in a special Christmas number since I am the Primary Chorister now.  After church my parents joined the older girls and I for a very special spiritual experience in the evening that couldn't have been more perfect.  To have my parents be able to join us on such a special occasion was a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father that I will forever be grateful for.

On Monday evening we had a special Family Home Evening put on by Grandma and Grandpa.  We played a game that Grandma made for the girls that tested our knowledge about Disney Princesses.  We were in teams and I was teamed with Rebecca who seemed to know everything about the Princesses so we dominated the game. 

Rebecca being the winner got to open the first prize.  It was a letter sent to her on special Disney paper.  The letter made her scream with joy.

Then Lizzie and Dakota got to open a special letter as well.  You can see how happy they were to get their letters.

What was in the letters?  A special invitation to spend two fun-filled days with Grandma and Grandpa in Disneyland!!  This was the most exciting Family Home Evening they have ever had.  Unfortunately my camera's battery died after just three pictures so I couldn't capture the rest of the excitement in our house that night.

We had one and a half days to get ready and then it was off to Disneyland.  Unfortunately CJ was not able to go because of work.  He tried everything he could to get the time off but it just didn't work out for him.  We spent Wednesday driving to California (and true to our tradition got lost just before we made it to our destination), spent all day Thursday at Disneyland, all day Friday at Disney's California Adventure, and then spent some time on the beach Saturday (Christmas Eve) before driving home and going to bed before Santa came.  It was wild and crazy but oh so much fun!  I will write about our trip in another post so be on the look out, especially on our day in Disneyland since we barely made it out without serious injury or even death. 

My parents had to leave the day after Christmas so even though they were here for 10 days the time went so fast that they were gone before we knew it.  I'm still in awe of everything that happened last week and feel so blessed to have had such a special Christmas with my parents.

Dakota's performances

For the month of December Dakota was one busy girl.  She was cast in her 6th grade Christmas play, asked to be a puppeteer for the 6th grade art show, and performed in her very first Orchestra concert.  She had many practices both before and after school all month long and then had at least one performance almost every day for the last week and a half of school.  She was so excited to be in so many performances and we had fun going to them and watching her shine.

Her first performance was for the art class.  The teacher had the students make Japanese Bunraku puppets for the story "A Christmas Carol".  Some of the students were asked to perform the story for the school and parents.  Dakota was so excited when she was chosen.  She was the only person who did not have a puppet to control but was the puppet herself.  She played the ghost of Marley.  The puppets and props were painted with bright florescent colors because the play was performed in the dark under black lights.  All the students were dressed in black so that you couldn't see them.  It was really cool.  Unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures of the play itself but here is what I could get.

Dakota and her besties with their puppets.

Dressed as the ghost of Marley.

Her next performance was her Orchestra concert.  I couldn't wait to hear her play because they have been working so hard.  For kids who only get to practice together for 2 to 3 days a week they are doing really well.  I was very impressed.  She has a great Orchestra teacher.  They even performed at the School District building for the school board.

Playing her cello.

Her last play was the traditional 6th grade play.  Most of the kids are in the chorus but they could audition for the few speaking parts.  Dakota practiced for the audition a lot and was so happy to have a speaking part.  She got to wear her PJ's the whole day at school because it was her costume for the play.  That morning she had an orthodontist appointment and she got lots of questions on why she was in PJ's and curlers.

Ready for the play.

What a trooper.  She had just gotten a new bracket put on her tooth that has finally grown in and about half an hour latter one of her bottom brackets popped off so she had to perform with a sore mouth.

Diva

Megan had fun putting some Christmas stickers all over her face and arms and then asked if I would take her picture.  No problem.  I love it when the kids want their picture taken with out a struggle.  What I didn't expect was that she wanted to be in charge of the "photo shoot".  She kept making different poses.  It was so cute.  Here are a few of her diva poses.

Connections

It's all in who you know!  Our neighbors have connections of Holiday proportions.  They personally know the big red suited man himself...Santa Clause.  He visits them at their house each year before he gets really busy checking and double checking his list.  This year our kids were invited to join in the celebration.  I didn't tell the little ones because I wanted it to be a surprise but I was excited enough for the both of them anyway. 

Alex didn't want to sit on Santa's lap.  I don't think he has gotten over the trauma of sitting on his lap last year.  He didn't fight me when I put him on Santa's lap but he wouldn't look at Santa either.  He just sat there looking very nervous.  He did give a little smile though when Santa gave him a goody bag.

I'm not sure why this time was different but Megan was bound and determined not to sit on Santa's lap.  She held on to me with all she had.  I told her that she didn't have to sit on his lap but asked if she would just stand in front of him for a special picture...she didn't buy that.  It wasn't until Santa offered her a goody bag too that she went near him.  I even got a nervous smile out of her.  I am very proud of Megan for facing a very big (although surprising since she has never been afraid before) fear so that I could have a special picture.

Santa saw Dakota and Rebecca who came to help with the little ones and asked if they wanted to sit on his lap too.  Rebecca decided not to but Dakota wanted one more chance to ask Santa for that telescope and star chart that she wants so badly.

Santa had to leave early because his reindeer were making too much noise on the roof but we all got to stay and visit for a while.  This was such a fun evening that I am so happy we got to be a part of.

"I wanted to be a monster."

Megan and Alex have been very active lately.  Trouble is, they are most active doing activities that they are not supposed to be doing.  I went to the store a few nights ago and when I came home this is how I found them...that's lipstick by the way.  I asked Megan why she painted hers and Alex's hands and face and she said it was because she wanted them to be monsters.  I think she succeeded...I think they are little stinker monsters who can't seem to stay out of the make-up and nail polish.



Alex...caught red handed...and red faced.



Megan adding a little more because she thought she missed a spot.



Alex filling in a spot that Megan must have missed.



Rubbing it in really well.



Her hands were covered both front and back.  She was very proud of her work.



Alex had a ball getting all painted up.

Clean up was not easy.  Lipstick doesn't just wash off with soap and water...at least that much lipstick doesn't.  I ended up having to use dish soap on them to get it off as well as I could.  They did still have red eyebrows the next day.  Oh, the joys of motherhood.