Disney 2014

 

In September we took the kids to Disneyland.  We thought we had chosen the most perfect time to go.  We thought the crowds would be manageable and that the weather would be ideal.  One out of two ain't bad.  The crowds were indeed manageable but So. Cal was having history making heat while we were there. We drove there and our car thermometer read 106 on the day we rolled into town.  I have never been so hot in my entire life.  The sweat just rolled down our faces.  Disney could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves and despite the heat we had a magical time!

Here are the highlights....

I thought I would cry when I saw these mist thingys.  I wanted to live under one for about an hour.

The park was decorated for Halloween already which was cute.  Others have made it seem like it is the best thing ever and I thought it was ok.  Ruined the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain in my humble opinion. 

 

As you can imagine Frozen was the craze at Disneyland.  All Claire wanted as an Elsa Doll.  When we went into the Bibbi Bobbidi Boutique the sweet ladies working there said we came at the right time because she was just opening a new shipment and that they would be gone in a matter of minutes.  While we were waiting to pay a woman came in behind me and bought every doll on the shelf.  Whoa! 

 

 

While I was paying for the Elsa Doll the lady working there told Claire she had something special that she wanted to give to her that we couldn't buy.  It was this Tinker Bell Pin.  Upon some research I found out these pins were only given to cast members in 2010.  They were given two pins.  One to keep for themselves and one to give to someone when they saw a good deed in the park.  Claire was so excited when she saw the Elsa doll and told me "Thank you!" for buying it and I think that is what earned her this pin.  Since the promotion was so long ago and this pin was showing some wear I think the cast member gave her the pin she was supposed to keep for herself.  It is a little treasure we brought home with us.  When we got home Claire pinned it on this piece of fabric and wrote her name on it.  It makes me smile every time I see it. 

The Tower of Terror really freaks me out.  Standing in line the anticipation grows and grows.  Gage did this scary face to freak me out even more!  Love that Kid!

Gage has the best faces on these ride snapshots.  He is growing up so fast.  He is a lot of fun to be around. 
  

Can I just say how much I love Cars Land?  So cute and charming.  It was by far my favorite part of the trip.  My only regret is that Cars Land didn't exist when my boys were 3 years old.  It would have blown their minds!

 

 

 

 

As it was, this is Luke waiting to ride Cars for the first time.  I thought he would burst! 

 

 

                              

Do you love Claire's arms up?  Little dare devil. 

 

 

Claire and my niece Pieper got to dance with DJ and the car hop girls.  So cute!

Claire wanted to ride the teacups so badly.  Tim and I feel like we are going to barf on it so we tried to send the kids by themselves.  Not so fast, they don't allow kids under 8 without someone 12 or older.  Next time, Gage will be old enough to fulfill this role.  I made Tim go with them!

 

    

 

It should be noted that some major fears were confronted and overcome while on this trip.  This is a picture of Claire and Luke's first time on Splash Mountain.  Not so sure about the wisdom of putting Claire at the front.  Tim?!  Luke and I were in the very back, which is a two seater.  Did you know?  So Luke almost had a nervous break-down on Splash.  As we were approaching the hill to be pulled up he was really losing his mind.  I started to get worried that he was going to try and get out of the raft.  His fight or flight was kicking in big time.  I have to be honest that his panic was contagious.  So, we began to pray.  Right on Splash Mountain.  As you can see, we made it through.  I was exhausted at the end.  But Luke's demons had been exercised though.  He went on everything else after that and had a great time.  So proud of him.   

The kids really loved driving the cars.  Taking a picture when Luke is at the wheel and pushing the gas was kinda hard. 


There's a bit of theme with the following pictures.

 

 Crossing their arms much?  Too cool to let their arms fall to the side.....

Goodbye Primary

For the last three years I have been the Primary President in my ward.  Last Sunday I was released and it was time to say to goodbye to the kids I love with my whole heart.  The experience is something I will never forget.  It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done and the most rewarding.  I was so surprised how emotional I felt about it and my poor kids were crying and so upset that I wasn't going to be in Primary with them anymore.  I've been in Primary, in some capacity, with Gage almost from the beginning.  

The ladies I served with have made such a huge impact on my life.  I can't think about them without first tearing up and then being so grateful that the Lord would bless me with such capable and supportive counselors.  They just make me smile.  We are already trying to convince the bishop that our next callings need to be together.    

I think it's going to be really hard not to go into the Primary Room on Sunday.  I never felt the spirit so strongly as I did while in that room.  I truly believe the simple gospel truths taught in Primary are the most pure of Christ's doctrine.  Those kids taught me about my Savior's love.  

But, least you think it is all warm fuzzies.  After I left on Sunday and walked to my car with a much lighter bag and an even lighter mind I was like.....

   

Pinewood Derby

The mere mention of the Pinewood Derby throws fear into my heart.  Am I the only one?  Gage's pack did their first derby in October.  He's almost done with Cubs so I guess I should be glad this is the first one.  Um, people take these pretty seriously.

Gage made his into a book.  Not just any book.  His favorite book.  The Hobbit.  He and his Dad had a lot of fun working on it.  His car lost but Tim and Gage left with their integrity.

I felt stressed throughout the whole derby.  I think mostly because I wanted Gage to do well.  But toward the end I realized my "doing well" ruler was measuring the wrong thing.  Gage maintained his excited demeanor despite numerous losses.  He was genuinely happy for other boys.  He did not cry, compare, or rationalize as to how the others had cheated (make no mistake some had cheated but that's on them) but he congratulated the winner.  He took it like a man.  He left with a smile on his face and with a proud mama.

I love that he was oblivious to the cheating.  We had a great time!

Halloween 2014

Halloween this year was super warm and on a Friday.  Could it get any better for trick-or-treating?  It sure beats asking for candy in your snow suit!  Gage's grade requires the kids to chose someone from history and dress as them for Halloween.  They research their person and then on Halloween they have a "wax museum."  The kids stand like statues and then parents and the other kids can press a button and the 5th graders come to life and tell you about themselves.  I was so impressed with how still the kids were while waiting for their button to be pushed. Gage chose Orville Wright and so much of the month was spent researching The Wright Brothers.  Our swing-set became the first airplane, Luke became Wilbur Wright and Claire became the Wright Brother's little sister Kathryn.  I love how these three love to play together and I especially love when they bond over history.  Nerdy!

I was pleasantly surprised when both boys said that they wanted to trick-or-treat as the Wright Brothers.  I had initially thought that I was going to have to buy two costumes for Gage.  In our house, the Wright Brothers were as much a super hero as Tony Stark.  Yea!

Claire on the other hand did not confine herself to just one costume.  With the boys set on the Wright brothers I thought it would be so fun if Claire was Amelia Earhart.  We have a book on Amelia Earhart that Claire loves.  She agreed for about a nano second and then insisted on being a mermaid. Which is surprisingly hard to find except at expensive costumes shops.  Did I mention I hate spending money on costumes?  I tried with no success to convince Claire to wear the beautiful Elsa costume we already had.  She refused.  I was happy to find the mermaid costume she wanted on Amazon on sale so I thought it was a done deal.  That is, until Halloween Eve.  As I was tucking Claire into bed she asked me if I bought the sparkly hair spray.  I was confused.  What sparkly hair spray?  For the Elsa Costume of course.  I swear this girl likes messing with me.  She was in tears that she wanted to be Elsa after-all.  So at 10:00 pm I brought out my sewing machine to repair some rips in her Elsa costume.  My machine ate part of the sleeve at about 10:15 and by 11:00 I gave up trying to free it and just cut it loose.  By 11:30 pm I was finished hand sewing the once gaping hole.  I found some sparkly hair spray in my Halloween box. By midnight Tim was asking me why I was doing what I was doing.  Good question.  Because I'm a sucker.  My thought process was to return the Mermaid costume.  But no....

For the morning parade with the rest of school she was Elsa

Because she is in PM Kindergarten they had an additional parade and she was the mermaid

Not to mention that for her Costume Dance Class she was a witch.  Never mind, she refused to wear this one trick or treating last year.

I have looked back on all my previous posts about Halloween and something has become exceedingly clear.  Claire does this every year and next year she will choose something from the dress-up box on Halloween morning.  This mama is done with the wardrobe changes.

Tim and I don't like dressing up.  Chalk it up to our shyness I guess, but this year we were invited to a costume party.  I was panicking.  Thankfully, I have a very talented friend who is also generous and close to my size who makes the most amazing costumes for herself and her family.  She loaned us her pirate costumes and Tim and I won best dressed couple!  Maybe we don't dislike dressing up as much as we thought.  It just takes the right costume!      

Each year the Halloween celebrations seem to get bigger and bigger and each year I'm shocked at my shock.  I pretty much packed a lunch and spent the entire day at the elementary school.  I'm a simple girl and apparently the only one.  I felt exhausted by the time it got dark.  Tim took the kids out trick or treating and I was blessedly left home in a quiet house to pass out candy.

Until next year.....