Disneyland Day 2 Part 1

After waking up fairly early and getting ourselves ready, luckily we had 3 adjoining rooms and 3 bathrooms, so we were all able to get ready pretty easily. We put on our walking shoes and headed for the park. The park had just changed to winter hours a week or so before we got there so they opened at 10:00 A.M. After waiting in line what seemed like forever, just because we were so excited, we were finally there!! First thing we did was head to the railroad to catch a ride on the train that would take us to the other side of the park. We thought we could beat a lot of the crowd getting to that side of the park before they did. It would have worked if the train hadn't stopped a bunch of times to let people on and off. At one stop they were going to wait for 10 minutes, at that point we all got off and just started walking around the park. The first ride we rode was the teacups, and that turned out to be Paige's favorite ride. Then the older kids went on the Matterhorn Mountain while Grandma, Paige, Paxten, and I went on the Dumbo ride. We weren't having to wait in the lines too long and we were very excited about that. We then rode Autopia, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and the Asro Orbitor all in Tomorrowland. Then we waited in line to see Tinkerbell and Periwinkle. That line ended up taking forever, we waited with Macee, Paige, Tara and I for over an hour!!! We were about to give up when the line finally made progress and it was our turn. We were so glad we waited because Tinkerbell was amazing! She had an actual conversation with Macee and Paige asking them questions about themselves and actually trying to get to know them. She signed their autograph books and took several pictures with them. The girls were so happy about getting to meet her! We then went to the Tiki Room, and then onto Splash Mountain.

Disneyland Day 1 Part 2

After we arrived at our hotel and got checked in, we relaxed for a few minutes and let the kids run around and get some of their energy out. We went next door and had lunch, artisan pizza that was really yummy. We then let the kids get their swimming suits on and swim in the hotel pool for about an hour. The water was really chilly, but it was 90 degrees outside so it felt cool and refreshing. The kids loved it and wanted to swim longer, but we wanted to walk to Disneyland and look at the stores in the Downtown Disney area. After getting all our stuff together we literally walked across the street to get to Disneyland. We had to go through security where they check all your bags and then we went and browsed the stores. We went to the Lego store, where Race bought some fun legos to add to his collection and Parker got a Luke Skywalker lego keychain. It was pretty cook to see all the things that they had made out of legos that were life size. We then went to the build a bear workshop and Paige made herself her newest stuffed animal Aurora Kitty. She loved the process of choosing the animal, stuffing it, and putting a heart in it. She also loved all the princess outfits to pick from, she choose the pink princess outfit like Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. That is also how she came up with the name. It was a Hello Kitty animal and we fused the 2 names to get Aurora Kitty. The other kids picked out outfits for their build a bears that they had at home. Parker picked out a Darth Vader outfit for his puppy at home. After Build A Bear we went to the biggest Disney Store I have ever seen, it was HUGE!! We walked around inside and the kids looked at things they might want to get before the trip was over. We just told them that they were looking and that we would come back if they didn't find anything else they had to have. After a few hours of walking around we were all pretty tired from getting up so early and flying. So we wend back to the hotel and got some sleep so we would be ready for the next day in the park!

Disneyland Day 1 Part 1

And we are OFF! We finally are on our way to Disneyland. We had to get up early to drive to Salt Lake to catch our flight ro California. Although I didn't sleep much during the night and finally decided to get up and get going at 3:00 A.M. We had to wake the kids ate 4:30 in order to get them ready and in the car to leave by 5:00 A.M. Chris and Kerry rode with us so we would only have one vehicle to pay for gas and parking at the airport. Tara and Quentin went the night before and stayed in a hotel and were able to leave their car there for the week. We arrived at the airport a little before 8:00 A.M and had no problem checking our luggage or going through security. It went relatively smoothly and they crowds hadn't grown a lot by then so there were less people to fight through. Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until 10:45 so we had about 2 hours in the terminal to kill before we left. Luckily we had packed the kids' carry on bags full of activities to keep them occupied while we waited. Finally the time came to board the plane. Paige was a little nervous when she got on and saw the ground below us. When we finally took off, she seemed to like it and loved being able to look out the window and see how small everything got. The flight was great, and we had a very smooth landing in LA. We collected our bags and found our shuttle and then headed for the Hotel.

Parker Turns 7

Parker turned 7 on the 1st of November! How did that happen. I can't believe that I became a mother 7 years ago. It really has flown by quickly (I think I say that after every birthday, anniversary, year!) Parker took brownie cupcakes to school for his birthday treat. I tried to convince him to take cheese and crackers or something like that, since Halloween is the day before and kids have had so much sweet stuff. But that is what he wanted. For his birthday dinner we went to the China Buffet here in town and had Grandpa and Grandma Christiansen with us as well as Grandpa and Grandma Yancey. We all ate until we were stuffed with good chinese food and then went home to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. When we got home from dinner we had the neighbors, the Billings, over for cake and ice cream as well. Parker wanted an Angry Birds cake this year. I decided to make it easy on myself and I bought an Angry Birds game and used it as decoration on the cake. It turned out pretty good. I only had to fix it once when all the blocks tipped over. Parker loved it and that it what counts! He was spoiled as usual and received a lot of great gifts. He got some nerf bullets, angry bird shirts, a remote control car, cowboy guns, a slingshot sort of toy, star wars books, lego set, money, wallet, and three angry birds games. He loved everything he got and felt very special. We had cake and ice cream and then called it a night, since it was a school night! I hope Parker had a great birthday and knows how much we love him and how glad we were that he is part of our family. We are looking forward to next year when he will turn 8 and be baptized!! 

Paxten's Stats

Paxten is now almost 22 months ond! I had forgotten to take him in for his 18 month shots partly because I have been looking for a new Pediatrician. Well I finally found one that I think I am going to like and took Paxten in at the end of October to get his last set of immunizations. He is still a little guy weighing in at 19.9 pounds and he is 31 1/2 inches long. So he is not on the charts for weight and in the 9% for his height. His head was 48.3 cm which was in the 52%. So he has a big head and a little body! Everything else looked great. He is developing normally and has been saying quite a few words. (Mostly only I can understand, but at least he can communicate some!) The doctor wasn't concerned and didn't make me feel like a bad parent for having a small kid! That made me feel better! He did really well as far as the shots go, he cried at first, but then it didn't seem to bother him at all the rest of the day. Although he did seem to get a fever the next few days, which I am sure was from the shots, but he didn't let it slow him down one bit!

Parker's Spook Parade

This is Parker's first year attending Stoddard Elementary and so it was also his first Spook Parade at the school. Paige, Paxten and I arrived a few minutes before the parade was to start and got one of the last seats in the gym. After waiting for 30 minutes and still no sign of the "spooky" kids, I was beginning to wonder if it was going to happen. Then in walked the Principal, Mr. Wilson. Follwed by Parker's wonderful teacher Mrs. Hunt. Parker is number 6 in his class so he was right at the front of the line. He was very excited to see us there and to be wearing his costume, a Clone Wars guys, complete with a light saber. (Can you tell I am not a Star Wars fan, I don't even really know what he was!) It was an easy costume for him to put on all by himself at school, because they did not allow the kids wo wear their costumes to school in the morning, they had to put them on after lunch before the Spook Parade and class parties. Parker also took as a treat to his class a bag of Pumpkin Poop (Cheese Balls) to share with his classmates. I think he had a fun day at school celebrating Halloween.

My Little Trick-or-Treaters

On Halloween, I took out my littlest trick or treaters to visit my Dad and Mom at their work. Parker was at school and we were also going to visit after lunch for his school's Spook Parade. Isn't my Little Red Riding Hood and my little Lion so adorable?! I sure think so! After visiting a few places they were both ready to be done for the day, or at least until the Trunk Or Treat at the church.