August 12x12 2014

My sweet husband decided to surprise me this day with a beautiful set of roses.  I had been so cranky since Disneyland I think it was a last ditch effort on his part to get me out of my bad mood.  He worked the night before so these were waiting for me when I got up and after he had gone to bed.  Night shifts stink!

 

Tyson is the milk mixer at our breakfast table.  Every morning he asks the girls if they'd like chocolate or strawberry milk and makes it for them.  It's adorable.

The kids have been doing summer piano lessons and they had a lesson this morning.  We are the worst practicers and Taylor was trying desperately to get in one more practice.

While the terrible T's were at piano, me & the girls hit Target.

I found this amazingly cheap V-tech laptop.  I am a sucker if anything that is deeply discounted, it is my Achilles heel.  It was $20 down from $40 and I was going to buy it for Hayden for Christmas.  I debated and debated, I am in the middle of a decrapification binge and refuse to buy toys the kids won't use.  After the back & forth I put it back.  My friend is doing a 5 gift limit for Christmas and I think I am going to try it. (Don't hold me to it, I said "try"!)

After picking up Tyson & Taylor we headed over to Sonic/Walmart.  Tyson earned a lego set (which he promptly lost due to attitude) and Taylor earned a monster high doll for their summer math program.

For cub scouts we made puddle jumpers and drew cartoons.  We had the boys draw a 3 step cartoon and then cover their can with their drawings.  In cub scouts you are always trying to come up with inventive ways to pass off as much as possible!  Puddle Jumpers and cartoons are not usually something you would think would go together :)

The boys were HILARIOUS!

We decided to make them race each other.  They had to give Jason a high five and go around him.  It was surprisingly hard!  We offered a candy bar to the winner.  Tyson won (and promptly lost it due to attitude).

After scouts the kids watched TV and ate snacks.

Tyson is obsessed with Netflix and is always finding the weirdest shows on it.  This one was one of those weird cartoons about birds.

It was a rough day of attitude-y kids so I rewarded myself with the last of our leftover Texas sheet cake.  Yummm!

Busy day...but wouldn't have it any other way :)

Last Day at Disney

Have you ever seen cuter kids than these? Nope! (I'm a little biased!)

 We caught a few of the street performers at Disney California, Phinneas & Ferb.

 Toy Story's Green Army Men

 The kids got drenched!

 My boy, not the smartest :)

 Tower of Terror!!

 Wilderness explorer area.

 At night there is a huge "Tea Party".  They have live music and dancers.  The Mad Hatter and Alice really know how to throw a party.

 The kids were enthralled!!

 Love the passed out pictures, they crack me up!

                       Another trip to our favorite place.
 I was just reading an online article about how awful amusement parks are and I agree on a lot of the writers points.  They are crazy expensive, it's suppose to be an enjoyful experience for the whole family and usually turns into a nightmare.  After having the passes this year it has really made each trip funner and funner.  You know where you're going,(how many times have you aimlessly walked around a place not knowing where to go?)  You know how to cut costs with food, and you don't stress missing a ride because you'll be back and jump on it on the next trip.  It has really been fun.  I am going to miss Disneyland when our passes expire in October!!

Birthday Boy

I surprised Jason with this fun shirt on his birthday, it says, "I don't have birthdays, I level up".  Hilarious!  When he gave the park his pass a huge red screen popped up and said it was his birthday.  He is reluctant to draw attention to himself and was very embarrassed when the worker made a big deal and then made him a birthday button to wear.  He's such a good sport though that he wore it all day :)

 

I am trying not to be too rude but Disneyland is the weirdest place for foreigners.  I could not imagine speaking absolutely no English and going to an English speaking amusement park.  The couple in front of us were just that.  Not a lick of English between the two of them.  Disney is very strict on who sits where and when they put these two in the front they decided to try to take my seat in the back because they wanted to sit together.  After a lot of worker orneriness they were moved back to their first and second seat.  The workers told the fella over and over to remove his hat and he just looked at them blankly.  So crazy!!  I wish they would give you pictures after the fall, they were drenched!!

I found these printables with Anna and Elsa, adorable!!

Alice and Wonderland has been revamped and we love it.

Sometimes Hayden is in her own world and is such a nut.  This is the small world ride, not even a bit scary.

I had to snap her out of her craziness and tell her to smile, she is such a crack up.

Autotopia: our new family favorite!!  Tyson is the worst driver but there is no way we'd let Darrell drive!!

Happy Birthday Jason!!

The beach

We are rapidly turning into beach bums.

 Tyson always tries to dig a trench and then is shocked when the water demolishes it.

 Sisters

 Hayden was hilarious and picked up every single piece of shell she saw on the beach.

 Jason found this awesome shell for Taylor.

 Ryan channeling Baywatch :)

 Older brothers are no fun in a water fight!  They go for the face!

 I got to get out in the waves too.  I was trying to teach the kids about the undertow without traumatizing them.  My Grandma would always scare me with horrible stories of people who were sucked out in the ocean and drowned. Lovely!

 It was a busy ocean this day!

 Ryan filled up a bucket with ocean water like 10 times it was hilarious.

 Hayden and more broken shell treasures :)

 We love to go to the beach to break up the trip. After a fun morning at the beach we go to the hotel and clean up before going to a movie.  We love this Regal Cinemas in Fullerton but they have these way overpriced games that the kids beg to play.  I always give in and Jason just grumbles about how over priced they are.  We never win and the kids end up bawling when they leave empty handed.

Which would you rather be: the parent who always says No, or the parent who has to deal with the melt downs from saying yes?  It's a lose lose! Jason says he likes to be the parent who doesn't waste his money, if they're just going to bawl anyway!

Disney California

These were probably my favorite shirts of the trip.  The girls had princesses and the boys wore star wars.

 This is the best picture I have taken of this girl ever!  She is notorious for never staying still or moving right before the picture gets taken.

 Gotta love my pirate baby :) ARGH!

 We love the rapids ride in California, so fun!!

 Ryan is still too small to go on the rapids so she makes do at the water feature in Bugs Land.

 I snapped this adorableness so I can tell the girls there was one time at Disney where you weren't fighting.  Sisters!!

 Tower of Terror never stops being scary.

 And Radiator Springs never gets old, especially when you win!!

 I secretly snapped this guys picture because I could not get over his shirt.  Who would wear that to an amusement park with children?!  Nasty!!

 Right before we went to the hotel the first night we had a long talk with a worker on the train ride.  We were told about "secret Mickey's" on a lot of the major rides.  We found the very hard to find Mickey on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and decided to research other interesting facts about Disneyland.  So, a few years back Disneyland had a rodent problem and they decided to release 200 cats to help deal with them.  Well now instead of having a rodent problem they now have a cat problem!!

The cats have not all been recaptured and a few come out during the day to get fed by visitors.  One worker told us this particular cat loves popcorn!  The train worker told us that most of the cats live in or around the employee parking and several times a week she'll get to her car to go home and she'll have a cat on her hood.  Crazy!!  Jason & Tyson also found a hidden Mickey on the California screaming ride.  It can only be seen when you are upside down going around the loop in the rollercoaster.  It's in the cement on the ground directly under the loop.  They were so proud to see it because so many people close their eyes going upside down.  Jason even went to a store and bought a book that had scavenger hunts to find hidden Mickey's, who knew?!