Disneyland

DISNEYLAND

We're already asking when we can go back!We had a great trip, and everything went surprisingly smooth traveling for the first time with little kiddos. (Explanation for pictures below)

• Mom and Tanner on the airplane. Tanner did surprisingly well on the flight (ask anyone except the lady who sat in front of us and got her chair kicked)!


• Ashlyn loved the flight- she was hooked up with the Nickelodean channel, chips and bubble gum! We didn't hear a word from her the entire flight!


• The kids entertaining themselves in the airport as we wait for the luggage sticking the stickers all over themselves.


• Tanner being crazy at the airport.


• Tanner not quite tall enough to ride a ride, but okay with it as long as he could play with the measuring pole.


• Ashlyn with her baby doll ready to head out to Disneyland buckled in the stroller and connected with the leash!


• Ashlyn kept begging to ride the tea cups and we put her off as long as we could, but finally gave it. Surprisingly enough they didn't make us sick.
• Beware Ashlyn is behind the wheel in the bumper cars!

• A dream come true for Ashlyn to meet the princesses. She LOVED this.

  
• Mom and Ashlyn.... do we look alike?
• Riding the hungry caterpillar. (Disneyland amazes me because it seems like they go all out for everything. This hungry caterpillar ride was a baby ride and went maybe 3 mph, but the details they put into the scenery and then they had the smells of everything the caterpillar was eating too. From candy corns to oranges... amazing)!
• Ashlyn putting herself in the carseat to watch TV... strange. Notice how she holds her legs up. She does this in the car, she NEVER relaxes. She is going to have some solid abdominal muscles.
• Todd and Kristine braved 2 days of Disneyland with our kids.... saints!

• Tanner was SURE he could get rabbit's door open, he didn't believe Ashlyn when she told him it was locked!

  
• Some serious target practice on Buzz Light Year.
• Awesome glasses for the new Toy Story ride in California Adventure
• Are we having fun???
• Tanner exhausted after day #1! We had a stroller that layed back for him to take naps in during the day, but Ashlyn insisted on riding in it this day. He was so tired he stayed asleep as I put him in his pj's, changed his diaper and put him in his bed.
• Tanner's dreams coming true with a giant puppy! He loved Pluto.
• But he didn't care much for Snow White!
• Eating an ice cream cone as big as he is! Yes, it was 77 degrees and WONDERFUL to eat ice cream in the sun!
• We rode the Merry-go Round a gazillion times. Tanner would say, "Ride, round and round!"
• Sheer JOY written all over my 4 year olds face! She had the time of her life, and wasn't afraid to try anything. She loved the hills on Splash Mountain, thought the Pirates were funny on Pirates of the Carribean, thought the dancing ghost in the Haunted House were silly, and LOVED soaring over the ocean on Soaring over California.

• "Look mom, a giant "A" for Ashlyn!"

  

• Look at those MUSCLES!

  

What a trip! Can't wait to do it again!

A great day

Brad and I both took the day off from work last Wednesday to have a family day. With little kids you never know how the day is going to go. This just happened to be one of the best family days we've had in a long time.

We went to the Draper Temple open house first thing in the morning. It was the perfect time to go. There were no crowds, and it didn't take a long time. We tried to teach Ashlyn different things about the Temple, and tried to help her recognize the spirit that was there, but she was more interested in leading the way and getting out of there to get back on the bus. Tanner was his typical self. During the video they show you in the chapel at the church his was screaming and trying to run around (just like sacrament meeting), but the second we sat on the bus he didn't move a muscle. He watched out the window in amazement. So if you ask our kids about the temple, Ashlyn will tell you we got to ride the red bus, and Tanner would agree. Maybe they won't remember everything, but I hope they atleast rememeber that the temple is important to their mom and dad. After the temple we came home and Brad and Ashlyn got to go on a fun daddy-daughter date while Tanner took his nap. Brad took her to the movie theater for the first time. ( I know she is 4 1/2 and has never been to a theater... about time huh?) She loved it, but didn't understand why she couldn't talk during the movie. She didn't think the seats were very comfortable either, so she spent the majority of the movie on Brad's lap!

After the movie we headed out the zoo. It was a great day for the zoo. The sun was shining, and it wasn't crowded at all.
We left the zoo and everyone was starving. It was right at rush hour- bad timing! So we decided to stop and eat at the Red Robin by the zoo instead of driving home hungry and in rush hour. We vowed awhile back we wouldn't take our kids to sit down restaraunts anymore because they are always horrible. This time though they were angels! It was actually a really fun dinner, and the kids were so excited to get a balloon- they cleaned their plates (something they never do so they could get a balloon).
Life with little kids is just so unpredictable. I feel like when we try to do fun things one of them is grumpy or whiny. This day was just the perfect day. We did a lot of fun things with them and they were both so pleasant and fun to be around the whole time. I hope we have more days like this in the future!

Ashlyn

A post about Ashlyn....

My cute little Ashlyn ready for her first tumbling class. Head to toe in PINK- the only other color that she would consider wearing is purple!Gotta love those middle splits! She is actually pretty flexible when she can figure out what the teacher is telling her to do. Backbend... almost! She thought she had that one figured out! (Poor kid has my freakish hyper-extended elbows.)Ready for class with her BFF Afton. These two are so cute together. I can't believe my little girl is old enough to be starting this phase in her life. It is just an 8 week tumbling class through the school, but still.... it has only just begun. Who knows if it will be gymnastics that she decides to stick with, but I hope that she finds something that she loves and wants to learn.

She is growing up in so many ways, but also doesn't want to grow up in other ways. We have always had a challenge with her when it comes to dinner time. She will beg us to feed her. It is out of shear stubborness and sibling jealously that she does this. She doesn't want Tanner to get more attention than her. So if we are helping Tanner eat she will want us to help her eat... weird! The other night Brad refused to help her eat (we refuse 99% of the time) but she was whining and asking who could help her finish her corn.... so here came Tanner to the rescue. He fed her the rest of her corn. What a nut, she actually sat there and let her little brother feed her. One of Ashlyn's favorite activities this month was going to Bouncin' off the Walls. She was a maniac and had NO FEAR. She made me nervous! She went down the slides every direction possible!

Climbing up for another run down the slide!

Ashlyn is a morning girl and wakes up TOO early some mornings. This particular morning she wanted to get her little beads out of the cupboard above the fridge. (She can only play with them when Tanner is asleep and she capitalizes on every moment she gets). She knew not to wake us up for such a trivial matter so she went to work to reach the beads herself. Luckily I heard all the moving around and went to check things out before she actually climbed on this pile of pillows on the stools. She is very resourceful, and thought the pillows would be quiet and soft... she just didn't think about the instability issue!

Ashlyn got a new tea set from her cousins, and loves to host tea parties. Tanner is always up for food, and Brad is just a good sport. Ashlyn loves to nominate Brad as her "buddy" for the day and expects Brad to play with her all day! She knows how to get her dad to do what she wants!

I love Ashlyn so much, and marvel at the rate she is growing and learning. She is so much fun, yet so stubborn and strong willed all at the same time! She is a girl who knows what she wants and has an opinion about everything! About a month ago I was tucking her into bed, and I was DONE being mom for the day. I couldn't wait to have time alone and just have the kids asleep. So we hurried through the bed time routine. When I tuck her in she'll ask me how many kisses I need, I say a number and then I have to ask her how many she needs... you get the picture. This particular night I kissed her goodnight and then went to my room to put my pj's on. She starts yelling from her room, "MOM how many kisses do you need." I calmy say, "Oh honey, I just needed one kiss tonight I'm really tired." She contiues yelling and I just ignore her. Finally she comes into my room and sits down on the floor and looks at me and says, "Mom, you just aren't making all my dreams come true." WHAT... where does she come up with these things. Of coarse that got me to tuck her back in and give her as many kisses as she wanted! What a kid!