The Vacation is Over!!

We are home, the bags are unpacked and laundry has been washed and put away. It's always nice to be home especially after being on the road with 3 little ones for 7 hours and hearing every half hour a combo of how many more miles to go and are we home yet. Ugh! It was a long, long drive but it was worth it. Although next time I think I would take the hastle of flying just to save myself a half of day of travel. That or leave at night.

So my hubby and I are a little Disney nutty. We like to read up on the best ways to avoid the crowds and maximize our times on the rides. I'm not a huge fan of waiting in lines. We generally have these agendas for what times to be at the gate, which rides to hit in which order, when to eat, take a break, etc. (Ridemax is a program online that is really helpful for this.). So it was a little strange for us this year with the weather being so unpredictable in Southern Ca. We actually slept in and took our time getting to the parks because it just wasn't crowded as long as the weather was iffy. And that was really nice for a change. We also stayed a little farther away and had to rely on the tram so we found we were staying at the park all day and leaving at dinner time for the day. That too was really nice and the kids seemed to be able to handle it. It's good to also note that the park does seem to be the least crowded between 2-4pm.

Since we are such huge Disney fans it was especially fun for me to take Emily on her first trip. She is such a go with the flow. She did really well especially as this was her first real vacation away. She slept well in the play and pack and didn't have a problem sleeping in the same room with all of us. Of course all the kids were very tired at the end of each day and that helped some too.

It's funny now having conversations with Emily about Disneyland and what she remembers. Emily clearly had a wonderful time and is still talking about it but I have since learned there were a few things she did not like. Her favorite rides were Dumbo, King Arthur's Carousel, and It's a Small World. She refers to this ride as the babies that dance. In Ca Adventures Park she liked the Lady Bugs (just like the Tea Cups) and the Disney Playhouse Live Show. She did not like..Monsters Inc, and Nemo. Our conversation this morning on these rides. "No Monsters Inc, Mommy." You didn't like Monsters Inc, Emily?" "Scared, mom. No Nemo ride, mom. Scared." I also know she did not care for the furry character greeters such as Pooh Bear, Eyore, Tigger but she did really seem to like Minnie Mouse the second time she recognized her in the park. It probably also helped that we stood aways a way and watched all these children waiting in line to meet her and hugging her, taking their photos, etc. She is still pointing out Minnie when she sees her here at home. She also remembers the rain and being outside and wearing her boots. I think that was really her favorite part of the trip. Spending the day out in the rain, jumping in puddles with her boots. Well, what's not to like about that.

Ah..Disney. Can't wait for the next time.

Can you Guess Where We Are?

Need another hint?

I think you've got it figured out now, but just in case...

We are in Disneyland!

The first day here, we had on and off showers but as you can see, it didn't slow us down. Here we are at the Casey Jr. Train ride...and look..no lines! The park was pretty empty on Monday. We walked on pretty much every ride all day long. I'm not going to lie to you..it was awesome!!

And even though we look abolutely ridiculous....

We were all smiles!

Here's a few fun things we have enjoyed..

Being silly with daddy before getting on Nemo.

Bumping into other bugs with Bubba at the wheel.

Getting ready to be swallowed by Monstro, the whale.

Flying high with Flik.

And Emily's new favorite character....Minnie Mouse!!

Thanks Bethany for the advice about Lightroom 2!! My only photo of us with Mickey and Minnie was taken on the wrong setting and looked terrible. With your tutorial on Lightroom I was able to figure out how to add some color back in. And while it's not perfect, it's so much better than it was before! Thanks so much!

Just one day

It's hard to get anything done. Where does the day go? I find myself wondering how I'm going to accomplish the oodles of stuff that is just hanging over my head. I'm not panicking yet but I know it's looming ahead.

What happens in just one day. Here's a look at just today...

5am--I'm up and make 4 lunches and begin to get breakfast ready. I pack Bubba's backpack, set out all the jackets, hats and sweatshirts and pack the car for the day.

6:15am--Bubba wakes up and heads to my room to watch cartoons while I take a shower.

7am--I wake up Boy Wonder and ask both boys to get dressed and move onto waking up Emily and getting her dressed.

7:30am-8:10am- Eat breakfast

8:15am- Grandparents arrive to watch Emily. It's my day to work in Boy Wonder's kindergarten class.

8:35am--After hitting the bathroom, wrestling the boys in jackets, packing the lunches and brushing teeth we are finally loaded into the car.

8:45am- Drop off Bubba at my sister's house so he can carpool with his cousin to preschool.

9am- 1:30pm--Boy Wonder's School

2pm-Arrive home and go over the day with my mom. Bubba arrived home earlier at 12:30pm.

2:30pm--Boys head up for rest time in their room while I put Emily down for her nap.

3pm- I jump on the phone to make a hair appt and get

my car serviced. Hair appt made.. check. Can't get a hold of my car dealership. Getting very frustrated. I really need to get my car in this week and judging by my week tomorrow seems to be the only day possible.

3:30pm- Boys reappear. They head off to the basement to jump in the jumpy house. I start emptying my car...out come the carseats, strollers, blankets, etc, etc

4pm--Hubby arrives home. I take off to head to the dealership to drop off my car.

4:40pm--Arrive at dealership. Now I get why I couldn't get a hold of anyone. The dealership is gone..closed. All the brand new cars on the lot are gone. Wow! Back up plan...call hubby and find the next GMC dealership. I find out the next one is 25 mins away and they close at 5pm. Can I make it? I'd better try as tomorrow is the only day I can get the car serviced this week. Jump on the freeway.

5:08pm--The service dept is still open. I just barely slide in. Yeah! I'm so lucky!

5:30pm--Call hubby and head across the street to Erik's Deli Cafe. I just happen to have a magazine on hand while I wait.

6pm-My family arrives. "Mommy" shouts Emily as she comes in.

7pm- Leave restaurant and head home. In the car we talk about Boy Wonder's assigment for tomorrow. To bring in one compostable item and one non-compostable item.

7:45pm--Head off to bed. Too tired for baths tonight skip this part of the bedtime routine.

8:30pm--Kids are finally asleep. I crash on the couch.

Back of my mind...I still need to pack Boy Wonder's lunch and get together what he chose for his compostable and non-compostable item. I also need to work on a template for Boy Wonder's valentine cards for the party Friday as I know it will take us the rest of the week for him to write out his classmates names and decorate them. The house is also a total diaster again even though it was nice and clean this morning. My only happy thought is tomorrow is Wed. Wed is usually my lightest and most fun day all week where Emily, Bubba and I go off and have fun at the park, museum, playdate etc after dropping off Boy Wonder at school. But tomorrow I have no car and it's supposed to rain all day. My dad has volunteered to take Boy Wonder to school. Thanks Dad! He will come back over at 12:45pm so I can head to school for a class meeting and bring Boy Wonder home. Dad has offered up his car to me so that I can get to the meeting as I won't be able to pick my car up until late afternoon. It feels like half of tomorrow is already planned and gone.

How to get everything in that needs to be done and still have a chance to relax and have fun?

Gosh, I wish I knew the answer to that! Off to bed so I can begin again tomorrow.

Looking foward to next week. One whole week off....ahh.

Photos for Friday

Still stuck on Christmas

Where does the time go? Can you believe we are 2 months into the new year already? Can you believe I'm still posting about Christmas? This is the last post, I promise. I have been so tired at night that after putting the kids to bed, after getting all the chores done and getting ready for the next day I've been crashing much earlier than usual. I have missed posting. Hopefully, I can get back into a rhythm again. I'm really so impressed with my fellow bloggers and how they are able to post on a regular basis.

So here I am, still playing catch-up.

We have almost taken down all of our X-mas decorations. Just the Christmas cards are still up and a wreath that is petrified and still hanging in the dining room. This weekend I hope to get it all down and move on to Valentine's.

So briefly a look back at

Emily's First Christmas...

We woke up on X-mas Eve morning and spent the morning with great-grandma. I know great-grandma really enjoyed the visit and we enjoyed getting to spend X-mas Eve morning with her. Emily got her first taste of opening presents. And she was good at it too. I really sometimes forget she's not over 2 yet. She is so capable in so many ways! Later that evening we hosted hubby's family for X-mas Eve. What a wonderful evening with cousins, grandparents and siblings.

The next photos are from X-mas morning. The kids were so excited to open their present and stockings from Santa and from us.

Christmas Day was spent at my parents' home with my sister and her family and both sets of my grandparents. We had a fun filled day with lots of good food!

Emily still keeps asking about Santa. It sure didn't take her long to warm up to that friendly old man and the fact that he carries a bag full of presents for kids didn't hurt either.