Odds and Ends

1.  Muffin tin lunches.  I am sharing this because it is the secret to being a cool mom.  I'm serious... set this out for lunch and your kids will think you are the coolest mom... (effect may last up to 5 minutes.)   It has received rave reviews from my kids and their friends.  An odd assortment of whatever you happen to have on hand.  And they eat almost everything almost every time. 

2.  An amusing mix between Lizzy style play and Andrew style play.  Each princess got a protector to accompany her to the ball.  I had to take a picture.

3.  I'm loving how my happy childhood memories return as I have different experiences with my own children.  It was so fun reading this book with my kids. 

4. Watching my kids sit outside on a cool evening and eat a popsicle was like a flashback to my first tastes of summer when I was a kid.  I remembered eating Otter Pops on our trampoline.  I remember being allowed to stay up later and play night games.  I remembered bringing home my tote tray at the end of the school year to clean it out.  (Do any schools still have tote trays?)  I remember how those last few days of school hardly even seemed like school because everyone was kind of bubbling over with end of the year excitement... even the teachers.  I love that I get to experience all of that stuff again through my kids. 

Here's looking forward to a fantastic summer. 

When You Wish Upon a Star......

You were all so right.  It was Disneyland.  Lizzy's picture must have given it away.  That was clearly Sam and I on a rollercoaster, Lizzy on the Dumbo ride, Dad on the tea cups, and Andrew at the Finding Nemo submarine ride. 

 

This moment was Lizzy's dream come true. She got to play in Princess Tiana's band. Oh I wish we'd gotten a better picture because she was seriously glowing.

Andrew's favorite place was probably these water fountains in the Bugs Life area. They were fun but I really don't want them to be his favorite since we could have had that experience at Gateway Mall. Oh well. :) Actually.. I think he may have had another favorite. I didn't get a picture, but it was so awesome I just have to write about it so that I can remember. There was an experience called "Turtle Talk" that we just loved. It was Crush, the turtle on Finding Nemo. It was a large screen and Crush was on the screen, but he was controlled by an actor who actually made him move and talk like he was interacting with the kids. The second time we did it, Andrew was chosen from the audience to talk to Crush.

Crush: Hey little dude. So what's your name.
Andrew: Andrew (giggle)
Crush: Totally Awesome Andrew. So Andrew who brought you here?
Andrew: My Heavenly Father
Crush: What? Your Heavenly Father. Dude. That's awesome. I mean who's that sitting next to you?

The conversation went on for much longer, but that was my favorite part. Slightly embarassing, but I was smiley proud too.

 

Pirates.

The kids with Uncle Russ.  He lives nearby Disneyland and we were able to meet up for dinner.  Lots o' fun. 

The kids with Aaron's cousin, Rochelle, who was the reason the trip actually happened. Her husband works for Pixar and they got us in for free. Yippee. Seriously I love these guys and we had so much fun together. Rogan's head also turned out to be a great place for Andrew to sleep after a long day.   Thanks again. 

This is the Tower of Terror ride.  The kids didn't ride it of course, but the name instills terror in the kids now and we use it to threaten if necessary. (i.e. You two stop fighting or you'll have to go ride the Tower of Terror)  It was Aaron's favorite ride.  I'm glad I did it, but as you can see in the picture... it scared the heck out of me. 

And that's the end.  We had a great time.  Now I just need a post-vacation vacation, because I'm exhausted. 

Guessing Game

This last week we went on a vacation.  I will give you three clues about where we went. 

Clue #1 Picture by Lizzy  

Clue #2 A Map

Clue #3
Andrew was so excited/overhwhelmed/dismayed over the news that he cried when we told him and then ran upstairs and proceeded to pee into the garbage can rather than the toilet. 

Can you guess where we went?