Tantrum

Madelyn had a full on tantrum tonight. Why did she have said tantrum you ask... well it was bath night. So she jumped in the bath tub and had a splashingly fabulous time. By the time she got out, Annabelle was in the shower. When she heard the water running in our master bath, she wouldn't even let Scott wrap her in a towel, she ran naked through the house and jumped in the shower with her big sister. I have mentioned this kids love of water, right? I thought okay, no biggy, she can splash around a little longer with her sister. Annabelle was finished so I told Madelyn "all done" and turned off the water. Can you believe I would do such a horrific thing as turn off the water! She completely lost it. This was a first for us with Madelyn. Flailing wet slippery naked Madelyn had to go into her crib for safety, as I physically could not hold onto her. Eventually Scott was able to calm her but WOW it was something.

Art Projects

To say that Annabelle loves a good art project is an understatement! This project involved two coats of paint on 26 popsicle stick triangles, plus glitter, and she completed it in one sitting! I was going to call it a success if we managed to get 1/2 way done...I was ready to pack it up, and Annabelle absolutely.would.not.have.it.

Madelyn on the other hand, painted for about one minute, and then was ready to go wash up! She loves water as much as Annabelle loves art!

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday!

The morning started with testing out a couple a pumpkin bread recipes! Yum
Our family Thanksgiving picture this year - a good picture with the exception of Mady!

This year was especially fun because cousin Amy surprised everyone! It was a blast seeing Cindy & Pete's reaction! The pictures are fun, but Amy took a video as well on her iphone as she walked in! Pretty hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UigokTi6ak

Time for dinner!

After dinner we took some family pictures!

(Everyone except Zach - he had to take a call)

Silly shot!! Paige is my favorite!

The Gals!

Of course I had to give the four generations shot another whirl!

This isn't a great picture, but I love that all the personalities shine through!

Zach is back!!

WOW!

You could call this a party or organized chaos, but either way it was a hit with the eighteen month to four year old crowd! Annabelle had a blast! She loves the WOW! Children's Museum and it was fun sharing it with her friends!

The lighting was terrible so the pictures turned out less than desirable, but that just meant I got to enjoy the party even more!

This first picture of the birthday girl courtesy of Cassie...

blowing out her 4 candle!

Annabelle & Elli

Kenzy

Mady & the choo choo trains

This picture courtesy of Cassie titled Attack of the 50 foot Mady! LOVE IT.

And attacking the piano...

Avery on the pulley chair...
(these were just as much a hit with the parents, as they were with the kids!)

and then Annabelle!

Dillon & Grandpa with the bubble maker! Impressive!

As you can see a fun time was had by all!

Annabelle we love you so much!

Happy Birthday Annabelle!!!

I can not believe you are FOUR!! When did that happen!

One quick story from the day, tomorrow is the big celebration with friends at the WOW! Children's Museum!

First of all Annabelle did not believe it was her actual birthday today. Party = Birthday to a four year old. Didn't even think to prepare her for that.

So first we had to discuss that we were going to celebrate "a day early." After school Grandma Suzie took Annabelle shopping at a local toy store so she could pick out a birthday gift. As the story goes, when they were up at the register, Grandma mentioned that they should go home and wrap up what she picked out. The salesperson said they would be happy to wrap it for them! When we met up for dinner, this was the conversation...

Me: Annabelle what did you pick out for your birthday present?

Annabelle: I can't tell you, it's a SURPRISE!!

This girl has never kept a secret in her life! But she wasn't telling!

When she unwrapped the gifts later that night, she kept looking at Scott & I to see if we were surprised! HA.

We are so proud of you! And we can't wait to celebrate your birthday again tomorrow!

Does it surprise you....

...that Annabelle runs into no less than two and sometimes as many as five friends when we are shopping on the weekends! I swear she knows everyone at Target!!

back in the pool

We are back in swim class, and thank goodness Cassie brought her camera!

I feel like saying everyone loves swim class, is a TOTAL understatement. The Littles go first, and they both love it, I would venture to say even more than the Bigs did when they were little. Madelyn literally freaks for all things water!

Here is Madelyn in the locker{room} before swimming. HA.

Of course the mommies are in the water with the Littles, so Daddy is going to have to come take some pictures! She splashes her hands, kicks her feet like crazy, blows bubbles like a pro, puts her face in no problem, loves it when the water toys come out and jumps in unassisted. Since I am used to her cautious older sister, it is quite a riot!

After the Littles, it is the Bigs turn...

Here they are sharing secrets before class - how cute is that?

Look how they can multitask - blowing bubbles & kicking their feet!!

The instructors generally let these two practice their skills together.

And here they are preparing to go underwater (note: holding hands) and then coming up!

Thank you Cassie, for catching these memories in pictures!

Little Details

A: Mom, I am drawing Rapunzel

C: okay

A: {as she picks up crayons} I need purple, yellow & ... green!

C: Why green?
A: Rapunzel has green eyes!!!

Show & Tell

Annabelle's Teacher asked if she wanted to do show & tell this week, so she could bring pictures from her trip. Annabelle couldn't have been more excited to have the opportunity to share pictures & stories from Disneyland and I am so glad I was able to attend. When it was time for show & tell, Annabelle jumped up in the chair, went through each picture, and provided her own little explanation. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. Mostly I sat in the back, and videotape the dialogue, but I had to grab a few pictures as well.

Along with the pictures, she brought in a couple princess dolls & for whatever reason, she had packed up everything in her Rapunzel wig box, so here she is showing everyone the box.

Conversation with Madelyn

M: Anna?

Me: Annabelle is taking a nap.

M: Oh

Me: You should be napping too!
M: Yep!

{Did she... NO.}

DISNEYLAND: HUNTINGTON BEACH

We collectively decided that since we had flown all the way out west, that we had to make a trip to the beach. We needed to put our feet in the sand, even if only for 10 minutes, on our way to the airport.

While we were there, we also collectively decided that we needed a beach trip as a family of four! Madelyn hasn't been to a beach yet, and that certainly needs to be fixed!

DISNEYLAND: DAY 3

Unfortunately we woke up to rain puddles outside. We dressed as appropriately as we could (thank you Audrey for teaching me how to layer clothes on Annabelle a few weeks ago!) and headed to the park. Disneyland was staying open until 11pm (midnight for us!) so we were already planning on heading back for naps at some point in the afternoon. It was a little wet, but not actually raining, so I took a handful of pictures...I sure love these two!

And we ran into Ariel...And Cinderella...
And Snow White, but she was with the Queen so forget about a picture! Annabelle wasn't having it!

Then we all got on the Jungle Cruise. Annabelle is a strict rule follower, they told everyone to keep their arms inside the boat at all times - on account of the wild animals we were going to encounter. Every time I would prop my arm on the edge of the boat, she would pull it back in and then scold me for not listening!

Then while Scott and I took turn riding the Indiana Jones Adventure - fabulous by the way - we spotted Jasmine & Aladdin. Annabelle & I actually left the stroller right where Scott left us, and ran off to get a picture, but again, because Aladdin was there, Annabelle was a little timid, and I actually couldn't convince her to get her picture taken. But when I returned from riding Indy, Scott had somehow managed to sweet talk her! Thank you honey!
And then it basically started pouring! We had lunch, bought Annabelle a $7 piece of plastic, I mean poncho, and tried to let it pass, but it wasn't letting up! Annabelle was really trying to make the most of it, but she was miserable, so we headed back to take naps.

When we returned I really didn't take my camera out! We got back around dinner time...headed straight for our favorite rides at California Adventure - Toy Story Mania & the Symphony Swings! Rode them both, a couple more times - yes, I still managed to beat Scott every time through Toy Story Mania (one more time and he might of had me!) Annabelle scored 1000 points her first time through and then 7800 the second time, she was having a blast with it too! Then we watched the 9pm World of Color show, from a higher (better in my opinion) vantage point. Annabelle can definitely rally late into the evening which was part of what made this trip super fun. Rather than falling apart in the evening, she seemed to almost do better and better as the day went on! Once the show finished, we ran (literally) back to Disneyland, to cram in as much as possible...can you guess...yes, at least two more times on the Mad Tea Party! I got a video which is hilarious because it is dark, and therefore extremely hard to see, but you can follow Annabelle because she has her hands up in the air!

We left at 11pm as the park was closing, feeling like we had done it all! And had the ABSOLUTE BEST time doing it!

DISNEYLAND: DAY 2

Day 2 we started early because with our 3 day passes, included a "Magic Hour" i.e. we got in a hour before general admission. We headed for the Nemo ride, it happened to be the only time Annabelle totally freaked out getting on a ride...she really DID NOT like it when she didn't know what was going to happen when she got on a ride...we literally had to get out of line right as we were about to get on. We were able to convince her she would be safe and dry in the submarine. She mustered up the courage, to crank her whole head around so she could check out the submarine before she would even consider boarding. The ride didn't end up scaring her in any way, but I do have to say it was the most ridiculous ride I have ever been on. All of that convincing was a waste in my opinion. I knew they had converted 2000 Leagues under the sea to Nemo, but it was low budget make over - I can't believe I am saying that about anything Disney. Come on there is no underwater volcano in Nemo!!

After Nemo, Scott went to ride Space Mountain before the gates opened, and the lines got crazy. So Annabelle drove me around Autopia. This is one of the rides I remember the most from my childhood visits to Disneyland, so it was super fun & a little nostalgic to drive around with Annabelle.
Next she road the tea cups with Daddy again! And afterwards, she insisted I take her picture in the extra cup!
Then it was time to get in line to visit Rapunzel & Eugene. We clearly were not coming all the way to Disneyland, without meeting these two! Annabelle got a little shy when it was her turn, so I got to meet Rapunzel too! Ha!

Time for some adventure, on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Stopped right in the middle, checking the map to see where we should head next...

Well look at that...we happened to run into Sleeping Beauty right outside her castle! Sleeping Beauty seemed to have some photography skills because after greeting Annabelle, she took her hand, and moved back into a spot with even light. Thank you Sleeping Beauty!

As part of our park passes, we could hop between Disneyland, and California Adventure (which is directly across from Disneyland,) so after our morning at Disneyland, we decided to check out Cali Adventure. This park is new, and actually part of it isn't even opening until next summer. The interesting thing is that everything Annabelle didn't like about the rides at Disneyland, was the exact opposite at California Adventure. See Annabelle is not scared to get the scary rides, she simply wants to be able to know exactly what she is getting herself into before getting on. Well Cali Adventure is set up with rides more like a carnival, so you can see the entire ride from start to finish. She loved it!

Annabelle insisted I take her picture with Ariel.

First we hit "a bug's land" and rode most of the rides over there... no lines, walked right up. Ladybugs instead of tea cups, and Flik's Flyer's instead of Dumbo, but basically the rides she liked in Fantasyland, with no lines! We all so did Tuck & Roll's Drive Em Buggies (aka bumper bugs) which she thought was a lot of fun!

Checking the California Adventure map...to figure out where we would head next!

Coming out of the Little Mermaid ride, Scott makes sure Annabelle carries her own weight...HA.

Ice Cream break on Paradise Pier

Talking about how she will ride California Screamin' when she is 10! Ha!

While Daddy rode California Screamin' we wandered the pier, rode King Triton's carousel at least 3 times....

Did our best action figure imitation!

And like a broken record, we discussed that since she was 100% certain that she wanted a Jessie doll, that as soon as Daddy was done ridding the roller coaster, she could "finally" purchase it with her birthday money from Grandma Suzie. The whole time Daddy wasn't with us, this conversation was on repeat!

Then we tried out Toy Story Mania - my absolute favorite ride! That might have been because I was really good at it? It is more of a carnival style video game competition, than a ride. It was SUPER fun!!

Then Annabelle let me watch Jessie, while she did the Silly Symphony Swings with Daddy (at least three times! are you catching the trend, that if Annabelle liked the ride, she wanted to do it over & over again!) If you ask her about it, she will tell you that she went with Daddy, because Mommy didn't like the swings, and that she sat on the yellow swing, and Daddy sat on the red swing.

Then we all did Goofy's Sky School, which was no shabby roller coaster in my opinion. Annabelle certainly like that one more than Mommy! We have very different taste in rides, I prefer not to know what I am getting myself into, and Annabelle likes to be able to see the entire experience prior to getting on! Quiet funny.

Then on to the Jumpin' Jelly fish with Scott before we headed back to Disneyland for the parade!

This time we sat on Mainstreet for the parade. We had to force a corndog into Annabelle, while we were waiting for the parade to start...eating was an extremely low priority for Annabelle on this trip! It is certainly strange when you are thrilled your daughter ate a corndog & an ice cream cone simply because you know she needs the calories.

After the parade, we headed back to California Adventure for the World of Color show... think a 30 minute Bellagio fountain display with the addition of color, disney music & movie clips projected on the fountains! Very cool. We picked up a fast past, which got us a spot up reasonably close, but honestly it was hard to see, and we got a bit wet from the spray of the fountains. Spoiler allert, Friday night we watched it from much further back, and it turned out to be a better view (and dry!)

We had a tired girl on our hands again (after an 11 hour day!) Annabelle fell asleep in the stroller on our ten minute walk back to the room. So grateful that a friend at work advised me to bring my stroller. Annabelle rarely goes in the stroller anymore, so I didn't even think about it, but she never would have made it running from park to park, and walking to & from the hotel room. Best advice!