A DAY AT DISNEYLAND

Last week we took the kids out of school one day and spent the day at Disneyland. It was a great day to go -- the weather was great.....not too hot, not too cold......and it wasn't too busy. By afternoon time there were some long lines, but it was definitely a lot better than a summer day.

We got there right when it opened and walked right onto Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. We then headed to the Mark Twain Riverboat.....


After the Riverboat we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then to Adventure Land for The Jungle Cruise and Tarzan's Treehouse.

As we were slowly riding along in the Jungle Cruise Rena announced "this is my favorite ride because so far I have liked....ZERO.....of the rides we have gone on". Cameron agreed with Rena while Maleah was begging to go back over and ride Big Thunder Mountain again. Apparently Maleah is our only ride girl!

Everyone liked Tarzan's Treehouse.......

Taking a break -- Maleah poses, Cameron acts like he's asleep and Rena is planning our day......

After the treehouse it was time for lunch. A friend of Jeff's got us tickets to eat in Club 33 inside of Disneyland. Club 33 is "Disneyland's Luxe Hideway".

Here's what Disney says about it :

"If you're a frequent visitor to Disneyland Park, you've probably walked by it a dozen times and never given it a glance. Or maybe you've heard rumors among Disney fans about a fabulous place hidden away somewhere in the park, a glamorous club where celebrities hobnob and delicious aromas fill the air. Well, the rumors are true. Tucked away in New Orleans Square behind a tasteful but inconspicuous door, just next door to the Blue Bayou, is the entry to a little joint called Club 33. Club 33 was first conceived of by Walt Disney himself. He wanted a place where he could entertain personal friends and VIPs and show off his beloved Disneyland. To that end, he imagined a luxurious private club in the space above Pirates of the Caribbean and the Blue Bayou restaurant, lavishly furnished and offering the finest cuisine."

So, here we are......at the door to the "secret club" (as we told the kids)......

Headed to the dining room......

In the dining room.....


On the balcony......


The view from the balcony.....

After a delicious lunch we headed to Mickey's Toontown, but stopped in Fantasyland first to ride the King Arthur Carrousel.......

After stopping to watch Mickey's Soundsational Parade we finally made it to Toontown.....

Goofy's house......

Minnie Mouse and her house......

After the girls and I stood in line to see Minnie, Jeff & Cameron just happened to walk by right when it was our turn. The guys taking pictures were nice enough (and insisted) that Jeff & Cameron hop over the front gate and have a family picture taken with Minnie.....

Inside Minnie's house.....

After Toontown we headed to Tomorrowland for the Jedi Training Academy and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters......

.....and Autopia......

Finally, to end our time in Disneyland we rode the Disneyland Railroad back to the main gate......

Before calling it a day we headed over to the Disney California Adventure Park. We had dinner, cotton candy, rode "Soarin' over California" and watched a light show.

Here's everyone at the end of the day still going strong (and still wanting their picture taken)......

Cameron sharing his cotton candy with Donald Duck (he wasn't as willing to share with me!).....

"Soarin' over California" ended up being everyone's favorite ride. When we first got the tickets for it Rena and Cameron did NOT want to go on it and I even considered sitting out with them. BUT after we convinced (insisted) that everyone go on it we were glad we did. We all loved it!

After the last ride we found a place to sit and wait for the "World of Color" light show......

It was a cool show, eventhough we sat on the wrong side and didn't see half of the actual show. The water and the colors were still cool.

By the time the show was over we were all ready to head home.

It was a FUN FUN FUN day and well worth skipping school for! :)

SEA WORLD ADVENTURE

Last Tuesday all of the 1st grade classes took a fieldtrip to SeaWorld. Unfortunately, it rained!! (I know those of you in Seattle reading this aren't going to have much sympathy for us). BUT, it was cold and miserable. OK, miserable is a bit of an exageration, but it was cold!

Here is my group -- Rena, Ashlyn, Simone and Taylor.....

Here are the girls being miserable (oh wait.....I was the one that was miserable -- they were actually having fun!) :) .....

My lighting sucks, but look at these goofy girls that I spent the day with......

We found a dry place to eat lunch. I was hoping the girls would just want to stay here for the rest of the day, but NOPE......we had to see more!

Luckily SeaWorld has quite a few indoor exhibits......

Our last stop of the day -- the outdoor tide pools.....

And then, as we were walking to the busses to head back to school the rain stopped and the sun came out......figures! :) Oh well, at least the girls had a fun time!

BREAKFAST

Here's what happens when you leave a 5 year old and a 7 year old in charge of breakfast -- eggo's loaded with butter, whipped cream and sprinkles......

Oh, and a really big fork to eat it with.....

Not the healthiest, but atleast they did it all themselves! They are getting to be such big girls! :)

A FEW THINGS

We haven't been doing too much in the past couple of weeks, but here are a few things......

The girls joined a cheer class. They are really excited and can't wait to walk in the Oceanside Independence Day Parade with their squad......

We've started getting together after school one day a week with some of the kids' friends and their moms (& sisters) to just "hang-out". The last two weeks have been really nice so we've loaded up gear and food and headed to the pool.

Here's Cameron outside the pool getting ready to jump in and the girls playing with their friend Grace. Grace is in the 4th grade and is Max's (a friend of Cameron's) sister. Rena and Maleah think Grace is sooooooo cool! Luckily Grace thinks the girls are fun and doesn't mind when they hang all over her in the pool.......

The pool is really a great place to go (on warm, sunny days) -- not only can the kids keep themselves entertained for a good 3 hours, but we can take snacks and hot dogs and eat dinner there (no cooking or mess at home), the kids can shower and put on pj's there and the kids get to see and play with LOTS of kids......we ran into at least 10 other kids from school there last week.

Rena surfing......

Last week Maleah was student of the month! Here she is at Friday Flag getting her award from the principal and her teacher. Way to go Maleah.....