Southern California

We finally took our first real family vacation. We spent a full week in Southern California and I had to break it up into a few blogs to make it a little easier to view. There are three blogs about our vacation, so when you are finished with this page click older posts to see the rest of San Diego and click older posts again to see Disneyland.


We decided to visit San Diego area and Disneyland both and try to make the most of our trip to Southern California. We decided to drive which was difficult with small children. We woke the kids up at about 4:30 am and instead of staying asleep like I thought they would they were too excited to sleep. They were giddy and just chatted non stop with each other for like an hour until they finally fell asleep. I couldn't help but enjoy the fact that they were so excited and that all our planning and efforts to make the trip happen would be worth it for them.

The first part of the trip went fairly fast and I really did not mind it, but the part from Mesquite to San Diego felt like it took forever.

We also past a big fire on the way that welcomed us to Southern California. Beck screamed like the whole last hour of the drive and Kiera took her turn on the way back.


We spent the first day visiting Balboa Park, La Jolla Beach and Torrey Pines Beaches and then the evening in Olde Town San Diego. This was probably the most fun for me since the rest of the trip was pushing kids around in strollers, bathroom breaks, snack breaks, waiting in line, bathroom break, waiting in line, snack break, walk, walk, etc.


I loved just relaxing on the beach and watching the kids play. I don't really feel like I needed more time at Disneyland or Sea World, but I could have spent more time at the beach, park and in Olde Town. The weather was beautiful the whole time we were out there and my kids didn't get sick until we got home which were two great blessings I was hoping for since we invested so much in this vacation.


I loved watching their little feet make prints all over the sand.


I am so glad we took time out to have this vacation eventhough they may not remember it all since they are so young.

San Diego

As part of our Southern California vacation, we decided to visit Sea World and the Wild Kingdom Animal Park.
Eli and I both enjoyed watching our kids make memories that we had made ourselves as children at Sea World. I loved watching their faces during the Orca and Sea Lion shows. Beck looks a little disgusted or something, but he was really facinated.

I think their favorite part was feeding the seals and sea lions. They also got to feed manta rays, but I don't think they liked that as much because they had to let them take the food right out of their hands. The also really enjoyed being able to touch the star fish in the tide pools.









For some reason after watching a Veggie Tales episode with Barbara Manatee Eli started calling our kids "Kateness Manatee" Until she would scream "I'm not a tee I'm a princess" and then he started calling Beck "Beckness Manatee". I had to stop and get a picture of them in front of the Manatee statue.

I am glad we decided to go to the Wild Animal Kingdom instead of the zoo.

They were freaked out when we first went to feed the Lorakeets and they all three or four landed on them and tried to drink the nectar from the cups and they both ended up dumping the food all over the ground. Then they cried because they did want to feed the birds, so daddy let them try again. We didn't see everything at the zoo, but we tried to see the more exciting animals like the gorillas, Cheetahs, elephants, Lions, and the little safari ride was nice and relaxing and I enjoyed seeing the animals in a more natural habitat.

Disneyland

We spent three days at Disneyland as part of our Southern California family vacation. This was the first time for our kids and we thought they'd like the special Halloween theme. We accomplished a lot the first day since most lines were a 1/2 hour or less and we even caught the parade and fireworks.

The longest line was the princess fantasy faire and after waiting in line for like an hour Kate had a melt down right as it was her turn to meet the princesses. She got to meet Aurora, Snow White and Belle. She would barely even look at Aurora or Snow White, but Belle finially got her talk. Belle talked to her about how they both loved to read books and their favorite colors and even gave her a flower from the backgroung decor for Kate to keep.

Kate's favorite ride was the tea cups and that beat out Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain (which has a special Halloween theme called Ghost Mountain). Beck's favorite ride was the Whinnie the Pooh ride (that was the last one we went on, so I think that maybe why he picked that one).

Thursday I started to get sick and we spent most of the day at California Adventure. I think if I had to do it over I would not take Beck to the Bugs Life 3d movie. Daddy had to close his eyes most of the time. I didn't like it either. I don't like regular bugs much less giant 3d bugs that spray you in the face with air and water.

Later that night was the Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party and I dressed up as a witch along with Kate and Kiera and Beck dressed up as a skeleton. We got a ton of reactions to his skeleton costume and make-up. Everywhere we went people made comments about how cute he looked. I think my expectations were a little too high for the event because I was kind of disappointed. It could have been just fatigue and irritability from having to walk and push a stoller around all day when I wasn't feeling well, but I also think it is geared more toward older kids. There was trick-or-treating and lots of character greets (if you wanted to wait in really long lines) but there weren't any crafts for kids like I thought. I think the funnest part of that night was the little dance party they had with Sully from Monsters inc. and the Incredibles.

Friday we wrapped up the day at Disneyland and it was very crowded. I think there were a lot of locals there checking out the Halloween theme.

Kiera was a great sport. I had her in the sling most of the time and she got to go on most rides with us. It was a great trip and we got to do everything we wanted to.

The ride home driving straight through wasn't as bad as I thought. I was kind of glad to finally rest instead of spend another whole day walking and pushing stollers around. Unfortunately, Eli finally started to get sick on the way home, but once he got some rest he seemed all better. The kids got sick this week too, but I was just very relieved they waited until we got home so they could enjoy their first trip to Disneyland.

Busy September

We have had a really busy month and here is a quick catch up blog.

Kate started pre-school. Here she is on her first day with some blackberry jam for her show-and-tell/teacher gift. I think Beck was more excited than Kate. He begs to walk Kate into pre-school every time we drop her off. He wants to hold Kate's hand on the way and once we get to the room he is very curious and wants to linger. He keeps saying he is five and in kindergarten. We went camping over labor day weekend. Camping with toddlers is the worst because they are constantly triping and falling in the dirt. Beck enjoyed the toys his aunt Emma brought. It didn't seem like he enjoyed camping, but he said the best part was the roasted marshmallow (he doesn't even get to have the whole s'more, but he still loves the marshmallows anyway).

In September I also had a baby shower for my sister. I decided to make one of those diaper cakes and I think it turned out pretty cute. I kind of went with things to soothe baby as the theme.

I was pleased with how everything turned out. We had a lot of people and it would have been nice if my house was just a little bigger to accomodate everyone. I was just glad to finally get my house in order. My basement is still not technically finished, but I went ahead and set up the play room anyway. I am so glad to finally get rid of all the clutter from toys in every corner.

With all of this going on I still make a lot of jams from my blackberry bush. I felt too guilty letting them go to waste. Kate loved helping mom make a blackberry pie and at the end I let her eat the dough scraps with the leftover filling.

My neighbor gave me a bunch of peaches, so we also made some peach tarts and peach pies. I am kind of relieved my neighbor cut down all the grapes and my tomatoes aren't turning out so well so I have excuses not to have to can anything else. It is too hard with the baby to have the time I need to get it all done.

We went with Kate to the fish farm for one of her pre-school field trips. Kate and Beck each got to feed the fish and catch a fish and later that night we ate the fish for dinner.

I am sure October will be just as busy as September, so I will probably be blogging once a month instead of once a week.

Funny kids

My kids love stickers and I have been using them as incentives for good behavior and to motivate Beck to use the potty. The other day as I was sweeping the kitchen floor Beck said, "mom you could get a sticker for sweeping" Then later that day he said, "you could get a mommy sticker for being nice to Kiera".

Beck has seemed so grown up with the way he has been communicating. He has been saying things like "________ makes me so mad!"

Beck has also been talking about his cousin Riley saying things like
"Riley's mom has a baby in her tummy"
"Riley says I'm a genius"

"Riley says I look like Josh"

I was thinking to myself how it has been over a month since Riley visited and I didn't realize they really conversed this much while he was here. Beck continuted with the Riley comments.

"Riley says I'm impossible" this statement caught my attention, so I asked what impossible meant and Beck responded, "It means I'm tired" Then Beck started saying Riley does this and Riley does that and it finally occured to me that Riley is his imaginary friend. I told Eli about his new friend Riley and Eli told me that he was aware of it and that he also had one named Tom.

It caught me off guard a little probably because I didn't think 2 year olds had imaginary friends. Too bad Riley can't teach him to go potty like a big boy.

Kate was sick this week and didn't get to start pre-school yet, but she has been carrying her backpack around with her everywhere saying "see ya later I'm going to school.

I asked Kate to get me a toy for the baby and this is what she brought

It is nice to have some entertainment during the days to break up the monotony

baby milestones

I haven't really posted much of the baby, so I thought it was about time. She is now 4 1/2 months old and has reach a few developmental milestones. She rolled over the day before she turned 4 months. She loves to spit and she cracks us up when she spits at her brother and sister when they get too close and she doesn't want to be bothered. she has discovered her hands and feet and loves to stare at them and play with them. She has been playing with toys for quite a while already and is very good at manipulating them.

She doesn't shreak or make a lot of noise, but she does sigh a lot when she is relaxing in the tub or when she has become bored with a toy etc. She loves watching her brother and sister run back and forth and loves when they talk to her and tell her stories. Beck is still learning how to be soft and today I caught him plugging her nose. Here are some of my favorite pictures I have taken lately.

I love this one of the sisters

Kiera loves to sleep with her arms behind her head

She sleeps from about 9pm until 4am, so I am happy with that and I think it will get even better when she finally gets to eat some solid food.

She is getting the cutest little fuzz on the top of her head. I love it. I was worried she would have nothing for her first couple years except the wierd patch on the back of her head near the nape of her neck.

It is definitely harder to keep up with the picture taking with the third. I see why a lot of middle children don't have many baby pictures and I don't want to let that happen.

Finished basement

I was going to wait to post pictures of our newly finished basement because we still have to finish the bathroom and we still need to furnish it as well. It is so nice to be able to walk down stairs and feel brand new soft carpet on my feet instead of the cold cement. I am very happy with how it turned out and the colors we picked. It is a small addition, but it will allow my son to have an actual bedroom instead of a crib shoved into our messy office. We will have one room be the office and wash room since that is where the washer and dryer have to be and the other room will be a playroom for now. Then eventually we will have a bathroom finished as well. We still have some touch up painting and need to put everything back together before we can actually use it and I am getty antsy about being able to use the space. Eli worked so hard and learned a lot. He did great work especially considering it was his first time and he really didn't have much help.

Before:

During:

After:

I think it is a pretty dramatic transformation. The red is called Mexican Chili pepper which took 3 coats and the orange which took two coats (not including primer) is called copper river both Behr paint. Too bad the nicest and cleanest spot in the house is the basement that no one sees.