Mid-Winter Break

We just returned from a 10-day trip to Disneyland and Arizona. Overall, we had a great time, but boy am I glad to be home. Living out of suitcase for a week and a half is too long, especially with three little people in tow. Overall, traveling has become significantly easier. The kids enjoy watching movies, playing on the LeapPads, reading, or coloring on the plane, so long gone are the days of holding a squirmy toddler on my lap.

Daddy taught Matty how to play Sudoku. He's hooked.

The woman sitting next to me and Taylor on the flight had a bird. Yes, a bird. His name was Chewy, and he provided lots of entertainment.

We arrived in Anaheim (land of Mickey Mouse) on Saturday, 2/18. If you know anything about Brayden, you know that he LOVES monorails and trains. We decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel, despite the crazy expensiveness of it, primarily because the hotel pool has two monorail water slides. You can imagine our frustration when we checked in, got to our room, and looked down at the scaffolding around the water slides. ARGH. Thankfully, Brayden was not as bummed out as me and Tommy, and he quickly fell in love with the water slide at the other Disney property (we were given access to that pool while our hotel's slides were being repaired).

I love watching these cuties snuggle when they sleep.

Day #1: Worn out and they haven't even been to the parks yet!

We hit the parks on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Three full days in the parks was exhausting, but the kids were troopers. The weather was not optimal (rain at times, cloudy, chilly) and the parks were super crowded. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in the "happiest place on earth." Ha! I questioned whether the kids had an awesome time, but it's been well over a week since we were there and the kids are still talking about it.

On the first day, we rode the famous "Cars" ride when we first arrived at California Adventure. I sat in between Matty and Brayden, and I was really excited to be with B as he experienced his first big boy ride. Turns out that he hated it! The first thing he said when the ride ended was, "I am never going on that again." And he didn't. He was hesitant to ride anything. He went kicking and screaming on the Little Mermaid ride, and only after he got off of it did he say he would ride it again. Later in the day, we were over in Disneyland and showed Brayden the Thunder Mountain Railroad ride. We stood and watched the roller coaster for several minutes and Brayden proclaimed that he could not wait to ride the railroad. He also agreed to go on Splash Mountain but was traumatized after the big drop at the end. Even still, he said he wanted to go on Thunder Mountain.

Ride #1: Cars Racers

This picture does not do it justice, but B did not enjoy the ride!

It was a cold, rainy day at California Adventure.

Cars ride a second time - note that Brayden and Pop Pop did not join us.

Disneyland, with a Mickey Mouse lollipop.

Splash Mountain - look at Brayden's face! Taylor is ducking behind Tommy.

The following morning, we started in Disneyland and road Thunder Mountain first. When the roller coaster begins, the "train" goes into a dark tunnel and climbs up a hill. Well, that did Brayden in. That was the last ride he rode (with the exception of The Little Mermaid and It's a Small World) for the remainder of the trip. Even when we were in Arizona a week later, Brayden cried when I forced him to ride a kiddie-train at a train park. We all find it so funny that our little adventurous boy has become so guarded/scared in recent weeks (between ski lessons and roller coasters). Of all three children, I would have expected that Brayden would be the most fearless.

The highlight of the week for Brayden was riding the monorail!

Thunder Mountain Railroad - the beginning of the end for little B!

This picture was taken while standing in line for It's a Small World. Brayden was terrified of going on another ride. Bless his heart. He kept asking for his loveys. Bless him. 

We joined the princesses for lunch on the 2nd day at the parks. Brayden did not want to be in any pictures with the pretty girls.

What makes Disney the happiest place on earth? Sundaes as big as your head!

Brayden is smiling here because he was riding the Circus Train.

Disneyland is exhausting.

Taylor rode California Screaming with Tommy and me, which was a huge shock to us. I was so proud of her for trying it, but I don't think she'll be running back to it anytime soon. Matty, on the other hand, rode roller coasters but was not particularly fond of them. Every day when I asked Matty what he wanted to do that day, he answered that he wanted to get character autographs. So basically, we had one child that wanted to ride all the rides, one child that wanted nothing to do with rides, and one child that wanted to chase the characters around the park, begging for an autograph.

On our last day at the parks, we had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.

I pulled out the t-shirts I had made for our trip two years ago, and they all still fit. Matty's was a little tight, so he absolutely refused to wear it for our group pictures.

We waited in line for an hour in order to get Mickey's autograph. Once again, Brayden has no interest in going to Mickey's house, so he waited outside with Grandma and Pop Pop. I was glad to fulfill Matty's wish of getting Mickey's autograph.

I loved sitting behind the kiddos on rides so that I could watch their reactions to things.

Thunder Mountain Railroad - Again!

And again!

Family pic

One of the last rides we rode was Soaring Over the World. Matty expired while we were waiting in line (even with a Fast Pass, it was an hour wait). Disney is not for the lazy!

On Wednesday, 2/22, we flew from Orange County to Phoenix and spent the next six days with my parents and Ryan. Coincidentally, spring training started that weekend. Tommy and Matty went to four games total, Taylor and I went to two, and Brayden only attended one. We also visited our friends Amy and Scott and their daughters Lauretta and Sadie at their hotel in Scottsdale - it had a great pool with a lazy river and water slide, and one afternoon, Sally Kerchner and "Aunt Emily" and family stopped by to visit with us. What I thought would be a relaxing long weekend in Arizona was not all that relaxing, but we still enjoyed being there. It was especially nice to spend time with my dad, who suffered a stroke on 1/14 and is doing amazingly well. He and my mom are in the process of moving into their new house, so it was a little chaotic but nothing we can't handle.

Dippin' Dots with Lauretta and Sadie

Beautiful pool. We also ran into some friends from Newcastle!

We did a little unpacking at my parents' new house.

My dad received an award for being the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy Alumnus of the Year in 2016. We were fortunate to be there as he opened his award.

So proud of this man!

First Day of Spring Training - Giants vs. Reds

The kids love Crazy Voice Uncle Ryan

Amy is one of my favorite gals - she has been such a blessing to me in the past couple of years!

After a long afternoon at the ballpark, Brayden slept through most of dinner. It was probably a good idea that we did not buy him a ticket to any additional spring training games.

Brayden became fast friends with Sally Kerchner. How could he not?

So happy to see my BFF...

... and all of our kids having fun together!

Between the four of us, we live in Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. It was so special to have an afternoon together.

Matty is ready for the World Series rematch - the Cubs vs the Indians

Happiness = baseball, sunshine, friends, family, and beer

These two may get married someday (but Matty has quite a list of suitors interested in him!)

We flew home on Tuesday night. The kids returned to school on Wednesday (yesterday) and we are back into a routine now. I have lots more to blog about but that will have to wait...