::jan ca trip--a little disney::

Part of the point of this California trip so that I could run a 10K at Disneyland.  So on Friday morning we drove up to Anaheim and got all registered for the event--which of course was a big pain and took forever--and checked into a family suite at a hotel across the street.

After we tried to rest for a while (we being Kris and I) and the kids bounced around us like beach balls we got ourselves together and went over to the park for just a little while.

Max really wanted to go on the Tower of Terror, and Kris agreed to accompany him.  When we got up to the gate we realized that Sandy was tall enough to ride.  And boy did he ever want to ride.  Much to Max's chagrin (I remember that feeling as the oldest sibling) Sandy got invited along on the scary ride and Lucy and I were left at the gate to hang out together.



We waited a long time but we were ok with it.  I was a little nervous about Sandy being scared, so I stuck around the exit.



He loved it.  He was so proud of himself for riding and they all had so much fun together.


After that we went over to Ghirardelli and shared a couple of hot fudge sundaes.  Mmmmm boy are those good.  We wanted to show Kris how good they were.

That was it for the park last night--again much to Max's chagrin--he had so many good ideas about what we could do next.  The kids and Kris went back to the hotel and I got to go browse the makeup store at Downtown Disney for a while.  It was really nice for me.

And when I came back this is what I found.  So sweet.  If only she'd stayed asleep for the rest of the night after that.......

::jan ca trip--san clemente part 1::

The first night after we arrived in California we stayed in a scenic little hotel in San Clemente, right by the water.  This hotel was so cute and the view was so great, but dang the hotel room was way too small!

The only good thing about the room was that there was a little closet that was just the right size for Sandy's little camping pad and Star Wars sleeping bag.  Oh, and the pillow that I brought that happened to have a Star Wars pillow case.  The last time we tried to get him to sleep in a closet (the last closet was HUGE) he was so mad about it.  He absolutely refused and was really offended.  This time with the "Star Wars bed" he was so happy, and once I got him lying down he even asked for me to "close the door of my room."



So anyway, everybody slept better that night.



Kris got up early and went out to try to do some surfing.

We had a great view, but I didn't get to watch much with all my kids running around the lawn.  I just had to try to keep them quiet since all the little units around us were filled with older people that probably wanted peace and quiet.

So I took the kids on a walk down the pier.



It was really gorgeous out there with the sun rising. Sandy was enjoying watching the SoCal Amtrak go by.  Evidently somebody taught him to cross his fingers when he sees a train go by.  So he did.  It wasn't me.



He's so cute.  And such a stinker.



The kids were driving me crazy on the pier though.  All they wanted to do was run screaming at seagulls and scare them away.  Again, there were a lot of old people trying to take quiet morning walks in the ocean air.  I figured they weren't that excited about running screaming boys.  So I was basically chasing them and shushing them the whole time.  Oh well.



And then of course when we got back they had bird poop all over the cuffs of their jacket sleeves from touching everything they possibly could.  Ew.

But they had fun and it kept them occupied for a while.  And I really enjoyed the view.


I could probably sit there and watch the waves forever.



We packed up and headed out to our next thing. It was just the beginning!

::january california road trip::

We usually try to take a family trip (usually we're hoping for a relaxing vacation, but that doesn't always happen so that's why I say trip) in the early part of the year, after the craziness of the office during Christmas break and the other holidays.

Anyway, a couple of years ago we went on a Disney cruise.  That was fun.  Last year we didn't really take a longer trip, just a few small ones over Jan & Feb.

This year we went to California for a few different things.

We drove.  It's always fun with littles.

We left on Wednesday night after work--late as always.  We drove to a town an hour outside of Phoenix.  We had a rough night.  We got in pretty late and we were hoping the kids would just go to sleep.  But Max and Sandy decided to have a big fight in the lovely hotel sized double bed they were sharing.  There was some fake snoring by Sandy, covers stealing by Max.  All the good stuff. Lots of crying.

Both boys ended up sleeping the whole night on the floor and of course Lucy got waked up.  It was a long night, not much rest.

In the morning we headed into Phoenix to the car dealership where we got our new car so we could get an additional key made in case we ever get locked out.  We thought it would take a few minutes but it ended up taking almost 3 hrs.

So we had to drive around Phoenix in a loaner car with all the kids stuffed in the back making up errands.

Sandy lost it at some point.



Bah!!! BAH!! BOOO HOOO!!!!
That's what happens when you fight all night instead of sleeping little kid!



So anyway, after we got the car back we made it to our place in California after dark.  Phew.

::little girl in a big dress::

This is Lucy's Christmas dress.  I loved this cute little dress so much when we found it at Target that I ended up building everybody's Christmas church outfits around it.



And when she finally wore it she looked SO cute.  And the skirt was so big and fluffy, and her little feet stuck out from under.



I just couldn't stop taking pictures of the cute little thing.







She's such a good sport and she has such adorable little fat legs.

::the girls dec 2014::

And just for fun we got a few photos of just us girls--with our coordinated outfits.  I worked hard to find something dark blue and gold so I could look at cute as Lucy.

We're good buddies, I love this little stinker.

::all of us dec 2014::

And here are even more people added to the mix.  Even less of a chance of getting everybody looking cute/appropriate/awake/etc.

But it so doesn't matter.  It's real and it's us.  And though us drives us nuts sometimes, us is great.

::the kiddos dec 2014::

Here are the kiddos in their Christmas church outfits. Since we were gone to Tuba Christmas the sunday before the actual holiday, we had to get all fancy for the Sunday after.

The best way I can sum up this series of photos is this:

Poor Lucy

Silly me for thinking it would be possible to get everybody looking cute/normal/acceptable/in focus/well-behaved at the same time.

Looks like the best was last.  Aren't these kids cute?  Goofy sure, but also dang cute.

::luke skywalker::

After church Sandy got dressed in his PJs and then he needed to turn into Luke Skywalker.  He really wanted Kris to find the skiing ninja hood, but I guess all Kris could find was the helmet and goggles.  So then Sandy was Luke with the blast shield down.



He felt awesome and wore the helmet for hours while humming his Star Wars theme music.  And wearing his super Sandy cape of course.

Yes, he's hilarious.

::skiing::

Kris finally succeeded in dragging me up the mountain for my first lesson.

But first I told him all my complaints and concerns from the one other time I went and he addressed all of them.  I wasn't cold, hungry or pushed beyond my comfort zone at any time.  And my feet didn't hurt.  So that was nice!

Here I am going up the "magic carpet" to the top of the bunny hill.


I was pretty scared to get started, and all the time that we spent learning to clip in and out of the skiis and duck walking up tiny slopes only made me more apprehensive.  When I got on the little hill suddenly I felt like the skis were something I could control and it was fun!

I did a good enough job that the teacher left the class and took me and another girl up the lift onto the real ski run.  It was a little scary, but I figured out the turns and I was good to go.  I didn't fall down getting on or off the lift, which was amazing because really last time I went skiing it seemed like all I did was fall down.  All the time.

So all in all it was a positive experience for me.





That's the teacher.  He wanted to pose for a photo-op.

While I was learning, Kris took the kids on a snowy adventure.



Lucy is SO adorable in that hat.  She was very patient.



"Dad I found a snowball!!"



Sandy loves to make snow angels, he sometimes even makes them on the kitchen floor, so this was extra fun.



Max came up to me after my lesson and I couldn't even recognize him in that getup.



So there you go, and to give myself some credit I wasn't too prideful to admit I had a good time.  We'll see how I do next time.  I was pretty proud of myself.