Disneyland Day 2

Hailey loving Mr. Toad - before she went on his "Wild Ride" and decided she did not like some of the scary voices. She was funny - she would be totally fine in a ride and show little emotion until the end when she would declare either she liked it or didn't (usually due to dark or scary voices).

We discovered this challenge course at California Adventure and it had a cool rope swing at the end. Symantha was hooked and did it a couple of times - unfortunately Hailey was too short.

Dopey was our first character in a long line of visiting characters - I'll spare you all the MANY pictures I have of them, even though they are so cute! They walked by some of the bad guy characters from movies too (like King John from Robin Hood - not scary in the least), but the girls would have nothing to do with them.

Going through Mickey's house in Toon Town, Hailey was running from thing to thing, trying to make them work although most of it was fake - she would not give up!

Mickey's Go Coaster, which Hailey loved and Symantha did not. Hailey was much braver than Symantha for the most part, although she tried SOOO hard to convince me that she would not be scared at the Haunted Mansion. I had been scared of that myself, so I knew she would hate it! But she begged and begged anyways. I did not let in, though I wanted to just to prove my point!

Our second day was really hot, but we learned a perfect plan for the rest of our trip. We went to the parks in the morning, back to the hotel in the afternoon for some pool time and naps, then back to the parks in the evening until late at night. We saw parades both nights, which the girls loved. Somehow I am thinking the Black Diamond parade might not look so cool to them anymore!

Disneyland, at last! First impressions

We met Mickey within 10 minutes of being in the park - a good beginning!

Our first ride - the rockets. This remained their favorite ride.

Mom, Megan, me, Symantha and Hailey with Mickey

Hailey checking it all out - the sun was just going down and it was beautiful

We were so excited!

I love Disneyland. Yes, there are lots of people and often long lines, but going in November makes that much less of a problem. Even though I had been there 5 or 6 times before, this was my first time taking my own children, which was such a different and wonderful experience! The big girls and I went with my mom and sister (Megan) for 3 nights, and it was such a great trip. Symantha (6) and Hailey (4) were the perfect age for all the magic of princesses, castles, Mickey and Minnie, Tinkerbell, and the other host of characters we were able to see. Plus, it was like stepping back into summer, with 75-80 degree weather - a nice change from the current downpours of Seattle! We missed Daddy and Addison, but Daddy had a work hunting trip and Addi is just not the best age for Disneyland.

I took over 300 pictures and videos (I know, not very many for 4 days, huh? Ha!), so choosing a few to highlight our trip is a little difficult! But I'll break these blog entries into days, and show a few pictures from each.

Halloween girls

Symantha as Dorothy - she couldn't wait to put those ruby slippers on!

Addison, my little flower


Hailey, the bride

We had fun figuring out the girls' costumes this year. It was Addison's first Halloween, and she was such a cute little flower. I loved that cuddly costume, not too cumbersome and she wasn't miserable in it. Hailey was funny about being a bride - she had told Daddy he could be her groom, but then changed her mind because Daddy was already married to Mommy. She said she would find her own groom one day! Symantha loved being Dorothy, especially with the shiny shoes and carrying her little "Toto" in the basket.

Halloween night we ended up "trick or treating" at a few family member's houses, going out to dinner, and then going to a big Event that Camp Berachah was having, with inflatables, games, etc. It was a nice indoor option, and totally free.

So big!

A couple days ago, after Addison's bath, she learned to put her arms in the air to do "So big!" We would ask her how big Addison is and then say "So Big!", which made her raise her arms over and over. The big girls loved this new trick and proceeded to treat Addison as a fun new toy, saying it over and over until the poor little baby's arms had to be exhausted! Each new trick brings her closer to leaving the little baby stage and makes me want to squeeze her a little more tightly.

Hailey's 4!

Having cupcakes with her preschool class on her actual birthday
Eating cake at the Bouncy Place

Ok, I'm about a week late on posting this due to a new fascination with facebook! One can only waste so much time on the computer, but I'm back to having a little more discipline now.

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Hailey-Bailey turned 4 on October 10 and we celebrated with 20 of her little friends at The Bouncy Place. It was a LOT of kids! You kind of assume not everyone will be able to make it, and she has been creating her own "birthday invitations" ever since Symantha had a birthday, so I couldn't tell her no on inviting anyone. But amazingly enough, every single person could make it! Which made for a fun and crazy party. Luckily, the party was at a huge warehouse with a bunch of inflatables, which is much better than in my house!

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According to Hailey, there are specific things that four-year-olds do and don't do. Here is a list of what I have been hearing lately:

1. Four-year-olds do not say "mmmm" when they are eating (which she has done since she was a baby! It happens much less now, but I'm sad to see that little quirk go!). She informed Symantha of this at breakfast this morning.

2. Four-year-olds are not "little girls". She was very offended when a person opened the door for her at Red Robin and said "Here you go, little girl". She is now a big girl, and she talked about it for the next ten minutes.

3. Four-year-olds put their shoes and purse by the door when they come in to the house. She has been carrying a purse that she got for her birthday all over, and it always goes right by mine when we come in to the house. She actually says these things - I hear her while she is taking her shoes off, saying "Four-year-olds put their shoes and purse by the door". Let it be known that I did not teach her these things!

4. Four-year-olds are very brave when they get shots at the doctor's office. She sat in my lap and whimpered, with just a little crying at the end. She could only be that brave because she is four now. Mommy, however, was not that brave as I got tears in my eyes due to how hard she was trying to be a brave four-year-old.

Each day, I hear more about what four-year-olds do and it is cracking me up! We love Hailey at this age, and once again, I wish I could freeze time.

Day 3 and 4 - Victoria and the downside of the cruise

The next day was Victoria, and more beautiful weather.We walked all over, through downtown shopping, the Empress Hotel, Chinatown, and the waterfront. Victoria had a lot more to explore than I had remembered.

This was taking a break in the rose gardens of the Empress Hotel.

Exploring Chinatown

After Victoria, we had another great evening on the ship. But late that night, the weather turned and the water got very choppy. We looked out our window in the morning to see VERY large waves and whitecaps. Up until then we could hardly feel that we were on a ship at all, but by morning we were both seasick. This was totally new for Derek, who does not get sick easily. I wasn't too bad as long as I stayed laying down. SO we pretty much spent the entire day at sea in bed! I guess it kept with the theme of relaxation, but not really what we had in mind! By about 6:00 that evening, things were calming down and we went to a casual dinner. The next morning, it was back to reality. We were missing the kids, so it was good timing! It was still a great trip overall, and we were glad for the time together.

Cruising - Day 1 and 2

Leaving Seattle on Monday - it was so beautiful! Having nice weather was an extra treat, seeing as we didn't expect it at the end of September. This was on the upper deck of the ship, where they had a "Sail-Away party" with music, food, etc.

View looking back towards Seattle on the upper deck

This was our room - we had a desk and little tv area next to where I was standing to take the picture. It wasn't really a bad size, compared to what we had heard!

Our first port, Nanaimo. We walked around a big waterfront park and did some shopping. It is a pretty sleepy town, so it only took a few hours. This left plenty of time for more naps, reading, going in the hot tub, etc. If you can't tell, the theme of this trip was RELAXATION!

Our formal night, at dinner. It was very fun to dress up and eat many different courses without having to worry about paying for them! We went to a different show every night - broadway, comedy, live music, etc.