Disneyland Trip

Oh Disneyland. There is no place quite like you in the world! The kids were so excited to get to Disneyland and California "Venture". We decided to spend three days there - one day at California Adventure and two days at Disneyland. The first day we spent at California Adventure. It was a great day, and not too terribly busy. We were really excited for this trip because Claire was finally tall enough to go on the majority of the rides. She kept talking a big game about how she wanted to go on Tower of Terror and how she wasn't afraid at all. I have NEVER seen her that afraid. Ever. Her face was literally shaking. But, to her credit, she did it! She didn't want to get off early, but she certainly didn't want to go on it again! Lilly's highlight of the day was getting to meet Doc McStuffins. It was really cute to see her get so excited! Lilly watches Doc every single morning, sleeps with a stuffed Doc, has Doc jammies, toys....you get the point. It was fabulous seeing her! It was a really fun day, and the favorite rides for the girls were Radiator Springs (Claire's favorite), and Soaring over California and California Screamin (Lilly's favorite)!!

Our next two days were spent at Disneyland. It was a little disheartening about how busy it was. But, even though it was busy, we were able to get on every ride we wanted to. It was just a little overwhelming to have such big crowds in the middle of the week. Thank goodness for the Fast Pass system though, that really saved us. One thing that stood out to me this time is how scary some of the rides are. They were of course a little more spooky this time because it was near Halloween, but it was still kind of surprising. Lilly likes spooky and crazy rides, but Claire...not so much. Because of nerves and fear, Claire chewed her fingernails like crazy. She chewed them so much they were bleeding. Poor little thing. She refused to go on Pirates a second time because of how scary she thought it was! The favorite rides from Disneyland were Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain (Claire's favorites), and Space Mountain and Splash Mountain (Lilly's Favorites). Speaking of the Haunted Mansion...holy smokes it is darling at Halloween!! We love Nightmare Before Christmas, so we thought that was absolutely darling! We love Disneyland, but I think we are going to take a few years off. 

The parks were fun, but the highlight was being with family. We loved every minute of being with them! The girls really missed their cousins once we got home. They have so much fun with them, and we feel so lucky that our girls have such sweet, darling little cousins. I've said time and time before, I am so thankful for the friendship we have with Nicole & Jeremy. We are lucky to call them Family!!

Beach time!

The week before Halloween, we surprised the girls and took them to California. The thing they were most excited for was to be with cousins. We had planned a trip with Anton's sister Nicole and her little family. It was SO fun! Crazy to think that this was the first family trip I have been on with Anton's family, and we have been married for almost 9 years. We loved being with them and can't wait for the next trip we go on with them! 

One of our girls very favorite things is the beach. They could play in the sand and waves for hours. Claire is a little more timid (no surprise!) when it comes down to getting in the water. She likes it when the waves start coming....she screams, runs and giggles as the water gets her legs and feet! Lilly loves the waves. She is just like her daddy - loves to splash and swim in the ocean. It is fun for me to see Anton in his element. Growing up right on the beach, you can tell that is where he is the most comfortable. I love watching my family at the beach. There is no electronics, no fighting...just memories being made. I love it. The kids kept wanting me to bury them, and I was more than happy to! I figured it won't be too many years until they won't be interested in that. Love all these little kiddos!! 

Fall Fun

We have had the most unbelievably beautiful fall I can remember. It has been so warm and sunny during the day, with crisp evenings. I hate winter, so I will take all the beautiful warm weather we can get! We did lots of fun fall activities this month. We ended up buying a Lagoon season pass this year, but bought it a little later than we usually do, so we tried to go this fall as often as we could. It was really fun, and the kids had a blast every time we went. We laugh at how ghetto Lagoon can be, but the rides are actually really fun and more importantly it is a fun thing for our little family to go do. We hope that the girls will look back and remember the fun memories of us going there. Claire is finally getting to the age where she can go on some of the big rides, so that makes it fun. And, Lilly loves to go on everything. She is a total adrenaline junkie! Anton and I feel like we are getting so old, because now all the crazy rides make us super queazy. I am not sure if we will get a pass for next year, but we sure did have fun this year!

Over fall break we met up with my mom, sister and her kids for a couple of outings. The first one we went to was Gardner Village. It was darling, but busy. The kids had fun doing the witch scavenger hunt, and had the most fun being with cousins. The next outing was to the Pumpkin Patch. I have gone to this particular pumpkin patch with the girls preschool class for the last several years, and I love it. This particular day was the most perfect fall day. We stayed there for a couple of hours. We loaded up on pumpkins, and the kids went through the corn maze at least a dozen times. It was so fun. I always have such a fun time with my mom and sister. We have the same sense of humor and always laugh when we are together. I am so grateful for them, and for the fun memories we are creating with our little ones. It has certainly been one beautiful and fun fall!

Claire

Oh, Clairey. If I could keep her at this age forever, I would. I can't handle her cuteness. Truly, I snuggle on her all day long. I think she gets tired of me always asking for hugs and kisses. She makes us laugh every single day, and has such a unique and funny personality. Everyone adores Claire, and thinks she is so funny. She doesn't really understand why people always laugh at her, and I told her it is only because she is so cute. I think Lilly sums it up best, "I am so glad Claire is in our family. She is so cute and funny". Well said Lilly, well said. This is what Claire is up to at 4 1/2:
*She changes day to day about liking Batman to liking Disney Princess dolls...you never know what she is going to like!
*She loves school, and strangely loves the homework she comes home with. I think it is because she likes doing what Lilly does.
*She still sucks her thumb...even though she isn't supposed to!
*Her favorite friends are her cousins. But her very best friend is Lilly.
*She lives off of Chicken Nuggets, Pizza, Mac-N-Cheese...and as of recent, Bean Burrito from Cafe Rio!
*She is super random. She says and does the most random things that always make us laugh!
*She loves to take bubble baths in the morning. She could stay in them for an hour.
* She is a wild woman on her bike. She goes so fast down our driveway, it scares me.
* She is a scaredy cat. Anything somewhat spooky throws her over the edge. She is always hesitant to try things, but once she does it she generally loves it. For example: water slides, rides at lagoon, etc.
* She HATES going to the store. I have to bribe with candy or something fun in order to get her to go with me. I kind of don't blame her for that!
* She is starting to read. The books are really simple, but the important thing is that she has a desire to read and thinks it is fun. I am really proud of her!