Sometimes, happy. Madelyn is a night owl...she can survive on minimal sleep and still wake up smiling.
Sometimes as though they didn't get any sleep at all.
And, sometimes I wonder if they got any sleep at all...
Our sweet grandma watches the kids every other Friday. If you look closely you will see that she has a black eye. She obtained this while watching my sweet children. Now we all know that 3 sweet little girls couldn't have caused such an accident. However, our latest addition...Mr. Oats definitely could. You see our tiny dog has a habit of taking the kids shoes, toys, stuffed animals, etc. Last Friday Oats took off with one of the girls beloved stuffed animals. Grandma Rett to the rescue! She chased after that little dog and sure enough he dropped the animal. Now for the problem...Grandma Rett has to stop as quickly as the stuffed animal did...no go. The ground became much closer than it had been just a few seconds before. Down, down, down... I still can't figure out how her right eye was the first thing to hit but some things cannot be explained. All we can say is that her glasses broke but the stuffed animal was unscathed. Thank you Grandma Rett for your loyal service and love for all things stuffed. We would be toyless without your efforts.
The word "mom" means a lot of things to me.
and they adore her.
She was a little short to look over the bumper pads. That blur on the right is Gracie.
Round and round.
I do not recommend Gracie's strategy of getting down. However, Maddie jumping on the side of the thing didn't give her much of a choice. They thought it was hilarious. Believe it or not...they did this same thing several times.
I could not believe how tall some of the blow up toys were. Here we have Aeva at 40 feet in the air while Maddie tries to help her. What do you do if your child gets stuck? Do they expect my dainty little self to start climbing? Not sure if this air thingy has a weight capacity. I guess I should have checked that out before I let my 2 year old start climbing. Thank goodness for nice big sisters.
This is another fun little trap. Once you go in, there is no return until you come out the other side. I was lucky enough to catch Aeva before she entered this one. I would have never seen her again. The older two, however, didn't mind being trapped for a few minutes.
And of course you have to ride the horse that only works some of the time. Half the fun is figuring out how many tokens you will have to put in before it decides to work. Aeva was willing to put in as many tokens as it took. That smile was well worth it.
You will have to disregard the blur in this picture. I had to post it because it has somewhat of a retro look. Don't ya think? I mean who in the world has neon, glow-in-the-dark, hoola hoop carpet? I also enjoyed the random children that would come up half way through the air hockey game, with the paddles from the other table, and help you win (or lose) your game.
And finally, the scariest part of the entire trip. The departure. This is where you try to prevent your kids from getting run over by moving cars while they try to ride their bikes between all of the parked cars. "Oops! Sorry about that 8 foot scratch down the side of your car." I guess that is the down side to living at the end of a culdesac...my children have no idea how to act or what to do if a car heads for them. We'll have to work on that one.
Aeva decided to try on a few outfits prior to our departure. I think she is on the right track with Snow White.
I never knew the shuttle ride to the airport could be so exciting.
We're off to Disneyland!!! Grandma Carole made "travel bags" to keep them entertained on the flight. Thank goodness for grandmas!
The center of Disneyland...My girls dream of living in the castle. What princess wouldn't?
If you are a small girl between the ages of 2 and 10...the Disney characters are about as much fun as the rides.
We went to the Blue Bayou one afternoon for lunch. We were celebrating some family birthdays...the whole reason for the trip (or at least that is what we told ourselves). The kids, and a few adults, ended up with these pirate hats.
Happy Birthday Ms. Aeva...in July.
Happy Birthday, Gracie...in 2 weeks!
The girls got $25 Disneyland gift cards from their grandma for Christmas. Gracie and Aeva had no problem finding something to buy. Princess dresses were on the top of their lists.
Boo's door from the movie Monster's Inc.
Does this seal make my butt look big?
You can't see it very well but the witch from Sleeping Beauty is in the window behind the girls. They would make incredible actresses.
There was a High School Musical 3 float running around through the park. Maddie became "the star." Her dream has come true...she now prefers to be called, Gabriela.
I managed to contain them in a Toy Story box for a few minutes while I sat down. Disneyland is a very big place. I eventually let them out.
Gracie has yet to figure out that sun glasses go under your hair. I had to take advantage of this moment...for her posterity.
When you wish upon a star...Disneyland fireworks are one of my favorite things.
"A" is for Aeva.
"G" is for Gracie.
Lunch at Joe's Crab Shack...another favorite spot. If you look out the window, you will see the Pacific Lake. Long story...to sum it up, I am an idiot. "Hey, Troy...what lake is that?" You can guess his response.
Aunt Kati is another favorite spot.
We entertained ourselves with the napkins. I had no idea that Aeva would insist on carrying this around with her for the rest of the trip. She was very impressed with my drawing of her.
Our second Happy Birthday treat. Gracie is particularly interested in desserts.
Maddie drew a crab and named it after me...an honor.
And finally, we made it to the beach. My girls LOVE the beach. It takes a military force to remove them from the sand at the end of the day. I can't say that I blame them. I like it too. What can beat waves, sand, warm sun, and lots of junk food?
We even managed to find a lady bug that took a particular liking to Maddie.
I love this picture. I think we'll do it again.