Photo Dump

I'm getting complaints from grandmas about not updating this thing so I said I would do a photo dump of the kids. So here you go! This dates all the way back to Chase's birthday so.....yeah.

 This girl. We had some rough times over the fall.

 Halloween

 Our pumpkins. L-R oldest to youngest.

 Our new piano. Well not new, actually extremely old but new to us!

 Handsome men!

 Elfie came back! Christmas time.

 And brought a new toy! Little People Nativity

 I mean seriously. I love this kid.

 A little light reading.

 This is why Logan needed a haircut.

 After his first haricut! So handsome.

 Our kids think Elfie is hilarious. I take that as a compliment!

 Carly loaded the dishwasher all by herself and did a pretty darn good job!

 Emily got glasses!

 7 months!

The kids with their Santa gifts. The hoops we went through to get this Barbie baby doctor. Holy cow.

 What four year old doesn't need a 7 foot long stuffed rattlesnake?

 

 Setting up and organizing her gifts. Not at all like her mom used to do. ;)

 Too much handsomeness.

 Carly REALLY wanted to open presents.

 We got my dad this signed Fran Tarkenton jersey. His childhood hero.

 Seriously.

I'll stop here because I'm tired. :)

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Okay, so about three months ago we surprised our kids with a trip to Disneyland!! It was quite possibly the best trip we've ever been on.

After we returned I had MANY people ask a lot of questions about taking young kids and small babies to Disneyland. Was it hard? Were you actually able to do anything? Was it worth it? Etc. I had planned to write this whole post with details of my tips but then it sat half finished for two months so I'll give you the abbreviated version. I'll preface this entire post by saying that our kids were 5, 3, 2, and 3 months old at the time of our trip. 4 kids vs 2 adults. Sounds fun right? ;)

This 5 day trip was the first trip out of state we have taken completely on our own with our kids. We planned, paid for, and executed it entirely ourselves. It felt so good. Who would have thought it took taking our kids to Disneyland to finally feel like grown ups!!

• Plan ahead-kids take planning. Just a fact. I am a planner by nature but I really feel like it makes for a more successful vacation. Plan your schedule, check park hours, weather, and ride closures (to prepare kids if their favorite ride is closed), take the time to think about what to pack, what you will need while you're in the park, food, etc.
• When to go-for us it was more important to go when it was least busy even though it meant shorter park hours and not as much entertainment. Decide what is important to you and choose your dates accordingly
• Where to stay-I don't understand why anyone stays farther than across the street from the entrance. I just really don't. I guess you can save some money but when you factor in the time (and hassle) of riding a shuttle it just doesn't seem worth it to me.
• How to travel-because we live close enough to drive or fly we could choose. Not everyone has a choice. We planned to rent a van and after comparing costs we would save about $200 to drive. Not a huge savings. But the thought of Robert and I wrangling four car seats, stroller, pack and play, multiple suitcases, multiple carry-on bags, plus 4 kids through an airport made me want to break into hives. And flying doesn't really save much time. So we decided to drive.
• Strollers-our two youngest would definitely be needing strollers. Because of shorter park hours we opted to not return to our room for naps but also knew our 2 year old would need a little snooze to stay her happy self. We have a double stroller but it's a monstrosity and not the easiest to navigate through crowds. We decided to take 2 strollers-one umbrella for the 2 year and our larger single stroller for the baby and all our gear. Worked perfectly.

The day before we left I picked up the rental van and after the kids were asleep we loaded it up. We woke the kids up early and sat them on the couch. We told them to go potty and get your shoes on because WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!! The oldest two didn't believe us and the 2 year old yelled "YAAAAYYYY!!!!!" It was a fun surprise.

Driving to Disneyland is about 10 hours for us. I made treat bags for the 3 oldest kids. Every two hours they got to choose one. They were in colored bags so they couldn't see what was inside. Each one had a small toy/book/etc, a sweet treat, and a healthy treat. I also made a map for Emily that has a road, a small movable car, and photos of landmarks along the route. Every time we would get to the next landmark she would move the car. It definitely helped with the "Are we there yet?" questions. And was educational at the same time.

Once we got there and checked into our hotel, we just went to dinner and then got to bed early so we'd be rested for DISNEYLAND!!


*I'm going to post each day individually (with lots of pics) and then at the end of the post I'll do a little recap of what we did that day-for my own memory and to those I'm sending this to that wondered how much we were able to realistically do in a day. And I will say we didn't hurry AT ALL. :)

Disneyland - Day 1

Park hours for the duration of our trip were 10:00am-8:00pm. Since leaving the park to go back to our room for naps would waste about 4 hours of the day we decided to just stay open to close. It gave us time in the morning to not have to rush and still get to the park by opening. So that's what we did every day.

 

Chase didn't want to wake up.

Waiting for opening

Halloween time!

All of our kids had immediate meltdowns as soon as we walked in the gate. Off to a good start!

First stop. Princesses. While in line the family behind us was someone that Robert grew up with. Small world at Disneyland.

In hindsight we should have waited to do the princesses until Carly had a little experience with characters. She was scared of the princesses but after she discovered that they were fine she never had a problem with any characters the whole trip.

I was a little bummed she was so scared because she LOVES Ariel.

I am convinced this Snow White is the REAL Snow White. She was identical to the movie in her mannerisms and the way she spoke.

 

This is the first time we have gone to Toontown. Not a fan. The first day of our vacation it was about 98 degrees and there is literally NO shade in Toontown. There's not a ton in Disneyland all together but especially in Toontown. As you can tell by everyone's red faces!

By the afternoon we were absolutely melting. I took Carly and Logan in the shade while Carly slept because I was truly on the verge of passing out. I sat on a bench on the side of the castle while Robert took Emily and Chase on some rides. We decided to just stay there since we had a bench in the shade and watch the parade. So I spent about 3 hours sitting on a bench. :) But it was so hot I didn't care. The heat really slowed us down this day.

Emily decided when she grows up she wants to be a dancer in the Disneyland parade.

Day 1
Breakfast at McDonald's
Fantasy Faire-Meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Snow White
Rapunzel show
Teacups
Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
Goofy's Playhouse
Minnie's House
Meet Mickey
Mickey and the Magical Map
Autopia
lunch at Redd Rockets
Alice In Wonderland
Dumbo
Meet Peter Pan
Snow White
Pinnocchio
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Teacups
Parade
Dumbo
Storybook Land Canal Boats