Disney Land - day 3&4

We spent day 3 & 4 at Disney Land. It was my first time going, and I couldn't believe how big it was. There was just sooo much to see and do, we almost wish we had 1 or 2 more days to spend at the parks. The first day we all did rides and stuff together all day(it was sooo fun), and headed back to the hotel for dinner around 6. Craig and I got the kids settled after dinner, and then the two of us headed back to the parks. We ran from ride to ride like we were little kids again....SO. MUCH. FUN! I love my Guy so much. The time we get to spend together is few and far between, so I treasure every moment we have. He works LLLOOOOOONG, hard hours at the Dealership, plus his responsibilities in the Bishopric, and all the other stuff he has going on, it just doesn't leave time for us to hang out. He works SO hard for us, and we love and appreciate him so much for doing it.

The second day we got a little later start. A. because we planned on being at the park late with the kids, & B. because Craig and I were tired. That day we rode on the rides all day again, went back to the hotel for dinner, and we all came back for the "world of Color" show in California Adventure. It was A to the Mazing!
Water, lasers, lights, fire, music, this show had it all. The kids loved it. After the show Craig was still feeling a tid bit sick from the tea cups, so he decided to turn in for the night with Layla and Benson. Carter, Lisa and I stayed until the park kicked us out around midnight. I loved the special attention Carter got that night from me, since he was the only kid there. We laughed until my sides hurt, he is the funniest kid ever.

I have a bazillion pictures that I want to post, so enjoy:)


I love this family Picture


happy Benson at the start of the day





...as the giant grasshopper prepares to eat their cute little heads off.



This was Carters favorite movie for at least 2 years of the 6 he has been alive, so it was fun to see him with his favorites.


Layla, you just gotta LOVE her.



I think this is such a cute picture


Grumpy Benson at the end of the day,this makes me laugh hard! "what are you lookin at"



sweet!


one of the few times I got to hold Layla


Layla and Lisa. Layla LOVES Lisa so much, she wouldn't even let me and Craig hold her hand or carry her most of the time. When I tried she would say "Oh, sorry Mom, Lisa is MY parter" as she ran back to Lisa.



This was one of my favorite moments. The kids were Sooooo excited to meet Mickey Mouse, and I loved the look on their faces when we walked into the room. I wish I had gotten a picture of their faces when they first saw him.


This is Laylas "I need a bathroom REALLY bad, but I don't want to miss anything fun" face.


Layla and HER partner.

Day 2

The second day started in Vegas, we just walked around a little and looked for the more wholesome side of the strip that we could actually show the kids. haha.
As we left town we just HAD to stop at In-N-out to grab some of their greasy goodness, and off to Anaheim we went.

We met up with one of our Friends from Craig's mission, her name is Bobi. She is so good do Craig, and loves him like a close relative. We went to dinner with her at Ruby's, and I fell in love with their food. They have a great selection, and very family friendly environment with their 50's theme. I would recommend Ruby's on the pier if you find yourself in the neighborhood.











That night we got All settled into our rooms. We had two rooms that were connected. one for Lisa, Carter, and Layla, and another one for Benson, Craig, and me. After the kids were in bed Craig and I went to the grocery store to get supplies. We saved a ton of money on food by packing our own lunches, snacks, and water into the park. If you take your own lunch and snacks just remember no glass containers, and you won't have a problem. Something else we did that worked out well was our dinner plan. I prepared 4 Crock pot dinners at home before the trip, put them in bags, and froze them in the crock put. That way they were the right shape for it, and worked like ice blocks in the cooler since they were frozen solid. Each morning I would just put the meal in the crock put before we left the hotel, and when we came back at dinner time our meal was all ready for us. I bought a veggie tray, and some rolls, and we used those as the sides...viola, dinner on a budget.

Family Vacation

About a year ago Carter asked us if we could all go to Disneyland. Craig told him that if he earned enough money to pay for his own 2 day pass ($110) then we would go...well, he did it. He has been so diligent and responsible with his money. I have been so impressed with him, and proud of his hard work and stick-to-it-ivness. Craig and I decided it would be really fun to bring our neighbor Lisa, who is 15, and our super ninja baby sitter. It was pretty much the best family vacation ever, and we all had an amazing time. We didn't have any major catastrophes, no broken bones, not even one item of luggage was lost...amazing! We kept our schedule loose, so we didn't have any stress about making it any where on time. It was lovely.


Husband with irritated look, Mom a Little too happy, baby screaming, 6 year old pouting, 3 year looking innocent...typical family snap shot.


Me and Lisa watching the fountain show


1 of 4 knows how to cheese it.


DAY 1

The first day we pretty much drove most of the day, but the kids all did a great job of not asking "are we there yet" every 5 minutes. we drove to Vegas, and checked in to our hotel, Treasure Island, and were very excited to find that we were on the 23rd floor, and had a great view of the pirate ship battle out our window. We had dinner in a rain forest restaurant, and Benson was pooped, so we settled the kids down for a movie after dinner. Lisa had never been to Vegas, so she and I walked down to watch the fountain show...that is my favorite thing in Vegas for sure. When we got back to the hotel Craig and the kids were all fast asleep, so we followed suit.

Twiners

These are my Twin boys born 5 1/2 years apart. They love and adore each other, and Carter likes telling people Benson is his twin brother. It's funny to see Benson make all the same expressions carter used to make as a baby, but he has a personality all of his own. He is a sweet sweet baby, loves to chatter and laugh. Today Layla and Benson were playing and giggling together, I asked What she was doing and she said "we were just talking to each other in baby Spanish". Are you kidding me, that's the cutest thing I ever heard. Benson wakes us all up every morning with his squills and giggles, he is my little sunshine baby.

Jammies Day

Every once in a GREAT while we will have a day where for whatever reason we don't have to be anywhere, and we like to call those days "Jammie Day". Such was the case on April first, everything I needed to do that day could be done from home, so none of us got dressed all day...and we loved every minute. This is what we did...



Built a snow lady


made funny faces


had a toe puppet show


read silly stories


made felt flowers


and played games on the computer.

I love days like this where we can just be, and love being with each other. These times seem to be fleeting, so I try to hold on tight to them when I can.

April Fools?

One thing I've learned in my life is that God had a sense of Humor...and so should I. We woke up on April 1st to find snow, and we thought that was a great April fools joke. The kids rolled up almost every single little tiny piece of snow in our yard to make this snow man, but seeing how it was officially spring we just couldn't dress him in the typical scarf and had. Our snow man quickly became a snow lady when I broke out the luau decor which seemed more appropriate to me. At least we gave the passer buys something to smile about on that cold April fools day:)

princess!

If you don't know Karen Hall you are missing out! She is one of the most creative, fun, hard working people I know, and the best Grandma Hall my kids ever had:) She planned this super cute activity for her ward for the Moms and girls, it was a princess tea party! Are you kidding me? That is basically every little girls dream to have a princess tea party with her Mommy!

The room was decorated just how you might imagine it, with the brightest most feminine colors and textures you can imagine...but all I could take pictures of was my own little princess. She was absolutely in HEAVEN! Can't you see it in her eyes!?! Layla giggled, danced, and skipped every where she went, it was the sweetest thing ever, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Karen had 4 long tables end to end lined up full of beads for the girls to make jewelry, 4 tables full of stuff to make headbands and hear flowers, and an area to make princess skirts. layla arrived at the tea party as a pink princess, and left as the Queen of red (which is totally her new thing by the way).

A great big Thank You to Karen for inviting us to her magnificent tea party (which was actually on her birthday), We love you very much Grandma Hall, and are so thankful to have you in our lives.