THE Vacation (Part 2) - Disneyland

In between our two days at Legoland, we spent one full day at Disneyland. The girls were so excited to try all the rides. They remembered a few from our last trip over two years ago and they were excited to see those rides again and try some new ones. Tessa was convinced that roller coasters were not for her, so when we had to split up, Tyler took Abby and Aubrey on the bigger rides while Taryn, Tessa and I would find a kiddie ride we could go on at the same time. It worked out great.

To begin our day, I had to get a picture of Taryn who was ready and waiting to meet her favorite character - Minnie Mouse. Once inside the park, we did the most rides in that first hour. All the ones in Fantasyland right behind the castle. We happened upon Olaf on the roof of this food place and a lady standing there was nice enough to take our picture so we could all be in it.

The girls really wanted to ride everything so they made us go on the Carousel even though Tyler and I are not big fans. I did get some pictures of all the girls on their horses though that I thought were cute.

 

We also got pictures while on the Dumbo ride. This is one ride I remember taking pictures on when we first went to Disneyland after Tyler graduated Optometry school. Tessa was a newborn and Abby was 2 1/2. It was a long time ago, so I thought it'd be fun to have pictures this time around on the same ride.

We caught a train ride on the Casey Jr Train and the girls were so excited to ride in the "monkey" cage. These are some of my favorite pictures from the day. We also liked seeing the newest addition to their boat ride tour - the castle in Arrendelle and Elsa's ice castle up in the mountains. That was pretty cool.

After hitting all those rides in the middle of the park, we headed back to Toon Town with our first goal being to find Minnie Mouse, and we did! The lines back here this early in the morning were non-existent. We rode all the rides a ton of times (like the Gadget Go-Coaster) and the line to meet Minnie was super short too. I was so excited to get this picture of Taryn with Minnie. We then took some more as we got to walk through her house. The girls loved this because her house was closed last time we came.

 

Here's the only picture I took from the roller coaster in Toon Town. We seriously walked right on the ride the first time and probably rode it 3 more times with less than a 5 minute wait each time. It was awesome. 

 Taryn and Tessa played in the playhouses while Tyler and I took turns going with the other two girls on the roller coaster. Here are some of the pictures I took of the girls around Toon Town.

 

Another ride we went on was the Autopia Car ride. Abby could drive but wasn't old enough to have a passenger so Tessa and Taryn squeezed in with me. This was another ride that was kind of hard for Abby and it didn't help that we kept yelling at her from behind to keep driving. She got off the ride pretty upset, but for her first time driving a car, she actually did pretty well.

We waited in line to meet some princesses and the girls loved going in each room to find out which princess it would be. They even talked to the girls awhile before taking pictures. Snow White was the best. She told the girls they were so brave to go on roller coasters and she was just the perfect Snow White. Her voice and mannerisms were awesome.

 

Some of the bigger rides that we went on were the Matterhorn (Aubrey, Abby, and Tyler only), Splash Mountain, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, and Indiana Jones (Abby, Tyler, and Ally only). These were some of our favorite rides but we didn't have any pictures. When the others rode the Matterhorn (which was Aubrey's favorite ride), Taryn, Tessa, and I rode the Alice in Wonderland ride. I took this picture just as we got into our car, and it jerked forward when we weren't expecting it, which is why we have such surprised looks on our faces. Aubrey was happy to tell everyone that her favorite ride was the "bobsled one", but now she talks about how she wants to go on the "caterpillar" ride (Alice in Wonderland) because she missed riding it this time.

We went on Splash Mountain multiple times because we got the Fast Pass and then used the kid swap since Taryn wasn't big enough for that one. Tyler talked Tessa into trying that ride, but after the first little dip, she was too scared and cried the rest of the ride. We also forgot that that ride doesn't have any seatbelts or lapbars, so it probably just made her fear worse after she had told us the day before that she always feels like she's going to fall out. We rode a third time after another couple gave us their kid swap ticket because their son didn't like the ride either. So Abby and Aubrey got to ride it three times. In the meantime, whoever was waiting would ride the Winnie the Pooh ride, so the other girls got to ride this ride multiple times. This is where I took my pictures. Aubrey was super ecstatic to ride this one because it was the ride she was most looking forward to riding last time we came (2 years ago) and we didn't ever get to ride it because it was broken. She was so happy to get to ride it this time.

One of our final times separating was while Tyler took Abby and Aubrey on the Runaway Train roller coaster. So Tessa, Taryn, and I rode the big steamboat around Tom Sawyer island. We went up to the very top deck and the very front of the boat as we sailed around the island. It was cool. A ride I don't think I've ever done in all my times to visit Disneyland. The bull horn was a little loud for the girls, but they enjoyed the ride. 

One of our final rides was It's a Small World. Every time we went by to try it during the day, the line was so long. We finally decided to just bite the bullet and wait in line. It looked forever long, but really ended up being like 30 minutes. The lights were really cool and every 15 minutes they did a light show on the building set to music so that was fun. This was near the end of our very long day and the end of my phone battery, so I took a couple last pictures. I love this first one because I couldn't even get everyone in the shot (Tessa's forehead barely made it) and Aubrey's face basically says it all on how long a day we'd had thus far. The people in line behind us were kind and offered to take a picture of all of us so I could be in the picture too. 

After this ride you walk through a store with souvenirs. This is where the girls decided to pick out their gifts that Tyler promised them. They each got a big baby doll of one of the princesses. We were thinking we were done for the day, but decided really quickly to make a trip to the Indiana Jones ride. Abby was the only one tall enough for that ride, but she really wanted to ride it. The other girls and I rode the Jungle Cruise (which ended up being one of my favorites because the tour guide was hilarious with all her puns) while Tyler and Abby waited in line. It was the longest line of the day. The other girls finally pulled out their new dolls and happily played while we waited for Tyler and Abby to make it out of the ride. Abby and I then used the kid swap pass so that I could ride it too. It was a lot of fun. A lot of those big rides I hadn't ridden in a long time because we either had too little of kids or I was pregnant the last few times we had been, so it was fun to get a chance to ride them all again.

As we walked back to our hotel, the girls were all falling asleep. They did really well considering how long we were there. Aubrey rode in the stroller and was holding Taryn on her lap. I got a little nervous as they both fell asleep because Aubrey lost her grip on Taryn and Taryn was nodding off to the side. I thought she would plop right off the stroller, but we made it to the hotel without any injuries. It was a great day! The girls really loved our whole trip, but if you ask them, I think they all would say that Disneyland was their most favorite part. We loved all the memories we made and I can't wait to have a scrapbook made of all our pictures.

THE Vacation (Part 1) - Legoland California

We started our big vacation of 2014 (hereby known as THE vacation) on Abby's birthday and drove towards California all day once the kids were out of school. (It was a half day of school.) Poor Abby had to spend the majority of her birthday in the car, so to spice it up a bit, she got to open a little birthday present at each of our stops. She got a new Shutterfly book that has pictures from when she turned 5 up to the present, some Pokemon cards, and an MP3 player. She opened other larger gifts and grandparent gifts at home before we left. We stayed in Yuma, AZ and then woke up Saturday morning and drove the last couple hours straight to Legoland. We got there right when it opened at 10am.

One of the first stops was at this photo op with the Lego Friends characters. The girls loved it. Since it was our first time at Legoland, we really were amazed at all the Lego creations. 

Some of our favorite rides included the Safari Trek, The Fairy Tale Brook, the Sky Cruiser, and the driving school. The Safari Trek had tons of animals made from Legos, while the Fairy Tale Brook showed different Fairy Tale characters like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella in Legos.

The Sky Cruiser was one of our favorite rides. It was so high up you could see everything around and you had to peddle to move along the track. This was the longest line we waited in, but it was well worth the wait. The Driving School was divided between 3-5 year olds and 6-12 year olds. Tyler and I split up so we could each take two girls to their respective sides. Taryn needed help pushing the peddle and going the right direction, so a worker was constantly running around the track helping the littlest drivers. However, our other girls did great on their own and loved driving. Aubrey was the master on her course, probably one of the oldest on her side. 

The funny thing about Legoland that we had to get used to was the fact that they have multiple play areas around the park for you to stop and build Legos in. Most are near the waiting lines and the whole point is to let the kids play while the parents wait in line for the ride. We did not know this at first and were getting a little frustrated as people would "cut" us in line trying to catch up to their party. When we finally saw the signs and decided to let our kids do the same thing, it wasn't so bad and it made for a lot less grumpiness since the kids didn't have to wait impatiently to get to the front of the line. This was one waiting area where everyone waited together until the pager they gave you went off. The girls had fun building tall towers. Tessa had to find all the eye and smile bricks to make her tower. She even recruited the help of other kids and they worked together. It was pretty funny.

This boat ride was probably our least favorite, or at least Abby's least favorite. There were no tracks to guide the boats like we thought, so if you got turned around you got passed up by others or just blocked the path completely. This happened to Abby multiple times. The slow response time to the wheel and peddle also didn't help and Abby got frustrated really fast. Luckily, there was a worker in waders who would walk along the path and straighten boats out. She had to help Abby a couple of times. Besides this ride, our family was perfect for riding in pairs. Abby was tall enough to be the "adult" rider on the majority of the rides so each of the three smaller girls just took turns riding with either me, Tyler, or Abby. It really did work out great unless it was something like this ride where it was a bit too hard for Abby.

We were able to get pictures with both Emmett and WildStyle outside their Lego Movie Experience building. We all thought it was awesome to have our picture taken with them. And inside the building was the actual set from the movie in the basement with all the city made from Legos. It was so cool to see.

 

We liked this fountain full of instruments made from Legos. Depending on when you were standing on the right spot, each instrument would play so having everyone stand on every spot, the entire band would play together. It was so fun to hear!

The Dragon roller coaster was our favorite ride at Legoland. Even Aubrey rode it and decided it was her favorite ride of the entire trip. Tessa was too scared to try it and after finally talking her into going on a smaller roller coaster in the park, she decided she did not like roller coasters at all. Tessa rode with me on the small coaster and was crying by the end. She says she feels like she's going to fall out especially on the turns. I couldn't blame her thinking that when she has to ride with me or Tyler we usually have to share a lap bar. Her tiny body definitely has more space between her legs and the bar so that feeling of falling would definitely be real for her. But even after trying to explain the difference of having your own tight lap bar on other rides, she had already decided she would not try it again. So she and Taryn went on other rides or found other things to do while Abby and Aubrey and either Tyler or I rode the roller coasters.

The Flight Squadron ride was one of the few rides where every kid who wasn't tall enough had to be with an adult and Abby didn't count, so a worker rode with Tessa so that we could all ride together. It was pretty funny and as we got off the ride, she told us it had been her 7th time on the ride that day.

This Lost Kingdom Adventure was another favorite although with its long line we only got to ride it once. It's a laser-shooting game while going through an Arabian-like desert theme where everything's made from Legos with little targets to shoot at. We all liked that one, although Tyler had the highest score of course. The Beetle Bounce ride just takes you up and bounces you up and down for awhile. The little girls loved this even though it gives you that free-fall feeling in your stomach that bigger rides give you. I was surprised that even Tessa, and Taryn, enjoyed this one.

The Miniland USA portion of Legoland was amazing. Famous cities and buildings all made from Legos. New York's downtown complete with the Statue of Liberty in the harbor was awesome and made from over 2 million Lego bricks. They had a ton of Las Vegas hotels too which was cool. We were super excited to show the girls the Excalibur hotel because we stayed in that very hotel two nights later. 

They also have an Aquarium beside the park that was included in our tickets, so we walked through it both days we were there. No photography was allowed inside, so we had to settle with a picture outside the building at this photo spot. The girls liked seeing all the fish, and really liked the touch pools, and doing the scavenger hunt that resulted in a free sticker and collector's card of one of their aquarium animals. 

On our second day of Legoland, we walked through their new Legoland Hotel. It was so brightly colored and had tons of little places to build with Legos and there were so many random Lego creations throughout the Lobby and around the hotel. Even outside, instead of columns or pillars, they had huge Lego characters. Aubrey wanted a picture by every single one, but I made her pick her favorite, so the Lego Pirate it was.

 They actually had random Lego creations all through the park too. One of favorites was this worker holding a toilet outside one of the restrooms - so random! Abby was helping him hold the toilet up for her picture. At the very end of our stay, after walking through the Aquarium, this Snow Princess was standing outside the elevators by a Christmas tree. So it was our final picture before leaving Legoland.

There were many more pictures taken, but I made a Shutterfly book specifically for Legoland so I didn't want to have too many repeat pictures. There were more explanations and stories here, but we had so much fun at Legoland.The cool thing was we bought a buy one day, get one free pass so we went for two days. But they were having another promotion that gives us another free day if we go back between January and March, so we may be making another trip out there in a couple more weeks. And if we do, it would have been like three days for the price of one, so we really felt like it was a great deal. It really was a lot of fun and we loved making memories and doing a real vacation with just our little family. We definitely had a great time.

One Last Quick Post Before THE Vacation

I was going to just add these last couple pictures to the last post, but decided to keep that one specifically for Abby's birthday, hence the "one last post." There were just a few pictures on my camera that I couldn't pass up having on the blog before we got into our vacation pictures. So here they are even though they're all a little bit random. Taryn still loves Mickey, so when dropping off a package to a friend and seeing this huge blowup outside her apartment, we had to take a picture.

Tyler and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on December 15th. I knew it was coming, but the morning of, I forgot and Tyler went off to work like any other day. I finally realized once the girls were off to school and my morning slowed down, so I sent him text. We did end up getting to grab a bite to eat together as Taryn and I met him for lunch. Taryn was being so cute, so I got this picture of her with her daddy on our anniversary date. And Tyler came home from work with a little gift for me. We always say we aren't going to do gifts, but then he ends up getting something anyway, that little cheater. :) This year it was this plant and white statue combo, which I thought was so pretty. He had also looked up what the traditional anniversary gift was for the 14th year and it's Ivory. So since that's illegal and all, he bought me a huge bottle of Ivory body wash. I thought it was pretty creative. He's a definite keeper!

The last thing I wanted to post about was our ward Christmas party. I am now in our ward's Relief Society presidency and we were in charge of the party. I was specifically in charge of the decorations so I spent the majority of the early December days planning, shopping, putting together centerpieces, and decorating tables for the party. It turned out to be a great hit (like always). There were a ton of people there and we all had a great time. The Primary sang a couple songs, so I took some pictures of the girls as they were performing. (Abby got to be Mary). I should have taken a picture of the table, but didn't think about it at the time Oh well. There were so many kids, and I was sitting in the front, so I couldn't get all the kids in one picture. So Aubrey, who was on one side, is in her own picture while Abby and Tessa are in the second picture. They did a great job singing.

I Have a 10-Year-Old?!? Not Possible!

The end of the year always gets busy with trying to finish off the posts for the year. We've got Abby's birthday and Christmas break (the usual end of year posts). However, this year, we took a family vacation before our usual Christmas vacation with family, so I have a ton of pictures to share from that. We'll start with Abby who turned 10 on December 19th. That morning, before school, (it was the last day before the break) Abby came into my room so I could wish her a happy birthday. I just kept saying things like, "I have a 10-year-old? I don't think that's possible. If that were the case, then I'd have to be old, and I'm not old! No way. You can't be 10" etc. :) She convinced me it was true and we started out our day. The girls only had a half day of school and partied for most of it. Abby and Tessa both got to go dressed in pajamas, so the only picture I got on Abby's actual birthday is this first one. However, I found this cuter one from her school choir concert, so I'm sure she'll appreciate having this one posted as well.

To devote a post to Abby, I like to pretty much do her first half of the school year since she's also the only one who's had events at school already that include pictures, so here are a few things to update you about our blossoming tween.

First off, Abby still sings in the honor choir at school. Not many 4th graders stay in, but she loves it so she did. Hopefully you can find her in these pictures. She's been on the next to top row, so that's been fun for me especially because I was always on the front row for everything! They've had two concerts during this first half of the year. Her first concert was on Taryn's birthday. It made us have to rearrange our celebrations for her birthday, but it was good because Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons were able to be here for her concert. The second concert was a Christmas concert and they sang songs from around the world even learning some in different languages like Silent Night in Japanese. It was pretty cool. Abby is still our singer and loves to sing all the time wherever she is and as loudly as she can. She also loves to add the piano to her singing although she's never taken lessons. She just plays the few songs and chords she's learned over and over again. She did teach herself how to play Silent Night so she could sing and play at our family talent show over Christmas. She did a great job.

Abby also stays very active, whether that means she's playing outside with friends, hitting a volleyball around (which she's getting very good at), or dancing. At school, she was involved in a Kids Excel program where people come to teach the 4th graders some dance moves choreographed to music. Their performance was  the last week before the Christmas break. I thought that it would be just a dance performance, but they invited the other grades to come and watch and it was more of a presentation to the other students about what they learned and why. It was still fun to watch, and my kids (even Taryn) have learned the dance moves and phrases and do them all around the house all the time once Abby taught them how. Here's a picture of Abby's group and also one with her favorite instructor, Laura.

What else about Abby? She still gets straight As in school, and loves to be the teacher's pet. The teachers rave about how helpful and nice she is. She ran for class representative this year and was the runner-up. She tied originally, so they did a re-vote between her and another student and she lost that one. She still is involved as the runner-up so she enjoys that and is looking forward to run for a school position during her 5th grade year.

Abby can be very helpful around the house as well. She's a great little mother to her little sisters - sometimes a little too much when she starts bossing them around. She loves to be in charge as she plays with her sisters and friends. She refuses to let me cut her hair and loves having it long even though she pulls it into a ponytail almost every day. She is definitely a true tween as she gets closer to those dreaded teenager years. She begs to have her ears pierced still (we won't let her until she's at least 12) and she can have an attitude and an eye roll like you can't believe, but she's quickly learning the benefits of being older like staying up later and getting to do more "adult" things like playing board games with mom and dad. She's definitely maturing and turning into my little friend, instead of just my little girl. And I guess I shouldn't even say "little" because she keeps commenting how she'll be taller than me soon, which is probably true. She's growing up quickly right before our eyes.

We love this girl and even though we can't believe she is already 10, we can't imagine our family without her. Happy Birthday Abby!

Family Pictures and Thanksgiving 2014

I finally got my family to take some pictures all together. It had probably been almost two years since we had some taken. I set up my ipad in a bright and sunny room and set the timer. Here are some of our favorites. These first couple pictures were with my little helpers as I just tried to get the right angle and zoom. We got some good ideas for poses too.

Please ignore the bright yellow cone under the futon. I didn't know it was there until it was too late. I cropped it out of most of the pictures that I used elsewhere, but alas, there it is in these first two.

 This is my favorite picture. Everyone is smiling and we just look so cute!

I love how without even planning, we all pretty much color-coordinated with each other. I didn't have to pick out outfits or anything.

I wanted one last close up of the family and after having taken a couple with eyes closed or yawners, I guess we had gotten to the end of Taryn's patience. This was the last picture taken and she refused to smile. Too bad everyone else has a great smile. It's still one of my favorites.

We started off our Thanksgiving season with the creation of our 2nd annual Thankful Tree. We wrote things we were thankful for on leaves and added some each week. Here was the final tree right before we left town for the break.

We spent our Thanksgiving break in Texas this year. Half of the time in San Antonio and the other half in Wichita Falls. Tyler had a work conference in San Antonio the weekend before Thanksgiving, so after the girls were done with school, we drove down and stayed with Scott and Nevla. We loved having the whole weekend free to play games and hang out. Although Tyler was gone during the day and the kids stayed up too late most nights, so they were kind of grumpy during the day, we still had a great time. I didn't take any pictures though, so that's a bummer. I didn't even take that many once we got to Wichita Falls. We did spend one evening walking around the Fantasy of Lights at the University which we do every year, so that was fun. Here are a few pictures from that.

Abby got to spend time with her Kindergarten best friend, Ella. They always love getting together.

I tried getting a shot of everyone together when we finally sat down all together for the gift exchange. I think all that's missing is Tyler and Taryn since this was taken while we were waiting for Taryn to wake up from a nap.

And my kids just love Matt and Taylor. I wish it would have been a clearer picture, but they were really nice to let my kids hang all over them all weekend.

We love being with family. We had a great Thanksgiving meal where everyone contributed by being in charge of one or two dishes. The girls made a bunch of crafts, the kids played, the boys watched a lot of football, and we all played lots of games. We really do enjoy our time with family. We always have so much fun!