DISNEYLAND! - day 1

Here we go!

 

Oh this girl just melts my heart so much!!

 

We barely made it into the park when we saw Bert and Mary Poppins!

Love this girl!

Love the posing!

Deep in conversation

Aurora and Aurora!

They let us preview the Fantasy Faire -
It was very cute, I loved the focal point Rapunzel's tower made -
 That's her hair flowing down :)

These guys were amazing storytellers! 
They're getting ready to tell the tale of Rapunzel

I just love the action in this picture!
Rapunzel came to help them tell the story.

What a creative way to make a window

We were all thoroughly entertained the entire show. 
A definite must see!

First ride of the day: Alice in Wonderland!

Thank goodness we still have 10 years before Kira gets her license!

"It's a Small World After All..."

For some reason this picture wont rotate...

Hanging out in Mickey's house

She couldn't get any cuter if she tried!

Fairy Godmother spent extra time with Ella since she was a little nervous.
Ella really started to warm up to her :)

I love how exhausted Ella is in this pic.
She was so spoiled the whole trip and was NEVER put down!

Watching the parade. 
I love the excitement!

This one speaks for itself!



Rora fell asleep just before the fireworks. 
I love how curled up she is!

We had a great first day in Disneyland, we ate lunch at the Blue Bayou overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  It was delicious and the atmosphere was awesome.  Kira kept trying to figure out how it was night time and couldn't comprehend how it looked like we were outside.  Later in the trip while riding PotC for the upteenth time she finally figured it out! 

   It was fun seeing the difference's between the land and the world.  Everything was closer together, but it didn't feel closer.  I was very impressed with the use of the space.  The only thing that was a let down (to Josh, I've been before) was how small Sleeping Beauty's castle is.  It doesn't have anywhere near the wow factor of Cinderella's in the world. 

 

Kira's favorite from the day: Riding Pirates of the Caribbean

Rora's: Alice in Wonderland ride - I'm not surprised, she couldn't wait to ride it!

Josh's top five moments from day 1:

           Riding PotC

           Seeing my 3 girls having fun

           Eating a Blue Bayou

           Watching the parade - one of the floats broke down, we waited and waited for them to get a vehicle and tow it so we could watch the rest of the parade...yeah, it was the last float.

          It was neat getting to see Fantasy Faire before they opened.  And the show was good.

My top five:

            Disney Magic!  I just love the customer service at Disney! We had just arrived at the park and were immediately asked if we wanted a preview of Fantasy Faire.  It didn't open until the next day, they were doing a soft opening of sorts (lots of tv crews were there, I think they wanted ppl in the background...) It was so fun to watch the show and explore the newest area of DL!

            I loved Rora's excitement.  Being 3 is so fun!  She was so excited to ride Alice and every detail of the ride, even the exterior touches, brought ooh's and aaah's :)

            Our lunch at Blue Bayou was delish, but even more fun was Kira's bewilderment at how we were inside and yet it looked like we were outside - at night!

            I know it isn't "Disney" but I loved having the entire day with Josh and just being able to share the moment.

            The fireworks display in DL is much different from DW.  They incorporate the music from all the rides, it was neat to see how they matched the fireworks to the music, ie - They had the Haunted Mansion voice, "Is this room actually stretching?" accompanied by creepy green straight shooting fireworks in an octagon pattern.  It fit so perfectly and was amazing!









Trip to the Beach

On our way to Disneyland we stopped at the beach.  It was the girls first time seeing the Pacific ocean.  So peaceful and fun.  Both girls took a few minutes to warm up to the water and as soon as they got comfortable, they slipped.  Rora was right next to me so she didn't go all the way in, but poor Kira went flat on her back.  She was soaked and had sand everywhere!  Of course within a few minutes she started to shiver and was ready to go.  We stayed for about an hour and a half, I just wish it had been longer.
Ella hated the sand and the water!  Every time I put her down she would give me a look of disgust and lift herself up.

In no particular order, a few pics: 

*The sun was not with us so the kids are in shadows

Looking a bit like a ragamuffin since we'd been travelling all day

Looking a bit like a ragamuffin since we'd been travelling all day

Right before she slipped

Salsa Festival

We've been home from Disneyland for a week now and I am getting back into the swing of things.  Yesterday Maricopa had their salsa festival.  It was our first time going and a lot of fun.  They had free chips and you went around to the different booths for samples of the different salsa types.  Everything from habanero to grape, mild and sweet(almost like ketchup) to mango pineapple.  They then had you vote for your favorite.  Josh's parents came with us and we met up with my friend Sue and her boys.  Hands down the best part of the day was watching both my girls dance.  Rora was as adorable as can be and Kira did the best she has done on her hip hop.

*My cameraman has been officially fired and next time I will record it while he*Josh* is in charge of Ella...

**I didn't take any pictures, but my MIL did so as soon as I get those I will post my fav's.

 

 

 

Dancing Girl

We just got back from our trip to Disneyland.  It was so much fun!  Very different, yet exactly the same as Disney World.  How's that for making sense ;)

The main reason we went to Disneyland was for dance.  Kira had a blast dancing and did amazing!  I'm so proud of her!

 

So excited!

Getting ready to go backstage


Josh took the videos, so blame the blurriness and jostling on him!

Dancing hip hop

 

 

*She did great in her hip hop medley, she was just so busy dancing she forgot to smile!                    

 



Calling All the Monsters

*Kira did so well in Calling all the Monsters.  She didn't get flustered and just kept dancing, even though both the little girls on either side are supposed to be on the opposite side...Oops!  :)

 

 







I Just Wanna Be Happy

*Josh wasn't at a good angle to get Kira in the video...she's on the right.  Even if you can't see it, she did this dance perfectly!  She smiled, hit every step and had a blast!

 

 

 

I love that she has this memory and I got to share it!  

Moments

Just before bed as we were going over our day both girls shared their favorite part of the day with me. 
Rora, "Playing hopscotch with my preschool friends."
Kira, "When you slooged (yep, slooged) the orange juice!" *I made fresh squeezed orange juice tonight to go with tomorrow's breakfast...slooged is her word.

One of my favorite (recurring) memories from my childhood is being read to by my Mom.  She had an amazing way of bringing the stories to life.  Kira has inherited her inflection and I love it.  She is starting to add voices, sound excited, scared, mad, etc.  It's so fun to see! 

Tonight as I was reading to the girls I noticed that I too have the ability to bring the story to life.  As my girls were giggling, startled and feeling sorry for The Cat in the Hat it was that perfect moment from my childhood -passed down to my girls.  I know it sounds cheesy, but it was one of those Mommy moments that I want to sear onto my mind to fall back on when they are teenagers and screaming at me...(not that they will be ANYTHING like I was! ;)

Our Week

This week I want to just write a few highlights so 20 years from now I can remember what what happened on a typical day.

Sunday:
Rora woke up at 4am...she had an accident.  This is VERY unusual for her.  Thankfully Josh got her taken care of since I was nursing the baby.
Church was great, if a bit hectic.  We combined two nurseries so there were 8 children and 5 leaders.
On our way home from church my headache started to turn into a migraine.  Josh was so wonderful and got the kids lunch and down for naps so I could lay down and sleep.  It was wonderful and much needed!
Josh's parents and Thomas came over.  We had lasagna for dinner, it was delish, on half I used eggplant instead of noodles since the gluten upsets my arthritis.  We then played a couple games and visited. 

Monday:
Woke up bright and early and headed out to music makers.  I didn't get a picture, but Rora's hair was so adorable!  Side bun...And she worked it perfectly!  To cute!
Kira had piano lessons and did well.  She just started playing multiple notes at a time and both hands.  She is gaining confidence in the piano as she understands it more. 
After nap Rora threw a 30 minute fit because I wouldn't give her a treasure box treat...until she said please...really child, really!?!
We didn't get school finished before dance so Kira took her reading with us and we finished up while Rora had her class.  Rora is dancing to Baby Love in the recital, she is soo cute!!
Elegant Chicken for dinner.  I gorged myself on the broccoli and chicken.  Delish!
Girls were in bed before 8!  They wanted to listen to Scripture Scouts before bed...it sure makes them hustle!
Ella now smacks her lips all the time!  It's so stinkin cute.  She'll be nursing and stop to smack her lips before resuming eating. :)

Tuesday:
Went to story time at the library, all about Dr. Seuss, Rora is so excited to go back on Saturday with Daddy for a birthday party for Dr. Seuss!
Kira got all her school done before 1!  YAY!
I got my closet cleaned out.  It looks great, of course the rest of my house suffered, but tomorrow is another day and the mess will still be there. 
While cleaning out my closet my visiting teachers stopped by. Oops!  I completely forgot and felt awful!  It was great to have a chance to visit with them, they are amazing ladies!  Of course, I still feel awful that my house was messy and I forgot they were coming.
During a skype chat with friends Ella crawled the length of the floor twice!  She is very fickle and usually won't move if she knows someone is there who can pick her up or bring her x,y, or z.
Kira had ballet class.  She looks so pretty when she dances.  Ballet suits her, I just hope she chooses to stick with ballet.  Ballet just suits her personality perfectly. 
On our way home we had to make a quick stop at the grocery store for sour cream and a donut for each girl...why oh why can't I stick to one shopping trip per week!?!
While I made dinner the girls played in my newly cleaned closet.  A flashlight and a cd were their only toys.  Kira came out and told me they were making rainbows by refracting light.  She is such a smart girl!  Although I have to give credit for that one to Liberty Treehouse, even though *might* watch it once a week both girls seem to enjoy it and clearly some of it is sticking. :)
Tacos for dinner, of course while making them I found out that we are out of canned beans...*shaking my head* ugh!  So there were no beans in our dinner.  :(
Big girls took a bath before bed and enjoyed their treat. 

Wednesday:
I SLEPT IN until 10:30!!  Thank you Josh! 
Kira felt the start of a cold coming on so we skipped homeschool PE and just layed low. 
For about 10 minutes my entire house was clean!  I know, it shouldn't be, but it's a big deal. :)
Since we were taking it easy we did french toast for dinner. 
Early bed followed for both girls since Rora didn't nap and Kira was getting sick. 
If only Ella would go to sleep early life would be perfect!

Ella loves the bath!

Thursday:
We met the owners of the home we are renting.  I was nervous.  I thought it would be them going through each room checking that we are maintaining the house properly, instead they were here for less than 10 minutes and didn't even walk into the hallway.  They were very kind and down to earth, wanting to know if there was anything we needed/wanted their help with. 
Just after they left Rora's friends arrived for preschool.  Today they learned the 'T' sound.  I am trying something new with Rora.  Instead of teaching a letter per week, we are doing the sound of the week, basing the order off the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  I am only focusing on the sounds rather than creating words since she is only 3 1/4 but Rora seems to be retaining the sounds and what they look like.  So far we have done "m,s,a,E,v(jumped ahead since it was valentines day) and t."  For T the kiddos made tortilla's and artwork out of triangles.
Afterward preschool the girls and I headed into town to do some shopping. Since shopping is such hard work ;)  we went to Chipotle and brought home dinner.  Yum!
After dinner I altered Kira's dance costume for Disneyland.  It was so nerve wracking!  I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't. :(  Let's just say the hem line is supposed to be above the rear and instead it sagged below.  Thanks to the advice from my neighbor Staci I was able to do it.  I'm so glad it's done!!

Making tortilla's at preschool

Friday:
We had an all day field trip to the Estrella Wars.  It was amazing!  Josh was able to take a half day off work (he works 2-11) so he didn't have to work until 7 and was able to come with us.  We came home hot, sweaty and I had my first sunburn of 2013...I forgot to put sunscreen on the back of my neck.      :( Oh well, it was still a great day!  I did a post on the Estrella Wars, so I'll leave you with just one picture, this is what happens when you take a day of fun and leave off a nap!  She exacerbates me, but I love her to death!  Aurora quote for the day, "this granola really, really stinks when I poop it out my bum!"  HAHA!  I know, tmi, but that's my Rora!

Saturday:
Wow!  The week is over.  It's amazing how fast time flies.  Today was a good day, nice and mello without much going on.  Kira had her dress rehearsal for dance.  While there I learned how to rhinestone clothing...it isn't very exciting, but the Disney shirts turned out super cute!  (No pic, sorry, not all the shirts were ready so we couldn't take them home yet...I'll post pics after our trip.:) 
While Kira and I were at dance Rora and Daddy went to the library.  They had a special party honoring Dr. Seuss.  They played games, did a couple of crafts and came home with a goody bag.  Rora had a blast and gushed over how fun it was! 
After our activities we just hung out at home, girls played barbies, Josh did finances, I cleaned up and took care of Ella...she is teething and super grumpy right now. :(
For dinner we had stroganoff.  Yum!  It's amazing how much your taste buds can change just by forcing yourself to eat something over and over again. I used to hate mushrooms but now I really like the earthy flavor.  I kept cooking with them since Josh loves them and thankfully, now do I. 
After dinner we watched a movie and I prepared my lesson/singing time eggs for nursery. 

Rora wanted her hair like Dr. Seuss...
Of course we went with a who theme :)

That's it, a typical week.  Tomorrow we get to start all over again. 

Let the WAR begin!

   Today we had a field trip!  Maybe it's the name, but I just love field trips!  You learn so much while having fun.  The perfect combination!  We went to the Estrella Wars, which is a medieval war games camp.  They have 7 guilds that compete in different categories to find the champion.  Archery, knife throwing, sword fighting, hand to hand combat, etc.  They also reenact battles. 

After a rough start, no one else from our homeschool group was there, a long wait for a tour, finally 2 families from our group showed up (they had gotten lost), and we were off!  They had a hayride around the entire encampment so you could see a bit of everything.  The battle was so neat!  I love reenactments and I could have stayed all day watching the fighting.  We tried to go watch some more just before we went home but they were done fighting for the day, something about a 'feast'...slackers! ;)

Fight!

 

   After the tour/hayride we were escorted into a portion of the camp where they had participants there to explain life in the middle ages, focusing on camp life. It was great to see all the things that thy had made, the ingenuity of folding chairs, collapsible chandeliers, hand dipped candles, etc. I loved that they involved the kids in the learning. Passing around what they were talking about so it became more hands on. 

 

 

 

It was so cool to see all the tents, most of them were handmade!

 

Best test award!  I wish Josh had gotten a pic of the interior,
it had all the luxuries of the 1500's, and it matched the exterior!!

Explaining how long it took to make the candles behind him.

   After the lessons we enjoyed lunch, perused the shops and asked lots of questions! 

Ella enjoying her first taste of rootbeer. 
Of course Josh had to get a nifty bottle for it!

    I have always wanted to own a period style dress.  Since Josh got his bonus today *WOOHOO* he "talked" me into buying one.  I LOVE IT! I spent way to much money, but now I don't have to try to make something for myself to wear *shudder* and I have a great piece that will last me forever.  We also got dresses for the big girls. 

Next year we can go dressed in style!