First Swim of the Season! April 27, 2008

Though the camera was MIA, mark Saturday, April 26th as the first full on pool swim of the season (pool temp- 74 degrees). Sadie and Elijah were both swimming all over the pool. The fish are back!

Disneyland- Day 4 April 26, 2008

More characters! This is definitely the highpoint for the kids (and me)- getting autographs and taking photos with the various characters. Here they are with Mary Poppins (complete with great accent) and Bert.

Here we await the Walt Disney’s Parade of Dreams- a very impressive musical parade of floats, dancers, and characters.

On the walk to California Adventure, we lose Sadie to dreamland.

Holding the bumper cars off until she wakes (she found out about them after waking last time , Elijah decides to try the Grizzly River Run- it’s as crazy as it sounds. We were shocked at his choice. He LOVED it and proceeded to take Mama on a guided tour of the rapids.

Sadie awakes right on time- we head over to the bumper cars. A big hit for everyone except for the end. “We’re not done bumping!”

Sadie begins to cry, “I’m sad that we’re going home. I want to stay here!” With the park closing, she spots ladybug teacups and we RUN over to catch it before they stop admitting passengers. Sadie and Elijah get one more chance to spin Mama and Daddy silly. What’s the big idea? These were faster (by far) than the teacups at Disney. Oy.

Disneyland- Day 3 April 25, 2008

After opting not to wait in line yesterday for 3 hours to see the princesses, Sadie and I wait at the gates at opening and proceed to run like lunatics through the park to the Princess Faire. We were 3rd of about a million little girls and their parents- very satisfying and almost no wait!
If it goes fast and spins, it’s totally her bag. So the Astro Orbiter (rocket ships that go up and down and ‘orbit’ a center pole at about 150 times the rate of Dumbo) is the ride she’d been drooling over for 2 days. It made Chris and I as dizzy as we’d anticipated.
Yup, more characters. And a princess no less. We’re working on filling those autograph books!

Elijah drives Autopia again. Another of his favorite rides. He’s figured out that, although he can’t see over the steering wheel, he can watch the car in front of us and copy the turns or turn according to the ‘right, left’ direction of his adult passenger.
Sadie checks out.

Tuck n’ Roll’s Drive ‘Em Buggies. These fit both of Elijah’s criteria for a good time- driving and crashing. This is one of his all time favorite rides.

Elijah hits Princess Dot’s Puddle Park and get’s completely drenched. He loved chasing the randomly spurting water jets and spent a LONG time here. We giggled nonstop just watching.

A drier boy.

Sadie and Elijah pose on a Mickey Mouse bench outside the park. These just crack Sadie right up.

Another day done. Off to the bus stop to head back to the hotel where the kids and I swam and Chris watched the Celtics kick some bootie in the first round of the play-offs. Go Green!

Disneyland- Day 2 April 24, 2008

The day started with a visit to Mickey and Goofy! The kids got autographs and photos with each of them (we snuck in with Mickey too They were very excited to start “seeing characters.”

Elijah plays Goofy’s piano- it moos, clangs, bonks, etc. Very addictive.
Sadie went to the Princess Faire to see Mulan, Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) and Belle show the little princesses how to dance at a ball. She also had her face painted, made a crown, and bought some Belle flip-flops that are forever attached to her feet (and then fall off frequently at inopportune times).
Elijah and Sadie turn the turnstile on Tom Sawyer’s Island to get the skeleton/treasure box to come in and out of the water.
The Pixar Parade at California Adventure! This was way fun! We saw all the kids’ (and our own) favorite Pixar characters singing and dancing down the main street. It was so cool!

Disneyland- Day 1 April 22, 2008

Aside from the fact that we left our Disney package in Texas and had to navigate the system to replace bus passes, park passes, etc., our first day in Disneyland was fabulous. We all had fun (despite the lines) and are looking forward to much more! Here is a synopsis of our afternoon in Disneyland.

We got a sneak peak at the new monorail- not yet in service but very cool!
Where are we? Waiting to get going while we check and re-check the map to orient ourselves.
Starting with the familiar- a good old fashioned carousel.

Sadie’s preferred method of travel.

Elijah actually poses momentarily.
Elijah really gets into the swing and takes his nerves by the horns. After Dumbo he was ready for anything. Sadie and I take a picture of ourselves on the Dumbo ride.
The kids work hard to get Mama and Daddy sick on the the teacups. They did a fine job.

Chris and the kids share a snack of popcorn. Elijah: ‘They put those yummy bad-for-you spices on it!’
Sadie stears (not sure if you can call it that) our car in Autopia. Sadie: ‘I’m really getting great at this!’ She may have been riding in a different car…
With Elijah at the helm, the boys had a much smoother ride.

We can even have fun at the bus stop waiting for our ride back to the hotel. Those are some big cones.

Life’s a Beach April 21, 2008

We spent some long-awaited time at the beach today. The kids have been talking about this for as long as they’ve known we were coming beach-side. It did not disappoint. Elijah loved the feeling of sand between his toes and romped about on the sand and in the water. He was up to his chest on this April day!

Sadie mostly enjoyed telling me where and how big to make rainbows in the sand with my rake. Then ordering me to bring pails of water (which she wasn’t too interested in approaching closely) so that she could ‘erase’ beach drawings.

Here’s a vid clip of the early oceanside exploration. As stated, Elijah ended up sopping up to his armpits and (uncharacteristically) giggling while covered in mud, sand, and salt water. Sadie (characteristically) got dirty…

And apparently someone wanted to chronicle what they did this evening before bed. I found this picture while uploading- a screenshot of The Backyardigans being watched on the laptop!

Fun-Filled Days in Santa Barbara April 20, 2008

Yes, we are in Santa Barbara! We’ve been eating yummy food and just having a wonderful visit with Chris’ brother Scott, wife Kim, and new daughter Emma. It is beyond gorgeous here, the weather has been lovely and it’s been an overall fabulous time.

These are pics from our Saturday barbeque. Here are the kids making a catapult with some scraps of wood they found (Elijah’s brainchild).

Elijah and Sadie chasing Kai around the yard- neverending fun (until Kai gets tired
Speaking of tired, Sadie follows Kai into the house as he begins an epidemic of Wii playing. She’s more interested in Kai than the game and falls asleep….

Sadie and Kai seek out their daddies for a rest.

Maggie and Elijah ham it up for the camera.

Chris rocks it out with Guitar Hero (Wii) in a room filled with 30 and 40 somethings, one 8 yr-old, and a tremendous amount of heckling. File this one under- who knew?

Here they are- the ‘new’ family. Emma opens her eyes momentarily for the pic as the bbq tuckered her out bigtime.

Save the Earth April 10, 2008

“We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.” Qwatsinas [Hereditary Chief Edward Moody], Nuxalk Nation

As for the kids, they feel we should protect everything including, but not limited to, drainage areas. For them, this is our local stream when it rains, a giant sandbox when it’s dry. They love to play there and are always disturbed when trash washes in. So we put on our muck boots and gardening gloves and cleaned it up!

Sadie brings trash to bag.

The fruits of their labor- a clean place to play and explore.

Let’s Party! April 10, 2008

Sadie is very enthusiastic about parties right now. This day we made strawberry muffins, complete with candles, decorated the dining room, and got dressed up (Elijah felt that Lightning McQueen jammies were just the thing).

River Legacy Park April 10, 2008

We decided to try a new park with our friends. Though the playground proved to be less than worthy, the wiggle cars and company were just right.

The W Family take each other on in a wiggle race. From right (hee, hee) Mady (who, at 9, is starting her own pet sitting business- Lulu and Minka will be staying with her while we are in California) with little brother Luke, Melissa with Ezra, and Niki.