Disneyland Times 2

My grandparents were very generous at Christmas and had given us some money to use on an adventure for our family. Knowing that we had a new little one on the way, and with Makenna getting older, we decided that it would be so much fun to use it for Disneyland tickets. We knew that Makenna would love it, we had the added incentive that it is the last year that she gets into the park for free, and we were able to get the 2fer deal so we could go twice for virtually the same amount as a one day ticket would cost. We made sure that we got her a special princess dress too for the Disneyland adventures.


Day 1 (March)
My family had a tradition of making special Mickey Mouse pancakes before heading in the car to Disneyland and I wanted to keep that tradition alive.  So we all ate Mickey Mouse pancakes before we left the house:-)

The first day that we went we were lucky enough for my mom and Jim to be able to join us.  The first ride that we dashed over to was Finding Nemo Submarines because we knew how long that line gets later in the day.

Well, I am not sure whether that was such a wise choice of first rides because it scared Makenna so much when the volcano erupted that she didn't want to open her eyes for the remainder of the ride.  We opted for a happier, slower paced ride after that: It's A Small World fit the bill.

She liked the "singing dolls" and started to get more into the spirit of Disneyland and having fun.  The weather was very nice and not many people were there so we were able to get onto just about every ride that we wanted to.  The only area that we didn't really get to was Toon Town.  Makenna's favorite rides of the day were the Carousel,

Pirates (surprisingly), Dumbo,

Winnie-The-Pooh,

the Tikki Room, and the Tea Cups.

The traumatizing rides of the day were Nemo and the Haunted Mansion.  We were able to stay all the way to the 7pm parade where Makenna finally got to see Donald Duck, which she had been waiting to see all day.  After a long day full of excitementm she fell asleep in her stroller with her Minnie Mouse and the deafening noise of the crowd, people, and parade music as we headed out of the park.

Day 2 (April)
Well, our first choice of days for our April Disneyland adventure got rained out so we had to choose a different day.  Since we had been on most all of the rides the first day, we thought it would be fun to let Makenna choose which rides to go on; unfortunately she refused, so we went on the Buzz Lightyear one first.  We hit all of her favorite rides from the previous trip and then went into Toon Town.  We went into the play areas, Rodger Rabbit, and then went to visit Minnie Mouse.  Surprisingly, Makenna went right up to Minnie and gave her a hug, and stood by her for a picture.

I don't know if I would have been that brave at her age.  After that she was on a character seeing fixation.  We saw Tigger,

Eeyore, 

and Winnie-The-Pooh next.  

Then even after that she still wanted to see a princess so we decided to brave the line and go over to the Happily Ever After princess section.  The time before we couldn't get Makenna to wear her princess dress for more than one ride, but when she heard that she was going to meet three princesses she told me "I need to wear my princess dress".  The line luckily went really quickly and within 20-minutes she was able to see Cinderella, 

Mulan, 

and Aurora.  

Makenna was also so thrilled when daddy and her were able to drive a car at Autotopia.  She just barely reached the height requirement and she was so excited to get to steer the car.  Daddy said it was the bumpiest ride of his life, but they had fun together.  

Makenna's favorite rides of the day were Winnie-the-Pooh, Dumbo, Autotopia, and seeing all of the characters.  Her least favorite was the Haunted Mansion; which we only went on when she had fallen asleep, but apparently she woke up part way though...oops.  Another fun and exhausting day!

Camping: Adventures in Joshua Tree

On our list of "Things to do before baby is born" was to take Makenna camping. We are a family of campers, but we hadn't gotten around to doing this when she was younger and with baby on the way it pushed us to just go. We had been anxious to try out our new two room tent! We packed up the car (luckily it had just enough room for our camping stuff without having to strap Makenna to the roof:-) and we were off on the hour and a half drive to Joshua Tree. We were excited because Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Becca, and Uncle Shawn all were going to be there camping. My grandparents had graciously gotten to the Jumbo Rocks campground in the morning and reserved spots for us because the whole park was full by the time we arrived at 5pm. We got the tent set up quickly and then Makenna had fun running around in it and pretending that she was "showering" (The divider in the middle reminded her of a shower curtain I guess).

I woudn't highly recommend being 8 1/2 months pregnant and tent camping, but at least we had an air mattress to help a little with the comfort. Our first night was a bit rough for all of us, with my tossing and turning and Makenna screaming out several times at night; but we survived. The next day we went hiking in the 100 plus degree heat. Who would have thought that it would be that hot in April. Makenna had a great time climbing the rocks

and hiking being carried on the trails.

Grandma, Grandpa, Autie Becca, Uncle Shawn and daddy went off real rock climbing,

while Makenna, Great-Grandma, and I went on a less strenuous hike

and then relaxed in the shade with Great-Grandpa for a while before the rock climbers returned. The second evening we had an awesome steak dinner, and Makenna and grandma went scorpion hunting with the black light. But unfortunately/fortunately they didn't find any. And of course it wouldn't be camping without roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores. Makenna made grandma hold her s'more so she didn't get her hands sticky:-) We decided not to sleep in the tent the second night so we headed off and arrived home just around midnight. We had a fun time and hopefully won't wait so long to take our little boy camping for the first time.

Makenna At the Movies

Since Makenna is getting older now another thing on our list of things to do before the baby is born was to take Makenna to a movie in the theaters. Since our plans fell through for our previously scheduled activity of the day because of rain, we decided last second to see what movie was in the theaters that was short, animated, and could keep her attention. Since it was last second we didn't find anything in the local theater to see but saw that "Alvin and Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" was playing at the cheapo theater in Moreno Valley. It was a perfect solution because the tickets are only $2 per person and there aren't many people so we did't have to worry about her talking during the movie:-)

Never did Toby or I ever think in our adult life that we would willingly see one of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies but there we were for our daughter's sake, poor planning, and nothing else remotely close to animated for us to see. We of course had to get popcorn for the first movie theater watching experience (which, by the way is where they totally make all their money:-) But, mommy and daddy ended up eating it all because Makenna proclaimed "No thank you, popcorn is too hard for Kenna".

Makenna stayed mesmerized the entire 84 minutes plus credits. She talked a little, but to my surprise she whispered when she did talk instead of her usual top of her lungs talking. We had come into the theaters after the movie was just starting so I didn't get a picture before so I had to take it afterwards. Since we were the last ones there one of the employees was waiting on us to get out though and my camera doesn't do too well in low light so I apologize for the quality of the picture but I had to get one for the memory.

Easter 2012

Easter Egg Dying
‘Twas the night before Easter and we were dying eggs. This was our first experience doing this with Makenna. I had seen a brilliant idea online for toddlers dying eggs to help keep the eggs unbroken and the kids more cleanly. I am all for that:-) We put the egg inside of a whisk, which made it super easy for her to hold and dunk into the dye. It worked really well as long as we held onto cup so it didn’t tip over. Makenna had so much fun making all colors of eggs.

She especially liked the last one that we did where we wrote her name on it. She was surprised when she started to see letters appear on the egg when it was dunked into the dye. I think I will do a whole dozen next time since she had so much fun.

Finished Result!  Not one broken egg:-)

Easter Morning
Makenna woke up early enough on Easter morning to have her egg hunt before going to church. She was excited to see all of the eggs and immediately knew what to do…collect them as fast as she could.

I think the Easter Bunny might have to hide them a little harder next time:-) She was thrilled to find out that they had candy in them this year, as opposed to the sugary cereals of last year. She stopped part-way through her egg collecting to look at her Easter basket. She got a doctor’s set that she was thrilled about and had to have opened before continuing on to anything else.

Then she examined her eggs after a successful egg hunt.

Easter Church Service
Our church service began an hour and a half earlier than our usual service, but at least it wasn’t a sunrise service. Jason, Beth, and Wyatt were able to come join us there. It was such a beautiful day outside and our service was held out in the courtyard. After church we had our annual brunch. There was so much yummy food and fun times with everyone. Aside from the great food, there was a bounce house for the kids to jump in, an egg hunt, and a silly photo booth.

(I know it is hard to tell but yes, that is really us under those disguises)

Before the egg hunt began, Wyatt shared his Easter basket grass with Makenna.

When it was time to “look” for eggs, Makenna began by being very selective with them and only picking up the yellow ones.

Then she got a little more into the groove and started picking up the ones in front of her. I was expecting that Makenna would have to help Wyatt collect some eggs because he is 10-months younger than her, but it was definitely the other way around. After Wyatt had a full basket of his own, he came over and helped Makenna collect some more for her basket. What a nice cousin!!

Grandma and Papa’s House
After a nap, we headed over to grandma and papa’s house for an early dinner with my family. We had a great lamb dinner with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Makenna had fun playing with the Quince dolls that my mom had saved from our toy collection when we were little. She also loved having all different adults take her out to the patio to go swinging. And Makenna got another Easter basket with her ULTIMATE favorite Easter toy: “The Pooping Chicken”. Can everyone say, “Thanks grandma!” Hehe…Makenna was fascinated with this wind-up toy that you put jelly beans into, wind it up, and then it lays eggs (aka ”poops”). This was by far her favorite thing of the day and when asked what she got for Easter she proudly says “A pooping chicken”. Yeah, great, I can’t wait for all of the kids at play group to hear about this:-)

Such a fun day! I hope everyone else had a great Easter too!

Our Favorite Gardens

I had been lucky enough in March to sign on to the Huntington Library website and get 5 tickets to the free day in April. Since it was a weekday and Toby was working, I was excited that my grandparents could join us for the day. I was watching Wyatt, so we got the chance to share our favorite gardens with him too. Even though it was a long car ride, the kids did awesome as long as I kept the crackers coming:-)

When we were let in, we headed straight for the conservatory to take a look at all the tropical plants.

The kids had a lot of fun watching the fish that were swimming in the pond tank. I love that the two of them are such good friends:-)

Then we decided that it was time to head out to the children's garden. The kids had fun playing in the water fountains, going through the tunnels, and playing in the other sections of the children's garden.

Next, we walked through the Chinese gardens and then over to the large grass area to let the kids eat their lunch and run, run, run to tire them out for the long car-ride home. It worked...they both slept all the way home:-)

We had a marvelous day!

Mommy & Me Classes

Ever since Makenna turned one year old I have wanted to sign up for the Mommy & Me class at our community center (Do remember that Makenna is coming up on 2 ½ years old soon:-). Well, with the new baby on the way it gave me the push that I needed to actually make it a reality. Naturally, I did wait until the very last class that I could though before our baby boy is born:-) The class began the first week in March and ends the last week in April. The class is only an hour long, one day a week but it gives Makenna and I a chance to have some fun together in a different setting. She looks forward to her “dance class with mommy” each week. The class mostly consists of allowing the kids to run around and play on various equipment, a short warm-up, and one new learning skill each week. Makenna loves jumping on the trampoline, going through the tunnel,

going up and down the stairs, riding on the "horse",

running as fast as she can across the mat, sliding down the wedge all kinds of ways,

and walking on the balance beam.

(The tongue sticking out gives extra balance; try it sometime:-)

We are having a lot of fun and I am so glad that I got the chance to have this special time with just Makenna before the baby is born.