Happy Thanksgiving!!

My sweet little boy was cleaning up my newspapers last weekend. He excitedly came running upstairs for scissors, and then quickly walked back downstairs. A few minutes later he came running in to show me a picture of some turkey cupcakes he had seen in the coupons, and please could we make them. The picture sat on the fridge for 10 days. Finally, they had to be made today or be outdated. Luckily when we started this adventure, we were able to find enough stuff to make our turkeys look somewhat normal. Tyler graciously let Ainsley and Aubry help him make his treat. After much licking of hands (and much hand washing) we have a whole gaggle or herd of turkeys!

I just love that cute little boy!

As you prepare for your feast tomorrow, I hope you take time to realize all you have to be grateful for. I am so blessed, and grateful to my Heavenly Father for all that He has given me, even those darn trials that seem to be so yucky at the time they come!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Family Pics

We had the funnest family pictures taken on Saturday! A friend in our ward loves photography....and it shows in her pictures. She has posted a few on her blog. http://glimpsesjmphoto.blogspot.com

I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!

Thanks Jamie for making this such a fun experience!

Soccer

Yea Silverbacks!

UNDEFEATED!!!!!!!

I can't wait till spring to see how you do again!!!!

Who thought?

I am having Halloween dilemmas this year. Emily's costume is done, thanks to needing it for a costume party two weeks ago!! Lizzie's should be easy after a DI trip. Here is my dilemma....don't you think you could find a vampire cape in children's sizes? The only cape I can find is an adult size. I could probably sew a cape, but he really wants one with the big red collar. Luckily this adult sized cape has that, and I could somehow make it shorter. Also, I have only found one store that sells vampire fangs without all the make up or without buying 30 sets of teeth.
My other dilemma is Ainsley wants to be a dog. "You know Mom, I am already Penny most of the time" (See the post about kid updates.) But, where can you find a dog costume in a kid size and not a toddler size? I have bought brown sweats to turn inside out because they don't sell plain sweats anymore. The one thing I am missing now is ears. Every store has bunnies, kitties, mice, pig, tigers, elephants, etc, but not the most common animal on earth!!!!! I know I can make some ears, but I am not good at making things look cute. UGH! By the way Jenny, every time we go into another store looking for ears and capes Ainsley informs me that you are making her costume so why should I be worrying about it. Let me know when you get that done for her!!!!!
My final Halloween dilemma: I have never missed a Halloween parade at the elementary school in seven years. This year the parade is at the same time as Ainsley's Halloween party at Gardner Village. Luckily Jared offered to take Ainsley to her party so I could go to the elementary parade and parties. I thrive on these events for my kids, and I am dreading missing the preschool party.

I know my dilemmas are pathetic and easily solved. I just needed to vent about them to someone who may care. (Jared doesn't fit in this category, and just doesn't care.)

Welcome Back Lizzie!

Exciting news at our house! We have Lizzie back!!!! She read 3791 pages (#2-#7 in the Harry Potter series) in 33 days. She has been in hiding for pretty much that whole time. I should add that she read a few other books during this time also. She would come out of her room to eat or do chores and that is pretty much the only time we saw her. When she finished she ran out of her room giggling (Lizzie has the most amazing contagious giggle) and ran into Jared's arms in a great big bear hug. "I'M DONE!!!" she shouted.

We love having Lizzie back!

After being grounded from books for a few days, she is already back to reading like crazy!

AAAHHHHHH!!!

My baby turned five today!

Kid Updates

I obviously haven't blogged in awhile. And unfortunately I can't get mad at any one else who hasn't blogged unless I blog myself. There is nothing exciting going on in my life, so I will fill you in on my kids.

Emily is our busy one. She switched from the charter school to a real junior high this year. Last week she was elected to be a seventh grade representative. Not bad for someone who started school with only knowing two other seventh graders. Thanks Emma for spreading the word about your cousin and rounding her up some votes!!!! So far the school change has been a great change for her. Emily plays soccer right now and is working on her recital piece for the upcoming piano recital. This weekend Emily and a friend did the sky coaster at Lagoon. BRAVE...I am too scared to do that thing (even though I want to)

We don't see much of Lizzie lately. Over the summer I started reading Harry Potter #1 to the kids. Two and a half weeks ago she decided I was reading too slow and finished the book by herself. She is now halfway through number 5. This is the girl that "Never wanted to even look at Harry Potter. It looks too boring. Why am I making her listen to this stupid book?" Maybe in another month she will be done with the series and will come out of hiding again.

Tyler turned eight last week and is anxiously awaiting his baptism on Saturday. (It is at 3:00 for anyone interested in attending) We went to his first pack meeting last night. Ugh, the whole scouts thing is intimidating to me. Tyler still hates to read out loud to us. "Why can't I just read the book quickly to him so he can go outside and play sooner?" My favorite with this boy is when he puts on all his cowboy garb (hat, boots, gun, shorts?...) and rides the wiggle bike. What a goof. At least he is a handsome one!

Ainsley turns five next week and can't wait for her friend pajama party. I can't believe my baby is this old! I have never met a more head strong child or person. Things will be done on her terms, and no other way. Last week for show and tell at school she planned to take a picture of her and Lizzie because the letter was "L". She had this planned all week. The morning of show and tell she decided she didn't want to take anything. I took the picture along in case she changed her mind once she got to school and saw everyone else's show and tell. That still didn't change her mind. After school she got buckled in the van, AND THEN decided she HAD to run and show her teacher the picture. Tomorrow for the letter "A" she said she is taking herself. Lately she acts as if she is our puppy named Penny. At least our dog uses the toilet instead of the back yard!

Thursday

Do you ever just have one of those days....they start out OK, but then all of a sudden go downhill? That was my Thursday. I even had an hour to myself in the morning. But then suddenly the kids get home from school and chaos erupts.

Each kid was planning to have a friend over. That's fine, nine kids running through the house. That I can handle. But then one of my girls starts telling me some details about a problem with a friend at school. My poor daughter was in tears that day at school because of things this other girl said. Things like that break my heart because I really can't do anything about it to help them.

Then Tyler tells me that his ear started hurting around lunch time. Lovely. If it was any of my other kids I would wait till morning to deal with it. But not Tyler. The poor kid has had five tubes and one ruptured ear drum in that ear (before Thursday). I call the doctor to schedule an appointment for that evening. A few minutes later Tyler tells me his ear is dripping water. Because he is playing so good I assume the water is leftovers from the swim pool the night before.

My doorbell rings (while I am changing my clothes). I am frantically dressing so I can answer the door. It was a person giving me some news that I was expecting, but not wanting to hear. So even though I knew it was coming, I still had a good cry.

By now Tyler isn't playing as good. I load up all the friends to take them home on the way to the doctor. After dropping off one friend, Tyler announces he doesn't feel so good. Luckily he brought his pillow to hold against his ear in the van. Suddenly he starts vomiting all over his pillow and himself. Poor Lizzie's friend who was sitting right next to him! I call the doctor to say we will be late for his appointment because he obviously needs a shower by this point. We drive back home. As I was helping him get undressed for the shower I notice purple spots all over his arms. I started panicking at this point. Because he so suddenly got sick, and because he has a weird rash, I am sure he has some crazy disease. In my defense, I am not usually that paranoid of a mom.

Tyler gets showered, I scrub puke from the van, and we head for the doctors again. By this time Tyler is constantly moaning because he feels so crappy. He is breathing funny, and again I am sure he is really sick. Half way to the doctors office, I had a realization. The night before at the pool Tyler had kept jumping off the high dive and landing with his arms straight out. They were red all that evening. Evidently, water can cause bruises! That was a relief to realize that.

When we get to the doctor, she takes one look at Tyler's arms and goes into panic mode before I can explain the high dive. See, I am not the only one. She tells me that his spots are an indicator of several serious diseases. However, if his spots do spread or get bigger, call an ambulance immediately. SCARY!

I knew Tyler had an ear infection, but I was hoping beyond hoping that it hadn't burst. Thursday definitely wasn't my day. Tyler's ear drum had ruptured again. In my mind I am thinking more scar tissue and yet another set of tubes. The poor kid!!!!!!

Tylenol is working, and Tyler seems to be feeling better. We head to Harmon's to pick up his prescription. In the parking lot Tyler starts throwing up again. We are supposed to be going out of town the next day, but I am thinking maybe not since Tyler probably has the flu with his ear infection. We head in to get the meds and run into someone we know. That person will not acknowledge us even though we say hello. RUDE!

We finally get home at 8:00. I am bugged, ornery, feeling bad, tired (Mentally and physically) and still have to run to Walmart for some stuff I need in case we do get to go out of town. (Luckily the vomiting must have been pain related because Tyler was absolutely fine the next day!)

I finally get to eat and crash into bed, and anxiously await a new day.

Bored

School just barely started, and I am bored. Ainsley and I can play Go Fish and have treasure hunts only so many times a day. I have cleaned bedrooms, the storage room, the family room and the computer area. I have caught up on everyone's blogs. I shredded everything that needed to be shredded. I won't let myself get a good book from the library right now. I'm bored.

Sure, there are many things I should/could be doing. But for some reason or another, I can't right now.

*I need to go to the grocery store, but the baby I watch is having a nap right now.
*The pears I am going to can are not quite ripe yet.
*The kitchen floor needs to be mopped, but I am using the deep fryer tonight, and I always mop after using it. Besides, why mop when I will be making a pear mess in the next few days?
*I have laundry that could be done, but laundry day is Thursday.
*I need to write a descriptive paper about Emily for her Spanish teacher, but after the morning we had together I have nothing nice to say about her yet.
*I have lots of shopping I want to do, but shouldn't.
*I have left messages to talk to a few people, but they haven't called me back yet.

So for right now, I am bored. Tomorrow my pears may be ready, it's laundry day, AND I will have to mop. UGH, which is worse? Boredom or too much to do?

A Miserable Surprise!

Jared hates birthdays. He even hates my birthday. I love birthdays. I think all birthdays should be celebrated for at least two days. My kids always seem to have celebrations spaced out over a couple of days. This is because I am in charge of all that planning. I am lucky to be told "Happy Birthday" once on my actual birthday by Jared. Every year I tell him that once I get the birthday I want, he will get the birthday celebration he wants, which is nothing! BORING! This year he must have thought he got off pretty easy from us. Nothing big. A few gifts and we went out to dinner. Lucky Jared, or so he thought.

I planned a "Surprise Miserable" party for him two weeks after his birthday. The plan was to enjoy things he hates with a group of friends and family. It turned out to be a blast, even though Jared hated everything we did! Keeping things a surprise went better than I thought, until the day of the party. Ainsley told him at lunch time that "Jenny was having a party at the restaurant and he was invited." Somehow that comment was never acknowledged by him. He knew we were going to Golden Corral (his least favorite place to eat) because our friend Rachel wanted to go on a date and she was really craving Golden Corral. Later that afternoon John from Golden Corral called and wanted to talk to me about my party reservation for that evening. Of course Jared answered the phone. As I talked to John I was panicking. Jared was right there listening to my end of the conversation. After John hung up I said into the phone that I wasn't interested. I couldn't look Jared in the face as I explained John was trying to convince me to come to a free dinner so I could listen to his time share info. Jared kept asking questions, and said something was fishy, but he finally let it go.

We finally made it to Golden Corral. We walked into the reserved room where everyone was waiting and he was still pretty clueless. He said his only thought was how did friend Andrew know brother Seth because they were sitting by each other. Then everyone yelled "Surprise!" We all laughed because he was still so shocked. I think that what surprised him more were some of the outfits people were wearing. It was hilarious to see what some people came up with. My friend Jenny helped a few of us dress up. She spent hours at the DI finding just the right seventies outfits.

After pigging out at Golden Corral some of us went Cosmic Bowling. Jared hates bowling because I usually beat him! And what bowling game is complete without some dancing on tables? We laughed so hard together! I think that even though Jared hated everything we did he had a great time with everyone who was there! (Sorry that I didn't get pictures of everyone who was at dinner.)

Just so you know Jared....I expect a good birthday next year or your next birthday will be celebrated even bigger!

Goodbye my friend...

I had to say goodbye to a dear friend yesterday. In its place was a sort of enemy of mine. School started yesterday for Lizzie and Tyler, and I had to wake up to an ALARM CLOCK! Ugh! I really don't like that thing. It represents so much.

During the summer I would set the alarm, but to go off at 9 am if I wasn't awake yet (very rarely would it go off). I love the lazy summer days. I love just hanging out with my kids and playing with them. I love not having as many responsibilities during the summer. I love that we could go play whenever we wanted and not have to be in bed by a specific time. I know that summer is officially not over, but my carefree summer days won't return for 180 school days.

Goodbye my friend.....I will miss you!

I Survived!!!!

Jared left me this weekend. He said it was something about needing more testosterone from the mountains. Maybe he left because I had offered to watch five extra kids over night. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about being a single parent to nine kids. But guess what: we all survived! The kids were great!!! They all played together, slept wonderfully (I actually got more sleep than I do any normal night), ate all their food (I even included a fruit with dinner) and they cleaned when asked. The wiggle bikes kept us all entertained for hours, even 15 month old Olivia. My nephew became our tribal chief (I will have to include pictures of that later...I am too lazy to put them on the computer right now.) I do have to say, I was a little nervous when the power flickered this morning...how would I keep them all entertained inside with no TV all day? Luckily, it did only flicker, and the rain stopped so they could play outside some more. Thank goodness for garages to play in, and good old fashioned fort building. I think fort building must be a special event saved only for when a babysitter is around. I can remember my cousin Jeni babysitting us and building the most awesome forts.

The kids all lived until their moms came to pick them up. It was my own kid who suffered an injury. Ainsley fell down the stairs and broke her thumb/hand Friday night. Being the great MOM that I am I gave her some Tylenol, and took everyone to the playground. (Note: I said MOM, not BABYSITTER. If it was anyone else's kid I would have taken them to the doctor sooner.) She was playing just fine, so obviously her hand was all right. However, the next morning it was really swollen and purple. After arranging for some awesome young women to come help Emily watch the other seven kids, I finally took Ainsley to the doctor. Sure enough, the doctor is pretty sure the bone at the base of her thumb is broke. Something about weird bone shapes makes him have a little doubt about the fracture. Needless to say, she did live through all this, so...we all survived!

Only 20ish more hours till Jared comes home. Hopefully we stay in the survived category!

John Deere?

Let me start with some background info: Today is Jared's birthday. He works for Wheeler Machinery, which is a Caterpillar dealer. Our family LOVES Cat (they pay the bills) and HATES John Deere (Ask the kids, they will say John Deere stinks)

This morning at 6:20 Jared leaves for work. He comes back into the house to tell me to come look outside. The Birthday Bandits had struck!

"Nothing runs like a Deere, not even Jared on his 35th birthday!

The kids are all dying to hit at the John Deere pinata with the Cat bat. They are anxiously awaiting Dad to get home so we can "tear that thing to pieces" (Tyler's exact words)

The poem on the garage door reads:

Deere John,

Your motor was sluggish, I thought it was rubbish, on I put on the brakes, but you flaked.

I thought you were pulling a prank, you turned out to just be a crank.

So I shifted gears and thought about your rear. But when it came to driving the shaft, you choked.

I just wish you would've croaked.

Even if you lose your spare tire my Deere, you broke my heart you old fart.

So take your green machine and make like steam cuz this old Cat is done with that,

Love, Cat

They did a great job of proclaiming our "love" for John Deere. As each kid woke up this morning they again shouted their feelings of hatred. Why would anyone do this they asked?

Jared did smile at all the poems and writing. Great job Birthday Bandits! Thank you!

This is a perfect opportunity to post another event in our family. Sunday was Family Day at Kennecott. My mom's husband works there, and they invited us to go up to see the new Cat truck that was just built there. After waiting in the hot sun for about an hour, it was our turn to climb up to see this giant Cat 795F. It is the biggest vehicle at Kennecott.

For our family, we hope this truck spells Job Security!

GO CAT!!!!!!

Wiggle Bikes

For quite some time I have wanted to do a post about our family's Wiggle Bikes! They are an awesome toy that our neighbors have. For months our kids begged to have their own. We held them off for quite some time, not only because of cost, but because I didn't think they would actually use them two weeks after we bought them. In a weak moment their push-over Dad made the purchase. That was in April, and they are still a hit! Although the bikes look easy, they are quite a workout to use, at least for me! The kids all love to ride down our driveway and onto the sidewalk (on only two wheels) and then wiggle to the neighbors who have a down sloping driveway. They ride these for HOURS. They have even convinced the neighbor's shitszu dog to pull them (Sorry, you'll just have to take my word for it, I haven't caught that one on camera yet). They pretend they are sled dogging.

Last weekend we took the kids and wiggle bikes to a park with a hill so they could ride. Of course everyone at the park had to take a turn. Everywhere we go people want to try them out.

I even took a turn on the hill!

Well, tonight a group of friends (the youngest being the birthday girl turning 27) went out for ice cream. Somehow we got on the subject of wiggle bikes, so I suggested we take the bikes to the park for a ride. At 10:30 we show up at the park. We surprised a couple making out in the park. I think we shocked them when we stayed for 45 minutes laughing our heads off. We all took turns riding down the hill. The turn proved a little scary for some people, but there were no injuries!!!!! We all had a BLAST!!! I wouldn't be surprised if within a few weeks half our ward owns their own wiggle bikes. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the kids owning them, just the adults.

Jodi-LaLa: the birthday girl (we let her use the pink wiggle bike)

Sheri finally got the hill figured out, after about 5 tries!

The only bad part about the night was that there were only five wiggle bikes for seven of us!

Tonight definitely rates right up there with the night some friends and I went toilet papering at 9:00 pm (it was dark). And that was just last year! I have awesome friends....if you ever need a laugh, just call us. We can make you laugh till you pee, especially since this is what happens on a good night with friends after the age of 30!!!!!!

Wiggle Bike Info: If you are buying a wiggle bike, make sure you buy a Plasma Car. They get the best reviews for working the best. Wiggle bikes can hold 220 pounds! They can be found for the best price on eBay. Lia did find them on Target.com with free shipping. She has already ordered two, and she says they are for her kids. Like we really believe her!

Trek

Jared and I had the opportunity to be a Ma and Pa at our stake's Pioneer Trek last week. I am still emotional about the whole thing, so I don't think I can blog much about it. It was the most amazing experience for both of us. The stake let the 12 year olds attend, so Emily got to go also. She isn't sure if she ever wants to go again, but I would go again next week if I could. We walked 28 miles in three days. (It was a four day trek, but the third day's walk was basically a walk around the block.) Jared even lived to tell about it! The second day we looked like a bunch on 90 year olds hobbling around camp, but somehow we still did 6 miles that day plus a hoe-down.

My testimony grew yards that week. It inspired me to see so many youth all there with the same standards and morals. It seemed like there were so many life lessons in everything that happened on trek. I have a whole new appreciation for the pioneers. They had so much faith, and such a desire to follow the Lord. We were blessed with six excellent children that made the experience that much better. We shared so many testimony building moments with them. I really need to learn to journal so I can write all this down before I forget it all.

Poor Lizzie, we took Emily to Disneyland for her birthday. We were gone on trek for Lizzie's birthday. Luckily she is a fairly forgiving child and only complained a little. She is blessed with awesome friends who fed her chocolate cake and took her to Lagoon to celebrate her special day. (In addition to taking on three extra kids for three days! Thank you!!!!!!)

After back to back girl's camp and then trek, summer can officially begin at our house. Lagoon or the pool anyone?

Justified

Have you ever had to justify the food you eat?

Say for instance, the cup of spinach artichoke dip you ate has vegetables in it. OR- the chips you ate the dip with had no trans-fat. (Does anything have trans-fat anymore?) OR- the cookies you ate were made with dark chocolate which is healthier than milk chocolate. OR- the chocolate covered strawberries you ate are healthy because they have two food groups, fruit and dairy. OR- the 44 ounce drink you bought was Diet Coke, not regular Coke, AND you didn't drink it all.

Let's just say you ate all this food in one evening (AFTER dinner).....would you justify it by the two miles you walked that day?

Heres the Story

Contrary to what you all think, I think my hair is brown. I just don't see the red. I see other people's red hair, just not my own. Sometimes I will see some red highlights if the sun hits it just right. I get teased unmercifully about this. It is quite the family joke now. Ainsley has informed me several times that she thinks my hair is orange, but it can be brown if I want it to be. I have always wanted a red head child, and Lizzie has graciously offered to dye her hair for me. Jared is always on the look out for people with the same color of hair as me so he can show me. I was in Lizzie's class reading with a girl last year. We were both bent over the book and our hair was all blended together. I couldn't tell which hair belonged to who. Before that day, I called her hair red. Now it must be brown. We have some dear friends with three red haired girls (how unfair is that!). I was walking with their strawberry blonde one day and a picture was taken. When they looked at that picture later they commented about our same hair color. (I would post that picture if I could find it)

Either all of you are blind, or I must succumb to being a red head. I will now call my hair red, as long as none of you say it is orange.... ugh!

.....Does this mean I have a red head temper?

Hair

Due to recent events in my life (teasing and questioning) I have a question to ALL fellow bloggers.

What color is my hair?

Please comment and answer honestly!

Unfortunately, because I am always behind the camera I do not have a picture for you to look at. Hopefully I am not too unforgettable and you can remember what I look like!

Graduation

My baby graduated preschool for the first time last night. I don't really know why she "graduated," she has another year of preschool left. I guess that after you pay every month for an education, a parent does have the right to watch a small program. I did learn that she is not my child last night. She kept posing and dancing through the whole thing. After two of the songs she stood up, kissed both her hands and blew the kisses to the audience. What, does she think everyone was there for just her? I like to think she was blowing them to me, her wonderful mother who she misses while at preschool. She obviously did not get her lack of stage fright from me. It was a sweet program, with only a few thoughts of tears from her mother. I am sure that when she graduates preschool (again) next year I will let the tears fall. My sweet baby!

While I am on the subject of Ainsley....which sport should I sign her up for.....soccer or baseball? This is a game she made up called "Batter-batter baseball." Can you tell she watches too much soccer and baseball; they all run together in her mind.

Surprise!

When Jared and I booked our vacation, we planned on going to Sea World and San Diego also. We just didn't tell our kids this part. Lizzie was quite mad at us that we could be so close to Sea World but not go. She would rather visit Sea World than Disneyland. I wanted there to be some element of surprise to our vacation. After we checked out of our hotel in Anaheim, we told the kids that we would go to the beach, but would have to drive a ways. We passed the San Diego temple and pointed it out to the kids.....they were still CLUELESS! We pulled into a hotel and said that we might as well stay in San Diego for a few days instead of going home right away. Then we told them we would go to Sea World. There was a little shrieking, but not the excitement I was expecting. Oh well.

We started off San Diego by going to the beach. The kids and Jared had a blast! They were all mad at me because I didn't want to get in the water....hmmmmm.....52 degree water and 70 degree air temp. Not my idea of fun. I enjoyed myself watching them play and taking pictures. They drug seaweed, searched for shells, buried each other, got in a mud fight, and swam. Jared loves walking out and jumping the waves. Tyler and Lizzie love to bury their feet and then let the waves come bury them more.

Sea World was so much more relaxing than Disneyland the kids all said. They enjoyed watching the shows and getting splashed. Their favorites are the tide pools and feeding the sting rays. They probably would have been content if this is all we did at Sea World. They love to stick their hands in the cold water to pick up the sea stars. I think that Ainsley held every one that was within her reach. She kept getting so concerned at the upside down sea stars. She made Emily reach in to turn several over that Ains couldn't reach. They counted several lobsters in the tide pools also.

At the rays, I thought Ainsley would be too scared to reach her hand in. She loved it though! Jared loves to feed the animals at Sea World, I think more than the kids do. At one point he spilled fish juice on himself. We couldn't figure out why the fish smell was following us. Jared had to go spot wash his shirt in the the bathroom. YUCK!!!!!!

One of the Sea World highlights was Ainsley spotting a baby bunny. The kids all sat and watched it forever. The picture of the kids looking for it under a wall cracks me up.

I promise I am done writing about our trip! It was definitely a dream come true for me!

Happy Birthday Emily!

When we planned our trip, it happened to work for us best to go over Emily's birthday. I asked Jared if this sets a precedence, and now we need to take each kid to Disneyland over their twelfth birthday. He said no. I say yes, so hopefully I will be back at Disneyland in 26 months! Anyway, if you have seen any commercials lately, you know that Disneyland celebrates birthdays. Emily got to wear a badge that said "Its my birthday!" Several people throughout the park said "Happy Birthday Emily." And yes, I cried when the first person said it to her! She also was given a $69 gift card instead of free admission on her birthday. Unfortunately, the gift card fell out of her pocket without us ever using it. It has taken us a few days, but we both can now laugh over this mishap! A highlight of her trip was seeing the boy she likes at Disneyland. He was there with his family the same week we were. Convenient, wouldn't you say?

On this trip we discovered that Ainsley is scared of heights. We were waiting to board the Sailing Ship Columbia and I told everyone to run to the second level for a picture and then I would board. Ainsley was terrified to be that high! Can you see the death grip she has in the picture? When Jared set her down, she sat on the floor, on the second level still, but was quite content. We thought she would panic at Tarzan's Treehouse too, but climbed up just fine. When it was time to go back down however, she slid all the way down on her bum, step by step. At least she wasn't crying!

Ainsley is also scared of some characters. She had promised to hug Jack Sparrow (maybe because she would get to call Aunt Nichole if we saw him), but I guess Aladdin is scarier that him. When she and I saw Aladdin she offered to take my picture because she didn't want to talk to him. In fact, about half of our character pictures don't include Ainsley.

On the Grizzly Bear River Run, Tyler didn't get just wet, he got drenched!

Our family found a new favorite ride. We LOVE Toy Story Midway Mania! You ride in a car and play games with 3-D glasses. If you "pop" a water balloon, water mists you. We were all fiercely competitive, but Jared won us every time. One of the times we rode it, Emily wanted to ride with Jared just so she could verify he really was winning us!

I love Disneyland because of all the extras they think about. I love the cast members that look and act their part as you board their ride. I love the themed areas. I love the costumes, plays and parades. The kids all complained every time I made them wait for a performance. But, every time they watched one, they loved it! I loved this costume, (from a parade that no one wanted to watch, but after they were all laughing and dancing.) This walking stick from Bugs Life was so tall!

There is also a 3-D Bugs Life show. We all watched it. Stink bugs "stink" you, complete with smell, and spiders crawl down from the ceiling. At the end, the announcer asks you to please stay seated so all maggots and caterpillars can leave the building. Then you feel a movement on your seat that feels like a bug crawling under your bum. When we asked Ainsley if she liked the show she kept ignoring us. Finally, five minutes later she turned to Jared and I and said, "The show no, the bugs under my bum yes." She must have really needed to process that one!

On our final day at Disneyland we all rode our favorite rides again. Then we did some serious character hunting and shopping (Thanks Dad for the souvenir money!). We waited 40 minutes to enter Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell and her fairies. We got to meet Tinkerbell and Silvermist. (I have no idea who the other fairies are, but my girls tried to educate me during our wait) Tinkerbell gave us some serious attitude and teasing. I think this is why she is Emily's favorite character/princess.

The Disney princesses all visit the Princess Faire, and you have to wait in line to see them. The trick is that they only have three princesses there at a time, and you don't know who is there until you enter the building. After waiting for an hour, we finally got to enter. Lizzie has been in love with Belle from Beauty and the Beast forever. Three years ago our biggest regret is not getting to see Belle. We kept our fingers crossed we would see her this time. The first princess was Jasmine. While we visited with her Aurora came in to tell her that Raja was growling at the guards, so could she please go feed him. So then we got to visit with Aurora. Cinderella was next. Ainsley was just as excited the second time to meet her as she was the first. The last princess was Snow White. By this time Lizzie and I were trying really hard to hide our disappointment. Snow White used an annoying shrill voice, and commented to Tyler about his bright yellow shirt. She really liked it, and would he please take a picture with her. She promised not to kiss him, because her prince would not like this. Tyler was mortified beyond belief that we would want him to pose with a princess. He adamantly said no and walked off in tears! The poor kid is so surrounded by girlie stuff that I guess he occasionally has to make a stand!

Of course, as we were hanging out at the princess store at the exit of Princess Faire, Belle walked in to take her turn at Princess Faire. At that, Lizzie and I both cried. I promised her we would try to come back later to see her.

While driving to our hotel, we noticed that the California Angels stadium was near Disneyland. Jared had never been to a professional baseball game, so he bought tickets for him and Tyler. They left Disneyland early on our last day so that they could get to their game. Both loved it, even though the Angels lost.

When the boys left, the girls and I headed back over to Princess Faire to try our luck again. This time we only waited 30 minutes! And we were successful! To me, this was an event that made every penny we spent worth it. I still cry every time I talk, or write about it! When Lizzie walked up to Belle she was beaming. She later told me that she was so nervous to meet her that she could barely talk. This was definitely the highlight of Lizzie's trip! Sometimes I wonder if she realizes that these are just normal people dressed up. I think that in her eyes Belle was a real princess!

Our favorite rides:

Jared: Soaring Over California and California Screaming

Misty: Soaring Over California and Small World

Emily: Indiana Jones and California Screaming

Lizzie: Tower of Terror and Indiana Jones

Tyler: Space Mountain and Autopia

Ainsley: Dumbo and Small World

I actually didn't cry when we left Disneyland. Four and a half days was good, and I felt done when the girls and I went to dinner that night.

Thanks Walt Disney and Mickey for helping to make our vacation such a wonderful experience!!!!!