The Magical World of Disney

Disneyland!  Oh, how much fun this place is!  Our family just got to experience Disneyland for the first time!  The best part was that we were able to spend that time with family.  Chase's side of the family all met us there, so all nine of us had a party for 3 days in both Disneyland and California Adventure.  I hadn't been there since I was 13 years old, but even though it has been 10 years since my last visit, I was even feeling like a kid again riding the"Indiana Jones" and "Splash Mountain" rides.  We made lots of memories that will always mean a lot to me and our family.

Good memories include the days leading up to our long-awaited trip, when we had our "Disneyland Countdown Chain."  Sailor would wake up and one of the first things we would do is cut off a link of our paper chain.  As we counted down the days, she got more and more excited.
"There is not a lot more loops, Mom!"
"I get to see Ariel in _ days!"
"I get to see Ariel and hug her...and she has feet."
"I get to go to Disneyland and ride rides!"
"Will Rapunzel be there, Mom? Can I hug her?"

Then the morning of our trip came and even when we got up and left around 5am in the morning, Sailor didn't nap til late afternoon because she was so wide awake and ready to get to Disneyland!  She was in such a good mood despite the lack of sleep.

   

Seryn LOVED "It's a Small World."  She was dancing, flapping her arms, and looking everywhere.  The ride is a long one and not once did she get bored.  It was so fun to watch!

 

Watching Sailor patiently wait in line to see Rapunzel was a highlight.  As we were waiting for the people ahead to get through their turn, Sailor just held on to my hand staring at Rapunzel.  I could tell she was getting a tad nervous but was very excited.  Sailor was very shy as we talked with her but as we are walking away Sailor tells me, "Mom, I need to hug her again!"

Chase and I picked up this cute pink, Minnie jacket for Sailor prior to our trip.  We brought it along with us and had her "open" it as we were walking around the park.  When she looked into the bag, she yelled, "CLOTHES!" She was so excited and we just laughed at her response.  She pulled it out and said, "OOOoo a pink jacket....& it has MINNIE!"  "Can I put it on?" My brother in law quickly made the remark, "wow, she's definitely a girl."

 The girls were needing to get back to the hotel one afternoon so my MIL, Chase, and I started back to the room.  On our way back we noticed this River Raft ride had NO line.  Literally, we could walk right on it.  So my sweet MIL was sooooo kind to let us go jump on it while she took the kids.  Shout out to, Ket! Thanks sooo much for doing that because it was such a fun time I had with my husband. Also, my SIL Kara took the photo below.  Kara is weeks to her due date with their first child!  Exciting, but because of that baby she was not able to ride very many rides.  I was sad to see she couldn't and wished we had been able to have more fun together.  We will have to make another trip!! 

Sailor finally got to meet Ariel, but wasn't very impressed. She was a little shy about the meeting and once we stepped away from her, Sailor turned to me and said, "No, that's not Ariel, no! That's another one."  I felt sad that she had been so excited to meet her and then that's how it went down....Once she meet her again (a different one) she warmed up to her even though she said, "Mom, there are 3 Ariels."  haha...oh, brother. Also, the food at "Ariel's Grotto" was soooo good!

 Sailor LOVED "The Little Mermaid" ride in California Adventure.  Luckily my MIL was so kind to ride it with her because they probably rode it a dozen times.  It's the cutest ride, and I actually enjoyed it probably just as much as she did.

 Chase is the man!  He was our fast-pass picker-upper.  Each day we would map it out and work it so that we always had a fast-pass in hand.  Thanks, Chase for doing the running around for us! :)  It definitely paid off though because  one evening a few of us were out riding the rides while the kids were down. We were able to hit up some of the busiest rides: Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, even watch the "Captain EO" in 3D...;)...we were able to hit the rides all under 45 mins or so.


This picture illustrates how Seryn felt Day 1 of our Disneyland fun.  Poor girl, woke up sick and wasn't a happy camper, but she was a trooper and hung in there (or forced to as she sat in the stroller for the good portion of the day).  Tough girl.

 Speaking of Seryn and her temperament...the one and only memory of our trip that I would definitely like to push aside is the one when Seryn completely lost it on our "Under the Water-Submarine- Nemo Ride."  About the last 10 mins of the ride she FREAKED out and I had no clue why.  We were all crammed in this submarine and Seryn is screeching and throwing her body around.  I started to sweat just trying to keep her down from hurting herself and stressing about all the people who had to wait in line for 40 mins just to get on the ride and THEN have to hear a crying baby.  I had no where to go... I was just DYING to get off the ride.  I was too the point where I start pouring a bottle of water on her head to keep her cool and maybe snap her out of it...that worked for a good 2 seconds.  ANYWAYS..NOT fun and I was soooooo ready to get back to the hotel for some serious nap time....everything got better and I still love her!

 Sailor's favorite people to see was probably Mickey and Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, etc.  Unlike the Princesses she came right up to them and hugged them.

Kara, isn't this pic hilarious of Chavis? Chantz took the 2 pics below.

Splash Mountain:  There were four of us on the ride one of the times we went on this ride and right before we started down the fall we quickly decided to do the YMCA pose for the camera. Nerdy but fun!

Kara, sorry this is not the best picture, especially since that tree is in the way! I didn't get very many though so I thought I'd post.

To preface:  Sailor has been taught throughout her life that she can hold on to toys in stores, but upon leaving we take them back and tell them "bye."  She has always done this really well and never has had a hard time doing so.  Well, we were in one of the stores in Disneyland and she did her thing checking out the toys, playing with them, holding on to what she likes, etc.  I noticed her holding on to a stuffed Pluto for quite some time.  She finally ran it up to me and showed me.  As we were getting ready to leave, she asked, "Mom, can I take this with me (holding on to the stuffed Pluto)?"  This caught me off guard because she has never asked me that before.  I told her that mommy and daddy would need to talk about it first, so put it down and maybe we can come back and get him. Before putting him back she looked that stuffed Pluto in the eyes and said, "I will be right back and come get you," and then gave him a kiss.  SOLD! She had me there and I rushed to Chase and said, "We gotta get that Pluto!"  An hour later or so, we came back and 'adopted' that pooch! :) She was a happy girl. And as we walked away she said, "I come back!"

........so we had a trip FULL of memories.  We can't wait to make more memories there in the future!

Princess Tutus

We just recently got back from an amazing trip to Disneyland (which I will post about very soon), but prior to our fun-family vacation, Sailor and Seryn's grandmother sent over two "Princess Tutus" in the mail so the girls could "practice being a princess" :).  They loved them, and since they looked so darn cute in them I had to take my camera (aka 'permanent arm extension' these days) out and snap some shots.  We hadn't been to Sahuro Ranch for several months so I thought the girls would enjoy checking out the peacocks while I secretly took pictures of them. This place is so quaint and adorable...no wonder it's a hot photography spot.

The one below is one of my favorites.  Sailor would not let go of her cat "Mango" (named after my family's orange cat that Sailor was able to maul all over last month). Sailor was running around barefoot (she rips her shoes off everywhere she goes) with her cat in tow.

Peacocks are awesome...BUT this was the only shot I got since I was kind of afraid of what that bird could do to us if we got any closer! I am SOOO sure those birds get sick of getting their picture taken! :)

Beetlejuice

Seryn will be 10 months old in 3 days, and has become a very independent little one.  The last two weeks she has been feeding herself (minus the few times she nurses), meaning she will only eat what I place in front of her. She started refusing ALL food that I spoon feed her, but if I place anything on her tray she will eat it all....? I don't know why this is!  This means that every meal is a messy meal which gets VERY tiresome. Also, this has been quite stressful for me trying to come up with menus for her; menus that are clean, easy to eat, and healthy...trust me, there is nothing that exists that obtains all three of my requirements. Thus, reiterating that EVERY meal is a messy meal.

So with that said, Seryn's hands are always so messy and sticky and when they are in this state she finds it fun to play with her hair...EVERYTIME.  She rubs her ears a lot (with or without ear infections) especially when she eats.  Her hair then starts to look a little like Beetlejuice's!

The hair behind her ears come straight out into points, sometimes like Krusty the Clown. She's sweet regardless! Sweet enough to kiss all over even when she's covered in peach juice! :)

Spence & Kels

A few weeks ago I took a few pictures of my friend's children for Mother's Day. These were a couple of my favorites....we love the Jackmans!

Kelsi

Spencer

we're halfway there!

Chase just finished his 2nd year of optometry school, this means we have a total of 2 more years to go!  YAY for Chase!! The time has FLOWN-I can't even express that enough.  I am so proud of Chase for all that he has accomplished: B.S. in undergrad, got in to optometry program, found us an apartment, moved us down here safely, started optometry school, picked up numerous jobs, fathered our second child during the beginning of his 2nd year, has been SOOO very patient with my hyper-sensitive, crazy, hormonal post-partum debut, has helped cook and clean on a daily basis, driven us on some fun family vacations,  stays so busy with classes and studying, yet never forgets a mother's day, birthday, anniversary, etc., continually amazes me with his pure determination and his ability to go go go.  I love him! He has worked so hard, and before we know it he will a practicing "Dr. Jackson."

 2 years!

Haha...almost fooled you there, didn't I?  This is the actor Joel Edgerton (more recently from the movie "Warrior").  Does he not have similarities to Chase??  I felt like he especially looked like him in the movie.  Watch the movie and tell me what you think...I loved it, fyi.

I love this one of Chase.  Very rarely can I get a genuine, TRUE smile out of him.  This was right after he told me a peacock was coming up behind me...I freaked a little as he laughed. As I got after him for freaking me out I realized it was picture perfect moment!  I love you, Chase!

Cinco de Mayo

Thanks to Macey and Christian's fiesta and an episode of Sesame Street all devoted to teaching about the word "Fiesta," Sailor had been VERY interested in having one herself.  A couple days prior to Cinco de Mayo she asked me if she could have a fiesta.  I said of course we can have one and started thinking about maybe planning a little party with her friends.  A couple days later I realized Cinco de Mayo was the next day, so I immediately thought, "duh, would there be a better day to have a fiesta than to have it on this Mexican holiday...? I don't think so!"  We had to run errands Friday evening so I picked up some carne asada from Costco, pinata fillers from Walmart, and told Sailor the news that our "Fiesta" would be tomorrow!

When we woke up the next morning,  I found a box I thought we could use for the pinata since we were crammed for time.  Sailor helped me decorate it.  It turned out fine...as fine as any pinata that takes a total of 10 minutes to make.  We ended up making a Mexican Penguin..?? I don't know either, it just turned out that way. Either way, Sailor was proud and sooo happy.

As a family, we grilled our meat and attempted an authentic (as authentic as a bunch of gringos could make it)  Mexican meal, broke the pinata, and had fun spraying each other with the fun silly string that sat STUCK in our pinata-that thing wouldn't budge open until I tore through it a tad.  It was fun to see all the excitement in Sailor's face that day...........they're days like these that make parenting fun and a piece of cake, because really if she gets excited about our 10 min.-deformed penguin pinata, it certainly shows that children adore sweet and simple things. We can learn a lot from children!

My Sweet Ser was sick that day and ended up sleeping for hours.  She was out of it until she started to watch Sailor hit the pinata down....she seemed to enjoy that. After watching her pretty upset all day this smile melted my heart.