Sweet Staycation

Last month, we decided to take a break from the norm of life and go on a little family staycation. We drove for 1 whole hour to Disneyland, checked in at the Grand Californian hotel and enjoyed 3 days of play time together.

Dallin, our funny bug waiting to see "A Bug's Life"


Pink dress + pink teacup = Claire happiness

A happy Spencer... even in line

Dallin is our program-director-in-training

Claire was hating her Minnie shirt that morning until we actually saw the real deal

Hanging Loose

All three kids on the trundle part of the bunk bed that Spencer slept on (turn your head to the right to get the full effect :))

Dallin trying out the kiddie water slide at our hotel pool

Peter and Claire enjoying time together while Dallin and I went down the big water slide in the background. Such a fun hotel and pool! We went swimming a few times while we were there and it was definitely the highlight.

This is the hotel we stayed in (you can see our room from this pic). The entry straight ahead went from the hotel right into California Adventure... it was nice to have everything so close by.

The boys in California Adventure

The first ride we went on (Buzz Lightyear) during our early morning guest admission (played in Disneyland an hour before it opened)

Watching the Disneyland fireworks from our hotel balcony (there was even a TV channel that played the music in sync with the fireworks)

The much-loved bunk bed

Teacups!

Spencer's first time on Small World (and our first time since its renovation)

If you have made it all the way to this point and actually looked at all of those pictures, I know you must really love our little family. I am so thankful to live in such a fun place with so many "staycation" options. Yay for family time!

Little Lola-Foof

This is Lola-Foof... a skinny kitty we found roaming around our backyard last Sunday. Claire immediately bonded with her and knew that this skinny cat needed some food and love. Claire also insisted that we give her a permanent home. After hanging out in our house for awhile, snarfing down the tuna and milk we spoiled her with she stayed... and stayed... and stayed. Lola-Foof (I named her Lola and Claire eventually changed it to Foofa so we compromised) would wait for every ample opportunity to run into the house and rub Claire's legs. The cat was declawed, so we knew she belonged to someone and that someone needed to be found ASAP. I really do love animals, but here are 10 reasons why I am, however, not ready for a cat right now:

1- I am more of a dog person
2-I am actaully more of an "I'm not ready to clean up anyone elses poop right now" kind of person
3-Having another set of needy eyes stare deep into my soul scares me
4- Lingering tuna smells horrible
5- Cat poop smells horrible (especially without a litter box)
6- Hide and seek isn't as fun with cats as it is with kids
7-I honestly don't know if I could call something Lola-Foof for the rest of my life
8-I have quite the aversion to hair hanging around the bathtub, nonetheless the entire house
9-I don't know if I could handle hearing "when are we going home to Lola-Foof?" one more time
10- Claire doesn't need something else to squeeze... Spencer seems to fill that role quite nicely all by himself.

At one point, when all of these thoughts came racing through my head, I knew that serious action needed to be taken. This cute kitty needed her real home and not the Waldron Hotel.
I gathered up the kids, wagon and Lola-Foof and we went door-to-door in search of "Lola-Foof's mommy". No success. I then spotted a "Lost" poster on the side of a mailbox down the street with an exact description of Lola-Foof. Without hesitation, I called (feeling really excited that we had found her home and made some owner very happy) and sure enough, it was a match! A little 10 year old girl had lost her first kitty over a MONTH ago and was so thrilled to have her little Riley back. This little girl was much better at naming kittens than we were.
I am relieved, but my sweet Claire cried for days. She is back to being happy with Spencer and the bunny that visits our backyard as her pets... those are all I can handle right now.

Broccoli Binge

My son quite possibly might not be my son. Dallin will only eat a half of an Oreo (seriously), but will eat the whole bowl of broccoli. Take me to that place, Dallin... please take me there.

Mini Man

This little man is heaven. He is happy, snuggly, in love with everyone (especially his Daddy and siblings) and it is hard to imagine life without him (even though I do dream of being alone on a beach every once in awhile :)). I just had to share this heaven baby with the world.

Stray Snapshots

Here are some of the random/favorite photos that have been taken recently...

I haven't seen wax lips in years... still a hit


Dallin, Claire and the Lowe boys at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

Dallin's St. Patricks Day leprechaun trap


This photo sums up Claire right now... little mama in love with bubblegum (look in her pockets)


Um, I love him


Dallin's tribute to Dr. Suess' birthday


Claire in her favorite place... dance class!

Dallin's interpretation of the 70s for Disco Day at school

Jedi Junior

There is something so amazing about dreams coming true. There is something so empowering about overcoming a fear. There is something so wonderful about an incredibly happy child.Dallin has been so scared (and excited all at the same time) to take part in the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland. Over the past couple of years, we have sat in the audience of this Star Wars show where they take volunteer kids from the audience to learn the ways of the force and then duel with either Darth Vader or Darth Maul. Each time we try, Dallin decides that the "Darths" are much too real and much too scary to fight.

This past week, however, he overcame his fear and did it! We arrived at the show early to get good seats, he sat and waited anxiously in his Star Wars shirt and eventually was chosen to take part and become a Jedi. He was in boy heaven. First he went through lightsaber training and then used his new knowledge to fight DARTH VADER...

He is so proud to officially be a Jedi and has even taught some of his little buddies the ways of a Jedi in our backyard... oh yeah, he's that ligit. Such a fun memory and experience for my happy little Star Wars fan.

Random side note: one of the Jedi trainers was a girl that I went to high school with in Washington. Crazy, huh!

Dancing Date

Tonight goes down in history as being one of the most fun evenings ever! I went on a date with my "little" boy, Dallin, and we had some serious fun.

We started the evening with some dinner at the Olive Garden... Dallin's all-time favorite restaurant due to their Zuppa Toscana soup and breadsticks. Dinner was full of wonderful conversation, the 20 questions game and some creative art made with Bendaroos.

We then headed to Dallin's elementary school for a mother/son dance. The theme was sports based playing on the idea that moms are our son's #1 fans (hence the soccer jerseys). We had our pictures "professionally" taken in the library and then jetted out the door to get our groove on in the cafeteria. We had a BLAST!! The DJ was fabulous and Dallin was in his dancing zone... we got our crazy groove on. We were hot, sweaty and in Mom/Dallin heaven.

At the end of the dance, the DJ played a slow song. I got on my knees, Dallin put his cute hand on my shoulder and the other hand in mine. We danced, he smiled, I smiled even bigger, he kissed me on the cheek and I knew that moment would forever be with me. I don't know how long Dallin will think I am the coolest, but tonight I made him promise me that he will always dance with me no matter how uncool I become.

After the dance, we decided to get some incredible dessert... Dallin chose The Melting Pot. He has never been there, but all I had to say was "strawberries to dip in melted chocolate" and he was sold. It was another special moment on one of the most special dates.

The elementary school puts this dance on every year and I think that next year's dance date has a lot to live up to. Thank you Dallin for making me the most happy mom around... I am most definitely your #1 fan.

Tiny Tooth

Hi! This is Spencer.

I just grew my first tooth!
Wish me luck on the others.

p.s. this is not a picture of me

Just for the record, I grew another one the very next day!

Bus Buddy

The other day, Dallin went on his very first school field trip.

On the bus ride home, he was apparently very tired and ended up falling asleep on his buddy, Gavin's shoulder. He slept there the whole ride home. The only thing his sweet little friend Gavin had to say was that Dallin's hair tickled his neck. What a great buddy... I am so grateful that my son has such wonderful friends.

Heavenly Hike

Every Wednesday, Dallin's elementary school has modified day (they get out at 1:15 as opposed to 3:25). A group of us moms decided to take turns each Wednesday hosting the Kindergartners, doing something fun. My first week "hosting" these cute Kindergartners, I let them run around the backyard and we did a Valentine's Day craft... it was all actually quite a disaster. The combo of all the kids, my whining 3 year old, a screaming baby, and my rapidly deteroriating house was enough to put me over the edge. I decided for my next hosting week, I would get out of the house and let the kids run free.

We went to this great hiking spot about 10 minutes away called Santa Rosa's Plateau. It has a trail that my little ones love. The kids were fabulous and we all had the best time. Here are the Kindergartners and some memories from our super-fun hike:

The Boys (Dallin and Jake)...

The Girls (Avery and Ella)...

The Happiest Tag-Along (Claire)...

One of the many bridges we crossed (we even saw "troll" tracks underneath the bridge)

The break/snack rock...


The fun climbing rocks...


Wonderful, sweet, happy, and silly hiking buddies...


Guess what we have planned for our next Wednesday activity? The vote was unanimous while we got milkshakes on our drive home...

HIKING!!!