Disneyland 2

We took so many pictures at Disneyland that I had to do this in two installments. This is actually the second half of our trip. Anna chose to collect pins which is fun because you can trade the pins you don't like with any employee that has pins. We also found out that only the Disney employees have the special pins with little micky ears. It is a whole culture that we never knew about.

We spent the hot part of the last day in the kid part of California Adventure and ended up having a blast in the shade. Bumper cars. Some of us were a little rough out there with our 2 minutes of fun.

These green army men from Toy Story were so cool, especially the last drummer.

We actually saw Santa and got his signature. Just a tip, the autograph books are so fun. Gathering autographs and pictures of the characters is one of my favorite things. Then the kids lo0k at them over and over again.

Maliboomer is one of the scariest and most fun rides for me, just a little too short.

One of our funniest memories was while we were waiting for the bus. Livvy was just entertaining herself by dancing, making weird faces and performing for the passerbys. It went on for a while. One guy actually spoke to her. After he walked by she helf her hands out and said "What!" Like "What is your problem. It was so funny. Luckily he was a good sport.

Toy Story, the longest wait and most popular ride at California Adventure.

They were selling these rain ponchos near the Grizzly River Run for $15.00. We remembered this ride and how it took me a full day in the sun to dry from one ride. In the day we all went on it once without the ponchos, but at night we pulled them out and were the envy of all around. We bought ours at Walmart for 88 cents.

Rock climbing at Koda's challenge trail.

Scramin, no hands.

Wow!!!!

Z Beach

Since three 0f our children have never really seen or been to a beach, we thought we better make it a priority on this trip. Now you think when you go to the bay area, you can just drive west and end up at a beach, not true. Because we have become wise over the years we decided to ask a local where to go and 1/2 hour from our hotel was Newport Beach, right at the end of Newport street, weird. We arrived at about 4:00pm and it was already starting to get cold, so with coats and bare feet we slowly inched our way in. By the end some went all out. Olivia loved running from the waves and Kristen was ready to body surf.

The funny thing is how you forget how you're all wet and your feet are covered with sand. We were originally going to do this part on our drive out of California. It was so nice to drive to our hotel and take showers. Bye, bye Beach, we'll have to be content with the sand dunes.

Makeover

Two years ago right before leaving for Disneyland, the kids were just sitting around waiting for Jeff to come home, so we could leave. Kristen was bored and rubbed her head on the carpet. Don't ask why, she doesn't really remember, just a random kid thing. Next thing I notice a big red mark on her forehead and a big scab by the next day. So in every picture, which we took a lot, she had this cute little reminder of the carpet incident. Since she needed a haircut anyway we decided that for the next trip to Disneyland and hundreds of pictures, she was going to get a new haricut and look great. She did have her traditional injury, but luckily it was a scab on her back and ear.

Before

After This year on our way to Disneyland, Jeff and Kristen collided racing around a building. Jeff tried to protect Kristen, so she came out with minor injuries, but Jeff hit the pavement without catching himself and scraped his face pretty bad. It was so red that I thought he had a bloody nose from far away. He bruised his chest and tore a tendon. we think on is finger. His teeth hit his upper lip, so it was pretty much hamberger. The finger didn't hurt, but wouldn't work and was permantly bent at the tip. He's going to the orthopedic surgeon to find out what to do. He was still the most fun person at Disneyland.

Birthdays!

One of the reasons we as a family love the Fall season is because it is literally one party after another. October 15th is Natalie's birthday. October 21st is mine, then Halloween. Then Kyle's is Nov. 5. This is Natalie's party.

The Candy Land cake has become a favorite and is really easy to assemble. I remember the day when I used to spend hours on the cake. Now I just hope the kids don't notice that I['m not offering the same kind of decorating. Then if someone asks it's only once in a while.

Mary's birthday.Kyle had a family party this year. We ordered pizza at his request and he still has a little on his face. He's not really worried about impressing girls yet, so we just left it on. He usually has a koolaid mustache to boot. How do they get those? I mean you really have to drink it fast or hard or whatever to get such a big mustache. I was running a little late on Kyle's birthday, so when I asked hem what color he wanted he kept changing and said rainbow, then settled on green. I decided to go rainbowish. Like I said I'm into speed these days.

Trick or Treating according to Olivia

Here are the trick or treaters. It's actually weird to only have four this year. Annalisa went to a Halloween party at her friend Lindsey's and Kate was at State still. This is actually Olivia trick or treating at the Library with this cute costume thanks to my sweet neighbor Amberly.After about one culdesac, ours, Kyle was ready for a new, less cumbersome costume that had more speed and agility.At the very beginnning of Trick or treating Olivia picked up a saying from our neighbor Kami and said it to everyone she met for the next few days. After they would give her candy she would say loudly, "Happy Halloween!!" It was really cute and even if she forgot to say, "Trick or Treat or thank you," She'd always remember , "Happy Halloween!" She actually held out for a long time for a three year old. Kid's sure know how to bring back the magic in life.

Pumpkin Contest

Well this year our pumpkin carving took place the Thursday before Halloween. Because of my trip to California for my class reunion, we got behind in October. It worked out well though because the pumpkins weren't too saggy looking on Halloween. When we started, Jeff was busy , so I was sort of feeling sorry for myself as we started the task of getting all the pumpkin seeds and slime out and cleaning the seeds so we could cook them for a snack that night. Kyle's costume was also a" bear "to assemble and I still needed to finish it that night. As soon as the excitement of coming up with the faces everyone wanted to use, and the thrill that comes with the tradition of carving pumpkin, we had a fantastic time. It was even better when my sweet husband came home. He does make a party more fun.

Anna's spider pumpkin took the longest and we went for the easier patterns after that one.The funny thing was that the White Pine Carnival had a pumpkin contest as usual. Since we had just carved our pumpkins the kids wanted to enter. So we dragged their pumpkins down to the school. This year every pumpkin that entered got a gift certificate. So they each get to go on a date with their prize.
This costume looks harmless enough, but paper mache takes a while to dry, so after three coats and letting it dry the week before it was finally ready to paint. If it hadn't broken on Halloween, I would gladly pass it on to someone else, so they could avoid the pain. Kyle made a harness that slipped over his back and did a lot of the work himself. We were just so happy to be done the night before Halloween. Luckily, this year everyone else used costumes that we already had or borrowed. Katelyn is missing in the photo because she was at State with the Hillcrest varsity volleyball team. Some of the JV were able to dress in the varsity uniforms and be a back up.

Guess Who Halloween Costumes

Just in case people are looking for a couple costume, I thought I'd better post this before Halloween. Last night was our annual neighborhood costume party. We counted, and this is the sixth year. the costumes were pretty great, so have fun guessing what they dressed up as and who is behind the costume. Afros were in with the men. Our first 5 guests wore them. We had a great time.