Worn out?

Today while shopping at JoAnns, I let out a big yawn. Emma turned to me and said, "Mom, do you need a Diet Coke?". About an hour after being home, and an hour of lunchtime, playing and cleaning I turned on the TV and sat on the couch. Emma looked at me, this time with a bit of concern in her eyes and said, "Mom, do you need to take a break?". Yes and yes!! What an observant child!

Girls Day in LA

We started the day off at Rodeo Drive, who doesn't enjoy a little Tiffany's window shopping!  But of course I left with a Gymboree bag, some things never change!

Then it was off to The Grove, one of my most favorite places in LA.  

But we didn't have too much time to spend there because we had to make our 6pm reservations at The Ivy.  We totally did it. We splurged and decided we'd like to dine like celebs for one night! This is definitely a hot spot (do you love that I just used that phrase!) and a place where many celebrities come to be seen and photographed or to possibly enjoy the lobster ravioli, which was delicious! We definitely got our celebrity fill and it was an experience seeing the paparazzi, bentleys, and hearing names like Robert De Niro being thrown around.  But I think our night was complete thanks to Warren G. Regulators. What's up! Not only did he invite us to take a picture, he did the double kiss on the cheek, took our number to send us his new CD along with tickets for an upcoming concert, called us cute girls (what?), and plans to meet up with Lynn at the Laker game on Thursday! 

After dinner, we drove up to Hollywood Blvd, tried to sneak a little peek at the inside of a BH home, and even stopped at the LA Temple. 

I have the best girlfriends! Thank you for such a fun day. You truly are all my favorite Real Housewives of Orange County! :)

P.S. Lady GaGa anyone?

V-Day Recap

Future hubbies?  Definitely best buddies!

Music Makers Valentines Party

Emma understood v-day this year, which was fun.  She was excited to pass out her valentines but more excited when she came back to a full basket. She ate all the candy and Taylor ate all the cards.  Worked out great!

Valentines Day

I really tried to channel Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8 and do everything in hearts. I made it through breakfast and than gave up.  But we all enjoyed the heart shaped cinnamon muffins, which em decided to decorate with strawberries...what a great idea, why didn't I think of it!  The girls enjoyed their valentine baskets.  And Chris and I enjoyed an evening out with no kids.  We ate CPK and saw He's Just Not That Into You, which I loved and every girl should see.  I was sorry we didn't take a picture, but speaking of pictures...hopefully you'll see an upgrade in mine.  Chris surprised me with the most perfect gift...a new camera and I love it!  What a great day it was!

Blowing Raspberries

and a bubble.

This one is for bree.

The Assignment

My parents will be spending the next 3 years in...

Birmingham, England

And everyday we are realizing more and more how perfect this assignment is for them.  They've been before and fell in love with it then.  I am sure they will fall in love with it all over again and again and that the people of Birmingham will love and adore them.  We are learning of it's rich church history but also of our family history that is within that mission.  It is sweet.  Truly inspired. It is far, too far, but our visits will be something to really look forward to.  

Florida

For Chris' bonus trip this year, we headed off to Orlando, FL. We truly had the time of our lives...and I know that sounds cliche and overstated but really truly we had the greatest time! Minus a few very cold days, everything was perfect...So here we go a little day by day action. There are a ton of pictures but they each have a special meaning to us.

SATURDAY

Honestly, I was just hoping this day would end quickly! 6 hours on planes with 1 layover and 2 kids is not fun. Fortunately, Em's excitement carried over to all of us...she was definitely on one. Her announcement that we had arrived in space or when her Lovey had to go potty, about put me over! Funny side note...our layover was in Phoenix the day before the Superbowl in Florida. You could imagine any noise our kids made paled in comparison to those Cardinal fans. Kind of fun.

And of course when we arrived at our condo, we had to run around like crazy, lay in every bed, sit in every chair and open ever drawer. It's just what we do.

SUNDAY

Our exploration day...props to Chris. He finds vacation rentals like he finds gifts...he's got a knack for it. We stayed at the Ginn Reunion Resort, a community that sits on 3 golf courses with one hotel, a billion of these condos and some single family homes. It also has a heated waterpark, a clubhouse with a game room, gym, pool etc etc..playgrounds, sand volleyball courts, daily activities for kids, and my favorite...a Spa! And it's all included! Best part, it was like a ghost town. We felt like we had it all to ourselves!

MONDAY

Breakfast with Minnie, Donald and Goofy at the Disneyland Beach Resort!!

Dreams really do come true!! And I will never forget it! I literally was so happy, I could have cried. It was by far my favorite part of the trip. We were so lucky, typically the restaurant caters one character to every 67 kids...but on this day it was so empty and there couldn't have been more than 25 people in the whole restaurant.

Donald was first...I was very surprised at how at ease they both were with him.

I love this face, I don't think she ate one thing that morning...she was always looking and waiting and anticipating.

Goofy was of course very goofy with the girls. Emma thought it was the greatest when he stole her chocolate milk for a sip. And if you ask her about him, she'll tell you all about his swimsuit and his missing hat! Which she decided he had to leave at home so it wouldn't get wet!

Minnie was the best! I was so grateful to her, she just made herself right at home at our table eventually taking a seat on the floor and cuddling Taylor for a long long time! Lets just say, we will be having a Minnie birthday party in a few weeks!

After breakfast, we took a walk around the boardwalk. I love this picture. We loved having daddy all to ourselves for a whole week!

TUESDAY

Animal Kingdom

This is a great park! Some highlights...The Lion King and Finding Nemo Shows, the Safari ride, Petting Zoo, and the Parade.

Em's reenactment of the Llama's very flexible neck! The Llama was hilarious, definitely thought she was the queen of the petting zoo.

WEDNESDAY

GATORLAND

I love just saying that word...it sounds so white trash and it was but it also was a crazy experience being surrounded by these huge, and I mean HUGE, gators! Pictures do not do these things justice. I still remember Granny and Grandpop's lake and seeing those red eyes come out of the water. Am I making this up, or was that really real?

The highlight of the day though was going into this life size birdcage, and trust me, I wouldn't have gone in if I knew what I was in for. A little nectarine juice is all it takes and you get swarmed. At one point, Chris had 5 birds on him and one almost made an escape hiding out in his backpack. Good times, glad I didn't know what to expect!

THURSDAY

One of our favorite things to do was to fix up a yummy breakfast and eat on our porch, even with freezing weather! I think it got down into the 30's this day but that didn't stop us!

After breakfast we were off to the Florida Mall for souveniers and to just be indoors...

It was the Spa for me during naps...! And it was wonderful! We couldn't leave Florida without bowling...

FRIDAY

Hollywood Studios

Emma was so excited to meet more characters and get their signatures, we are totally those people now!! Other highlights, Playhouse Live on Stage, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid Shows and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.

It was a super highlight for our little princess to see Belle in action!

Finally, Mickey Mouse!! Who was apparently in a witch costume! :)

I have to admit, I was slightly annoyed to stand in line to meet these guys who neither Emma or I were familiar with. But it turned out to be a really funny time after Emma called Bolt a bunny and then wouldn't allow the hamster to be in the picture!

SATURDAY

Waterpark Day

Thank the heavens above, Saturday was a nice sunny day so we hit up the waterpark on our very last day. We couldn't help but think of my nieces and nephews who will pretty much swim at any given moment...you guys would love this place! Ogden Florida Reunion at Reunion in 2010! I'm calling it.

Taylor is our little water baby. She couldn't get enough of the lazy river and it was pretty much the cutest thing watching her tiny little body in this tube floating down all by herself. She giggled and oohed and ahhed the whole way...I especially loved her face when we'd go under the waterfalls! Once was enough for Emma...she's always been a little more timid. But she cheered on her "little fellow"!

So this will probably be our last year receiving these bonus trips, we'll miss them, but it was awesome while it lasted!