Family trip to DISNEYLAND 2009

Darin, Sydney, Hailey and I planned a family trip to Disneyland this year. We look forward to a family trip yearly, this year we went all out, DISNEYLAND! We had a special "surprise!" Nana, Auntie Kristy, Ashlee and Brenden decided to surprise us and come along too! We found out they were at DISNEYLAND on Saturday evening once we arrived at the DISNEYLAND Hotel. We had so much fun this year as we always do. Sydney was thrilled to see all the Disney Characters and especially to find out that she was now tall enough to ride on ALL the rides, even Space Mountain and Soaring California . Hailey loved to see all the characters as well, her favorite was Pinocchio only because Pinocchio danced with her. As many know Hailey is our dancing queen, put on any type of music, rock, reggae, Hawaiian, Mexican, she is dancing. Hailey also loved the parade and all the lights around DISNEYLAND at night. She literally took everything in and we strolled by. Saturday night we arrived and headed to the park entrance to watch the fireworks, unfortunately they were cancelled. We went to the park bright & early on Sunday morning and had breakfast with all the Disney characters at the Plaza Inn in the park. We hit "It's a small World" first, that was neat to see the few changes. Then we went on several rides in Toon Town and headed over to California Adventure for lunch with the Princess'. A little chaotic, but the girls just love to be able to meet the Princess' up close, personal and get their autographs. After lunch Sydney and Ashlee talked Darin and I to take them on the Roaring Rapids at California Adventure...BAD IDEA!! I was the only one to get wet of course, actually drenched. I felt like I had an accident in my capri pants, not to mention the fact that they were jean, so they took extra long to dry!! We all had a good laugh. On Monday, we went to DISNEYLAND and hit just about all the rides in the park, except for the rockets, which were closed. We went on the cars, buzz light year, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Snow White, the crazy train (Thunder Mt. Railroad), and Matterhorn several times as those were the girls favorites. Sydney and Ashlee got their faces painted while we had time until our dinner reservation. We had dinner with Woody, Jessie, and Bulls eye at the Big Thunder Ranch. It was an awesome BBQ dinner, with all the kids favorites, chicken, corn, beans and garlic bread. Extra bonus was that is was beyond kid friendly. The kids were able to participate with Woody and Jessie dancing and sing. then to take photos with them. It was an awesome dinner. Best meal we had all trip. Tuesday we were on our own just Darin, Sydney, Hailey and I which was nice. Nana, Auntie Kristy, Ashlee & Brenden had to go home Tuesday morning. We got into the park early and hit all the rides in Fantasy land, got Sydney and Hailey their bucket of popcorn and headed home. A small pit stop for a Haggan Dazs ice cream cone and packed up the car and drove home. We had a great time as always. So many memories we will always remember from the Happiest Place on Earth. Sydney will talk about Disneyland until we go again...give it a few years.

Sunny Days

The day after Hailey's party was just as sunny and warm as the day of the party. Hailey thought her new swim suit from the DeMichiel Family was too cool, not to mention the fact that I think it is just beyond adorable. The ruffles just make the suit! She wore it perfectly!! Oh and you can't forget the accessories! She loves jewels. Love the necklace! Thanks Jill & family, can't wait for the new little bundle of joy! Girls rock!!

Hailey's 2nd Birthday Celebration

On Saturday we had a big birthday celebration to celebrate Hailey's 2nd year complete with all the Elmo decor! We had lots of family and friends, we BBQ'd, kids jumped in the jumping house, broke the pinata, talked and some even went swimming. It was like 90 degrees, if you can believe that, what a perfect day! Hailey thought that standing on the BBQ island was the greatest! She danced and sang up there for at least an hour. She loved her Elmo birthday cake and thought that the number 2 candle was cool, so cool she tasted it...yummy wax!! She actually thought opening her presents was fun especially the ones with lots if tissue paper and presents that were wrapped. It was a long fun day for all. Happy Birthday Hailey, Mommy & Daddy love you so much! Our little dancing princess!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hailey!!

2 ALREADY! I just can't believe Hailey is 2 already, time has flown by so fast! Hailey started the warm sunny day in her PJ's riding her rocking giraffe in the backyard, it's her birthday she'll do what she wants to!! Well, kind-of. It was 6AM and she was in the backyard, what-ever. We then dropped off Sydney and Hailey to Nana's house as we normally do on any typical weekday. Nana, Auntie Kim, Auntie Kristy brought the entire gang out for her big birthday celebration with lots of balloons (her favorite!). Grammy came out too and she spent the night. We had a wonderful fajita dinner and say "Happy Birthday" of course. We then carried on to open presents, which by that point Hailey was wiped out and ready for bed, so Sydney, Ashlee and Dillon helped to open the gifts. She had a very Happy Birthday.

Happy Easter to all!

Easter Day

"MOM! Most of the carrots are gone and there are bite marks in the one that is left!" Sydney cried out to me on Easter morning. She was so excited! The Easter bunny did come! The Easter bunny brought her a basket with a barbie and some dress up beads and tiara. Very exciting. Hailey wasn't so thrilled, although she really enjoyed shaking the plastic eggs next to her Easter basket. Hailey was left a basket with a little dolly and a ball by the Easter bunny. We started the morning at home, which was nice. We were all tired from the day before, the busy day at the family club. We then headed to Grammy and Grandpa's house for some dinner and another Easter egg hunt! Yeah! We bbq'd dinner, which was really good. It was another gorgeous day out for us. The kids Tyler, Kalin, Sydney and Hailey hunted their colored eggs, Sydney was green and Hailey was yellow. The each had 12 eggs, with the exception Sydney found the "Golden Egg" with the $1 in it. She was so excited. It was a great day with the family.

Easter Saturday-The Family Club

Holidays get tough with children and trying to make everyone in the family happy on boths sides. We have it all figured out in our family. We always do the day before a holiday with my side of the family, then the actual holiday with Darin's side of the family. So we celebrate Easter on Saturday with my family, which would explain the Easter Saturday. We went up to the family club. The kids love it up there, they can run for miles, play on the play ground, fish, ride on tractors, I mean what more can you ask for? We had a Easter egg hunt, which just about wore the kids out looking for all the eggs. The kids hunted and hunted the grass area to find that there were more eggs on the play ground and by the pond. WOW! It was a Egg-stravaganza! The kids had a blast. They played all day, it was a beautiful sunshiny day. We had all had fun watching the kids and relaxing in the sun! Good times.