Carefree

We were able to go to the local pumpkin patch with Jessica's preschool. She was a little shy around the goats, but warmed up to the chicken in the petting zoo. I'm always amazed at how carefree she is. Her brothers would have been SCREAMING to get off the swings when they started whirling about, but Jessica just giggles and squeals with glee. It's so sweet.

She loved the rides, the bouncy slide, and the pumpkins - everything except getting her picture taken (not that it stops her mother from trying).

My Beauty Meets Belle

I've been visiting Disneyland regularly for six years. There was a brief spell when we thought we were moving to Texas so we didn't renew the passes and it was a grim time indeed. So I've seen little girls parade around in their princess gowns, crowns, and comfy soled shoes throughout the park. Being a gal who prefers stretch denim jeans & a t-shirt, I thought it CRAZY to wear a dress all day. Perhaps it IS crazy to expect a little girl to be comfortable in such frills all day and definitely unrealistic to keep clean, but a magical thrill.

Now that I have one and maybe ONLY one little girl of my own, I'm thinking that it would be crazy NOT to bring her to the castle as a princess. I've stopped worrying if she is going to rip or sticky the dress. I'm actually hoping that she wears it until it's worn out every penny that I invested into it. So I've intended to make a trip to the Princess Fantasy Faire and take a stroll down the Royal Princess Walk where you can personally greet & visit with three princesses.

After making our way around the small world (Jessica's FAVORITE), we entered the Royal wait line. We used our time to put Sleeping Beauty's gown on over Jessica's long sleeved shirt & jeans. And to top it off, she was crowned Aurora. Well, maybe not exactly Briar Rose - the crown had no combs or clips and certainly was made to fit a woman's head more than a child's. JessiLu tried to balance the gems on her head, but the headband fit better like sunglasses. So far the line moved: NOT AT ALL.








Jessica & I grew weary from waiting. The gum chewing was no longer pacifying and we were both hungry. That's when I pulled out the sticky, yellow, Mickey sucker. It kept Jessica busy for a while, but did nothing for the rumblings in my tummy. Jessica met Tinkerbell and they passed some time together. We waited ONE hour TWENTY minutes to greet the princesses.





Apparently Prince Phillip scares some of the little girls. They'd rather meet Sleeping Beauty WITHOUT him by her side. He was walking around while we waited to meet Aurora. He came to greet Jessica and she wasn't shy at all. She smiled with a twinkle in her eye and gave him a big hug. She even posed by him.

Sixty-five Years

Aren't my grandparents ADORABLE?! They are the ultimate role models of faith, endurance, love, dedication, genuine-ness, & service. I love them SO much and will miss sharing this special day with them in person.

Wendy & Tinkerbell - You Can Fly

Kate came to play with Jessica and they had a great time. Jessica pulled out her dress-ups and soon I had princess prancing around the house. Then the girls changed into pajamas to dress up for their pajama party. I think they each went through a couple of pairs - girls NEED options. They watched part of the Peter Pan DVD and then started to play Wendy & Tinkerbell. They went in the backyard to their fairy dust castle and then began to FLY on the swings. Jessica ran and hid in the playroom when she saw me come into the backyard with the camera. Kate was more of a sport (I wonder why I am SO FASCINATED with taking swing shots - what a pain to get a kid in the frame without too much blur. I need a faster shutter). Kate was so cute singing, "you can fly, you can fly..." while she swung back and forth.











Jessica eventually came out to join the fun. We tried getting a cheek to cheek buddy shot, but the girls thought it was funnier to tip over. How I love the laughter that friendship bring.

A Day Unscripted

I tend to be a planner. I color code my tasks in my Palm Planner. There's a color for all the school stuff, the soccer stuff, the family stuff, the "to do" stuff, the random activities, and scheduled friend activities (there can NEVER be too much YELLOW in my schedule). I like knowing what is supposed to happen and when I can do it. That said, I don't always like what the to do list says so I don't always follow the list. Then there are the days like today that I had nothing on the list - a million OUGHT TO DOS & NEED TO GET TOS, but no commitment to get anything done. I'm telling you, it turned out to be one of my best days.

I dropped the boys off at school, made a grocery list, tried to convince Jessica to brush her hair (a trying task), drove Jessica to preschool, and then bought groceries. I wandered (painfully because of the pinched nerve the baby is giving me) around the store with NO interruptions. Once home I enjoyed a surprise phone call from my mother-in-law & from my scrapbooking friend Peggy who now lives in northern CA (she's coming to town for the Scrapbook Expo - yeah!!) A productive, enjoyable morning.

At noon I returned to pick up Jessica along with her little friend Kate - it was kind of on a whim because her mom Sara was finishing a big project today. Jessica LOVES having a playmate. They got along SO well which meant that my daughter was cheerful and NOT whining at me - another side benefit to my day. I drove Kate home when it was time to pick up the boys from school. As we were leaving campus, my other friend Sara said she was walking her kids to the park and invited us along. It was a temperate, overcast day and I knew that I had chairs in the car to relax in. The park was THE BEST! No pictures, no snacks, no sand toys - just an enjoyable, spontaneous outing. We ended up staying 2 hours instead of the 1 hour I negotiated with the kids.

Homework, dinner prep, & bedtime routine were a bit more stressful because we were rushed, but it was worth it. I even tried a new recipe for dinner (have you heard of Jessica Seinfield's new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious?" She was on Oprah last week sharing ideas of how she sneaks pureed veggies into all her kids' favorite meals). My Jessica was wiped out, so she fell asleep before dinner. This meant NO whining all evening and NO bathtime routine to pull off myself while Jon was away. I even did the dishes and kitchen clean up which Jon usually does when I cook. The shooting pains in my legs let up for a couple hours & I had the treat of feeling baby kick under my ribs while punching my lower abs. Do I get credit for Kick Boxing exercise today too?

Disney's Halloween Time

I LOVE going to Disneyland - probably more than my kids do. With over 200 pictures to choose from, it was tricky to just share these highlights :)



On October 1st my kids were out of school for a teacher work day. We made a trip to Disneyland that was VERY fun. It started out rocky since we had to wait nearly 43 minutes for a tram to take us to the entry plaza from the Mickey & Friends parking structure, but we made it.



We didn't have a valid season passport last Halloween, so this was the first year that we've gone where EVERYTHING was decked out for Halloween. The entry was a gigantic pumpkin patch. There were jack-o-lanterns throughout Main Street. The characters were in costume (we saw Goofy as a Skeleton, but couldn't catch a picture).



Of course the flowers were in beautiful fall displays - including Mickey in his mask.



Once inside the park the lines were reasonable which is why the kids got to fly on Dumbo. The new Nemo ride still had wait times close to an hour, so we haven't experienced that yet.







California Adventure was the site of the Candy Corn Acres.









One of the signs that siblings LOVE each other is that they tease, bug, & wrestle. Lot of love going on in this line.



More love on the ride.



This is the LOVE that mom likes to see.





The best part about California is being able to get SOAKED in October in Bugs Land.













We met Woody & his Round-Up Gang. They did a little stage show. This is the FIRST TIME EVER that my kids have done autograph books.





There was a fall festival with crafts, a petting zoo, and a pumpkin carving artist.



















Add to that lunch at Gepetto's & dinner in the car from McDonalds & you have ONE FABULOUS DAY!