Tate's Moves

Last weekend some family from CO was visiting and we went down to the water for lunch and to look at the boats. There was a little high school jazz band there and Tate couldn't resist any chance to show off his moves Enjoy! ;)

Back to School

I've been back since Monday trying to get my classroom ready for 1st Graders and attend what seems like endless meetings. I actually love back to school time, but I'm pretty stressed and my brain feels like mush. The kids are in daycare all week this week and we are trying to get everyone back on schedule. So far there has been a lot of complaining.

We had a yard sale last weekend and made alike $150.00. That's always nice and it forced us to go through the massive amount of kids' clothes we've been stock piling. I'll be glad when I can unload more at my Multiples sale. A sweet mom came by with 4 year old boy/girl twins and we talked for a long time. We should be doing a play date soon. Tate LOVED having the sale. He met every person at their car (much to our embarassment) and welcomed them. Then he would tell them they can have anything they want! All they have to do is give him a dollar to put in his piggy bank (smooth, kid) so he can save it up to buy something he really wants someday. Ha ha. A little salesman in the making for sure. He even invited one lady to come back for a sleepover. I guess we need to review those lessons on stranger danger. This was him when he woke up from nap and saw the sale was over

Poor guy.

He would like to spend the day in search of a golden caterpillar that is in a jungle after Disneyland (just look for a sign with hippos on it, by the way) but alas, I am finishing this luke warm coffee and heading to my room for sorting Bible curriculum and hanging posters.

When Toddlers Steal My Phone PT II

Whenever I go to sync my phone, I always find some unexpected pics. It's usually pretty easy to see who the culprit was as well. Just identify the feet.

That's my boy

August

I've gotten so behind! We went to the ocean with my family like we do each August. We went a day early and that was great. It gave us 2 full days at the beach and more time just lounging. As always the kids have a wonderful time running around with their cousins and not sleeping.

When we got home we had just a week to throw together Benny's 3rd birthday. It was stressful, but we did it. I think he had a great time, even if my house still looks like Lightning McQueen threw up all over it.

Oh! And Tuesday was our 8 year wedding anniversary! Sean took us to one of my favorite restraunts, Purple, and then we saw Rent at the 5th Ave Theater. We saw that right after we got back from our honeymoon for the first time so it was a sweet thought. I can't believe how time has flown! On top of that, I've been tutoring and trying to get my new classroom set up for the Fall as I'm switching grades again! I haven't been to hot yoga in forever and it shows I'm really feeling run down without the exercise. The next couple of weeks we hope to get organized for the twins starting Pre-K and shifting back into school/ Fall mode. So much to do! I need to have a garage sale to clear out a ton of extra clothes and toys, too. Unfortunately, I'm afraid of spiders so I can't dig through this stuff without Sean standing right next to me. :)

Book Review-The Chaperone

I have to interrupt my vacation posts to review this book I took with me for the blogher bookclub. It's called The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. Check it out here!
I was excited to read it because on the book jacket the author of The Paris Wife had said she loved it. I loved THAT book so I hoped that was a good sign! The book was slow going in the beginning, I didn't really care about the characters until the 5th or 6th chapter really, but reading a story set in the 1920's was new to me and interesting in itself. The story centers around Cora, a housewife from Kansas picked to chaperone a young would be movie star to New York for the summer. There she learns about her past as an orphan and gains the confidence to seize control over her life again. There were some plot twists I did NOT see coming and some heartache that kept me engaged with Cora, but there were many times the story dragged and I just didn't "get" her. She drew so much strength and says she learned so much from this teenager, but I just didn't buy it. I wanted to, but I didn't. I would be been more interested if we left out the movie star altogether and just focused on Cora's life, past, and changes in her community during that era. I was always rooting for her. This was an easy read and I'd recommend it for a weekend away or vacation for sure! Thanks Blogher for sending it my way! *I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

Disneyland Part 2

Day 5: We got up very early, Sean was too excited and ready to go at 6am! We got the kids up and didn't tell them where we were going, just on a special surprise trip. They were so excited and guessing what it could be. When we drove into the parking lot they all saw the Chip and Dale signs and we were surprised they even knew who they were. They have only ever seen Disneyland's castle at the beginning of movies so we still figured we were safe. We parked and got out of the car and then Sean told them. I got it on video here:

Tate was surprised and excited, Gracie was nervous about it, and Benny was apparently expecting it. "I saw the sign over there." Oh well, you can't win 'em all. It was awesome getting there so early. We went on Peter Pan first and then back to back rides with about 5-10 minute wait times at the most. The weather was sunny, but not yet hot. It was perfect.

I think Fantasy Land was the best place for us overall, but we wanted to explore more of the park as well. We went to Toontown and saw our first character, Goofy. Totally freaked Gracie out. We tried to make a quick getaway into a ride, but we went into Roger Rabbit's crazy cab (or something like that) and it was super scary just walking through the line. Then all three were screaming, terrified. We rushed out of the line maze and ran to "It's a small World" to calm down. The boys were fine, but Gracie still needed some TLC for a while after that. We had lunch and waited in line for Finding Nemo. Gracie tells us she has to go potty and we tell her to hold it because we were literally steps from it being our turn. Then I look down and see this puddle underneath her.

I know, I can't believe I took a picture of it either. Anyways, we were stuck. Sean wanted to just pretend it didn't happen. It sounds crazy, but when you've been waiting in line for 30 minutes all rational thought is lost. We are getting on this ride! But I just couldn't do it. Not when I saw strangers and their children stepping dangerously close to it as it spread. I would be so grossed out if my kid stepped in someone else's pee. So I caved and called an attendant over. I told him she had an accident. Gracie piped up "It wasn't an accident, I TOLD you I had to go potty and you didn't take me." Thanks, kid. The guy tried to look unfazed, but I could see he was slightly grossed out. Thankfully, he let Sean and the boys step to the side to wait and just let me run her back to the stroller parking to change and clean up. The more embarrassing part was him closing down the entire lane we were in with the yellow cones and all. Now everyone around would see what happened. Oh well, what can you do? We learned, and for the rest of the trip everyone wore pull-ups whether they wanted to or not. When we got back in line the guy was gracious and said was much worse when people didn't tell, especially adults after barfing on a ride. Ha ha, so I felt much lower on the disney disgraced list now. Nemo was a great ride by the way! So cool! I was proud of the kids not crying in the dark parts either.

We figured this was a good time to nap. The park had gotten much more crowded after lunch and we were hot and tired. We went back to Grandma's house for a nap-beautiful. We ate dinner at home and came back to the park around 6pm. We weren't sure how this would go considering normal bedtime is around 7pm, but we really wanted to stay up for the fireworks. It was an awesome night. We did the Jungle Cruise and Tate was in awe. He kept talking us how he'd never been to the jungle before and would have to tell everyone he knew that we went there, when we got back to America! (Because disneyland it not in America I guess). My favorite part was when the fake darts fly above you and the cruise guide told them to hit the deck. Gracie and Tate were on the floor covering their heads FAST, ha ha. Slightly scary to them I'm sure.
Everything was super crowded so we took the opportunity to ride Winnie the Pooh and then take the long train ride around the park. Then we settled into a spot on Main St. so we would have a great view of the parade. We ate cotton candy, popcorn, and talked and played. I think it might be my favorite memory of the trip. When the show started they were all amazed. They have never seen fireworks before and they loved it. Tate kept saying "Thank you for bringing us here! This is the most wonderful surprise ever EVER!" My sweet boy. Benny was half asleep by time it ended and completely passed out as soon as we started walking for the exit.

We were exhausted, but in the best possible way.