Disneyland!

After spending time at my brothers--it was on to Disneyland to spend time with my husband's family. The kids loved being able to play with their cousins. Luke and I had Mommy and me time watching fireworks from the back porch of the Disneyhouse, and Anakin and I went one night to Disney, just the two of us. I love spending one on one time with my kids. They get my full attention, and I am not stressed at not being able to meet everyone's needs!

Why I like Disney: Our kids get to go on submarines!

Spending time with cousins!

She actually naps!

This girl loved the Dumbo ride. If it wasn't for the long lines we could have stayed there all day!

Aren't these horses beautiful!

Crazy glasses!

Funny man!

She loved it!

More time with cousins!

Letting these boys read maps and direct us to different parts of the park!

Why I don't like Disneyland: hot, expensive, crowded, and stressful. We survived. We took the boys on Space Mountain--they said it was the scariest thing ever!!! I think we are more of a museum type of family. We love them!!!

Our Wonderful Hosts!

It was so fun to meet my nephew, and get to know my brother's family. Their little boy got a big kick out of A. They had a lot of fun together! It was so nice to be in their home!

Thank you!!! We want to do it again soon!

The Mountains

Luke got to try his hand at the lasso. He did great!

All these photos were taken with my phone--but you can still see that it was a day for kids!

GG riding a rocking horse. I love how her shoes and hat match!

This was by far A's favorite station. Lately he has been fascinated by gold. He just kept panning for gold for the longest time. He probably would have made a fortune during the actual California Gold Rush.

More panning for gold.

The had a lot of fun playing with Jacob's ladder. I know someone made those for us in our family!

More fun games!

I love these two shots--my kids are sure cute--even with a cell phone camera!

I love this little girl!

When we went to California--we wanted to things you can't do in the midwest. So our second day we went up to the mountains. One of the reason we wanted to go to the mountains--it was going to be about 10 degrees cooler. Once it goes over 100 degrees--10 degrees cooler is still hot! As you can see by the pictures--it was fun!

At the Beach!

We had a great time on our vacation back in July! We had a terrible time getting to the West Coast. We decided to try and fly standby. The first day we woke up at 2:30 and drove to the airport. We had no luck getting on any of the flights. We looked at the loads for the next day--still no hope. Finally, on the third day they looked good, until we got to the airport. Luckily for us--there was someone who was too drunk to get on the flight. That opened up enough seats so that all 5 of us could get on! We didn't have any time to rearrange the seats, so our seven year old sat by himself. The flight was long--ORD to PHX. We had no trouble at all getting into Orange County Airport.

The first day we were in CA, we just hung out at my brothers house with his beautiful wife and fun little boy. The next day it was at the beach! We all had a blast with the sand, waves, and sun! What a great day. We think the next time we should rent a beach house so we can just enjoy it for an entire week. I even rode the waves--but I really need to build up my stamina for body surfing.

The boys loved having Jonathan out there to play with them in the waves. It was nice we had four adults to four children! A great way to do the beach.

My kids loved Mary and Jonathan. They were great hosts, and we had a great time with them. It was a special treat for Mike and I. We haven't been able to spend much vacation time together since I've been in school. He has used a lot of his vacation to watch kids while I did school work. It was a much needed break after a stressful two semesters.

Swimming Lessons

The boys were in the same swimming class as their cousin. It was fun to see them save each other's spots. Find their favorite color rings for each other, and encourage each other. They did great! They all improved a lot. Luke even got his face wet, and learned how to do all the floats. He even held the record for holding his breath under water. I was able to swim some laps at the same time as their lessons. We always stayed and went swimming during free swim. We just had a blast! It's sad to think that summer is dying down, but at the same time, fall is my favorite season.

Rock Climbing

As I looked at these pictures of the cousins going rock climbing together: I recall how blessed we are! My sister and her family moved here from California, and we moved here from New York. It's hard to believe that we ended up in the same place. Anakin has made it to the top of all the five stations. I am proud of Luke--how is very afraid of heights that he keeps making progress! I made it to the top as well! I never did one of these as a kid, so I had a blast. I wouldn't want to go rock climbing without the cool harnesses! It is so fun to come down.