1st Day of Kindergarden (for Cameron)

We got a shot of our two before we left the house, all excited for their first day's of schools in their new classrooms/schools.

Cameron has Mrs. Clark at Wedgewood Elementary and he was too cool for mom and dad when we dropped him off. Put his backpack and lunch bag up, and sat at his seat like it was no big deal. Didn't realize til I was at work that we didn't get a hug or a kiss. When did he get so big?


Maggie was not please to find out that Bubba would no longer be at her school So her pic is a little sad with Mrs. Ami her awesome PK2 teacher. She was super excited to see us when we picked her up after school though. And I know she had a great day!

Also, I went and sat in the car rider line to pick Cam up on his first day. Wow that's mass insanity! It took 40 minutes to get to where I could pick him up. Just doing that craziness this week and next week I'll let him ride the bus home with a friend from church so that an adult is there when he gets off the bus.

It's just no fun to let your babies grow up and do "big" things, but I guess I have to let it happen. Oh and he's getting so much taller, it's kind of funny. Since January he's grown an inch and a half. I am going to be buying new blue jeans for sure this fall.

Day 5 - Pixie Hollow & California Adventure

We started the day off by running into Pixie Hollow to meet Tinker Bell (one of my favorites). It's so cute to watch Maggie run up to each of these characters and give them big hugs and then just stand and listen to them talk to her. She is fascinated that she's meeting all the movie characters.

Maggie is just as crazy as her Daddy & brother about riding all the rides. Anything that they will let her on, she jumps at the chance to ride. So after visiting the pixies, we put her on the AstroOrbiter.


We went over to California Adventure to explore and get FastPasses to World of Color. Shortly after we were lucky enough to run into both Mr. Incredible and FroZone. Cameron walked up and asked him "Where is my super suit?" FroZone loved it!



Then we went over to Ariel's Grotto to have a special lunch with the princesses. Maggie could barely contain herself every time it was announced that a new princess was coming out. She was yelling hello to each of them as they walked the room. Finally when each one stopped by the table she would hug them and look at them in awe. It was really worth it to see her excitement. And the food was super yummy for mom and dad. The dessert tray was crazy, they had smores, molton lava cake, chocolate chip cookie, and then this big seashell made out of white chocolate.





We were able to go ride the Toy Story Mania ride, which I think is all of our favorites now. Well, except for Maggie, she fell asleep and didn't get to ride. I think we are going to try to ride it one more time so she can experience it too.

After that we went through the Bug's Life area. This was a great area for Maggie as all the rides were more her size. We rode a hot air balloon ride, a ladybug version of the tea cups, and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. That one was my favorite because as you went through the big watermelon they sprayed a mist that smelled just like watermelons. So yummy!



There are no pics from World of Color because they don't take well with the camera. It's too bad because it was a really neat show. Sort of like Fantasmic, but newer elements added in. They had some of the characters that looked like the parade characters, but were made out of lights, and they were walking around in the crowd. Maggie kept yelling for them and waving. It's actually really funny to listen to how she yells each name. "Hey Buddy (actually Woody, but she keeps calling him Buddy)! How are you?"

Day 4 - Disneyland & Pixar Parade

We spent another busy day checking out all that Disney has to offer. As soon as the park opened we were able to ride Finding Nemo which is a submarine that goes under water. Chris did not bother to tell me that we actually went under water, and it kinda freaked me out a bit, but the kids loved it.

From there we headed over to It's a Small World since there was absolutely no line, which is the only way to ride it. That way you don't have to hear the song as much. While in line Cameron and I found a "hidden" Mickey in the bushes.

Maggie and I went to see the Princesses again while the boys went to ride more big rides. She was excited to see Belle who was so sweet and walked her over to see Ariel. She spent quite a bit of time talking to Maggie. Last was Princess Tiana from Princess and the Frog. Since Maggie hasn't seen her movie she wasn't quite as interested. She kept telling her, "I saw Ariel."

Then we were off to Toontown, where we saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. Maggie is doing such a good job with the characters. She runs up to them, gives them quite a few hugs, and then turns for her picture. We can't always get her to look at the camera when she smiles, but at least most of the time she's smiling.

We saw Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. Eeyore was the best! Check out the awesome autograph for Maggie's pillow!

After an afternoon nap, we saw the Pixar Parade and Fantasmic. Both were awesome and Maggie keeps saying, "I like that show" after each one.

And of course Cameron rode Space Mountain 2 more times. He really loves that ride.

Day 3 - DisneyLand & Princesses

Today we got to the park for Magic Hours, which meant we were able to ride a good portion of the rides in Fantasyland without having to wait longer than 15 minutes. We rode Peter Pan, Dumbo, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride by 8:30 AM. At one point Maggie & I walked right up to ride on Dumbo and were first in line.

Maggie kept pointing in a wide arch and saying, "It's all Disneyland." She enjoyed riding all the rides and would clap after each one.

From Fantasyland, we headed over to the Princess Fantasy Faire. We waited in line to see Belle and Ariel, and then were lucky enough to see the Coronation Ceremony with Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. Then all of them came back out for more autographs. Chris said that I was just as excited as Maggie.

After lunch, Maggie and I headed back to the hotel for a nap, while Chris and Cameron rode a couple more rides including Space Mountain. I am so proud of Cam for riding all the big roller coasters without even a hint of fear. He is such a brave little boy. On their way back to the hotel, they ran into Goofy and Chip & Dale.

At the hotel, Chris' cousin Greg came over to join us for an afternoon swim and the Angels vs. Rangers game. The game didn't have the outcome we were hoping for (Rangers lost), but Cameron was able to get autographs from two Rangers (Matt Harrison and Vladimir Guerrero).

Another long fun filled day. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Day 2 - Legoland

Day 2 of our adventure in California sent us South to Legoland. Luckily we got to sleep in a little later (well Maggie was up at 5:30A, crazy girl), as they didn't open til 10A.

Cameron started off his adventures at Legoland by watching a driver's education video and then jumping into a Legocity where he started driving. He was only in once accident, but otherwise did pretty good driving around.

While Cam was off learning how to drive, Maggie & I got to ride the helicopter ride. So the pic below is not the same one we rode on, but it's hard to get a picture of yourself and your kid on a ride. Anyhow they had stationary items to get pics with after the fact.


A bit later we hit the airplanes. Maggie is just right at 34" so we kept having to get her to stand up really straight at each ride in order to get the okay for her to board. She is just like her daddy and brother, loved to ride the rides! There were a few that she wanted on that the height restriction prevented her from getting on. However a few of the times I thought it was kind of silly that she couldn't go on some things on our laps at least.


Following a viewing of the Clutch Powers 4D show, Maggie and I stopped real quick to get a picture with Bob the Builder. She was not too sure about walking up to Bob and giving him a High 5, so I went up with her for the picture.

Now, the princess was a whole other story. She went up to visit the princess 2x!

We got a whole bunch of pictures of all the different Lego creations throughout the park. However I will have to put those in another post later. I was really impressed with the different cities they recreated in Legos. The Vegas Strip was probably the coolest thing to see, if we had stayed later I wonder if it was lit up at night?

Anyhow, all the walking today wrecked havoc on my feet. It's gonna be a hard day tomorrow! However Cameron had such a good time getting to experience the world of Legos on a large scale it was fun to watch.

On a side note, I was really fascinated by the large array of languages we heard while we were at Legoland. It must be high on the list of places people from other countries want to visit. The other 3 parks are internationally located, so maybe it's like a Bucket List to visit all 4. Anyhow, it really was interesting to hear everyone speaking, almost like we were in another country instead.

Alright, it's 1A here, so I better go to sleep. Chris has plans for us to be at Disneyland at 7A tomorrow morning. Yikes! Hope my feet feel better after some rest.

Day 1 - Disneyland Jedi Training Academy

Since Maggie woke up at 5:30am PT, I had a little bit of time to edit a quick movie of Cameron's Jedi Training. The Force must be really strong with him because he was the first kid selected!

Day 1 - DisneyLand

Saturday night we stayed up with Bek & Nick in Humble so that we were closer to the airport and they could take us. It was so much fun for the kids to have a sleepover, but I think if we could have snuck Kaiden on the plane with us too, he would have been even happier with the situation.

We got to the airport and of course had to stand in line because we had tons of kid paraphernalia - 2 car seats, stroller, and then all of our bags. Truthfully you wouldn't know that the kids had never flown before, they did really good in the airport and during take-off and everything.

Maggie was a bit wiggly during the flight and had no desire to be buckled into her seat. She ended up falling asleep in my lap, which was just as well. We did have DirectTV on this flight, so that made the time go quickly for the rest of us.

Once we landed, we were able to grab our bags quickly, and hit the car rental where we ran into a little snag. The car reserved for us did not fit our two large pieces of luggage and a stroller. So we had to upgrade to be able to get everything with us. So then off to find the hotel, where we only got lost once. Pretty good I thought.

The one thing we both commented on as we were on the highway was that it looked just like Houston, palm trees and concrete. Now once we were on some of the side roads, we thought it looked more like California like we pictured. We got lucky and were able to check into our room early and unload our stuff.

Of course we had to hit an In & Out Burger. The last time we ate at one was in Vegas and the Vegas one looked quite a bit different than the originals here. It was quite yummy and very busy. The line in and outside was at least 5 or more people deep almost the whole time we were there.

After that we hit the local Target to get some breakfast, snacks and drink for the rest of the week. Not that we don't plan to eat on site some, but it seemed silly to spend large amounts of money for every single meal when we've got a microwave and fridge in our room. Plus the kids are so used to having yogurt, cereal, goldfish, and cheese sticks almost every day. Much easier to stock up in our room than try to find at the parks.

Maggie & I really needed a nap at that point, so Chris & Cam shot off to start exploring DisneyLand while we both got some much needed rest.

The boys had lots of fun without us as they were not slowed down by a stroller. They got some autographs, went to Jedi Training, and Cam even got to drive a car (YIKES!).

After our nap, Maggie and I joined the boys and got to go to the Aladdin show. The costumes and characters were awesome. Genie was the best!!! He made all these jokes that were very current to today and was such a ham. Maggie was on the edge of her seat through the whole show, she loved it.

After the show we hit Downtown Disney to find something to eat and ended up at a Mexican food restaurant called Tortilla Jo's. Yes, I know, we can get that at home, however it's a little different style Mexican food and we did enjoy it. By the time we finished eating, Cameron told Chris to put him in the stroller and he'd like to go to sleep. So Chris was successful in wearing him out.

After that we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Ready to do another fun day today - but this time we are hitting LegoLand!