One less tooth!

If you've followed along at all, you'll know that Parker hates loose teeth and falling out teeth. OMG! The drama! He will throw a fit and cry then throw another fit. The weekend before Thanksgiving his snaggletooh kept bleeding and bleeding. If he bumped it with a spoon, the toothbrush, etc. it would start bleeding and would not stop. I emailed his teacher on Sunday night to give her a warning of the drama. First thing Monday morning I called the dentist and said I wanted it out. I did not want to deal with it over Thanksgiving and our vacation. I surprised Parker by picking him up at school before lunch. I told him that the dentist just wanted to have a look at it. He made it clear to me, and to his teacher, that he was not getting it out. His teacher, who I absolutely love, just cracked up and told him to be brave.  At the dentist's office he was telling everyone from the receptionist to the dentist that it was not coming out. Everyone was laughing and I was standing behind him making "pull it" movements. So they made him nice and happy and out the tooth came. Back at school he was all proud and acted like it was just no big deal. I have a feeling the next loose one he'll want out the same way. He'd better save up $150.00 or I am getting out the floss & feeding him apples!

Merry Christmas 2011!

Home for the Holidays!

Last year at this time we were knee deep in mud, and disappointed our house was not ready to move into by Christmas. This year, it feels great to be home! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with friends, family & cheer! 

Disneyland Day #5!

Wednesday, our final day. Our flight was not until 7:40 p.m. so we were able to stay in the park until 6:00 so we almost had a full day there. We spent the first half of the day at Disneyland and the second half at California Adventure. In the morning at breakfast we asked the boys what two things they wanted to do (or re-do) and we made sure that we did those things. Predictably, Parker wanted to ride Tower of Terror & California Screamin' and Preston wanted to see the Muppet 3D show and ride Splash Mountain. They also both wanted to ride the Grizzly River Run but by the time we got to it in the afternoon it was too cold.  It went from 89 on Sunday to 65 on Wednesday. It was perfect weather for out having fun, but it was too cold to get wet.

 In front of the Matterhorn. I think total we rode this ride about 15 times.

 Lunch time!

I love this picture.

One last splash!

This was the last picture I took as we were walking out of Disneyland.

In front of our favorite ride.

Our last pictures of the trip. I am already planning when we can go back. Is next year too soon? Probably not!

Disneyland Day #4!

Day four, Tuesday. It finally cooled down a bit and the weather was perfect! We spent most of the day at Disneyland, then went back over to California Adventure for the last few hours in the evening. Both of the boys needed a Tower of Terror fix.

We started the day early. Our passes included one "Magic Morning" which meant we could enter the park an hour before it opened. Both Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were open. Since we had already gone on all the rides in Tomorrowland we headed to Fantasyland. The boys were complaining a bit that they didn't want to go on "baby rides" but too bad! I love Fantasyland. Like everyone else in the world, I love the Peter Pan ride. It doesn't matter what time of year or day you are there, that line is always long!

This was also our day for lunch at the Blue Bayou. I love that restaurant! If you don't know, it is the restaurant that is inside of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. You sit alongside the water where the boats go by. Honestly, the food is not my favorite. It is a lot of seafood & meat, but it is just so fun going there that the food is secondary to me.  However the boys and Travis love the food. They got some sort of beef thing that they loved.

Entering the park for the day.

Dumbo! These two look thrilled to be there!

Another self portrait on Dumbo. I've got to get a better angle to see if I can reduce a few of those chins!

On the Teacups.

Our next stop was Autopia. Parker was dying to "drive". Oh, it scares the hell of of me just thinking of when he actually can drive!

Doesn't he look sweet & innocent here? So deceptive!

 Preston took his driving very serious. I'm not worried about this one at all.

Space Mountain. On the rides they take your photo on you have the opportunity to purchase the picture there on the spot. With new technology everyone carries small cameras or uses their phone to take a picture of the picture. So no need to actually make a purchase. I am sure Disney will come up with something new in the future that prevents you from doing this.

 

A visit with Goofy. He was teasing the kids that they had a Pluto hat & a Donald Duck hat but no Goofy hat. Trust me Goofy, I'm with you. The Donald Duck hat is not my favorite.

I am not super excited about this picture. Normally Disney has a photographer there to do your picture after you wait in line to see Mickey. For some reason they didn't have one this time. I always look forward to our annual family Mickey picture. It is the closest thing that I'd ever talk my family into as far as a family portrait. This one is not what I had in mind. Poor Mickey only has one ear & my big hair is covering the other one.

Disneyland Day #3!

Day three was Monday and we spent it at Disneyland! The first order of business was Indiana Jones. Parker was itching to go on it. This was the first visit he was tall enough (no rolled up socks needed). We walked over there first thing and there was no line - yea! We rode it four times in a row then headed to Splash Mountain. It was already getting warm for the day so we were ready to get wet! Again no line! We went through it once and when it was time to get off the worker asked if we wanted to go again because there was nobody else there waiting to get on. So we rode it several times without having to get out. After that we just wandered around all day riding rides, looking for characters & having a great time! It did start to get a bit crowded later in the afternoon, but not bad. I don't think we waited for more than 10-15 minutes for anything our entire visit. It was great!

Toontown!

Gadget's Go Coaster in Toontown!

Toontown. No fake smiles here! Nope!

Parker loves Pluto! Preston looks so thrilled to be there! He looks like he is growling at Pluto.

A boys trip on the Matterhorn. Another favorite ride of all of ours.

This is outside of the Matterhorn. You'd think after taking so many pictures of myself I'd get the camera angle better.

This is Parker's first time on Splash Mountain. He loved it! Preston insisted on the front seat, and nobody argued with him. He was drenched. Travis was in the back and only got a little wet.

After Splash Mountain trying to dry off in the sun.

These guys hung out by the Haunted Mansion. From October to January 1, they have the Haunted Mansion switched over to Nightmare Before Christmas. Although I love the park all decked out for Christmas, I prefer the Haunted Mansion just the traditional haunting. It is fun to see the characters but these guys were long winded. They took lots of time with each of the kids talking to them and playing around. It got to the point you were like, "I'm only here for the picture. Let's move along". 

 We had two very tired boys at the end of each day. Parker would not take his new Pluto hat off.

Disneyland Day #2!

Day 2 was Sunday. We knew that Disneyland would be crowded so we spent the day at California Adventure. We started our day with a character breakfast at the Grand Californian Hotel. That hotel is beautiful! The food is good, but expensive. The characters at this location are not that great, but we like the food there better than the other character breakfasts.  The hotel has its own entrance into California Adventure for hotel guests. After breakfast we got in line behind some people that were actually staying there and followed them in.  hee hee.

This is the first year that Parker was tall enough for all the rides (well, almost tall enough) and we were all itching to go on The Tower of Terror. The park was empty so we were able to get right on the ride. First timer Parker loved it and we went over and over again. Because the park was not busy we were able to ride just about everything, some rides multiple times, by about 1:00 in the afternoon. The one and only line we had to wait in was for Grizzly River Run. It was hot outside (way too hot for November) and everyone was wanting to get wet. It took us maybe 15 minutes so we can't complain. We rode it twice and got good and wet!  Notice above how I said that Parker was "almost" tall enough for all the rides? He was just a hair sort of the 48" for the California Screamin' roller coaster. He was dying to go on it! He stood under their little sign with his back straight and his neck stretched out. He was flirting with the cute worker and still a no go.  His hair was brushing the sign but his head didn't actually touch it. So we went on other rides until they changed workers. We then took his socks off, rolled them up and put them under his heels in his shoes and tried it again. It totally worked and made him tall enough. He loved it! It is a great roller coaster. One of our favorite rides in the park.

In the evening we watched The World of Color show in the park. I had heard mixed reviews on it. Some people said it was a "must see" and others said not so much. My opinion was that it was terrible. The show itself might be ok, but the way they run it is terrible. You had to go the area an hour early and you where you had a Fast Pass showing what area you could sit in. You wait in line, go to your assigned area then find a place to sit. There are no chairs, no benches, etc., you have to sit on the ground. Then a half an hour before the show they make you stand up so they can cram more people in behind you. So you stand in wall to wall people for 30 minutes until the show starts. Unless you are in the first couple of rows you can't see. We were in the second section, second row. Travis could see fine but had to hold Parker up the entire length of the show, and Preston and I could not see at all. If there was a way we could have turned around and got out of the crowd we would have. However, we were stuck in a sea of people. Basically it sucked! I would not recommend it to anyone, and I started calling it "the stupid water show" for the rest of the trip.

 On our way to breakfast the first morning we were there.

 

I have no idea who this character is, but Parker loved him.

 Our annual joke about these Christmas ornaments has to do with "big balls".

 A visit with Mater and McQueen

 We love Sully!

I think this is about our 5th time on The Hollywood Tower of Terror. We could not get enough of it!