M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Yep, we took a vacation to see The Mouse. At the end of April we loaded up the van and headed to Disneyland with Chris' sister Jen and her hub Jer. Our first stop was Vegas. We left at like, 3am and got into Vegas by 9am and spent the day there poolside and relaxing to break up the drive. We ate and swam and ate and swam. Can I just tell you how nice it is to leave behind 50 degree weather knowing that day you will be in 80 degree weather by the pool. It was delightful! Dawson was a fish and had no fear of the water slide. Emerson swam and napped pool side. Vacation suits my kids. Here are the pics to prove:




The next day we loaded up again and headed to the sunny state. We arrived in the afternoon and explored Downtown Disney, did some shopping, and ate at ESPN Zone that evening.



Monday morning we got up bright and early and headed to Disneyland...which we did Tuesday and Thursday as well (yay for 3 day park hoppers!) Our days were filled with rides, characters, and parades and shows. Dawson loved seeing the characters and we got him an autograph book so every time we saw one he asked if he could write their name for them. One of the mornings we did a character breakfast and the kiddos couldn't take their eyes off of them. Here are some facts about the trip:

Dawson's Favorite Rides: Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World
Emerson's Favorite Rides: It's a Small World (she would point and yap away) and Pirates of the Caribbean (a slow dark boat ride that would put her right to sleep!)
Chris' Favorite Rides: Tower of Terror, Indian Jones, and Space Mountain
Sarah's Favorite Rides: Indian Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean

*The boys (Chris and Jer) were obsessed with finding the hidden Mickey's on all the rides and would ask the workers were they could find it.
*Emerson did great and would fall asleep in her stroller or our arms at her nap times (score!)
*Jen is prego and could ride a ton of rides actually and was a total trooper thru it all!!
*They had the cutest parade that stopped in fron of you and they would sing and dance and the kids got to go dance with the characters in the street.
*After 3 days you get sick of park food.





On Wednesday we had a beach day. We went to Huntington Beach and it was about a 70 degree dayand really windy so it wasn't ideal but the boys still played in the waves while the girls laid on the beach.



PS I am done for now...did you make it to the end of the looooong post?? But I may be posting some more pictures because we have a ton!!

My D & E...

This month has brought two milestones- Dawson turning 3 1/2 and Emerson turning 10 months, so I thought I would do a little joint blog about the two of them now.

Dawson: This kid has an imagination and a half...I can hardly keep up. Once I figure out how to bottle up his energy and sell it I'll be a millionaire. Eating, sleeping, getting dressed, etc. is all stuff that takes away from playtime in his opinion and is just not important. His favorite things to pretend to be are a fireman, cowboy, pirate, puma (random, I know), dinosaur, and a grocery store check out guy. One day he put on his little blue apron, turned his little play table on it's side, and stuck a plastic bag on the leg of it. He proceeded to get out his fake food and run it along the edge of his table, then drop it in his bag. I asked him what the heck he was doing and he told me "working at the store, mom!" Oh, duh me. Everyday is something new with this kid and sometimes as nuts as he drives me, he can always make me laugh.
Loves: Playing, watching movies, Diego, Dora, playing with Max, Mac and Cheese, fruit, strawberry milk, baths, and opening Emerson's door when she wakes up from naps.

Hates: Having to take a nap (but I still make him and he still falls asleep), sauces of any kind, time outs, disappointing mom.


Emerson: Not much has changes with this little Love Bug of ours. She is still our happy go lucky, mellow babe....but definitly has a bit of sass in her. As previously mentioned, she is army crawling everywhere and will get up on her hands and knees and will do a few crawls but then gets down and scoots again. She can go from laying down to sitting up on her own and pulls herself up onto her knees, but not feet yet (about time to drop the crib mattress!!) She has figured out she can scoot over to Dawson and take toys away from him now, which makes me laugh since it has always been the other way around. I don't think Dawson finds it too amusing though.
Loves: Watching and playing with Dawson, playing with toys, the cat and dog, baths eating anything, and having lots of attention.

Hates: Getting her face wiped, being left alone.

The Sillies with Dawson

Tonight I was laying next to Dawson in his bed (after books and prayers he likes which ever one of us to lay down next to him for "just two minutes" and cuddle)and we had a little conversation that went something like this:

Me: Dawson, do you remember when you were a little baby? It seems like you were just inside my belly!

Dawson: Yeah, when I was a baby inside your belly I saw your dinner!!

Gotta love the things kids say.