Day 6 {San Diego Zoo}

Travis really wanted to get us to the San Diego Zoo while we were there, and I have to admit, I wasn't super excited about it. I pictured a crowded, super hot, super annoying day ahead. But the zoo was the complete opposite of that. The weather was perfect, making the animals active and ready to put on a show for the ladies. There weren't any crowds and at times we were all alone and just enjoying being outside in the beautiful fresh air. (Remember fresh air?)

As usual Travis was right.
He's always right. When will I learn?
The ladies checking out the tiger pacing right in front of them. Very cool. The Panda bears were just amazing to see! They are beautiful.

The ladies shared a rented double stroller while we were there and spent a good amount of time singing Hannah Montana songs (and occasionally Taylor Swift) at the top of their lungs. We had a lot of people comment on their singing skills...

Here they are eating the most expensive, worst quality lunch ever made. Just thinking about it makes my stomach ache a bit. The kimodo Dragon. I never knew there was such a thing! These things can take down water buffalo for dinner...crazy.

Our little family.
After the zoo we ate dinner at a restaurant called El Indio (featured on Diners, drive-inns, and dives), thanks to my friend Candace for the suggestion. Delish. Then we headed to Sea port village to browse the shops and let the kiddos ride the carousel. They had such a wonderful day.

At the end of the day a quick bath to get off all the grime, and mom, dad, and grandma were pooped. The ladies though? They still had enough energy to put on a little rock concert for us. Seriously, I need a little bit of their energy!

Tomorrow? Sea World.

Days 3-5 {Disneyland}

We LOVE Disneyland. I mean, really love it. Our kids are complete angels for every second we are there. We turn into kids again, and forget every problem we face in the real world. We wear tennis shoes with shorts and don't even care that we look completely awful, because no one at "The happiest place on Earth" is judging you. You get to meet princesses and Minnie Mouse for Heaven's sake. We are fans.

Forgive me for posting every single picture I remotely liked of our trip. I just couldn't bring myself to leave any out. And yes, this may be the LONGEST post you have ever read.

Shall we continue?

Here is Sienna waiting to enter the park on the first day. This kid couldn't contain herself when she finally realized that we were at Disneyland and not "Gagoon".

Lovebirds.

Our first stop? Seeing Tinkerbell. We got a little side tracked on our way to Space Mountain because there was no line. The ladies were okay with this decision. They love Tink!

I think it's a fair assumption to say that the Toy Story ride is right up there in our top 5 favorites. And for real, the girls can rock the 3d glasses.

I'm just sayin'

Adyson, sitting on her A. She was so excited to do this because she remembered doing it last year. And my, oh my, has she grown.

My Favorite! I LOVE the Fairy Godmother and have decided that I would like to have her job in the future. Mark my words friends, someday, that will be me....;)

This picture shall be named "LOVE" because this is Daddy's love at it's purest. Travis HATES this ride. I mean, really hates it. Last year he forced me and my sister to take them on it, and it made me sick. So this year he chose to take them so they wouldn't miss out. What a mighty good man I married!

Love them. Loved watching them be best friends for a whole week.
Sigh. She's beautiful. The whole time we were there we noticed how grown up she is getting. It was just like she was our buddy instead of our little girl. I had feelings all week long of pride mixed with sadness. Where did my baby go?

And this little lady just was in awe of everything. She is such a little monkey who never tires. By the end of the night we would all be limping along in exhaustion, and she would still have a little swagger to her. She is just so dang cute. (and also growing faster than I'd like her to...)Sienna was Daddy's girl this trip, so a picture of her and mommy together is very rare! She wanted to go on every ride with him. It's no good for the self esteem.

Grandma and Adyson. The girls just loved having her along!

Last year we discovered the baked potato soup at the carnation cafe on Main St. in Disneyland. Travis is a fan. I mean a big fan. He couldn't wait to go back this year and scarf it up. He orders a bowl for him, and then gets to eat the ladies leftovers. Or at least that was his diabolical plan.This little lady decided she likes it as much as her dad and wasn't sharing.

The fam in front of the castle. This picture just makes me want to go back!

Sienna at the Celebration parade. She spent a good 45 minutes trying to get Peter Pan and Wendy to wave at her. Apparently they are her new fav's.Travis with the girls during the parade. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that I married him. He is just such a good dad. (and husband.) During the parade the girls were pulled into the street to dance. It was so darling to watch them hop up and down with grins bigger then their faces. Just perfect.

In all honesty, as much as I loved the rides, and not having to make my bed for a week, watching my girls be so close for an entire week was the highlight. I didn't even stage this picture, they just were standing like that! (a miracle I tell you!) When we are home the girls find any and every reason to butt heads, but here they just played, laughed and smiled all day long. See, Disney really is magical!
Do we look tired yet? Yes, we met Tink on the first day, but Silver mist is their absolute favorite. We heard she was there on our last day, and the girls were beyond excited to see her. They even told her they like her more then Tinkerbell. I'm fairly certain they would never tell me that, so that's high praise!And they also lucked out and were able to meet Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog. Lucky little ladies!


My mom bought Cody a book called "Hidden Mickey's" and we had to break it out and use it while we were there. It was so much fun. They have hidden Mickey's all around the park, on rides, in lines, and just everywhere. Some are hard to find, and some are easy (like this one in the rocks at the roller coaster in toon town). I highly recommend the book if you are there. It made waiting in lines fun!The girls on the couch at Minnie's house.

We had an amazing time at Disneyland. The weather was close to perfect. The crowds were non existent. And it really was just an amazing few days! Loved every second.

March

It's kidney cancer awareness month.

Go to the cancer blog to see how you can learn more!

Day 2 {Laguna Beach} you may also call it {Heaven}.

Blogging these pictures is not helping to cure my vacation blues.
Not at all.

Nor is the fact that I did 9 loads (really, 9) of laundry today.

But I imagine you aren't feeling sorry for me...are you?

Here's Day 2. A very. lovely. day.

We woke the ladies up and told them we were headed to the beach, and boy howdy, they were excited! They didn't even complain during the 4.5 hour car ride! (Miraculous).

Here they are in their sun hats. I love these kiddos of mine.

Um, I need to move here. Stat. (and for the life of me I can't fix my blue text.) ugh.

The waves were HUGE that day (we heard it was due to the earthquake in Chile...?) and Sienna was terrified of them. Our little lady who is usually not afraid of ANYTHING, was very much afraid of the waves. She stayed as far away from the water as possible, and did her best to keep us away too. Adyson, on the other hand, LOVED the beach. She could have happily stayed there all day long. This was like a dream come true for her.
Our fam. (We apparently can't hold still for a pic....:)

We have some friends who live 10 minutes away from Laguna in Dana Point, and were able to go and see their lovely home, and envy them for a while. Thanks to Joe and Linda for welcoming us! Then we were off to our hotel in Anaheim. Our plan was to tell the girls when we woke them up in the morning that we were headed to Disneyland, but we realized that the giant Mickey statue in our hotel might give it away, so we told them that night when we got there. Here's a little clip. (It sure was fun to surprise them!)


I have to say that the best part of the surprise happened after the camera was turned off. Adyson looked right at me with genuine tears in her eyes, and told me she thought she "might" cry. The whole night Sienna and her just kept saying thank you, and kept telling us how excited they were. It was pretty awesome! Just before they went to bed that night the fireworks from Disneyland started and we were able to watch them from our balcony. It was just such a great way to end such a lovely day.

And here are the ladies about 10 minutes after the fireworks ended. Snuggled up together. (I'd like to freeze time right about now).


Tomorrow:Disneyland

Day 1 {Vegas}

We are back from our lovely vacation, and I am knee deep in laundry and cold. It's cold here. Boo.

It was a perfect week and we are so grateful to have been able to spend so much time together! I'm posting day by day, because I don't want to leave anything out. (Some day I may get around to printing this thing into a book, and I will appreciate a day by day account of our trip. I wont be too offended if you don't read every single post...:).

The first day we woke the ladies up at 6:30, and took off for Vegas, jammies and all. Finally around 8:00 they started asking where we were headed. We just told them we were headed to Vegas to stay in a hotel, and they still had no idea what was in store for them during the week.
We've never taken the ladies to Vegas before, and we were both pretty uncomfortable there. I'd forgotten how dirty everything (and everyone) seems there. We made it to the strip to show them the lovely fountains at the Bellagio, and then quickly went back to the hotel room to watch a little Disney channel. (That's how we roll.)

The fam. My amazing mom came with us and we sure appreciated her help, and her company. The girls were angels with her in the back seat separating them, and picking up their many dropped toys. She is officially sick of cartoon movies, and climbing over car seats. We loved having here there with us, and the girls just adore her. Thanks mom!

I love this shot of Adyson watching the fountains of Daddy's back. That girl was in awe this entire week.

When we got back to our hotel room the girls had a surprise from Grandma Kidman. New hand made jammies! They love them and were so excited to throw them on. Thanks Lorraine! We sure appreciate you! (And don't they look cute in them?)

We were all so tired from the drive and packing that we seriously passed out by like 9:00 that night. Pathetic? Probably, but it was nice to catch up on our sleep because we packed a lot of fun into the next few days.

I'm off to do more laundry and find a blanket. Did I mention how cold it is here? Why don't we live in California again?

Thoughts.

Saturday we are leaving the cold foggy swamp we reside, in search of sun. And Mickey and Minnie too. And the beach. And Shamu. (Is Shamu still alive? Did I spell his name correctly? Is Shamu a boy or girl?)

Our kiddos, have no idea. We are just waking them up and taking them for a week long surprise.

I'm too excited to sleep.

And too busy to take pictures or think of anything clever to blog about. Instead you get random thoughts inside my head. (Remember how I said I'm too excited to sleep? That means that this post may be slightly incoherent). With that warning, read on at your own risk.

Thoughts:

On AI.
We still have to fast forward past every Kara comment. If you like her, I'm not sure we can still be friends.
Ellen though, is a welcome addition.
Do we really need 4 judges? I think it would be wise to go back to 3, but what do I know?
And some of these contestants really need the show stylists to get their hands on them. Yes?

On shopping.
Why is it that I find myself picking up "necessities" for our trip daily? The shorts for the ladies really were a must, as were the sunglasses and tall shoes. And I keep telling myself they needed the floppy beach hats and jelly shoes.

Someone should really stop me.

On raising 2 ladies.
OY vey.
That is all.

On the Bachelor.
Those of you who don't love it need to check your heads. It's just funny t.v.
Did anyone else lol (for real) when Chris Harrison started talking about how his son talks about magical creatures, and unicorns when he's lying (to Rozelyn). Good T.V. Just fabulous.

On Travis.
Trav gets 2 weeks without treatments while we are gone. I am so excited for him! I can't wait to have him feel like himself for a while, and hope he eats all the yummy vacation food he can while he is canker free.

I dig my husband. He's kind of amazing.

On Cancer:
I hate it.
The end.

On my life:
I'm feeling pretty blessed tonight. My kids decided they were best friends tonight and spent the evening playing nicely. Travis took me to dinner because I had a serious random craving. I had book club with some of my favorite friends. I sipped a Dt. Coke from sonic for half the day. I managed to get my run in, and read a good chunk of my book. The laundry is put away. And I get to spend the next week in heaven with my family!

How did I get so lucky?

{LOVE}

I Love that we took Adyson to her yearly Eye Dr. appointment the other day, and were told she doesn't have to have glasses quite yet. Her sight is still not perfect, and I imagine that next year we will have to take the plunge, but for now, she can go another year glasses free! Love her and her beautiful Blue eyes! I Love that my husband surprised the ladies and I each with a rose on Friday when he got home from work. I Love the type of Daddy he is, and I Love the way he Loves me.

I Love my funny little Valentines, and there serious posing for my Valentine photo shoot. Really, Love them!

I Love Sienna's curls. I Love her smile. I Love the way she wakes up at 7 a.m. and yells "Is it wake up time" from her bed each morning. I Love her obsession with water, her Love of all things chocolate, and her lust for life.

I Love Adyson's porcelain skin. I Love how she pretends she's a tomboy. I Love how she falls asleep at night rubbing her blanket, the way she did when she was a baby. I Love listening to her play barbies in her room. I Love hearing her laugh while playing with her friends, and the way she lights up a room.

These girls make life just SO good.

I Love that we found Sienna passed out cold after dance the other day in this position. Feet on the floor, snoring and drooling. I think this shot should be titled 'plum tuckered out.' I couldn't resist posting this picture, it's just too cute!

Our Valentines Day was just the way Valentines day should be. We didn't surprise each other with really expensive gifts. We just spent the weekend enjoying each other, and remembering all the reasons we Love each other.

I'm a pretty lucky lady.

My ladies

Remember how our family won a session with the absolutely amazing Brooke Snow?

She just posted some images from a session done with the ladies at our house, and I just had to share!

They are beautiful, and Brooke is just uber talented.

See them here, and send her some well deserved love.

Weekend Update.

This weekend was just lovely. Almost perfect.

Heather and Jody and their lovely clan came up to join us and we packed a whole lot of fun into our 3 day visit! The second they walk in the cousins start up right where they left off. It's so much fun to watch, and reminds me of the time we spent with our cousins growing up. They are so lucky to have such fun together, and it's amazing how much they all love each other. It's really beautiful to watch.

Brielle has a small "crush" on Travis and spent most of the weekend snuggled up to him like this. It's darling, and isn't she about the cutest things you've ever seen? For Christmas Heather, my mom, and I gifted our men with tickets to Saturday night's Aggie game, so my amazing niece Breje' babysat all the kiddos while we went to Hamilton's to eat (yum), and to the game, all worry free because Breje' is very capable, and the kids had so much fun with her. The only thing missing was Amy. :(Each year my mom makes sure the kids get to decorate Valentine cookies at her house, and it's quite a sugary sight to see. Adyson actually got quite good this time and didn't go too overboard with the frosting, Sienna though, well, she's got a ways to go before she learns the "less is more" rule.

Sunday everyone gathered at our house for the big game. It was one of the funnest Superbowl game days we've had. The kids ran around tearing the house apart and eating way too much sugar, the men folk watched the game intently, and us ladies made some fun flower clips and pins and crafted the day away. (I know, I'm not usually so crafty, but it ended up being so much fun! During half time we busted out our new "just dance" wii game. Here's a nice shot of Trav and Jody dancing to M.C. Hammer....awesome.

And even though I am embarrassing myself here, heather has posted a nice clip of my dad kicking my butt dancing over on her blog. The embarrassment is worth it, just so you can see my dad and his smooth movies.

I haven't laughed that hard in a while!And here's just a few of our fun creations.
I just can't tell you how much I adore my family. It seems that when we all get together hilarity ensues, and love abounds.

Can I please have another weekend just like this one? Soon?