Disneyland

We had another fun-filled 5 days at Disneyland. We walked 38 miles (according to my Apple Watch) and spent between 10-13 hours each day in the park. We saw fireworks, parades, and rode so many rides. We ate delicious food, survived the lines with Jake and McKenna, and smiled SO much. I'm so glad Andrew had a work trip- the hotel and gas getting covered by Apple was amazing! What a fun week!

The highlight for Andrew was having Jake ride hyperspace mountain with him. Jake said "what the heck" over and over each of the 4 times he got off the ride. But he kept wanting to ride, so he must have liked it! Andrew talked him into it while they were waiting in line together for a different ride that McKenna was too short for. And I tried to talk Jake out of it, telling him how scary it would be, but to no avail. I'm glad he liked it!

My favorite part was watching the paint the night parade and experiencing the fireworks with Andrew, Jake, and McKenna. So magical!

Jake's favorite was the buzz lightyear ride (as usual) as well as the challenge trail. He enjoyed the tire swing ride and the rock climbing wall, as well as climbing all the ropes and playing in the water. 

McKenna says her favorite was the toy story ride, but she seemed happiest at the splash pad and watching the parades.

We lucked out and my BFF from college and her husband live in LA, so we got to spend a night with them at their place, as well as most of the day Friday together at California adventure. I'm so grateful for such a great friend!!

Of course there were a few hard moments, like the long lines when the kids were extra tired, but it was SO fun. So magical. I'm so glad we have passes- I'm going to cry like a baby when they expire!

Weekend fun

We had a great weekend! Friday after music class, we spent 3.5 hours at our favorite park with lots of friends. And one of our friends brought chocolate covered pretzels- yummmm! Jake was so funny- he only wanted the non-chocolate dipped pretzel. Miss McKenna only wanted the chocolate that she could lick off and didn't take a single bite of the pretzel rod. Me? I liked the whole thing!

Friday night we watched a cute baby while her parents went out. I was surprised by how much Jake and McKenna liked holding her and bringing her toys to make her happy. No more babies in our near future, lest you read into my kids being happy with a baby around. 

Saturday we went to a fun 1 year old birthday party in the morning and headed to the beach for the afternoon. It was a particularly exciting beach adventure because within 10 minutes of being there, Andrew and I were soaked. We went to get our toes wet when a surprise wave got us good- I still have no idea how it happened, but at least we were able to keep McKenna dry. And Jake hasn't come anywhere near the waves since one tipped him over 7 or 8 months ago, so he also escaped unscathed. Maybe he'll warm up to the ocean again soon. But for now, he's happy digging in the sand and climbing rocks. 

After an hour or so of (soggy) relaxation and playing in the sand, the rain came. It was more of a heavy mist than true rain, but it was enough to send is packing. Despite the precipitation and waves, we had fun and enjoyed our beach time, as always. 

We came home and made dinner and enjoyed a family movie night, thank you redbox. And it was made even more exciting by homemade popcorn and cuddling on the couch. 

Today we went to church and had a friend over for dinner. Here's to a great week to follow a fun weekend!

Recent happenings

Aside from our trip to Disney, we haven't been up to too much out of the ordinary. But we are seriously enjoying the absolutely perfect weather here and all the fun things there are to do in San Jose. Really, just give us a park or a large grassy area and we're good. When the kids are happy, I'm happy!

Jake has been SO into his toy slinky dog lately, and it is THE CUTEST thing to see him toting that dog around and pushing him on the swings or sliding down slides with it. The wild 4 year old and his adorable toy story toy 😍

McKenna is really into dolls now. It's so fun to see her pat their bums while bouncing them and swaying back and forth. She always has a doll with her, although the one she drags around frequently changes, she doesn't have a specific one that she's more attached to than the others. She talks to her babies, changes their diapers, feeds them, and is generally just adorable while doing it all. She's a good little mommy!

Life is good!

Disneyland trip 4

How lucky are we to have Disneyland passes and to live just 6 hours away? I think that's been my favorite part of California living. It is so nice to go down there and just have fun together. It's such great family time!

Jake is getting braver and braver when it comes to going on rides. Bigger and faster=better for him, which is just what Andrew and I would hope for! His favorites are the the buzz lightyear ride and the cars radiator springs racers ride. It's so fun to hear him giggle and scream with glee and to look over at his HUGE grins every time we go. 

McKenna likes the little mermaid ride and the monsters inc rides the best, and she gets to go on them quite a bit while Jake goes on the rides she's not tall enough for yet. Thankfully her choices typically have the shortest lines!

Trip #4 to Disneyland was another huge success!

update of fun

Here's a mix-match of all the fun things we've been up to (these are for you, Grandma!)

We bought passes to Happy Hallow, a close park/zoo (although the zoo part is kind of a stretch).  The kids- and Andrew and I- have had a lot of fun with that.

(Jake's first time on a roller coaster- he obviously loved it!)

Pirate faces! I'm not sure where or how Jake came up with this face, but he calls it his pirate face and does it any time we try to take his picture- including for family pictures and Tanner and Katie's wedding)

Andrew and I found a path close to our apartment that we've enjoyed jogging on.  Jake decided he is ready to jog with us too, and we've been impressed with how well he does!  He can make it about half a mile before he is ready to climb back into the stroller.  And it's so fun to stretch with him and to watch him run along with us.  He's so fun!

Andrew and I had a fun date at the BYU vs San Jose State football game.  We thought it was funny that there were literally more cougar fans than people cheering on SJSU.

Jake and McKenna have been enjoying helping us cook as of late.  Sometimes it makes things a lot harder and messier, but it's been good for all of us.  I'm so glad they love to help!

We've also made a couple of trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Our apartment complex had a six flags night, so we went and enjoyed the carousel there because that's about all that was available that our kids were tall enough for.

We did a gymnastics class that the kids enjoyed- especially Jake.

Miss McKenna learned how to crawl out of her bed (which, by the way, look at how she sleeps.  I'm not sure how she manages, but she has to have all that stuff in there with her!).  She was definitely proud of herself when she came waltzing out 3 hours after we put her in her crib!!

And all the fun we've been having has clearly worn out our sweeties

I'm so glad I have such sweet kids and the most wonderful husband to love!