My Apologies

Okay... sorry guys for making you look at pictures of creepy snakes for so long. We have been SO busy around here that blogging was all but forgotten. Now I'm back on a more normal schedule (I hope) and ready to resume my blogging ways.

On the plus side we've been having so much fun, and I have tons of pictures for ya. I won't post them all in the same post ( you'd probably be ready to kill me if I did.) Instead I'll take it slow and do a day at a time. Let's start with the Living Planet Aquarium.

We had a day off of school and this was the activity chosen by the kids. It was a little small but the kids LOVED it!!!! We saw a lot of cool things, but the hit of the day was touching the sting rays.

These two were very brave when it came to touching them. Haley was a little more hesitant. After some gentle coaxing from a very patient Aunt she was finally able to touch one. (Look how proud she looks! )

Then we moved on to see some more of the museum. This little guy was fascinated by everything. He wanted to read every label description and see every single exhibit. He's asked me at least 100 times in the past week if we could go back. With my new kids club membership I'm sure we will be back soon. (That's something for a whole different post.)

So there you have it. No more pictures of snakes. Sting Ray's may not be much better but it's a start right !?

The most DREADED pet of all.

So.... the boys decided they needed a new pet. Well, a dog was out of the question (too much work.) Our cats don't seem to live very long around here. So naturally the pet to get would be a Python. Right! I mean that's what sane logical people get for pets right? See, I knew I wasn't crazy when I told them normal people don't get snakes for pets. Yuck! Needless to say I don't love Legs, yep- that's what the kids named him was legs, since he didn't have any of course.

It was a huge compromise for me to allow this little beauty into the house. The catch is I don't have to do anything with it- EVER. Here are the rules

1- No feeding it! (which I've already done once, is it wrong to root for the mouse to live?)

2- No touching it ever (well, except for when Dylan can't reach him on the bottom of the cage to get him out)

3-If he gets loose Michael has to come home and catch him! (ummmm- yeah like that will happen! Dylan already came running in and told me he lost his snake. Guess where, No seriously just guess! MY BED! While searching for him in the covers he slithered out of my pillowcase! on to my HAND!!!!! And yes I did scream like a girl and ran around the room screaming.)

4- I NEVER have to clean the cage. ( Thing one I'm sticking to! I mean it!)

So as you can see. Now that the rules have been firmly established and followed we should have no problems. Welcome to the family Legs.

Happiest Place on Earth (Well Most of the Time)

Well we're back from our little jaunt to the Magic Kingdom. This trip was interesting to say the least. We had a fabulous time but also had a few hang ups. We were a little bit sick so that took a little bit of fun away from the trip. Dylan and Avery both had ear infections which would act up and make for some whiny kids at times. That didn't stop us though! Well it stopped Dylan a couple of times. A few times he crashed..... hard! For the most part it was a GREAT trip here are some of the highlights.

Now you tell me.... for someone who protested A LOT about going to Disneyland he sure looks like he's having fun huh!

Avery was WAY into Donald this trip (go figure) we hung out at Donald's house and she loved it.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was when she actually saw him. We were waiting in line and Avery was picking flowers through the railing (even though she wasn't supposed to!) She took off running and I thought I was going to have to chase after her. She had finally seen Donald and ran up to him and gave him her flower she had picked. It was SOOOOoooooo cute! He stopped and gave her kisses even though he was heading to break. She won't stop talking about it!

This little guy had a harder time at Disneyland this year. He had been sick before we left and then came down with an ear infection while we were there. He was always cold and kind of tired. The sun was in his eyes so he borrowed my hat, apparently that's all he needed to make him happy!

We spent a lot more time riding the big rides this trip so we had to find ways to entertain the little monkey. She loved toontown where she could play in the little cars and houses while the big kids were busy.

This was the other way to keep her happy. A stuffed animal a day keeps the frownies away!

Haley sometimes has a hard time with the characters. This guy tried to carry her tray for her at breakfast. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Rafiki following behind Haley trying to tell her sorry for scaring her and trying to take her tray. Haley looking straight forward with huge tears silently streaming down her face walking as fast as she could back to the table. She sat down and cried on my shoulder once he was gone and said "I know he's nice but he just really freaks me out!" So when he came around again for pictures we sent her away for more strawberries. Dylan as you can see didn't have any problems with him.

Other than Donald, this is who Avery really wanted to meet! It was love at first sight!

I can't believe how big she is! She walked all 4 days with no complaints. She is ready and willing to ride every ride in the park! As much as it scares me that they grow up so fast sometimes it sure is fun to see them turn into a big kid right before your eyes!

We had such a GREAT time!!!!! I am sad to be home.

Do these type of things happen to other People?

I have this car. I really love my car, except for one small thing. It's cursed! I'm so not kidding. I've had my car for 3 years and it has been crashed 5 times in that amount of time. Not big huge crashed, (except for that hit and run thing on the freeway last year) Just little things. Like being backed into a telephone pole, a power box, Michael backing up in the drive way and smashing it. Oh, and the neighbors car too. Those types of things. Having said all of this my next little story shouldn't surprise any of you. (WARNING! this is a little bit disgusting)

I was heading into the auto body shop. They know me well by now! Dylan wasn't feeling good so he stayed home from pre-school. I gave him some motrin for a little fever but he refused to eat breakfast. Anyway.... I still had to bring the car in and they were going to bring me home. We were about 2 minutes away from the shop when I heard a horrible and dreaded sound from the back. Yep..... Dylan was losing his breakfast (or last thereof) all over the car that was about to be left in the shop for the week. Ahhhhhhh! Now what? Well, luckily he was in a bathrobe over his pj's with a blanket on top of that so I was able to bag up all the yuck, or most of it anyway. Well a week has now passed and they called to tell me that my car was ready. I asked if they had any kind of detail service I could add on to my car wash and they said yes. I was SOOOoooo all over that. My car has now been dropped off with no dents, dings, scratches or crashed bumpers. The detail service took care of the puky smelling inside (so.... so....so worth it by the way!) and I'm one happy girl again.

So how about it. Is anyone else's car cursed (hmm, maybe it's not the car, maybe it's me)? Do these things happen to you guys? I would love to know if I need to be looking for a new car or someone to de-cursify me!

DISNEY!

I L-O-V-E!!!! Disneyland. I mean really love it. The fact that my kids love it as much as me is just a bonus. My sweet hubby however does not. It took some doing this year but I finally got him to agree to come with us on our Disney trip. (notice I said come with us, I was almost prepared to got it alone. Did I mention I love Disneyland?) I made all the final arrangements today. We are all booked up. Wahooo!!!!!!!

This year we aren't doing the over-the-top craziness that we did last year. No Disney hotel etc. etc. This was a more than willing sacrifice I made so everyone was happy about the trip. We are also driving this year instead of flying. So how about it? Is the drive awful or just kind of long. I made the decision to stay in Vegas for a night on both the coming and going legs of the trip. With a 2 year old I am more than a little worried about a ten hour drive in the car. So if any of you have hints, tips or stories about how great your drive to Disney was..... please, by all mean share! If however, you had a horrible drive and your 2 year old screamed her head off the whole time then maybe don't share that info. : )

Tagged

So I was tagged by two of my three sisters. (Maybe they are sick of my lame not blogging mood) But here goes. So sister #1 tagged me for my favorite chick flick movies. That's a hard one, but I'm sure I can come up with a few of them.

Let's start with # 1 Mama Mia

This movie is totally corny and yet so so so much fun. Especially when you see it with a big group of giggling girls. Totally fun!

Movie #2 Sex and the City

I LOVED this show.... if you can skip some of the more embarrassing scenes (I know I am such a baby) This is such a great chick flick. I got hooked on the show from TBS "aka" edited version. So sometimes the HBO versions shocks me a bit. I was too involved in the story line to NOT find out how it all turns out.

Movie # 3 Ever After

I had a roommate that LOVED LOVED this movie. After having it play practically 24 hours a day I was so sick of this show, but now when ever it comes on TV I can't help myself I always turn it on for "just a minute" and end up watching it all.

So there you have it. A few of my favorite chick flicks.... up next, a tag about the hubby.

Enjoying Life's little wonders

I've not been in the blogging mood lately. (Gasp!) I know perish the thought. But I just haven't been feeling it. Once we all got feeling a little better we've just kind of been hanging out. Let's face it girls (and guys) sometimes life just isn't that interesting. Laundry... dishes.... homework...groceries not exactly newsworthy stuff.

Normally this would drive me CRAZY!!!! but.... I've actually been enjoying myself. One of my resolutions this year was to slow down and enjoy all of the little things. This is something that is hard for me. I constantly feel the need to be doing "something." Instead these days we've been playing and enjoying ourselves. On today's agenda. Trains.....Legos, and more trains. Here's a sample of me and my favorite little guy hanging out.

He even used the push train (the other one is motorized and has a controller to hold) I usually have to be the push train the whole dang time... today he took pitty on me.

We set up the whole city with all the filling station and such. Then we started playing. Well if any of you have small children you'll know that gets old really quick. A few times around the tracks and we were needing something to spice it up.

That's were the boulders dropping on the train and pieces missing out of the track come into play.

Of course we had to have some of the passengers fall out and get ran over. He is such a boy sometimes!

(No lego guys or train pieces were harmed in the making of this activity... at least not fatally )