California Trip Part I

DISNEYLAND

We have been looking forward to our California trip for months. My sister Trudi and her husband Tyler and their son, Noah decided to come with us. We got a great deal on a brand new hotel in Anaheim, about a mile from Disneyland. We went to Disneyland for two days. We went on a Monday and Tuesday. We got there right when the park opened. We got fabulous parking and walked right in. It was awesome. We went right to "Peter Pan," one of the longest waiting lines. We only waited about 15 minutes. That was the start of a great day. The kids got to do all the rides they wanted to. Lucas and I got to enjoy our favorite Bread bowl with Clam Chowder and there were no tantrums or meltdowns. We stayed at Disneyland the first day till about 7pm. We pretty much crashed once we got back to our hotel. The second day, Tuesday, we were there when the park opened again. This time we headed straight for Star Tours, Splash Mountain and Buzz Lightyear, to get them out of the way. This area of the park is always jam packed by about noon, so it was good to avoid that. We had park-hopper tickets, so in the afternoon, we went over to California Adventure. Lucas and Tyler headed off to do Tower of Terror and Trudi and I and the 5 kids went in search of something to do. We just happened to be right where they were doing "The Incredibles" street show. We had front row seats and they even pulled Gavin out of the crowd to be part of the show. It was so much fun. We didn't get to do tons of rides at California Adventure, mainly because the kids; including Lucas and Tyler kept asking to return to Disneyland. So, we went back to Disneyland. We stayed till about 10pm that night. We got to see the Parade, the fireworks and the lightshow. It was awesome. We had a great time. We have never gone to Disneyland with any other friends or family. It was fun to share that time with Trudi, Tyler and Noah. We also got to spend some time with my sister Beverley and her husband, Lewis. They live in San Diego. We went to Seaport Village with Beverley and we went out to dinner a few times. It was one of the best trips we have taken. Our kids were amazing, they loved every minute. Isla was an angel and took naps and was happy as a clam :) It was hard saying goodbye to California. Lucas and I both have a special place in our hearts for that place.

California Trip Part II

Legoland
We spent Thursday at Legoland. We had been to Legoland once before when the boys were 2 & 3 and it had been a disaster because at the time they weren't tall enough to ride most of the rides. There also had been lots of meltdowns. This time was truly perfect. It was supposed to rain that day and they threatened to close the park if it did, but thank goodness the skies cleared up and it was perfect. The kids had so much fun. There is so much to do at Legoland. There is a huge wooden type Medieval tree house that the kids could seriously spend all day in. That day was the unveiling of a new Lego Star Wars display. The boys were in heaven. We stayed all day and had a blast. It was a perfect way to end our trip.

Kitchen Re-do

We painted our kitchen last month. It had a sort of venetian faux finish that starts in the kitchen and goes into the family room. We have dark cherry wood cabinets, black granite countertops and brown blinds. Needless to say, the kitchen felt dark to me. I really wanted to brighten it up. I picked a blue paint swatch and kind of took a leap of faith. I knew I wanted something in the turquoise color family, but you never really know what it will look like on the wall. We painted it in one afternoon. Lucas was a trooper and did all the priming and hard to reach spots. He is always very willing to give in to my last minute projects. When the first roll of paint went on the wall, I loved it instantly. Thank goodness :) I didn't think to take a "before" pic until Lucas had primed most of the walls, but I did get over by the desk and oven. On to the next project.
Before

After

La le Padraig

This St. Patricks Day was special for us. Not only were we celebrating being Irish, but we were also celebrating a year in our new house. I can't believe how fast that year went by. We had green chocolate chip waffles and green milk for breakfast. We spent the afternoon with my sister Kim and her family. No corned beef and cabbage this year. We just weren't in the mood for it. The weather was perfectly Irish, complete with overcast skies and rain. It was wonderful. We missed the rest of our Irish clan, but there's always next year.