Tuesday, May 29, 2012

summer list 2012

snow cones   swimming  camping   hike at bogus   garage sales   
go to the beach   sleep overs   zoo   bbq   eat outside   feed ducks   dollar movie   picnic   badminton tournament   farmer's market   boating   drive in movie   dk doughnuts   giant bubbles   make s'mores   lemonade stand   koolaid dye hair   craft thursdays   movie day   go fishing   frisbee golf   sleep outside   hike camels back   treat tuesdays       baseball game   swan falls   see a parade   paddle boats at julia davis   plant a garden   family pictures   volleyball at the park   fires   pick cherries   read lots of books   make jam   make ice cream in a baggie   play in sprinklers   blow bubbles   have an ice cream party   watch fireworks   draw with chalk   build a sand castle   make popsicles   eat watermelon   play ladder ball   root beer floats   

Sunday, May 27, 2012

this dog...

...is always right here. 
this close to me.

we got her for austin many moons ago but all the kids left for school and now it's just her and i.

she loves all the affection she can get.
she wants to be pet.
scratched.
hugged.
i can't even cross my legs cause if i do she walks over and stands over my crossed foot hoping to get a free belly scratch.

she is so affectionate.
and she wishes she was a lap dog.

she is always under foot.
i have done my fair share of swearing after i trip over her.
i cannot move without her moving.
i cannot leave a room without her trotting along behind. 

i have been guilty of feeding her scraps of food and now she looks like a giant twinkie.

as much as i hate the hair,
hate the poop,
hate tripping over her,
i love that she is always right by my side.


Friday, May 25, 2012

our chauffeur

he's driving!
it's finally happened.
he has been given the keys and is allowed to operate heavy machinery on public roads.
lord help us!
doesn't he look happy?
not sure if he is concentrating or just annoyed that i am taking pictures of him.
probably the latter.
 unfortunately i couldn't get my camera to take a decent pictures before the batteries died so this was all i got.
austin driving us to church.
six more months of this and he is on his own.
if i was catholic this is where i would cross myself.
happy driving!


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

laguna beach

ahhhh the beach.
i love the beach.
the feel of sand between my toes,
the smell of salt,
the sound of the constantly pounding waves.
if i could live anywhere it would be near the ocean.
today was all about relaxing by the sea.
unfortunately it started out a little cool but we made the most of it.









this one is just like her mama.

taylor loved looking for sea creatures.



tay wanted to make sure people knew we were here :o)







if emily is just like me then this one is just the opposite.
he is definitely not a fan of the beach.
he hates flip flops, sand and salt water.







this was the last day of our trip and, although, i am sad to be leaving the carefree lifestyle of vacation living i am so happy that we got to take this trip together and will carry these memories with me forever.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

disney: take 3

day three we had a pass to get in an hour before the park opened to everyone else. i guess everyone else had the same pass because there were just as many people there at 7:00 as there usually were at 8:00.
rob said he would go get fast passes to space mountain while we went and got in line for the tea cups.
there wasn't a line so he missed the ride but he was fine with that since the girlie tea cups make him sick :o)




we were trying to get all of our favorite rides in one last time so we headed here.

why do they have to make everything so darn cute?!

hitting splash mountain once more.

and as you can see rob was having a good time.

and, of course, we had to go on it's a small world.
austin isn't here because we made him go back to the hotel and take a nap.
can you say grumpy?

ok...this is really the last time we are riding space mountain.
i adore emily's face in this picture.
i think she was having fun.

the castle at night.

our very last ride of our trip :o(
thunder mountain railroad.
we all loved this ride and it was a great way to bid farewell to disneyland.


this place is so magical and i am so happy that we were able to make another trip back. 
i love to hang out with my little family, even when they are grumpy, and i know that someday these memories will be precious to them.
we are finished with disneyland but we still have one more day left in the golden state.
i can't wait to feel the sand between my toes!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

hooray for hollywood

this is what vacations do to our children.
someone should stop us.
we try to squeeze every possible thing into every possible day so they all end up like this.
the funny thing is this is on the way to universal studios. it's only about 9:00 in the morning and she's only been up for an hour and a half. poor child.



i tried to get emily and taylor to do this but they weren't feeling it.

she'll stick with seemingly harmless bunnies.

and homer simpson.

when we got to the park there weren't a lot of people here yet so we pretty much could do whatever we wanted. we went on the simpsons ride first. barf. talk about motion sickness.


and we went on jurassic park a couple times cause we could walk up and hop in the boat with no waiting at all. this was a good ride for taylor since the last six years had him convinced that we made him go on the scariest ride on the planet. after the first time i think he was convinced he might have been over reacting just a smidge.


we also went on the mummy which is one of my favorites. i kick myself every time i think about not buying our picture from that ride. 
most rides take a picture at the end but this one takes the pictures at the beginning. 
right when it takes off. 
i almost died when we saw it afterward. the looks on all of our faces were priceless.
pure terror. 
kicking myself again just writing about it.
grrrr!!!

anyway, after we rode those rides we walked around and took in a few shows.
during our stroll we ran into scooby and his gang.

we saw the terminator show, which was so cool!




we went on the tram ride which is my favorite of all. 
i'm always hoping i will see someone famous while we are on the movie lot but it's never happened.
i also dream about what it would be like to work there.
my dram job.
so the tour hasn't changed much in the 20 years i have been going to universal but a few things have.
jaws is still the same. it's funny cause he looks so vicious here but in person he is so mechanical and a little lame.
always make for a good picture though.

this is one thing that has changed.
let me back it up just a second.
we were told that sitting in the back of the tram was a little better for seeing the tour so we sat in the very last row with me on the right hand side so i could take pictures.
fast forward to now.
they have always had the psycho house on the lot but this is a new little feature.
so we drive by this hotel and this creepy guy is carrying a body out of a room.
when i say creepy i mean creepy. 
super creepy.
waaaaaay creepy.
so the tour guide is going on about how we probably shouldn't have seen this and we should get out of there quick...as the tram is driving 3 miles an hour.

so he puts the body in the trunk and looks at the tram with pure evil in his eyes.
he begins to walk over, knife in hand, in that slow, murderous, hunter stalking it's prey walk and it's creepy but entertaining. 
as the tram starts to pick up speed i'm starting to realize that by the time he gets to the tram it's going to be near the end.
where i am.
on the side that i am on.
he was so good at his character that i wanted to get a picture up close because he was so creepy. 
have i said that?
so the tram is picking up speed and before i know it he has his knife up and he is running straight at me.
this is the great picture i got between screaming and ducking.
classic right?
that guy still gives me the creeps.

moving on to shrek.
emily wanted her picture with shrek and fiona.
you can tell by her face that she isn't really sure about him.
why?
he asked her if she was a mouse, she said yes and he said that he eats mice.
she high tails it to the corner hoping fiona will protect her from the giant green ogre.

about then shrek walks over to her and she about loses it.
not really sure why he was so scary to her but this picture says it all.

she was ready to be done. she put on her "get this picture taken and get me the $!&% out of here" face and she was gone.

we saw the water world show, that is always good, and decided that we had had enough here.

then i had the great idea to take the kids to the chinese theater. 
we took them before but thought they would remember it more now so we went back.
taylor got to step in will smith's shoes.

emily held hands with emma watson, although i'm not sure why she wanted to see hers so bad since she isn't that into harry potter.


she also wanted to see "someone from mammai mia" so we lucked out when i found meryl streep.
we also learned that she has tiny hands.


we had a great day doing the hollywood thing but are ready to go home, relax and gear up for our last disney day.