Disneyland Post 3: Wednesday May 19

Wednesday began as any other, except Ben told me to shorten my run since he had another idea... We decided to do Huntington Beach Wednesday instead of Thursday, since that way we would have a hotel to clean up at before starting our journey home. So after I got home from another good run, (albeit it still took 45 minutes, which is WAY longer than I had planned), we loaded up and headed to the beach! M was so excited since this was her very first time at a real beach.
But not too excited to steal a nap with her mom on the drive there!
Since is was actually VERY cold to be in a swimsuit that day, Mariah was a little unsure of the water. Thank goodness Ben was there to warm her up to the idea!


She had SO much fun playing in the sand! She could have stayed all day with just a bucket and a shovel and thought she was in heaven:)

About to head out for our jog. SO FUN! It took us 15 minutes out to the end of the sandy beach where the rocks were too big to hike over. This was also the "dog" part of the beach apparently, since everyone was there with there pets. Max would have loved it! We saw a washed up seal on the sand, and on the jog back, we stood and enjoyed listening to the waves. How peaceful!

Thanks Mom for being there with us! We wouldn't have been able to do so many fun things if M wasn't in good hands!


Ben came up with such a fun game to play...He would wait for a wave to recede,run down onto the wet sand, hurry and turn a bucket filled with sand over onto the beach, and run back up in time to watch the next wave wash away his tiny sand castle. M and I got in on it too, and we all had a blast.
And this is what it is all about...
When it was just too cold to sit still any longer, Mom and I went on a walk out on the pier.
We ended up at the CUTEST diner ever. We walked inside but had unfortunately brought our own lunches, so we couldn't enjoy the restaurant food. But it smelled fabulous!

Disneyland Post 2: Tuesday

Tuesday began with rain. I just got drizzled during my run, which went MUCH better as I had figured out my map and directions. When I got back to the hotel, I stepped out of the stairwell onto the 5th floor and saw one of my good friends from high school just about to get on the elevator! Jenn (Taylor) Lofgren just happened to be staying in the SAME hotel on the SAME floor with her hubby and 2 older kids that we were staying on! How fun to run into her! They were heading to Disneyland already, so I told her I would look for her there, and we actually did run into them several hours later at Dland! So fun to see you Jenn!

So back to the rain. It turned out to be the PERFECT morning for rain since we had lunch reservations at Goofy's Kitchen at noon. So after a morning nap, we made our way to a FUN FUN buffet with Goofy, Chip and Dale, Pluto, Minnie, Baloo and Belle. M loved the Mickey-shaped waffles and pancakes, and we loved making her happy! Grandma even bought her a signature book and disney pen for the characters to sign for her:) By the way, Belle was the ONLY princess we saw the entire time at Disneyland, and that was Mariah's choice. I asked her several times, "Do you want to go on roller coasters or meet the princesses?" Everytime her answer was the same: "Roller coasters!!!!!" That's my girl!

By the time lunch was over, the weather was IDEAL. Sunny and warm but not at all hot. Perfect! So after taking a pic on this cute little porch, we headed BACK into Disneyland...
We flew in a rocket,
drove a jeep,
stood in line,
rode the famous teacups, which Mariah now says were her favorite ride, but I still don't believe her...She didn't seem to be enjoying them too much!
rode the merry-go-round,
and rode MANY other rides and lasted all the way to the parade, minus Ben, which he still regrets. M found a bossom buddy there named Sariah. They had SO much fun together waiting for the parade to reach us all the way at the end,
where the cast members pulled them out to join the parade. Mariah was dancing like a true professional! It was SO fun to watch her shakin' her booty and rockin' to the music!
and we all enjoyed the real magic of Disneyland!

Preschool Graduation May 25, 2010

So I can't believe I am saying this, but my little girl graduated!!!! Okay, only from preschool, but still, I was awfully proud:) She has loved and adored and worshipped etc. preschool this year, and was TERRIBLY distraught upon learning of such a horrid thing known as "summer break." Poor girl. She'll just have to learn to deal it the same way I did. Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I distinctly remember leaving Granite Elementary on the last day of 6th grade crying (yes, tears, though hidden from my peers, were actually rolling down my cheeks) as I realized it would be 3 long months before I would be able to do math homework again. Pretty pathetic, but it seems my preschooler is going down the same path as her mom...

Anyway, Mariah's teacher did a little graduation party for her classes. They sung songs to Miss Lee's guitar and had a little ceremony, which unfortunately Mariah would take no part in. Being at Disneyland the week prior, Mariah had missed school when the other kids learned the songs, so she was really shy and grumpy and didn't even want to accept her certificate in front of the class OR wear her graduation cap. Oh well, there is always next year when she will graduate again from preschool!


Our feeble attempt at making Mariah at least look like she was wearing her cap and holding up her certificate. Pardon the belly, we were 16 weeks at that point! And YES, we know what we are having, and YES we have ITS name picked out, but NO I am not going to tell you right here! The new baby deserves ITS own blog just like the big sis! So stay tuned...

Mariah's Teacher, Miss (Katie) Lee with Daddy doing the choke-hold to force M to take at least one pic with her teacher!

Mariah's Favorite part of the party: THE FUDGESICLE!!!!

According to Mariah, this is her future husband, Jackson. She tells me almost daily that she is going to "marry Jackson in the temple because he is a funny boy. He makes me laugh." Ben truly doesn't like this kid already!!!

DISNEYLAND!!!!! Saturday 5/15- Friday 5/21 (Post 1:Sat-Mon)

We FINALLY did it. Ben and I, who are famous "talkers" but not necessarily "do-ers", actually planned AND CARRIED OUT a family trip to the happiest place on Earth! We spent our first night in Mesquite before heading into Vegas for a few hours the next morning. Our favorite part of walking along the strip had to be the Bellagio fountains. We had perfect timing, walking right up to the optimal spot right as the best "dancing water" show I have EVER witnessed was about to start. It was choreographed to the song "All That Jazz", and it was truly SPECTACULAR. Mariah LOVED her new sunglasses and wore them everywhere we went!

Aside from the water show, our favorite part was visiting the M&M Factory. Mariah was so excited to meet actual live M&Ms! Unfortunately, the M&M movie was temporarily not running due to it being upgraded. Oh well, we will have to catch it next time!
Maybe the BEST surprise EVER was that my Mom flew in to Vegas to hitch a ride to California and spend the rest of the trip with us! It made the car ride a breeze. Mariah was SO good that we didn't watch ANY DVDs the entire ride (there or home)! Pretty amazing. Thanks Ben for giving me the idea to get some "Where's Waldo?" books from the library for M to look at! They kept her entertained for a very long time:)
So after TERRIBLE traffic almost the whole way from Vegas to Anaheim, we finally arrived at our hotel, Holiday Inn. Ben and M were very anxious to take a dip even though the weather was only 60 degrees or so. Glad to have Daddy there to give me an out!

After my RIDICULOUS run the next morning (I was turned around the whole time and kept having to check my map), we all got ready to head on over to Disneyland! Weather: chilly 60-67 degrees and overcast. Actually pretty great for Dland! We made to walk (about 20 minutes or so to the actual entrance) and arrived at Disneyland we smiles on our faces:)
After we made our gameplan, we headed off into the park. We saw Pluto, Goofy, Aladdin, Mickey, Minnie, lots of others and did TONZ of rides! It was AMAZING! Even more so since my Mom was there to keep me company when Ben was burned out and headed back to the hotel, which happened daily:)







Minnie's house was definitely one of Mariah's favs, especially the cake that kept "deflating". She even told Minnie the next day when we saw her at lunch that if she kept working hard, someday she would be able to make a cake that wasn't broken!





Ben's shoulders were no doubt Mariah's favorite mode of transportation! She sure missed Daddy's shoulders when he went back to the hotel:)(Though she was AWESOME at walking the rest of the time, with no complaints. What a gal!)
Ben and I were even able to sneak away a couple of times and enjoy some of the more grown-up rides by ourselves! (Thanks SO MUCH Mom!) This was in line at Space Mountain. Ben never fully recovered from it:)
Leaving the park the first day at 5:30 in the afternoon. The second we put M in the stroller, she fell asleep and STAYED asleep until 7 the next morning! No dinner, nothin'! Just transfered her to her bed and took off her shoes. That girl was pooped!