Whirlwind Trip

We were so happy to have Mimi, Opa, and Jake visit, we were talking about it for weeks.  Jake is our resident Star Wars expert and the boys couldn't wait to talk all about it, watch the movies and eat pizza, and take him on Star Tours at Disneyland.  We were also happy the boys have real beds so we could accommodate some guests (but little did we know our shower would be out of order)!

They got in monday night while I was at school, and the boys could not settle down to sleep.  They just wanted to get going!  

The first day we did Disneyland.  We had so much fun on all the rides, and loved having lunch at the Golden Horseshoe (my fave place to eat and be entertained).  The highlight was the boys being able to go on Star Tours twice in under 20 minutes!

The next day we went to Manhattan Beach and had a perfect beach day.  It was sunny but not too hot, we got Cafe Rio on the way and ate it on the beach, and the boys had a blast playing in the waves.  We ended the day with some yummy ice cream. 

The next morning we stopped at Julienne's for some amazing breakfast and ambiance, then they were on their way up north.

The trip was short but sweet.  We can't wait to be together again this summer!

The Big Finale Part 2

Like any good Disneyland show, we pulled out all the stops for our final moments at the Disneyland parks. We (Jared's mom and I) always talked about staying on site at one of the resorts "someday", where we could enjoy the full experience, getting breaks for naps, and staying at the park until late at night. Jared's mom, Sabrina, decided it was finally time to live out the fantasy and see just how awesome it could really be.

(Blogger is being weird so I'll have to post the second day first)

The boys really got used to the hotel. They were just as entertained there than at the parks. The room was predictably covered with Mickey paraphernalia, some more overt than others, that the boys loved finding. We loved being able to stop in for naps to get some rest and increase our stamina for the rest of the night.

Another perk was early park admission. The boys begged to go on Nemo's Submarine, much my chagrin (boooring) but I let them be the boss.
Grandma had bought them both Nemo stuffed animals, and they really got a kick out of showing Nemo "his" ride.
Before the crowds came running through the gates at opening (it was the first week of the new Star Tours ride, after all) we went on Autopia. Ryker loved being my copilot.

Nicholas was excited to steer his own, but a little bit concerned that he couldn't see over the wheel very well.
Then we bolted over to early admission at CA Adventure, and pounded down some breakfast on the way. Unfortunately they only had one ride open early (lame!!) so we ended up just waiting for Toy Story Mania to open and jump in the front of the line.
Its definitely a group favorite, but always with a long line. It was fun to go straight on for once.

Next was the undersea Carousel, our favorite filler ride.

... and finally Little Mermaid! I grew up loving this movie (posters, dolls, themed birthday parties, the works) and have enjoyed watching it a few times with the boys as well. The hotel also gave us two fast passes each for this ride and it was awesome to go right up the front, vip style... especially when the wait was over an hour and a half.

We said hi to our pals, Mater and McQueen

and visited our favorite hidden gem, the Beast's library and Ursula's Grotto.

We headed back to the hotel for a quick nap that all 4 of us indulged. Waking refreshed and energized for more we went back to Disneyland for the Soundsational Parade. We loved seeing more recognizable characters than some of the other parades (Aladdin, Simba, Ariel, Rapunzel, Peter Pan, etc).
After a Small (world) pit stop we went to a very special dinner at Goofy's Kitchen.

We were happy to have visits from Snow White, Aladdin (on drugs, apparently), Chip and Dale, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy, of course.

And then there was still more... (and to answer your questions, yes, this is still the same day, and yes, I am STILL tired from all this). We had the highlight of the trip in sitting in the front of the monorail with the driver, Chad. The boys were so excited about it, and kept complimenting Chad on his excellent driving.

We did a few more of our favorites, Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, and then headed back for one last ride on the Little Mermaid, and Monster's Inc.

Finally it was bedtime, and we all fell asleep before our heads hit those pillows!

The next morning was our farewell to the beloved Disneyland. We soaked in a few more things around the hotel and Downtown Disney then said our goodbyes to the man with the ears!!

Mimi's Visit

Our month of fun continued with a visit from my mom, known to the boys as Mimi.

She was nice enough to share her half-century birthday with us, and carried on the "birthday donut" tradition.


I had planned a surprise lunch with my nearby great-aunt, her granddaughter and baby, plus a drop-in visit from my aunt (Mom's sister) from Vegas. My aunt ended up rolling her car as she was leaving and, understandably, couldn't make it. We were sad to miss her, but mostly just grateful she was ok!

The two little ones were very engaged in their iPhones, begging the question, what did parents do at restaurants before now?!


We were also happy to oblige a trip to Disneyland. I think she was concerned the kids would be sick of it by now, but that is definitely not the case! We had another good time and were happy to share all our favorites.
Her trip was not complete without a trip to the Griddle Cafe for breakfast. We ate until we could eat no longer, then sent her off back home.

(Don't mind the ugly facade- its amazing)

We had so much fun with Mimi and were sad to see her go. Even still Ryker wants to call her multiple times a day on the phone just to chat.

Thanksgiving in CT

We were so excited to make a trip out to CT for Thanksgiving. The night before I was so nervous/eager to head out at 6 am that I slept only two hours. I couldn't understand what I was so nervous about considering I have flown millions of times on flights even longer, and the boys are pretty good about going places too. When we woke them up at 4 am to go to the airport I noticed Ryker was gagging. I sat with him for a second to make sure he was ok, then he smiled at me and I thought nothing more about it. We were waiting at our gate to board when Ryker walked up to me crying, and I picked him up. Seconds later, he threw up his breakfast all over himself and me. Jared took him to get cleaned up while I scrounged around my bag for a new shirt. We wrote it off as a fluke and got on the plane.

Well, it wasn't a fluke because he was sick two more times on the flight. Once we got to JFK we were desperate to wash our clothes and take a shower. The next day was Thanksgiving, so we made our typical holiday meal, but neither me nor Jared had much of an appetite. That night Jared was sick, the next night my brother was sick, the following night Nicholas was sick, and then the last night to round it out me, my mom and my dad were sick too. All in all, not a bad way to keep off the holiday pounds.

But it wasn't all bad... We had a really fun time spending time with my siblings, watching movies, and we even fit in a little girl's afternoon at the mall. We were disappointed we couldn't do the city one day, but it was very relaxing and enjoyable nonetheless. I appreciated having a washing machine, not to mention tons of people to help entertain my kids or clean up. We saw the movie Tangled and loved it. We even got a tiny bit of snow one afternoon, so we grabbed our snow gear and ran outside.

Carlsbad Week

Every year we look forward to our Williams Family Carlsbad Reunion (aka my mom's side) the last week in July. It is always the week of my birthday, which is pretty much the best present you could ask for. This year didn't disappoint! We went to the beach a ton (just a walk down the stairs from the hotel), ate out, went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, spent a day at Knott's Berry Farm, and watched a bunch of movies. The only bummer was trying to find times to do P90x (although with all the eating going on I looked forward to burning some off towards the end of the week)!

It all began with a birthday extravaganza, as Morgan, baby Amber, me and Ryker all were celebrating (technically we should have thrown in Lorrie, Claire, and my Dad too)

The best birthday gift was a kid-free evening walk down the beach to catch the sunset. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy, but still beautiful.

Paige at 24 yrs, 0 days

The kids loved the Aquarium, especially the sharks (Kenz, Jake, the boys)

Grandpa Williams- always a crowd favorite

The Armenian cafe, best breakfast ever. And to think my Dad almost banned it this year!

Kiki and Jake enjoyed some fun kid rides at Knott's.

We all went on the kid's bus ride. Ryker loved it!

Mini big-rig trucks. Everyone gets a steering wheel

We all went on the log ride. I DO NOT recommend it for infants, unless you like feeling that they could fall out of your arms at any minute. Think of taking your 1 yr old on Splash Mountain... Not ideal

Post- rapids. We all got wet but Kenz was soaked head-to-toe!

(I did NOT take Ryker on that one!)

Opa and Roo at the beach. Ryker loved the water. He would kick and squeal each time the artic waters touched his toes. It was seriously frigid!Kiki with his other best gf, Devon. I just wish she could live by us and babysit!!

Kiki was one of "the guys" watching Star Wars, complete with the popcorn

Ryker was my buddy. He is such a sweetheart with the best goofy grin

Family photo, moments before our departure.

We can't wait for next year! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa.

AZ Trip

We had a blast on our weekend trip to AZ! It was Sister Gee's homecoming and Elder Gee's farewell. I loved seeing so many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I went a day early just me and Rykie, and he seemed to enjoy the one-on-one time we so rarely get together.

He was an angel on the plane and slept in my arms the entire flight. He also won over our seat neighbor, a charming old school teacher named Odessia Love (a name worthy of being a lounge singer, right?)

Nicholas arrived later and became Grandpa's little hiking buddy.

Rykie played nicely with his 2nd cousin, Amber (a miniature of her mom, Melissa), who is just two weeks older.

... And in emptying out Grandma's closets we dusted off my old wedding dress I left there. Still fits! I forgot how much I loved that dress.

Nicholas was fascinated the most by Grandma's brand new elevator! He found it very entertaining and enlisted whoever he could find to take him in it.