California, part 2 (Disneyland)

Disneyland was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most, and the part that was making me the most nervous. However, the entire day went so well I was amazed. We didn't wait more than 20 minutes for a single ride (not that we went on many) and they got to meet Tinkerbell, 6 of the Disney princesses AND see 2 parades so they could see all the other characters they know and love. (Feel free to skip the monologue and browse the pictures below).

We started off the day with Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlasters, then a quick visit with Tinkerbell, where there was virtually no wait. We almost went on Matterhorn, but left when we saw the new bobsled design (lucky for us, poor Lynne got all the way to the front and learned they'd changed the height requirements). We, instead, went to the Finding Nemo submarine ride, then headed on over to meet the Disney princesses. Also lucky for us, Belle and Ariel (Cadence and Megan's favorites, respectively) were the first ones we met. One of the Disneyland workers suggested we view a princess show and the girls got to see three more princesses. We even got to dance around the Maypole with Princess Aurora, then meet Cinderella and Snow White afterward.

We went on Pirates after that, but a royal meltdown by Ms. Megan warned us the girls were reaching their limit, so we trekked back to the hotel for lunch and a break. Then, it was right back to the park to get on Ariel's Undersea Adventure and a few trips around King Triton's Carousel. On our way back across the park, we stumbled upon the beginning of a parade and decided to stay and watch when we saw Monsters Inc. characters at the front. Following behind them were characters from many Pixar films, including Toy Story and Cars, two more of the girls' all-time favorites.

After a few more rides at California Adventure, we headed back to Disneyland, where we ran into yet another parade. This was just as enjoyable as the first. Peter Pan came up close to high-five and wave at us before Captain Hook pulled him away. We saw the princesses again, and Aladdin and Simba, and lots of other familiar characters.

We didn't stay much longer. We visited Toon Town (our reason for returning to Disneyland) for a few more minutes of running around, wandered through Sleeping Beauty's castle, and then headed back to the hotel for a very late dinner and bed. The girls put themselves to sleep, they were so worn out! Unfortunately, the next morning we had to say good-bye to Aunt Erin, Uncle Jeff and cousins. Then, we piled into our own rental car and returned to Bakersfield for the last few days of our trip.

 

California, Part 1 (The Temple)

So begins, part 1 of my California trip. There will be a part 2 posted shortly after this, then a part 3 once I collect pictures from everyone else (since my camera died at Disneyland and we lost the charger).

(as always, Cadence is behaving for the camera)

We left our house bright and early Saturday morning. Like... 4:30am early. It could have been earlier, I suppose. I was up at 3:30, or at least, the alarm went off and I got out of bed around 4. The girls did extremely well on the 3 1/2 hour plane ride. Megan fell asleep for the first hour or so and Cadence was content to sit quietly. They read their new books, played with new dolls, and kept each other entertained. Other than a brief meltdown when I left Megan behind to accompany Cadence to the bathroom, the girls were great.

We hit Bakersfield later Saturday, because we stopped for a visit at Tejon's Yogurtland (to see Robyn and Nicole at work, where Nana and Poppa joined us for a quick reunion) then headed up to Taft to visit family there. We visited with family for most of Saturday and Sunday. The girls acted as if they'd never left, happily playing with Nana, Poppa, and their aunt and uncles as if they'd been down the street all along.

Monday morning, we headed down to San Diego, stopping for a visit at Old Town and the Mormon Battalion before we checked into our hotel for the night. The girls got to pet a donkey and enjoy the interactive tour of the Mormon Battalion.

We had a pizza dinner with family at a park/beach that night, then everyone tucked in for the big to-do the next day. James and I snuck out early Tuesday morning for a quick temple session in the San Diego temple. It was amazing. The interior of the San Diego temple may be the prettiest interior of all the ones I've been to (thus far, only totaling 4, so not saying much). I still prefer the way the Los Angeles temple conducts theirs, but San Diego was beautiful. Afterward, we returned to the hotel to pick up the girls (and Chad), check out, and return to the temple for the big event: Seth & Nicole's temple sealing.

Before we left, Cadence was pleading to go inside the temple, so I took the girls in through the front doors so they could see the pictures and look around without going past the front desk. They thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Then it was a late lunch with the family and off to Anaheim for the next leg of the trip!

Playing Outside

Got a few pictures of the girls playing outside when the weather was nice okay. They're so fun to just sit back and listen to as they chat/play together nowadays.

 And a blast from the past for Megan and that bike. She really hasn't gotten too much bigger, has she? LoL:

Random Pictures

Just moved all the May pictures from my memory card to the computer, so decided to upload them here. Just a bunch of random snapshots of me showing off the girls' room (which has lost about half of the toys recently), our art activity with foam stickers and stamp ink pads, and the girls playing on the stairs. (Oh, and Taz being tortured, that poor cat...)

A Novel Update

We're getting closer and closer to our California trip and I'm starting to get excited! The girls... well... it's hit or miss. Some days they'll talk happily about going on a plane and sometimes Cadence will throw a fit refusing to even consider the idea. Some times, they're all about going to Disneyland and meeting Cinderella and Ariel in real life, others... yeah, you get the idea. I'd say about 90% of the time, they are pretty cool with the idea of going to Nana's house. And 100% of the time, they're happy to see their cousin Lynne (they could care less about Lynne's brothers, Lucas and Adam).

Anyway, been a busy time around the Smith household here. I think of a dozen anecdotes to share throughout the day, but now that I'm here, I can't think of a single one.

We were in a car accident a few weeks ago, which has been publicized pretty much everywhere but this blog (at least I didn't post a pretty dramatic picture of our car and disappear overnight like I did last time, right?). Cadence still complains that "Mommy broke the white car", but she's pretty okay with the "new black car". The "new black car" being the 2003 Ford Explorer we bought last week. After driving sedans and a minivan, the SUV is taking a little getting used to, but I'm adjusting. The girls love that they can see out their side windows easily and the sunroof gives them more to look at.

They also love their new carseats (which I bought because they had good reviews for a slim profile and also good reviews for airplane travel), which now match and put my twitchy tendencies into harmony (I do not know why mismatched carseats bugged me, but it did, I think I might have some issues, lol).

I'm getting antsy about our upcoming trip, the logistical part of it, at least. I'm a nervous traveler, always have been, probably always will be. Add in a crowded airport, cramped airplane, and 2 restless preschoolers and I've been over-thinking it for awhile now. Everyone keeps telling me to chill, but that's pretty much impossible for me. The girls will have their new backpacks stuffed with all the goodies I've been buying lately. Okay, not really, but it does feel like I keep buying that "just one more thing". Just last week I bought some new DVDs for the girls to watch in the car during our road trip portion of this vacation.

The girls continue to be awesome and frustrating, all at once. I can certainly understand ostriches a lot better. Several times a day, all I want to do is just stick my head under a blanket or just cover my eyes because it seems the best way to keep sane.

Like, oh, when Cadence came out complaining that she got her dress dirty and I look up to find her and her sister covered in cornstarch. I just wanted to put a pillow over my head and not even venture into their bedroom to see the extent of the mess (that James mostly cleaned up, while I cleaned up the kids). Or when they emerged from the room a few days later smelling like the new box of crackers I'd bought (unfortunately, James wasn't here to clean up that mess for me).

Cadence was "Spotlighted" in primary this past week. She's really flourished in primary and I love it. Two weeks ago, I waited in the halls with my primary class and her class has to pass by us to get to their classroom after singing time. Cadence came running around the corner, leading the pack, with her arms stretched out saying "Fly! Let's fly!" and the rest of her class followed her example. I could only flash an apologetic smile at the woman trying to herd the class.

Anyway, while being spotlighted, I had to fill out a form with her favorite things. She happily informed me her favorite color was pink, her hair was yellow, her eyes are brown, her favorite food is hamburgers, her favorite place to go is McDonalds, and her favorite primary song is "Choose the Right" (the hymn, which they are learning in primary this year).

Despite her exuberance, Cadence is extremely shy in new situations, so when they tried to call her to the front of the room, her friend Sammy (yes, Cadence refers to this girl as her friend, since she is the only other girl in her class and Cadence currently doesn't like boys, and only makes the occasional exception for Daddy) had to push her forward. She clung to my hand and stared at the floor while I read the form and only came to life when she realized I was leaving, at which point she forgot the crowd of kids and began showing me the charm they gave her for being spotlighted. :-)

I wish I could say how Megan is doing in nursery. When we pick her up, she tends to be playing with the other kids and genuinely happy before she notices me in the doorway. A couple weeks ago, I was passing the nursery to go turn in some borrowed chalk at the library when I heard her crying, so I paused and peeked in and found her upset because she'd been knocked over. Within seconds she stopped crying and ran back to lay under the rainbow parachute they were playing with, laughing and kicking her legs. I also get to hear them singing primary songs from my classroom, since my room shares a wall with theirs, so I imagine she's enjoying herself. She's learning the primary program songs with Cadence and can almost sing the songs as well as her big sister.

So, that's pretty much it, I suppose. Father's Day is coming up this week. No idea what to get James. He's talking about getting a nice suit, since I caught his nice dress pants on fire (force of the airbag scraping against his pants in the accident). I did get him a corny little trinket, but still need to get him an actual present (He and the girls got me flowers and an entire cheesecake for Mother's Day). Maybe I'll make him that carrot cake he loves so much.

Impromptu Mommy Daughter Dates

I had a long list of errands needing to be ran and I knew I could either get them done today and miss story time, or go to story time and have an unfinished list. Yesterday, though, James got off work early and before I knew it I was out the door with just Cadence (Megan was napping) to start my errands a half a day early.

Cadence and I went to Burlington Coat Factory, the only place I've had any luck getting affordable, quality dresses that will fit my skinny girls and still fall below their knees (it helps that they have ties in the back...). Cadence is SUCH a girly girl, she loves clothes and especially dresses. I turned my radio down the whole time we drove and we talked about what kind of dress she wanted (pink!) and what kind of dress we should pick up for Megan (purple! No, brown! No, yellow!).

Unfortunately, with no major holidays coming up, BCF's selection was rather limited in toddler sizes, but we still found three dresses that Cadence liked. Normally, I'll just hold it up to her and see if it fits that way, but it was just the two of us and I wanted to do something special with her. So we went into the dressing rooms where she got to try on each of the three dresses and pick her favorite (the poofiest, pinkest dress in the group, of course). Then I let her pick between two dresses for Megan (the girliest, green dress was chosen).

We stopped at Sonic for a small cherry slush and came home to find Megan awake. Cadence tried on her dress to show off to her Daddy and Megan tried on hers as well.

I had a few things to do at home, but I promised Megan I'd take her out and got her shoes on. I kept thinking of one last thing I needed to do and Megan would grab my hand after every task and pull me to the door: "Come on, Mommy!" until at last we were in the car and driving to Walmart. We talked about colors for most of the trip, Megan pointing to things and asking what color they were and me asking her the same. I also asked what she wanted to look at while we were at the store ("Ponies! And Barbies! And Princess dolls!")

Rather than put Megan in the cart, since it was just us, she got to walk. Since she had my full attention, I was willing to let her wander a bit more than usual. We picked up some clothes for myself and then spent some time looking at clothes for the girls (we'd just bought quite a bit, so we looked without buying) and shoes. Then off to the toy department where Megan walked down the aisle pushing every "try me" button she could reach and asking for help to get the ones she couldn't.

It was an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon (for me, at least, poor James got stuck with Cadence who decided to throw a tantrum when I was gone too long and he's not too experienced and calming a 3-year-old who's determined to be mad, so it didn't end well for them). Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with two stubborn, strong-willed, energetic little girls, I forget what a delight they are and the one-on-one time really helps me remember that and enjoy them more. They really are sweet girls, difficult, but sweet.

Family Pictures 2012

I was so excited to find the envelope with our pictures in the mailbox today. We checked the mail after the mailman came, but there was nothing. He must have found the package and backtracked to put in our mailbox. A pleasant surprise! Anyway, here are the highlights from the photoshoot. Personally, I'll be printing 8x10s of the four main ones (solos of Cadence and Megan, family and James and I as a couple), and then probably a half dozen 5x7s to put up on the wall as well because I just love so many of them!

To family members, I do have printing rights. I'll be bringing the CD with ALL the pictures (without the watermark) during our California trip so you can look through them and pick the ones you want printed for your own walls.

But for now, enjoy the extended preview. There were 34 files on the CD I received, and I'd guess at least 1/3 of them were of Megan, since she was being super cute and cooperative. Cadence was... not, but there is still a beautiful one of her that I am 200% in love with (and actually like better than most of Megan's!)

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home"

My favorite part of just about any week day is when James gets home.

The girls are so excited to see him at the end of the day. As soon as they hear the jiggling of the doorknob they're running to the door, eager to see him, jumping around shouting, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" before the door even opens.

Cadence will follow him around telling him all sorts of things that pop into her head about her day. If we went somewhere, she tells him. She tells him what she ate for lunch, what she had for snack. She tells him if she hit her sister or if her sister hit her. When we go out to lunch and she gets a new toy in her happy meal, she shows it off, telling him what it is and all about it.

I love that they enjoy having their dad around so much.

Megan is only 2, so she loses interest quickly, but she likes him more than Cadence did at that age, so I imagine in a year or so James will have to chatterboxes following him around telling him everything.

I'm not much better, to be honest. As soon as he walks through that door I'm bursting to talk to him and tell him all about MY day. But I think mine's just as much fondness for my husband as the desperation for adult conversation. ;-)

Pictures Preview

For those of you NOT on facebook (I know there's a few regular readers out there), here is the photographer's "preview" of our photo session. As expected, they chose Megan for the model, since she was 200% cute the entire time we were out there.

I think they're beautiful, especially with Megan's curls everywhere thanks to the wind that day. I am in love with my girls' curls, always have been.

Anyway, so there it is. I'm hoping to have the final product in my hands by the end of the month, so I can share a dozen pictures with everyone. I'm very pleased with the preview, though, and it makes me only more anxious to see the rest.