Life...

...as we know it. For what- two, maybe 3, more years?

Oh no mess. 

(As Colby would have put it as a 2-year-old)

Proud Mama

Look who learned how to ride a 2 wheeler today!

Yay!!!!

Is it normal to be this excited about an accomplishment like this?

He's tried a few times here and there but hasn't since last fall, until today.

While we were on a walk, Colby was frustrated and must have said, "bikes are stupid," ten times since he couldn't go very fast. When I reminded him that he could go much faster without the training wheels, he was suddenly very motivated.  And about five minutes after removing the training wheels, he was off.

I was a little too excited.  Kinda like when I've been working with a speech student for what seems like forever and they finally make their first correct "r" sound. I scream and clap and pretty much make a fool out of myself as I see the look of "you are psycho" on their face. Riding a bike is a bid deal. And so is saying your "r."

He was pretty darn proud of himself.  And after practicing for a while he went inside to call his daddy to tell him the news.

P.S. Check out my new poll on the right and please vote. I'm just so curious... 

Disneyland!

We took our maiden voyage to Disneyland a few weeks ago. We kept it a surprise for the kids, mostly because I love surprises and so that we'd prevent Kara from asking every 5 minutes, if tomorrow is the day we go to Disneyland. Colby had it all figured out, but tried really hard to not let me know. What a sweetie.

We got to do the Disney give a day, get a day program so Cameron and I got in free!  You know I love me something (anything) free!

We had the best time and can't wait until we can take the kids back.

Our trip in pictures. Lots and lots of them.

Airplane to Orange County on Tuesday night. We took the late flight and all three kids slept nearly the whole way.

We stayed at a hotel that was right between Disneyland and the coast. It shuttled us to and from the airport and Disneyland and to nearby attractions within a 3 mile radius. On Wednesday we got shuttled to a huge mall, did some shopping then we were on our own to get to the beach. This is us waiting for the good ol' bus. I love the bus.  Again, kids slept the whole way.

Collecting shells. We made it home with PLENTY of shells to share with everyone.

 This is Kara's standard picture pose. She's in her new tutu swimsuit that she loves.

This is what daddy and Ty did while the kids played in the sand

Playing in the waves. And by playing, I mean barely letting the cold water touch their toes. It was overcast most the day, but still soooooo nice.

Ty wasn't feeling good for most of the trip and even had a fever both Wednesday and Thursday. This actually made him really mellow and much more manageable than normal! He mostly just hung out in the stroller content to watch everything around him.

Thursday was our Disneyland day. It was a perfect day. Low 70s, only 10-15 minute waits for rides and kids that were in heaven.

Teacups

We went  with our friends Bodi and Amanda and their 2 little girls, Sophie and Laynie. Since it's been 10 years since Cam and I have been, we pretty much just followed them as they took us on the Disneyland tour. They knew all the best rides and where everything was. Thanks for being great chaperones you guys!!

Sophie and Kara waiting in line to see the Princesses. Kara was sooooo excited to to see them, especially Cinderella.

As soon as she saw the first princess, Kara whispered to me, "Mom! They really are real!"

Kara thought it was so cool to get autographs in her book.

Unfortunately, Cinderella wasn't at the Princess Walk, but Kara kept her eye out for her the rest of the day. We never saw her and as we were leaving the park, Kara said, "I guess Cinderella just wasn't at Disneyland today." She was such a good sport for how much she wanted to see her.

Colby was pretty stoked about getting some autographs of his own.

We ate at Goofy's Kitchen that night. It was so fun and cute. A bunch of Disney characters come to the tables while you're eating and sign autographs and take pictures with the kids. They had a great spread of food which the kids loved. I turned into "trip mom" and let my kids have whatever they wanted (I'm kind of a stickler about how many treats my kids have- okay, I'm a nazi about it) so when I told Colby to grab a plate and get whatever he wanted, he came back with a plate full of desserts even before he ate any real food.

Goofy comes out and dances with the kids for a few minutes. It was cute and Colby totally got into it!

We tried to hurry back for the parade, mostly to see if we could spot Cinderella. It didn't matter because Kara was out and would have missed her anyway.

We had enough time to ride Splash Mountain a few times before the Park closed. This is Bodi. Oh, and Amanda, Colby and me which is nearly impossible to tell because of camera hog Bodi.

Colbs really wanted to go to the Lego store before we went back to the hotel.

It was such a fun trip and are so glad we decided to throw it together and go, in typical Richins fashion.