to market, to market, and hoping to make it to Disney!

So....this post is forever long...sorry! I really tried to be picky about which pictures I posted, but I still ended up with way too many. Anyway, get comfy...this may take a while. We left for California last Saturday. We spent the night in Vegas where we met up with my parents for dinner. We stayed in the same hotel, so Kenzie and Carter drove back with grandma & papa. We didn't get too far in the old mini before our headlights quit working, the blinkers and hazard lights started coming off and on at will, and the whole van started losing power. We pulled into a Chevron just in time for the engine to die...and not start again. Tim popped the hood and started fiddling with stuff (he would have to tell you exactly what "stuff"). Meanwhile, a taxi cab driver parked ahead of us started backing up. Tim and I watched and yelled at him while he backed right in the front bumper of the van. Are you KIDDING ME? How do you miss a minivan? So, we waited for an hour for the transit authority to come make a report. Meanwhile, I called my dad to come back and find us. We tried jumping the van with no luck, so Tim pulled out the battery and we all piled in my dad's car. We bought a new battery, started up the van, and thought all was well. We took off by 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Two hours later, we realized the windows weren't working again, and soon found ourselves pulling off the freeway. We pulled into "the Market". No working gas pumps, just a little store in the middle of the desert. After realizing it was a bad alternator that was draining the battery, Tim and Dad pulled out the battery and drove 40 miles to Barstow. My mom kindly waited with me and the kiddos for the next 2 hours. FYI...there are only so many games you can play before you all start going crazy.

We left the market with a newly charged battery, which barely hung on until Barstow. We went to the Autozone where Tim spent another hour replacing the alternator and serpentine belt. At least the weather was good, and we weren't stranded in the middle of summer!

We made it to Anaheim about 3 hours later than planned. On the way, we got a call from Lindsey about the earthquake in Baja. She was with her family at Legoland when the earthquake hit. She was pretty shaken...literally...and all the rides closed for safety checks, unloading, etc. We finally got into Disneyland around 6:00. We played and rode until almost midnight!

Monday morning, we met up with all the cousins at the park. It was raining and chilly, but it kept the crowds away. Tim worked the fast passes all day, and the kids had a great day!

the cousin's idea of "be silly"

Kenz and Morgan just taking off for Peter Pan's Flight

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride....and not sure what got into Carter!

Ty walking the ramps to Pirates of the Carribean.

Uncle Kelly entertaining Jace while we wait in line.

All the boyz.

Dancin' in the Streets parade

Goofy Hugs!

Tuesday was beautiful and sunny! I could have stayed forever just to enjoy the weather!

Riding the caterpillar train in Bug's Life.

Takin' the train to Toon Town

Coming round the bend on Grizzly River Run

Talkin' to her friends in Toon Town

buggy eyes

Jace fought everyone and everything with his Jack Sparrow sword

Waving to Cinderella in the Pixar Parade

Aaaahh....the bEacH!

really Maddy? You'll never catch that girl!

hermit crabs were crawling all around the tide pools

Jace stood in this hole for a good half an hour

Sand Hand

jumpin' waves

Ty surprised us all and loved the ocean!

such a good papa

Lady informed me during the trip that Ry is her best friend... so sweet!

...and I wonder why I had sand in the suitcases...

Kenzie found this cool spot and climbed up to get the view below

And what trip to Disneyland would be complete without a turkey leg! And yes, it is as big as her face!

Our last night in the park, we found one little spot that wasn't crowded with people...Snow White's wishing well. All the girls threw in a penny...

hope those wishes come true!

The boys all spent the last night of the trip at the A's game.

What a trip! I have almost finished Mount Laundry and the kids are all back at school. I could have stayed another week...just for the warm weather. We made lots of memories that won't be forgotten anytime soon.

early celebrations

Early celebration #1: Miss Lady's 7th birthday! Laityn will be 7 on Friday, April 2nd. We had her party tonight knowing that Friday may be just a little crazy...you may have noticed we leave for Disneyland the next morning! YiPPee! So tonight, we invited everyone up for enchiladas... yum... Everyone spoiled her with fairy stuff (which I secretly love too!). She also got some much needed summer clothing for our upcoming vacation. Lady has already informed me that tomorrow we get to make part of her new fairy book, the painting part. I still think of this little girl as just that. She was so tiny for so long, it's hard to believe she is just a year away from her baptism. Ooooo, I love this little girl!

Fairy teacups...and yes, she and Maddy are having a tea party after school.

Such a girl....look at her smiling about new clothes!

full of the giggles

that is serious fairy makin' stuff!

We sang Happy Birthday and then waited...waited...waited...Laityn was really thinking about her wish. Finally, after Jace blew out two of the candles for her, she made her wish official and blew out the rest! Happy Birthday Ladybug!

Early celebration #2: We had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Papa's house on Saturday. The weather warmed up enough to have it outside (hunting in the basement just isn't the same). Mom tried to convince Dad to write down where they were hiding the eggs...since they usually forget....no luck. We spent a good 20 minutes looking for that last egg, like usual. Dad is a really good hider, his memory of his hiding spots, not so much!

Mom! I found a egg!

I'm too busy to stop for a picture! More candy to be found!

Notice that Maddy isn't actually grabbing anything but dirt...I missed the real shot and made her pretend for the sake of my picture habit.

Tyler couldn't figure out how to hold more than 3 suckers at a time...cause who wants to put them in the basket?

Rechecking the shed for that last egg!

Serious follow through on that egg throwin!

Jace's face says it all...none of that girlie underhand throwin'!

Lady didn't realize that when you take a running start, you still have to release the egg before the line!

What egg throw is complete without a little side story. Just before Carter threw his egg, I convinced him to really go for it and throw it overhand. After some debate, he decided to follow the advice of his mother. I took this shot just as he released the egg...notice the egg is coming right at you...I glanced down to turn off my camera and as I looked back up, I took the egg full swing, right in the face! Thank goodness my mouth was closed...I may have just lost a tooth. I had a nice egg-shaped welt on my cheek/chin for the next hour. And no, the egg did not survive. I cracked it good!

Jace beat all the kiddos this year and came in second with the adults...not too shabby for my little 5 year old!

on our way

CAN'T WAIT!!

April 3rd cannot come soon enough!

trappers

Saint Patty's Day means one thing....Leprechauns are out! Carter, Lady and Jace have been making plans for all the traps they could make to catch a little man in green. Today, they put their plans into action. They are all certain they will wake up tomorrow with a Leprechaun in their traps. I have warned them about how tricky Leprechauns are...maybe he will just have to leave some proof that he came and outsmarted all their traps. I have heard sometimes they will magically change the milk green...maybe they'll even find little green footprints on their carpet.

Ready for bed and trapping!

These noisemakers will wake Lady if that Leprechaun tries to get to her money.

Carter rigged his trap to fall and catch the little man...he even put his glass vial of gold underneath as bait.

Tithing can...AKA device to warn of coming Leprechauns

More Bait

This bait is extra important because the Leprechaun will have to cross through all the yarn mazes before reaching it. He'll never make it without setting off one of the alarms!

I love how they get so excited about small things. Guess I'd better get busy looking for evidence that can be left behind at the scenes of my little trappers!