California (Day 2 & 3 – Disneyland)

It seems we're on the three year schedule with visiting Disneyland.

The Fletcher’s first visited in 2005 with only four grandchildren

In 2008 we had six grandchildren

And now in 2011 we had Miss Katie joining the family

In each of these trips I’ve worried how my then one-year old would handle the long days at Disneyland and each time I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how awesome they each have done. We love Disneyland!

Hallie, Carly, and Abigail in their cute matching shirts

The big change this year is that instead of a four or five day passes we only had two days to cram everything in. That’s tough to do. There wasn’t as much time to return and do some of our favorite rides and we had to forgo seeing many shows or waiting in character lines. We also happened to be visiting on the few days this month that the park was only open from 10am-8pm. We took full advantage of the time we had though.

We spent most of our first day in California Adventure. Carly wasn’t tall enough (and Abigail wasn’t brave enough) in 2005 to ride the Screamer so it was one of the first rides they went on this year. They both ended up loving it and went several times.

Toy Story Mania is my favorite ride (and yes, I skunked everyone). It was the longest line we waited in for both days and was only about 25 minutes – we lucked out with low crowds on both days. So sad that I never made it back to that ride for a second go.

As soon as Jason saw the huge Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel he knew it was a ride he HAD to go on.

Justin, Carly, Katie, and Jason are sliding around in the blue one (third from the bottom)

Other rides in California Adventure:

I love the look on Jason’s face as he bumps into his cousin Hallie.

Jason was excited to get his picture taken with Mater and Lightening McQueen.

We spent the last few hours of our first Disney day in Tomorrowland in Disneyland.

I was determined on our second day to provide the kids more opportunities to meet characters. We arrived early that day and immediately jumped in line to meet Donald Duck. We waited about 10 minutes and were only 2 people away when it was time for Donald to move on. The only picture we got with him was as he gave Carly a pat on the head as he walked away.

Just as we were about to give up and head to the rides, up walked Goofy. Jason was insistent that we stay back and let the rest of our group go on without us.

Lots of fun rides in Disneyland. The kids went on every ride they were tall enough to go on – which is everything for the girls and Jason was only restricted from Indiana Jones and the Screamer. Jason was super brave and we were so proud of him for being willing to try each and every ride. The kids went on Thunder Mountain Railroad over and over since there was little if any line.

You probably can’t tell, but Carly, Justin, Abigail, Jason, Hallie, Grandma, and Hayden are all on this train

While in Toontown we visited Mickey’s house. Katie gave us her cheesy smile as she lounged on Pluto’s bed.

Katie loved going on all the rides she could. My favorite Disneyland moment with her was watching her on the Dumbo ride. I was riding a few Dumbos behind her and Justin and had the perfect view of her thoroughly enjoying herself. Then she’d turn around a give me a huge smile and wave her little hand. I would have loved to get a picture of that moment to remember forever. Disneyland is magical.

She also enjoyed the classic merry-go-round.

On our first night in Disneyland we watched a great light/water show at California Adventure and the second night Justin, Grandpa, and I took the three youngest kids to the parade while the big kids went on a few final rides.

We were lucky on our way out of the park to catch a quick picture with Minnie.

I love Disneyland! I think it’s one of the most magical places. I’m so grateful my kids could spend a few days there with their cousins and grandparents. We had a great time and are looking forward to returning in 2014 ;)

California (Day 1 – USS Midway)

Our first day in California was wide open. The only thing we needed to accomplish was driving from San Diego to Anaheim at some point during the day. We let Justin’s Dad decide what to do (the least we could do considering he was generous enough to foot the bill for the trip). He wanted to spend the day visiting the USS Midway. I’ll be honest I wasn’t the most excited about it, but it turned out to be really interesting and the kids had lots of fun exploring the huge aircraft carrier.

There were lots of aircraft on deck and in the carrier itself that the kids were able to explore.

They even checked out the cells where they put the troublemakers.

Once in Anaheim we decided to roam around Downtown Disney. We came across a few interesting characters.

18 Month-ish Stats

We're back from a wonderful vacation and I am wiped out. Not feeling up to doing much today I'm allowing myself to spend the day on the couch watching recorded shows on the DVR. I had the best company with this little sweetheart, she always makes me smile.

When Katie sees animals she sticks out her tongue a far as she can and growls. You can imagine how fun she was to watch at the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld.

The day before we left for California she had her checkup with our pediatrician. Here are her stats:

Weight: 25 pounds, 14.8 ounces (75^th percentile)

Height: 33.5 inches (90^th percentile)

She also got shots and my brave little girl didn't even shed a tear. I'm a lucky Momma.

Halloween 2011

I’ve been looking forward to this Halloween for years. With Halloween falling on Sunday last year we resorted to attending a trunk-or-treat at the church the night before. And in 2009 we were traveling on Halloween. Again we attended a trunk-or-treat, this time with Justin’s sister, but I’m not a fan of trunk-or-treats and will be fine if we never go to another. Traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating in my opinion IS what makes Halloween.

Our ward did have a party on Saturday night, but thankfully they left the trick-or-treating to the neighborhoods and instead planned some fun activities and a yummy chili dinner. We were one of the very last families to leave the activity… it took that long for Abigail to get up the nerve to try to eat a donut dangling from a string – an activity she’d been eyeing all evening. By some small miracle they were able to convince Justin to give it a try as well.

For Halloween we had Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

We finally found Abigail this costume 30 minutes before our ward party on Saturday night. I learned a few things from this experience. #1 plan ahead in the future and #2 costume stores are borderline porn shops. I’ll never again let my children browse though the racks looking for costumes. Finding something modest for a young girl is next to impossible.

The witch that Abigail wore several years

found new life this year

This is Carly’s “scary” face.

Jason was about as practical as possible wearing his glow-in-the-dark skeleton PJs.

I saw these on a friend’s blog last year and loved them – so when I saw them in Old Navy a few months ago I had to buy a pair for both Jason and Katie. They are so fun and I love tucking them in bed with their little bones a glowing.

Katie was our adorable little piglet. She LOVED her costume.

Carly also wore this costume when she was Katie’s age.

We decided to start out trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. This was Katie’s first year participating and she was so fun to watch. She had a hard time keeping up with her older siblings, especially with all the stairs she had to climb.

Katie quickly caught on that each time she walked up to someone’s door they would let her take candy (sometimes she’d continue taking candy until we intervened). Katie has such a limited vocabulary that she never really even said anything – people just gave her candy for looking so cute. The most excited she got was when she was given a bag of goldfish. She carried the bag of goldfish around the rest of the evening.

Abigail met up with a friend and we ended up walking around the neighborhood with her and her parents. Katie enjoyed walking around just about as much as she did going up to the doors.

Because our neighborhood isn’t very big yet, we didn’t anticipate the kids getting much candy. We were surprised to find there were several families out trick-or-treating and many houses gave out bags full of goodies.

I had told the kids that after we walked around our little neighborhood I would drive them to a more populated area for more trick-or-treating. So after dropping off Katie and Justin at home we went back out for more. We went to an area where several ward members live and ran into Carly’s friend and her Mom. It made the evening even more enjoyable to be with friends. I was shocked when we got home and I saw how much the kids had collected in such a short amount of time. This goes against everything I’ve previously believed, but I have to admit it, there really is such a thing as too much candy.

Out of curiosity I weighed Abigail’s bowl of candy yesterday and she has 10 pounds! This isn’t the cheap candy either. Carly likely has just as much and Jason not far behind (he got tuckered out as we were trick-or-treating our way back to the car). When you take into consideration that Abigail, Jason, and Katie can’t even eat half of what they have… I’m overwhelmed - we’ve officially made up for the disappointing Halloween’s of years past.

Happy Halloween!

my kids ROCKED it tonight

INSANE amounts of candy

more pictures to come

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

This morning as I was driving to a local pumpkin patch to meet up with Jason’s preschool class I was overcome with gratitude for the gorgeous area we live. Washington in general is beautiful, but the Snoqualmie Valley is breathtaking.

Although the sun was shining the near freezing temperatures made it clear that winter is just around the corner. We spent an hour or so walking around the farm. Jason spent most of his time running around with his classmates, which left me with this cutie.

Let’s pretend the flower isn’t half dead.

I had a brief chance to get a picture of Jason and Katie together. This was the best it got.

A little better on their own.

We met up with Jason’s preschool friends and their mothers – I’m thinking I need to come up with some “field trips” during my weeks as teacher. Sure beats planning lessons and entertaining five boys for two hours. Do you think the other Moms will catch on if I organize a field trip every week?

We were able to get up close and personal with goats, chickens, cows, and a donkey. I think this is the first time I’ve ever pet a cow before.

Jason was also brave enough to pet the cows while they were eating their hay – Katie was fascinated, but they were much too big for this little girl. She was much more comfortable with the donkey.

Next we roamed through the pumpkin patch. Katie found a nice little seat on a pumpkin.

And pretty much stayed put until we were ready to move on.

On the way home I decided to stop and walk around the Falls with the kids. Every time we go I’m amazed at its beauty and power. Between the sun and the mist it was hard to get a decent picture, but we were glad that we took the time to appreciate the scenery in our own backyard.

Carly’s Soccer Wrap-Up

Carly’s soccer season started in August with practices twice a week. Once games started after Labor Day they began playing games twice a week instead of practicing. We thought the format was a little strange, but her coach spent a few minutes before each game working with the girls on various skills so they did get a little time to practice. Carly’s last game was on October 12th. She played a solid season and quickly became known for her quick hustle.

She scored goals in nearly every game.

(I realize this is a terrible picture, but it’s the only goal shot I managed to capture at all)

Her team won most of their games and seemed to be fairly evenly matched with the other teams in the area their age. I think Justin and I are much to competitive because it was torturous to watch some of these girls at this age still go the wrong way or show a complete disregard for instruction from the coach. Carly was rock star – she played hard and had fun.

Keeping the goal in sight!

She was the only girl on her team to be voted MVP during the season and was given an awesome soccer necklace from her coach.

(The other girls received their necklaces at the end of the season soccer party)

Carly’s team was called the Husky’s and consisted of girls from three different elementary schools – her coach brought the team mascots to the final game for a team picture.

18 months

As of today Katie is 18 months and one week old.

Usually turning 18 months old is a much anticipated milestone because it’s the age that kids can attend nursery at church, giving parents two hours of peaceful Sunday classes; however, since Justin is a nursery worker she’s already been going to nursery for several months with him.

I think Katie might be our most curious toddler. She likes to get into cupboards, explore her sister’s room for restricted treasures, and make messes.

Compared to many other children though I consider ourselves very lucky - thankfully we still haven’t had any major coloring incidents, make-up messes, or items submerged in the toilet. Knock on wood…

Katie still takes 2 naps a day if our schedule allows.

We had a few weeks last month that I feared my sweet happy baby was turning to the dark side, but thankfully she was just cutting her four pointy teeth simultaneously, and once they all tore threw her gums she was back to her sweet, content self.

Katie prefers to feed herself; once her container is empty I can then step in and feed her everything she dropped on her tray, bib, and face.

The past few weeks we’ve noticed that Katie wants to have more control over things. Sometimes she’ll refuse to wear a certain pair of pajamas (she currently prefers jammies without feet). She’s also shows some interest in picking out her own clothes in the morning. This new independent streak also means she doesn’t want to sit in her booster seat in the kitchen anymore. Sometimes I’ll let her just stand by a chair and eat.

Other times she’ll sit on a regular chair and eat, but this can be quite messy since she can hardly even see over the table.

As you can see Katie has also found her cheesy smile.

Katie loves her binkie and unfortunately she’s become quite attached to it… I’m fine with her having it in bed, but we need to do better keeping it there.

I’m not entirely confident in Katie’s ability to come down the stairs yet, though she goes up several times a day on her own. Sometimes I’ll find her sitting at the top of the stairs dangling her little feet; testing her limits no doubt.

Has learned to climb onto couches and some chairs. Yesterday I actually found her standing on the kitchen table. Katie has even managed to find a way to look outside the windows that are too high for her to see out normally.

Katie is beginning to say some words – hi, "sh" for shoe, ball, car, “bu” for book, “bo” for bowl, dada, ma, “k” for truck, “aba” for Abigail, and “nana” for banana. She also has a few signs she uses regularly like: more, drink, all done, and binkie. We love that she now nods yes or no when we ask her something.

Katie is often at the mercy of everyone else’s schedules and has been quite the trooper at soccer practices and games, even in the freezing cold or the pouring rain.

Katie loves to play outside and has reached the point where she can play at the park and I don’t have to follow her around everywhere. That is always a wonderful milestone for parents.

Katie is generous with her kisses. She puckers up her little lips and makes a little humming noise. Katie kisses are the sweetest!

This girl is loved!