Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Newport Beach 2011

I’m so sad this trip is over!!  It was seriously SO fun.  We had a great time at the beach, Disneyland, and Medieval times.  Along with Max’s 4th birthday and dinner with Goofy.  So many great memories.  And TONS of pictures!! 

We started off on Saturday and stayed the night in Las Vegas.  Then on Sunday we were able to check into our condo at Newport.  After getting stocked up with groceries, the kids of course wanted to hit the pool. 

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They had fun swimming with Mike while I had fun watching the pretty sunset :)

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The first day we got to Disneyland, Mickey and his band ended up being right there at the entrance.  The kids loved that!!  It was Columbus day and SUPER busy.  So we didn’t get to ride that many rides.  Our first ride was Star Tours and we waited close to an hour in line.  Yuck.  BUT, the ride was AWESOME!!  The kids seriously loved it.  And Max is majorly into Star Wars right now, so he was in heaven. 

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By the end of the day, Max was pooped.  We started our walk through downtown Disney for our dinner with Goofy, and he konked out.  I haven’t ever really been through downtown Disney so that was kinda fun to walk through. 

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They loved the Lego store!  Gotta admit, it’s kinda cool to see all those things they make out of legos. 

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With Goofy!!  Max wasn’t quite sure what to make of the characters.  He was more nervous than I thought he’d be. 

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This is the only time Max greeted a character.  But what a cute, big hug :)

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The kids got a kick out of Pluto because he kept sniffing their food like he wanted some.

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Max really didn’t want a picture with any of the characters, but it was really funny…he wanted to take a picture OF them.  So here’s Max’s picture of Cinderella :)

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Seriously, is Minnie Mouse not the cutest thing ever?!  I love her. 

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One of the days it was super hot (like 100 degrees!) so we hit the beach.  It was perfect!  And it was the kids first time in the ocean.  They had so much fun playing in the waves.  While I kept having a nervous breakdown about one of them being swept away in the waves.  I was convinced a rip current would get them.  I’m so intimidated by the ocean!!  But it was fun once I calmed down :).  Haha

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And, yep, if you’re wondering…that is a leotard Madi has on.  Her swimsuit got ruined and I could not find a new swimsuit anywhere (all stores had was winter stuff).  So I had the bright idea of going to Target and getting a leotard.  Worked like a charm!

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Here’s my little Jedi!  The next day we for sure wanted to go to the Jedi training academy.  Max was HOPING so much that he’d get called up.  He raised his hand as high as he could…but they called up Madi.  Which he was excited for.  But it was kinda sad to see him getting left behind.  It was cute, when the guy called up Madi, he said “The little girl with the warrior face paint..”.  Because Madi had just gotten her face painted. 

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Taking down Darth Vader!!IMG_5105IMG_5106

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Max’s face is so funny here…haha.  I promise he had a good time!IMG_5125IMG_5126

The next day we spent at CA Adventure.  The kids LOVED Soarin’, and Mike and I each took turns doing Tower or Terror.  So fun!

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Funny enough, Madi loves the Monter’s Inc ride, although she’s terrified of the movie.  Speaking of terrified…we didn’t know that they make Space Mountain haunted during Halloween.  Last time we came Madi loved that ride, and this year they both could ride it.  Perfect, right?!  We got our fast passes and hopped right on.  Oh my word, it was SO scary.  It had the freakiest ghost, that would scream and follow you around, along with scary music.  Yikes.  The kids were NOT fans!!  They did ok during the ride, they just made it very clear they did not want to ride it again!!  Mike and I felt so bad.  We had totally talked it up telling them they’d love it.  Guess not.  IMG_5135_edited-1IMG_5136IMG_5137IMG_5140

On our last day there we did one of our favorite things and went to lunch at Ruby’s on the pier.  It’s always fun walking out there, watching the waves and surfers, and eating by the ocean. 

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Does anyone else thing those bars are spread way too far apart!?  Max kept giving me a heart attack.  While I was taking a picture once he tried to put his feet through so they could hang toward the water while he sat on the railing.  WHAT?!  I about died.  I ran up and grabbed him, scared to death.  Why on earth do they not make that more safe?!  A kid could totally fall through there.  So nerve wracking!

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Pretty waves! 

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The last night we were there we went to Medieval Times.  I hadn’t ever been before but it was SO FUN.  The kids loved every bit of it and it was fun seeing them cheer on the yellow knight.  They got way into it, yelling and waving their flags. 

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Max practicing some sword moves before the show.

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Ok, this was the cutest thing ever.  The yellow knight had a flower that he kissed and then was going to throw into the audience.  Madi was cheering her little heart out and he pointed right at her and threw the flower to her!  She about died.  I wish I got a video of her face.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that excited.  Super cute!

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This picture makes me laugh…the kids would get so concerned about the yellow knight during some of his fight scenes. 

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An example of Madi’s cheering :).  No wonder the knight threw the flower to her.  Look at that little cheerleader!!

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Ok, so another awesome thing about this night.  When we were walking out the next group was lined up waiting to go in.  A guy in that group told Max to come here and he just gave him this light up sword!!  It totally came out of nowhere.  Definitely a random act of kindness and it made Max’s night!  He was glowing the whole way home.  All in all it was a GREAT vacation and I’m so thankful my little family was able to make all these fun memories together!!

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Thursday, September 08, 2011

Wow, the summer flew by!

I can’t believe it’s already September.  We had such a great summer and I’m sad to see it go.  But the kids are LOVING school and Max is so excited to be going to his first year of preschool!!  Madi is in Kindergarten this year; I can’t believe it.  It’s so cute dropping her off and seeing her walk to her line-up.  She’s so little compared to all the big kids and she has this huge backpack on.  She loves it and feels so grown up :). 

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We’ve had a lot of fun with Mike’s family while his parents were here.  These are out of order, but one of the days we went up to Park City and did the Alpine Slide and Rollercoaster.  I hadn’t ever done the coaster before and it is FUN!!  I think I like it a little better than the slide because there’s no way to fall off.  So then I go faster without being nervous :)

This first picture is how our picture-taking goes lately.  Max is so funny.  He did NOT want to be in a family picture.  Until I threatened him with no rides.  Haha, then he stood there happily.  After the Park City resort we went to dinner at Loco Lizard (my favorite mexican place…mmm!).  And then did some shopping at the outlets.  Great day!

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Madi took this photo.  Kind of funny to see us from her perspective :)

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Last Saturday we went to Lagoon and had a BLAST!!!   The kids were all great and it was fun to be there with other Adults because Mike and I got to ride some of the big rides. 

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I didn’t get more pictures there because our battery died on the camera.  But I did get a couple videos before that happened.  Mike and I, and Brian and Ashley all did the SkyCoaster.  Mike hadn’t done it before and so I was dying to have him do it with me sometime this summer.  Of course, he loved it!!  Seriously, so much fun. 

Here’s the video of Mike and me.

Here’s a video of the kids in the Parking Lot at Lagoon.  They were so happy to be there.