Disneyland

These pictures should have been posted in May... I'm just so slow. However, I knew if I didn't put them up before my summer pictures, they would probably never get posted. And, since this blog is mostly for my own journaling purposes, I suppose it doesn't matter when it gets put on, so long as it makes it to my blog.
Disneyland was great... if I remember correctly. :) I know the girls had a great time. Quinten had his first good day in California and slept for the majority of our time in the park. It made it a little more difficult to take the girls on rides, but was better than the alternative of him being awake, fussy and angry that we had him out and about. It was completely overcast the day we were there; even a little bit drizzly at times. Because we were only in Anaheim for two nights, I had left the bulk of our stuff at the beach house and only brought what we needed. So, we had no pants for anyone to wear, I had forgotten to bring socks, and Andrew and I had no sweatshirts (which were actually left on the couch at home...). It meant a mad dash to Target to get at least socks and sweatshirts. We spent the whole day in the park and left for dinner. After dinner, Andrew took the older girls back and I stayed at our hotel with the little ones. We bundled the girls up as best we could and hoped they wouldn't complain of being cold. Andrew said they were fine and they had a great time picking out their favorite rides to go on again. Leah, Quinten and I watched Ponyo and had popcorn while they were gone.
This was on the roof of our hotel. The girls thought it was cool. So, I promised awhile ago to tell the story of sleeping in the car with Quinten... well, here it is:
We got to our hotel Sunday night. Everything was fine until bedtime, of course. At 10:00, Quinten started to cry. I tried everything to get him to stop and go back to sleep. However, with three other kids in the room and who knows how many to the sides of us, above us, and below us, I couldn't just let him scream. So, at about 10:45, he and I left to take a nighttime tour of Anaheim. He cried for about a half hour before he settled down, and it took about 45 minutes for him to fall asleep. So, what do you do with a sick baby who refuses to sleep when he's supposed to, who is asleep in your car?? You let him sleep. We got back to the parking lot, a reclined my seat as best I could, and I drifted in and out of sleep for hours. It was LOUSY. He woke up around 3:30 and we went back upstairs to our room. Unfortunately, he was restless till about 6:00, when he fell into a blissfully deep sleep. You have got to be kidding me. What a crummy night. I got up a half hour later to get myself ready before I had to wake everyone else and get them ready. I was exhausted. My eyes burned when I turned on the light, my stomach hurt from lack of sleep; I wanted nothing more than to fall back into bed and sleep for hours. And, I probably could have- no one even budged when I tried to get them up- not even Andrew. Yeah, I'm a good mom to push everyone into having a good time even when I don't feel like it. Let's hope they appreciated it....:)
The rest of these pictures may not be in order and may or may not have stories to go behind them... I'll do my best to remember and to not bore anyone who may be reading this.
This was on the Buzz LightYear ride. There is certainly a story behind this picture. Just as we got on the ride, Quinten decided he needed a new diaper. Actually, he didn't decide, I did.... after I stuck my finger in something nasty at the back of his shorts. Yes, I know that is extremely gross... I can't help it- it is what it is. I grabbed wipes and hand sanitizer out of the backpack, sanitized my hands and then had to hold him very carefully throughout the whole ride so as not to ruin his clothes with what was lurking outside of his diaper. Talk about a long ride. It was all that medicine that had been pumped into him in the previous 72 hours! He couldn't help it. :) So, we got off the ride, I hightailed it to the bathroom, and thankfully made it before his clothes were in need of changing and we were on our way back to the hotel.
Yes, we stood in line to see the Princesses: Belle, Aurora, and Jasmine. Poor Leah has been neglected and had no idea who any of the princesses were. We have since been pumping her full of Disney princess movies so she's not a social outcast someday...
We went to Disneyland the day before Leah's birthday. As a part of her birthday festivities, she got to pick some of the things she wanted to do. She wanted her face painted, of course.
Such cute girls. Leah's face paint was my favorite. The others were cute as well, of course. :)

The next three pictures I included because of Leah. Her expressions are hilarious. You can tell what she really wanted to do.

Once she was in the drivers seat, she was a happy camper.
We spent way more time in Toontown that I had anticipated. NOT my favorite place.
Our birthday girl next to cake and balloons in Mickey's house.
One of the only family shots we have, thanks to the run-in we had with the Bushar's.
The one ride we went on with them. Quinten was asleep, Leah didn't want to go, and Callie chickened out on me as we got to the front of the line, claiming she had to use the bathroom. She's our scaredy cat. So, Alexa rode with Selma and the girls and Scott and the boys were on there somewhere. Watching the Bushar's for the short time we were with them gave me hope: they have four kids, all close in age like ours. They just happen to be five years ahead of us. No strollers, no diaper bags, no one asleep or complaining of being tired. Everyone has a partner to ride with, everyone can go on every ride, and they all want to go on every ride. They were having so much fun together! I loved it. Someday, that will be us... when we've done our time with our little ones. :) I keep telling the girls that we won't go back to Disneyland till everyone is old enough to appreciate it. I also said we wouldn't go to Disneyland at all till I didn't have a baby... We'll see if I can stick to my guns this time.

It was a good trip. As we were leaving California, Andrew made the comment that it was one of the best, if not the best, family trips we've had so far. It's the first trip we've taken that was focused around just our family- not visiting my family or Andrew's family, no one we had to visit or felt obligated to. It was just us. And that is what made the difference, I think. It makes me realize how important family time is. There were bumps- it obviously wasn't all fun and games, but we did have a great time. I hope it is something the girls will remember.

Our Santa Monica Pictures

I'm finally finishing our trip pictures from May... ugh. I need to get it done so I can post our summer pictures and our first day of school pictures that will be on my camera tomorrow!
So, these pictures were from our day at the beach. The Bushar's came up from their hotel in Anaheim to spend the day with us. We had lunch at the house and spent the afternoon on a somewhat cold beach. I personally thought the water was frigid... I only stuck a toe in, but I think I would have been miserable if I had gotten any more wet than that. The kids didn't seem to mind.
This is Alexa, Ellie and Josie in the water. Callie was there with them for awhile... until a wave overtook her tiny little form and she got soaked. She wasn't happy and did not return to the waves for the rest of the afternoon. Poor Ellie had a sunburn from the day before; it looked so painful! I can see the red in her skin even from this picture.
Quinten was sick. Poor little thing. The night before had been one of the most horrible nights we have ever had with any of our children. He pretty much spent his whole afternoon curled up next to Andrew. Luckily, he had enough sense to take a nap... at least someone got some rest!
Leah never once touched the water. Last summer, we spent a week at the Oregon Coast with my family. She wouldn't even touch the sand. We had to carry her to a chair, where she would sit until we moved her again. This year, she liked the sand and was content to sit and play. We are making progress! Maybe next summer we will get her in the water.
This is Callie after her "incident" with the wave. She was freezing. Hey, I don't blame her. I was freezing and I wasn't wet!
Selma and I took the girls for a walk down the beach. Leah wanted to collect every piece of a shell that she could find. She stopped every two feet to pick something up and wanted everyone to see it. We conveniently dumped that bucket before we left the beach.
I was truly too tired to feel sorry for him at the time, but looking at the pictures now makes me realize what an angel he really is.
Alexa is getting to such a fun age. Everything is exciting, she can keep up with anyone, and she wants to experience everything. I love it!!
Quinten's nap. I was glad it was Andrew and not me....
The kids tried digging a huge hole. It was fun to see them working so hard. We were a ways up from the water, so when they needed a bucket, Ellie would run down and get it. Sometimes someone else would go, but mostly it was her. She was such a trooper!
Having the Bushar's with us was a welcome relief. We had spent so much time the previous day trying to figure out what to with Quinten, that the girls had really spent a lot of time sitting around or taking short trips to the beach with either Andrew or I. This was the first real day we had done something "fun" and I know the girls loved it even more because they had friends to play with. Andrew and I aren't nearly as much fun as the Bushar's. :) So, thank you, thank you for spending the day with us!