Disneyland Adventure - Day 2

Day 2 was our introduction to Cars Land. We stayed at the Disney hotel Paradise Pier and from our window we got a view into California Adventure. Once we were able to pry the boys out of bed, it was straight to the window to check out the sites!

Aunt Emily did a great job to make the matching shirts! The kids loved them - and they were all pretty cute. There is a fine art to getting tickets on the new Radiator Springs Racers ride, and our family was ready. As soon as we got in the gates, tickets were handed off and one person was in charge of running to the fast pass line.

Cars Land is truly amazing - the re-creation of Radiator Springs was perfect. First stop - Mater's Tractors. Probably Dillon's favorite ride.

Probably the coolest thing about Radiator Springs is that you just never know what car you are going to see. For the most part, either Lighting McQueen or Mater are out ready for the perfect photo opportunity.

Again, impossible to get Dillon's eyes off of his idols!

A great family photo.

A silly family photo.

We then tried out Luigi's Tires - but no one was impressed with this ride, so once was enough for us!

Who doesn't want to stay at the Cozy Cone?

While the big kids tried out the Up Side Down Roller Coaster, the little guys loved the calmer rides.

On the way to lunch, we ran into Pluto. Dillon is Pluto's number one fan. Dillon carries his "woof woof" every where we go.

After lunch we ran right into Minnie. She was in her Flight Attendant attire right outside the Soaring Over California ride.

We then headed back to the hotel for a rest as we had plans to shut down the park that evening! We were hopeful that Dillon would sleep, but instead he just rested quietly with his movie. We decided we would just take what we could get! We met back up with everyone, and all the big kids went on the rafting ride, so Dillon, Nonnie and I went exploring and ran into Doug the Dog from the movie Up. SQUIRREL!

Then Dillon decided to nap - just in time for the Pixar Parade. Somehow the kid slept through the whole thing!

Headed over to Bugs Life after the parade - perfect rides for the little guys!

Can you tell that Dillon just woke up?

A humble attempt at showing brotherly love!

After dinner everyone was still going strong - so we continued to hit our favorite rides. The swings were the best because all you could hear was everyone giggling on this ride. Except poor Dillon - not tall enough - NEXT YEAR!

Dillon could ride Toy Story Mania - and he loved it. I think everyone loved it as we were all pretty competitive about our scores!

We closed out the night back in Radiator Springs - line was too long to ride the Racers again. But we had fun dancing with DJ and just being silly!

Disneyland Adventure - Day 1

The annual Land Family trip to Disneyland was even more exciting this year because Nonnie, Pops, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Emily, Susie and Porter all joined us. The cousins were in heaven - Cars Land opened earlier this summer and we were all thrilled to say that it lives up to the hype. The rides began for Dillon on the airplane - he was so excited to be on the airplane. I think he opened and shut the window blind about 100 times. Thank goodness for portable DVD players - once we turned on Cars 2, we had a happy little boy.

After shuffling around to a few different hotel rooms, we hit up Downtown Disney for a late lunch and energy booster for the park.

We all decided to go to Disneyland first - there is just something magical walking down Main Street. Disneyland - here we come!

1st Ride - Buzz Lightyear - time to fight Emperor Zurg!

Who is ready to ride the Rockets?

Payson and Susie become instant ride buddies!

First Character Sightings - Winnie and Eyore!

Bedtime sure was easy that night - it was late, but it was easy!

1st Day of Preschool - September 5, 2012

This year we had so many friends that started Kindergarten and they started mid-august so Payson was very confused why school did not start for him until September! Payson does not start Kindergarten until next fall, and I am thrilled that he is attending St. Luke's Little School again this year. Their program is so much fun and Payson has his exact same class as last year. The kids were so excited to see each other at the Meet and Greet event! For the past month Payson has been up between 6:30am-7:00am, but of course on the first day of school I was waking him up around 8am. Good news was that he was so excited when he woke up - he was ready to go! By random luck Payson had snack duty on the first day. In this class snack duty comes with a ton of responsibilities. It is his day for show and tell, he is the line leader and he helps pass out snack. Trying to decide what to bring for show and tell took about 20 minutes!

Getting excited with Dillon!

Ready for a great day in the Angels classroom!

Payson - we are so proud of you - you are one awesome little guy!

Labor Day Weekend

Originally our Labor Day weekend plans had us headed to Keystone - that did not happen. With an amazing trip to Disneyland the next weekend, we were not going to risk a trip to the mountains when everyone seemed to be coming down with a cold. Dillon had a runny nose, Payson had a cough, and I had a sore throat. Awesome. But honestly, I was just grateful that we got it about 10 days before the trip and not 24 hours before. I hope I did not just jinx us as I typed that! On a more positive note, none of us had anything too bad, and Todd had friday off, so we ended up having a great weekend at home. Todd got a ton done in the yard with two of the greatest little helpers. We did go to the Denver Zoo - Todd had not been with us yet to check out the new Elephant Exhibit. My Payson what big ears you have....

No Hands Payson!

Dillon is showing off some CSU Pride the day before the big game!

On Monday Todd used our cheap "Labor" to help wash the cars. The boys had a blast and everyone was soaked when it was all over!

Beating the Heat - August Edition

As Colorado continued to set many records due to high temperatures, I continued to search out ways to beat the heat! My two favorite options - Ice Cream and Swimming. Luckily they are Payson and Dillon's favorite options also! Sprinkle Cones at Dairy Queen - what could be any better?

Playing in the fountains at the park.

And the pool of course - this picture cracks me up.