Disneyland - Day 2

Up early this morning so that we could hit our Early Entry Morning. We basically get in an hour before everyone else (well, us and all the other multi day pass holders). It was AWESOME!!!! Plus, it is cooler today than it was yesterday - nice!!!

We went immediately to Space Mountain and then grabbed Fast Passes to Star Tours. We hit the Matterhorn and then rode Star Tours and then headed over to Pirates. Nothing had more than a few minutes of wait time - it was GREAT!!!!

After Pirates, we went to Splash Mountain. Reagan opted to be the first in our log. She later regretted that as she was soaked! Well, we were all pretty wet, but Reagan certainly got the worst of it.

We toured the Haunted Mansion (which is decked out for Nightmare Before Christmas). After that, we returned to the other side of the park and hit Small World and Buzz's Blasters.

Then we decided to check out the Star Wars Launch Bay. It is a cool area in Tomorrowland where you can watch footage of the creators of the Star Wars films and cartoons talk about making the movies, you can see actual items used in the movies, you can play Star Wars video games and even meet the characters. Cole could have stayed in there for hours.

Cole had no interest in meeting Darth Vadar or Kylo Ren (he actually said he might hit Kylo Ren for killing Han Solo), but he was jacked to meet Chewbacca. 

After that, we went over to Indiana Jones, but as we were half way watching the parade, we heard friends calling out to us. It was the Aizad family - Yay!!!! They live right by us and used to go to Challenger with us, but they left for Waterford and now we have left for APA. The last time we saw them was at Cowabunga Bay right before school started. The time we saw them before that was when we all ran into each other at church in Maui!!!! So funny!!!!

We chatted with the Aizads for a while and then headed back to Adventureland to ride Indiana Jones..... again. It's one of our favorites for sure.

After that, we were getting ready to leave. The park closes early tonight because of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I tried to get tickets when we booked this trip, but apparently they sold out months ago. Our friend, Kelsey, got their tickets in July! Oh well - we've had a long day and are pretty tired. We decided to hit Splash Mountain again on our way out - that way we could just return to the hotel and change out of our wet clothes. 

Cole opted to be in the front of our log this time - silly boy. Did he earn nothing from Reagan this morning? He got pretty wet!!!!! The kiddos were actually cold when we left, so, we went to Denny's for dinner and they each had pancakes and hot cocoa. So funny. 

This was a great, second day. Tomorrow, we are hitting California Adventure.

Disneyland - Day 1

At our new school, we get a fall break.... a WEEK LONG fall break! Yay!!! So, we received our report cards on Friday and we got the next week off.  (Ps - Reagan received all As and A+s, Cole received straight A+s - something his teacher said she has never seen.... Whoa!!!) We, originally, were going to go to Boston. However, I ran into a friend at the gym who has a daughter going to school in Boston. We were talking and figured out we were both going there the same week. She commented how we were crazy to go during Parents' Week. Apparently there are 22 colleges in Boston and all of them have Parents' Week that week. So, we decided to re-think. Plus, our BIL Mark was having a fundraiser 5K run on Saturday - the same Saturday we were going to fly out on. So, we cancelled Boston and decided to stay in town for Saturday. We next decided to go to Disneyland. After all, this summer we had a 2 week trip full of history and patriotism. There would be a lot of that in Boston. Disneyland is just for fun. We haven't been in almost a year, so, it's about time we go :)

We booked a Monday morning flight at 5:40. Ugh - that made for quite a short night for this mama who had to get up at 1:30 am to get us all to the airport by 4 am. We flew to LAX, grabbed an Uber and drove to Anaheim. We checked into our hotel, changed our clothes and headed to the park. We LOVE Disneyland during Halloween. Everything is decorated with pumpkins, the characters are in costume, many of the rides are altered for Halloween and treats and gifts and shops are decked out.

We took full advantage of the Fast Passes (LOVE those!). We headed straight to Space Mountain (which is called Ghost Galaxy during Halloween time) and we grabbed Fast Passes to Space Mountain and then got in the Standby Line. It was a 40 minute wait, but we were super excited. We hit Space Mountain several times that day. We also picked up Fast Passes to Star Tours - another of Cole's favorites.

At one point, we were having a snack when some Stormtroopers came up and started giving Cole a hard time (might have been that R2D2 hat he was wearing. Mom stepped in and vouched for him :) That seemed to satisfy the Stormtroopers and then went on their way.

We hit Path of the Jedi for the first time (that theater used to have Michael Jackson's Captain EO there). It was a film of clips from all of the Star Wars movies, telling the path of several Jedis. We loved it. After that, we hopped on the train and went all the way around the park. We stopped in Toon Town and watched a stage show about different Disney movies.

After that, we headed back to Tomorrowland to hit Star Tours. We hit Indiana Jones twice (once with a Fast Pass and once without). 

It was hot today - upper 90s. We were hot and sweaty almost all day. Plus, it was fairly crowded - which everyone kept saying was unusual for a Monday.

Then, we took the raft over to Pirate's Island and Reagan and Cole ran around for a long time. After that, we were just beat. We opted to call it a day and head back to the hotel. After all, we've all been up since before 3am and we have our Early Entry day tomorrow, so, we need to be up early again.

It's been a great, first day! We LOVE Disneyland!!!!!

Reagan's Talk

Reagan was assigned to give a talk in Primary. What is funny is that it was the exact same topic she was assigned the last time she spoke. With each month bringing a new theme and each week in the month having a different subset of that month's theme, it is nearly impossible for her to have the same assigned topic, but..... ok.

She looked at the text from her last talk, make some changes and reviewed it and was ready to go:



Great job Reagan - you are fabulous!!!!

Daddy Tries Out the Hoverboard

So, Steve decided to try Cole's hoverboard. He did great! He was WAY better at balancing on that thing than I would have been.

He said it wasn't going as fast as it was when Cole was on it, but when you put a man on it, rather than a boy.... it's probably going to go slower. Later, we realized the batteries were almost out as well - that was probably the reason it was slower.

I was really surprised how quickly he picked up this hoverboard thing. Now... will I try? Maybe... not until this ankle heals, though :)

A 5K Run/Fundraiser for Mark

There's a guy who had cancer and beat it. He now arranges fund raisers that are 5k, 25k or 50k runs. So, he dedicated the 25k and 50k runs to a guy named Marc who is battling cancer. He dedicated the 5k to our BIL Mark, also battling cancer. We signed up and got up that morning.... it was COLD!!!!! Plus, I had twisted or rolled my ankle the week before and didn't really want to mess things up before we head to Disneyland and need to walk for 4 days straight. So, Steve, Reagan and Cole decided to run or walk it.

Everyone lined up and the race began! Cole asked if he had to stay with Dad. I told him he had to stay with someone - I didn't really want him somewhere along the course with no one he knew and possibly lost.

Turns out that once the race started, he said "And.... Goodbye" to Steve and took off running. He tried to keep up with the guys at the front. He ran the entire 5k. Way to go Cole!!!!

Reagan walked with Aunt Tammy and they had a good talk :) Tammy said "She is SO grown up." Yep - thanks for being her walking buddy Tammy. 

After the girls came across the finish line, Reagan asked where Steve was. I told her she beat him. She said "No! He was ahead of us - WAY ahead of us." She was very concerned that something had happened. We started asking others if they had seen Steve (who walked with his brother John). People had, but not for a while. Then, Steve called me. Turned out he and John had been so involved in their conversation that they had missed a marker and were 1.5 miles away from the trail. They doubled back and ended up coming across the finish line late, but they had a good talk.

We couldn't help but give them a hard time. I'm just glad that they found their way back and that Cole didn't miss a marker like they did - he could have been lost.... really lost.

We were so happy to support Mark and so glad that he was well enough to be there. We love him so much!!!!

Happy 10th Birthday Cole!!!!!

Our baby boy has turned 10!!!! What?!? It's crazy because in so many ways, it doesn't seem like it has been a decade that Cole has been with our family and yet, it's hard to remember a time when he wasn't with us. Weird, I know. He's so grown up and big. He has such a funny sense of humor and surprises me with his wit. His birthday fell on a school day. So, we celebrated later in the day. However, his class has each one of the parents come in and share a poster or PowerPoint presentation about their child and his virtues. The teacher asked us to sign up for a week during the first week of class. She suggested we choose the week of the child's birthday.... perfect! So, we made Cole's poster and I headed into his classroom first thing in the morning to tell his classmates about his virtues.

Having just seen many of his classmates at his party, it made it easier because I knew several of them. They listened (and interrupted) and then could ask questions at the end. Then, the teacher takes the poster and hangs it up at the back of the class and it stays there all week until the next child's parents come in to talk about them. Fun!!!!



After school, Cole went to Cub Scouts. He was super excited because he moved up to Weeblos. He passed off all of his Bear requirements and moved up. He'll get his Bear badge at the next Pack Meeting, later this month. Cole had requested pancakes for breakfast, but since we are always so stressed in the mornings before school, I suggested we have pancakes for dinner the day before. He thought that was awesome. Then, he requested we go to dinner at Bonsai - a Japanese Steakhouse. We all love Bonsai, but it takes quite some time as they prepare the dinner in courses and cook it before you and then serve it at different intervals. Fun, but time consuming. Steve suggested that since we knew Cole would want to play with his big gift outside that going to Bonsai, after scouts, wouldn't get us home until dark and then it would be too late. We discussed this with Cole and he opted for take out from Zupas. So, after dropping him at scouts and bringing Reagan home to do homework, I headed to Zupas just in enough time to pick up dinner and then pick up Cole from scouts.



After we ate, we were waiting for Reagan to finish her homework and Cole and Steve were playing with this Slime Ball game that one of Cole's friends had given him at the party. It is basically this slime ball that you throw to this target and it sticks to the target. Cole and Steve were seriously throwing this ball across our kitchen and family room. If you know me, you know that we decorate for Halloween with all sorts of BREAKABLE things. Ugh!!! I was scared that the ball was going to destroy something. I moved three candles on candlesticks that were sitting on the bar, but other than that, things stayed. I had to video because they weren't just tossing this thing around - they are full on throwing it. Cole looks like he is pitching in the major leagues. Gulp. But, when I complain to Steve, he says, "But look how much fun the kids are having - who cares if they break something?" Well, I do... sort of. Anyway, they sure have fun with that thing.

Reagan finished her homework and then Cole could open gifts. His first gift was a circuit maker with various parts that he could use to make circuits and to make wheels turn, sounds go off or different actions. He loved it. Then, he opened his main gift.... a hoverboard. He flipped out - he was SO excited!

We also bought him a cart so he could sit on the hoverboard and drive it, but when we went to put it together (a few days after his birthday), they had sent us the wrong size screws and not enough of the parts we needed. We ended up sending it back. Maybe we'll get another one.... maybe not.

Steve helped Cole balance on the hoverboard in the house. Then, we went outside. I made him have full skateboard pads and a helmet in order to try. I could just see him breaking his neck or something on the new toy that we bought him.

I was amazed at how fast he picked it up. In no time, he was zooming around our circle. It was the best kind of hoverboard we could find - it has bluetooth speakers in it, it has headlights on the front and turn signals on the back. Plus, it can go offroad onto grass or dirt or sand. He was doing spins and going forward and backward. Then, he went on the grass and up and down the driveway. He really was good at this hoverboard thing. 

He rode until way after dark. Reagan rode it too. She was tentative at first, but got the hang of it really fast as well. Good call Steve on not going to dinner since we would have been out here even later.



The next day, after school, he wanted to show his carpool friends. They have a hoverboard as well and they don't wear pads, so, apparently the cool kids don't wear pads. He has now figured out the speaker thing and I had to film him going around the circle the day after he received it.


Happy 10th Birthday Cole - We Love You!!!!!!!!!

Cole's Birthday Party

After Reagan had her karate birthday party in May, Cole said that was what he wanted to do for his birthday party. So, I didn't really worry or plan. Then, as it came time to make arrangements, he changed his mind. What?!? So, when I asked what he did want to have for his birthday party theme, he said "Animals." Um.......Alrighty then. "Like what you had when Scales and Tails brought the snakes and lizards and spiders?" I asked. "Yes, but with mammals." he replied. So, I went looking for a mobile petting zoo or a place we could go. There's always the zoo or Farm Country, but he wanted to invite like 50 kids (20 of his old friends and 20-25 of his new, school friends), so I wasn't looking to book a place where I had to pay by the head. We came up short. He suggested maybe everyone he invited could just bring their pet. Um - that sounded like a nightmare to me. I immediately went into lawyer mode and thought of the horrific release I would need to draft and have each parent sign. Ugh. We talked and I explained all the reasons why that probably wouldn't work. Next, he thought of a science themed party. Ok - I can work with that - we'll order lab coats and goggles for our guests, serve food in beakers and test tubes and there's a place called Mad Science that will come and perform experiments. Nope - the moment faded and he didn't want that. Then, he wanted a music themed party. I asked "Like Reagan's karaoke party?" and he said "No - like everyone would bring an instrument and play." We then talked about what if not everyone had an instrument to bring or what if they were bored while others played their instruments. He decided against that one as well. I then suggested a Halloween themed party. Since we already have our costumes and our house would already be decorated.... we could just suggest they come in costume and we could play games in the yard (weather permitting of course) and we could have a scavenger hunt and get some scary music to play and have treat bags with scary things in them. He agreed. I immediately went into action getting an invitation made on Etsy, paper products, gift bags and favors. Target was a huge score this year for our decorations and our party. The paper plates had like a metallic hue and had a skull on them. Love it!

The invitation turned out great - we had them printed at Office Max and Cole handed them out at school a week and a half before the party. He invited about 20 people we already knew (previous school friends, karate friends, church friends and family) and about 20 people that he had met at his school.

I found some photo booth backdrops and props for the photo booth - I put those up on doors and walls and let the guests pick which backdrop they wanted and which props. Many just wanted their costumes and no props. It's all good.

The cake lady matched the paper plates with the skull and we ordered pizza. I saw this video on FB about Halloween treats using only 3 ingredients. I sent it to Shannon and asked if she thought we could make them. She and Benton agreed to come over the night before the party and make the treats. They were only 3 ingredients, but they took a long time to make. They turned out beautifully!!!! They were so cute!!! We made little monsters in 3 different colors, witches' fingers and spiders on cookies. We didn't even have time for the nutter butter ghosts. Oh well. Shannon and Benton saved us the day of the party as well. I was quickly running out of time and they picked up the cake and the balloons for us. Then, during the party, they went to pick up the pizzas for us. Love them!!!

When the guests arrived, we took their pictures in front of the backdrops and then they headed into the family room for a "get to know you" game that our friend Brenda had prepared. When all the kiddos (or most of them) were here, we headed outside for a scavenger hunt. Steve's brother, Brett, had brought his son Drew so I put each of the brothers in charge of one of the teams for the scavenger hunt. There was an orange team and a black team. Unfortunately, the scavenger hunt didn't exactly go as planned. The teams didn't stay together and they didn't really figure out the clues - if they saw an envelope with a clue in it, they opened it... even if it wasn't their next clue. They were totally out of order and the one or two guests at the front of the group found the clue, solved it and took off to the next spot without waiting for their group or checking with their group leader. Even though it didn't go as planned, the guests had a good time running around the yard.

Next, we headed to the gazebo and the bottom of the yard for pizza, breadsticks and punch (in a witches' caldron with dry ice in it.......scary!!!). There were a few guests who were obsessed with the golf cart. One boy wouldn't get out of the cart - even to eat his pizza. He sat in the drivers' seat, waiting for a chance to drive it. Steve, obviously, wasn't going to let a kiddo drive it while a bunch of other kiddos sat on it. The kid actually got angry and told Steve he was being a jerk. What?!? You've got to be kidding me.

After that, we came up to the top of the yard and opened presents. Cole was so funny. The day before the party, he said "I hate how some kids just open their gifts and throw it on the ground and grab the next gift. I'm going to open the gift and tell the person how much I like it and give them a hug and I want to have a picture with each person and the gift. And - if I get two of the same gift, I'm going to tell them how it will be great because if I have a friend over, we can each play with one of that toy." I love that he is thinking and trying to be a good host. He did exactly what he said - he opened each gift, was super excited about each gift and told the person how much he appreciated it. Then, he asked for a picture with each guest. Love him!

After gifts, we had cake and treats. Then, the kiddos ran around the yard until their parents came to get them. One parent was 25 minutes late. Some of the parents came and met us, but most just waved from the top of the yard and beckoned their children to come up and leave. I made sure they each took a gift bag - we had super cute stuff inside - and the party came to an end.

Cole had a great time and I think his guests did too. Shannon and Benton were such great helps as was our friend Brenda and our friend Andrea Shapiro. Steve and Cole had set up the yard for everything to be ready and great. They put up the tiki torches and put the balloons on them, they set up tables and chairs and got everything together. Steve's brother, Brett, helped with the scavenger hunt and the party. My sis Amber had come up a day or 2 before the party and cleaned out the gazebo for us. So many people helped to put this party together.

The fall leaves were in full color and the yard looked so great. So did the mountain behind our house - it was perfect weather (even though it had been cold the day before and was cold the day after). Cole's actual birthday isn't for a few days, but I think he had a great time at his party. So did we!!!!

An interesting note - only 4 of the 20 new school friends that Cole invited texted to rsvp in the first week after he handed out his invitations. Four more texted to rsvp the night before the party and 3 more texted to rsvp the morning of the party! Seriously?!? I can't believe how rude that is. One of the moms who texted the morning of asked if she could bring another friend from school who wasn't invited to the party but thought it sounded fun. Are you kidding me?!? I was flabbergasted. Even though I mailed the other invites a week and half before, apparently, they didn't arrive until a couple of days before the party. Rachel received hers on Wednesday and the party was Saturday. She was heading out of town and couldn't make it. However, the people who had their invites hand delivered kill me. Add to this the fact that these new school people have never met us or Cole. Their children have met Cole at school for the past 6 weeks, but the parents have no idea who we are or what we are like. Some who did rsvp didn't show. Others who didn't rsvp did show. Out of the 12 or so guests that we have met at the new school, only 2 parents came to the door to meet us - the rest dropped their kids off in our circle and drove away. Steve and I were shocked! They have no idea if our home is safe, if we have questionable values or creepy guests or dangerous games going on at the party. They just left. We have NEVER left our children at a party - I just always stay and help. Even if we know the hosting parents, we don't know all the other parents who may be there or what type of supervision will be going on. I just can't get over how they just left their children (what should be their most precious thing) to us. Oh well - different rules for different people I guess.

Back to Cornbellys

We headed back to Cornbellys this week. Well, if you have season passes, you need to get your money's worth, right? It was not nearly as crowded this time, but that may have been because it was cold!

We beat the Shapiros there this time, so Reagan and Cole passed the time by going down the big slide (it wasn't nearly as fast as it was last year). 

Next, they decided to play the bean bag toss game and play checkers with pumpkins. I think Steve won every game :)

Then, Reagan and Cole hit the Rat Race - they push these tubes on a track. I have no idea why this looks like fun to them, but whatever.....

When the Shapiros arrived, we headed for the Corn Maze. Sophia wanted to do that last time, but we just ran out of time. It was an Avengers theme and there were questions about the movie which, if you answered correctly, would direct you in the maze. Having not seen the movie, we were at a serious disadvantage. Oh well, we eventually made it out and the kiddos ran up and rang the bell on the Victory Platform.

Cole wanted to shoot a gun (BB maybe? air gun maybe?) at targets. He did great!

We went over by the hay bales that you lift. We did this last time and Vic and Steve swore it wasn't 400 lbs as labeled because the 2 of them couldn't lift it. They enlisted the help of everyone in our group and still couldn't lift it. It must be more than 400 lbs.

Steve took this picture of the sunset over the bull riding attraction. It looked SO cool!

We hit a few other attractions and then the kiddos wanted to go on this ride that was literally on the back of a truck. It would swing them back and forth. They were scared, but had a great time.

They wanted to go again on this ride, but we convinced them to head to another ride. It was pretty dark and it was getting colder by the minute. I pushed for them to head to another area where there was a fire to sit by :)  That was fine with them - Cole had been begging to go to Cole's Corral where they basically play like a little paint ball (but without paint) game.

At one point, we were all waiting for something and I looked over and Cole was trying to rope a little block of wood with a head and horns on it. He was failing miserably. Cute Vic went over and taught him a bit about roping cattle. Then, Cole tried and actually roped one of the horns - way to go Cole!

After the kiddos were done at Cole's Corral, I was done. It was cold, dark and we had school the next morning. After all, with season passes, we can come for as long or as short a time as we want. We said our goodbyes and headed for home. Another fun night with the Shapiro family. We love them! Thanks Cornbellys - we'll be back!