happy places and crazy faces

{NOTE: I just want everyone to know that I know I'm totally a picture overload-aholic. BUT...I mostly jam-pack so many pictures on here because the girls love to look at the pictures on the blog. So for the few of you that actually LIKE to see so many pictures, here they are! For the rest of you...I really am sorry. I even tried to cut a few out of this post...but there were just so many I wanted to put on here!}

We visited the happiest place on earth yet again! Cut me a LITTLE slack...it HAD been almost 10 months!!! :o) Nate was supposed to be in Las Vegas for a month rotation, so we had planned the trip a while ago to meet up with my mom out in CA and head to Disneyland. We thought it would break up the month of Nate being gone. He ended up doing the rotation here instead, but how can you tell your kids you're not going to Disneyland anymore? (oh yeah...and then there's myself that couldn't be heartbroken either...)

So the girls and I drove out and stayed at a hotel, and my mom came every morning to pick us up (and help me manage the 3 kids and get them out the door) and then we headed over to the parks. It was SO MUCH FUN...we just can't get enough of that place. AND of Grandma Debbie.

Snow Whites meeting Snow White. (Abby came tattle-telling to me the other day and said that Caitlin told her the Princesses at Disneyland were just normal people dressed up in Princess clothes. Abby was dashed. Of course being the honest mother that I am...I told her that Caitlin doesn't know what she's talking about....and Princesses are REAL.) WHY IS THIS UNDERLINED? ANNOYING. Getting off the Snow White ride. That is a scary ride for little kids!

The cute Minnies
Emma was ENTHRALLED by It's A Small World. She would sit without moving the entire ride and soak it all in. We probably rode it 10 times.

The monkey and Grandma Debbie

Minnie...you lost your ears

Cute girls. (Note: Biased opinion)

The girls got to go out and dance as part of the Celebration Parade. It was a cute parade I thought.

Ok. So after we got back from this trip we took the binks away unless she is in bed sleeping. Maybe she knew it was coming...so she was trying to fill her 'binkie' canteen.

The girls got their traditional face painting from Grandma....cute!

Our friends from Utah were there the same time we were..so they were nice enough to meet up with us for a while! The girls had SO MUCH FUN together. I wish we would've spent more time together...Caitlin's little friend convinced her to go on all the rides she REFUSED to go on with me!

Such a romantic ride on Heimlich! Ahhhhh.....

(Like Sky said...'you know it's a thrill ride when the seatbelt is made of vinyl')

Another white-knuckle ride on Heimlich.

Caitlin and her friend navigating the parks. They wouldn't put these maps down even when they were walking around! Those two.

Abs and Grandma on 'rockets'. (WHY do they call it Astro Orbiter? Come on people...everyone knows it's 'Rockets'!)

Cinderella escaped meeting guests for a quick ride on Teacups.

Self portrait on Splash Mountain

I begged Caitlin to keep her eyes open for once on the big drop. Look how hard she's trying to keep her eyes open..so funny!

Rock on bebe.

Apparently Caitlin thinks that waterfall area needs a statue.

Huntington Beach with my mom

Abby was trying to show she'd conquered her fear of the waves. That IS a huge wave after all.

Cute

Random pics from my phone...

1st ride on Splash Mountain....Caitlin dove into my lap...she really doesn't like that drop AT ALL. (OR...maybe she was just afraid of the lady in front of her. Lady...it's JUST a ride.)
Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain. Caitlin and her friend loved it. My mom thought it was ok. I think it is EVIL!! I love Space Mountain...but not this Ghost Galaxy thing. Freaky.
All-in-all, the trip was wonderful. Thank you mom for helping out SO MUCH for 3 days straight!!! I couldn't have done it without you!

Emma Update:

Caitlin and Abby never climbed. They never got into things. Never colored in books, or on walls, or on picture frames, or on themselves. They never took cups of milk or water or anything else they could reach and dumped them around the house. They weren't loud or disruptive at church. Emma? I guess she is proof that EVERY kid is different. She climbs. She colors. She dumps, rearranges, breaks, tears, whines, and bosses. HOWEVER, she is funny, charming, witty, brave, and has the funnest personality of any little person at this age. She is THE boss. And she knows it. She goes to nursery without a hitch! (Which, Caitlin and Abby did as well. WHEN THEY WERE 3!) She truly is a joy in our family...and she truly is teaching me what 'babyproofing' really means!! These last 2 pics are from my phone...but I found her in both these places just chillin'. As IF it's totally normal. And it's always accompanied by the little grin of 'oh yes I did'. How I love this sweet little girl-and her chubby cheeks.