Spider Killing Ninja, That's Me

Last night at midnight I was finally getting to bed. It had been a long day of beach and sunshine with three of my daughters and all three of my grandsons. Wonderful day well spent!

Of course, the littles fell asleep in the car and traffic was slow, so they napped good and hard. This totally destroyed bedtime!  I got them to bed very late and I was still up at midnight, just settling myself into bed.

I did my nightly visual scan of the room to check for spiders on the walls. What? Don't you? I saw one! It was in the middle of my room at the peak of the vaulted ceiling. I can't reach to squish it up there, but I'm quick thinker and immediately had a solution!

I'll kill it with the swiffer!

I bolted down stairs to grab my swiffer mop. The flat head on it will be the perfect spider squisher. I ran back up to my room and the spider had moved a bit, closer to being right over my bed. I know the game... Spider gets directly over the bed, releases his ceiling grip diving for the bed and attacks! Yeah, that's not gonna happen. This spider will die.

I stood on the bed armed with my swiffer. The spider was sitting on the ceiling taunting me. I could almost reach with it, but not quite. So close! I wanted to kill it before it got over the bed.

Like a ninja, I jumped up and lunged at the spider with my weapon and I flattened that thing smearing spider guts on the ceiling. Triumph!

What goes up must come down. Which I did. I fell down to the floor, swiffer in hand, and landed on the floor. Hard! Feet first. Whack! And then a massive thud as the rest of my body hit the floor.

There was instant agonizing pain in both of my ankles and lower legs. I screamed in pain. I laid there dying of excruciating pain, screaming and crying and wondering if I broke both of my legs or what just happened. After a few minutes it was clear that my left leg may have just snapped I half but the right one was probably OK.

I got brave enough to look, both feet were still attached, legs looked normal, no blood, but horrible pain!

I should lay on my bed and get off the floor. I couldn't! It hurt so bad! I could not get up! I did some more screaming and crying. I missed my husband very much right then. He picked a bad night to be out of town!

Finally, I composed myself and tried to get up. The right ankle hurt a lot but I could stand up on it. The left foot couldn't touch the floor without shooting sharp pain. I got into bed and took a look. Lefty was swollen and not looking too good.

I couldn't sleep. It hurt so much! And I was worried about how to function the next day. Home alone with the little kids. I had my nexus on my nightstand so I googled.

Google diagnosed me with a fractured ankle. Great.

I dozed off and on waking up in pain often. When 6am rolled around, I decided to get up for the day. I still couldn't put any pressure on my left foot.

I crawled to the bathroom, and then I scooted down the stairs on my hiney. The dog was by my side the whole time. She laid next to me each time I took a break from crawling. A great idea came to me, at this point I understand if you have doubts about how great my ideas are.

I crawled into the garage. You know, the floor in there is really dirty! Anna's crutches were in here somewhere. I almost threw them out a few months ago. I crawled over and retrieved them but I couldn't stand up.

After I got back into the living room, I was able to hang onto furniture and pull myself up. The crutches are gonna work! I hobbled into the kitchen and got a cup of coffee and made an ice-pack.

I stuck the ice back in the pocket of my pajamas and I repoured my coffee into a to-go cup with a tight lid. I carried that in my teeth and I made it back to the easy chair.

That took me an hour! I was in a lot of pain now, but feeling accomplished.

The ice was helpful but the hour long phone call to my mom was the best medicine! Once 8 am rolled around I started calling my daughters, friends and neighbors for help.

My grandson came down the stairs and told me very matter-of-fact like, "No, Grandma. You can't be hurt. No."

My daughter took me to Urgent Care and they sent me to radiology for x-rays, then it was back to urgent care. They let me use a wheelchair in the building which was very handy.

The doctor looked at the xrays and he thought there was a possible fracture of the end of my fibula. It was his opinion that it is fractured, but he will defer to an official diagnosis later. The orthopedic doctor would say for sure, but that will take a few days. In the meantime, I was put in a splint and sent home.

Got to keep my x-rays!

Sewing Long Swim Trunks

I looked and looked and looked online, but couldn't find any swim trunks that have full leg coverage. There must be boys that have sensitive skin or just want long pair of swim pants, aren't there? Guess I found a niche market that isn't being served.

That's ok. I have a sewing machine and I know how to use it!

I bought two pair of men's swim trunks (because the fabric is cheaper this way and the variety of fabric is more plentiful) and cut them down to size. I also cut out the mesh panties, or underwear as men say. Then I stitched them up like a little pair of pants, added elastic to the inside of the waist where there was once a drawstring. I attached the decorative waist piece and had a wonderful pair of little swim trunk pants! Perfect!

I ended up cutting the back pocket because of where it lies on the trunks, it was in the way. No problem, it just became a smaller back pocket and the raw edges were sewn into the center seam. Not all pockets go right to the middle of the pant, but I'm not going for perfection here, just improvising and the pocket isn't all that noticeable after all. Funny, it's still perfectly useable! 

I think one pair turned out great, and the other pair looks like clown pants. The striped fabric didn't look as good in the small size. Oh well, those will be the back yard run through the sprinklers and get muddy swim trunks.

Ta Da! Swim Trunk Pants!

I'm so happy that I was able to sew something for my grandson to meet his special needs without compromising his fun and he still looks a lot like all the other little boys at the splash pad. Lookout, world, we're going to have a fun summer!

Last Trip to Disneyland before the Summer Blockout

Gracie and I went to Disneyland, just the two of us! She's becoming more and more grown up lately, and I love spending some one-on-one time with her. We didn't take a stroller!

She wanted to wear her Merida dress and I was instructed to wear my Merida Tshirt, which I did. But, she changed her mind and wore "normal clothes". We both made poor shoe choices and paid dearly the next day, but it was so much fun to have a Mom & Gracie day! 

We reminisced about our first trip to Disneyland just before her 3rd birthday and we did the math to see how many years she's been coming to Disneyland. She's 7 now. That makes 4 years of Disneyland for her! That's a lot!

She gave me her verbal list of things she wants to do together, without little kids holding us back. Gracie wanted to ride Soaring Over California, Ariel, Star Tours and Indiana Jones. She wasn't interested in seeing any characters and she didn't want to do any "baby" rides. Well, we'll see. I had one thing on my list of things to do; I wanted to see the new show "Mickey's Magical Map". There was an AP showing today (annual passholders only show) with limited seating.

We went to California Adventure first and grabbed up a fast-pass for the Souring ride. We saw Goofy's water fountain orchestra show, and then the Army men performance. The Army men appeared right in front of us and they are very entertaining with all of their drumming. Gracie volunteered to be a part of their army training crew; she was soon trained to be a toy Army soldier.

We walked along to go ride the Jumping Jellyfish or the airplane swing thing, but when we got right up to those rides and Gracie looked up at them, she quickly changed her mind. She shook her head when I led her to Goofy's Sky School too.  Heights aren't her thing.

We rode Ariel; it's a favorite! This time we got to see how the handicapped carriage works. All of the people load into clamshells and ride around, the loading takes place on a conveyer belt so that the ride doesn't have to stop. There is one handicap vessel (or maybe there are two, and we only see one at a time) and it's always empty when we have seen it. This time the handicap carriage was right in front of our clamshell and when the ride ended, we got to see the Ariel cast members load a wheelchair on. It was really cool! They made it look effortless and easy, no big deal at all.

Gracie wanted to stop and play in the Redwood Creek wilderness area. We've done this before, but I don't enjoy it when I have more than one child to keep tabs on. The play area is big and has multiple levels, if one kid goes down a slide, I suddenly lost one. And in this play area, they run! I almost always avoid this place unless I convince them that we are doing one thing and then we leave the area right away. Since I only had one kid to wrangle, we stopped in for a good rowdy play.  Gracie rode the tire swing and then she looked at a few of the nature signs. We read about animal footprints and identified a few of them in the concrete path, and we looked at a section of a tree and noted the rings. She wanted to go down the slide, but it was blocked off. We looked over the ledge and saw that it was broken at the bottom. While she was on the tire slide, I saw Russel off in the distance but he was gone by the time her turn on the swing was over so we missed seeing him.

Next we rode Soaring Over California. It's such a nice ride! We've only ridden it once before so we were excited to ride again. You sit on bench seats that rise up and sway while the huge movie screen in front of you shows ariel views of various California locations. There are three rows of bench seating and the first row rises up pretty high, the middle row rises above the 3rd row. We were lucky enough to be seated in the third row so we weren't flying quite as high as those in the first row.

When we came out of the ride, we saw Minnie Mouse and her flygirls perform. We always like the shows at Disneyland, this is a fun one too. The ladies sing Disney flying songs. It is amazing that there are so many!

We also saw the Five and Dime performance. This show must play several performances every day because we always see it when we happen to walk by the area where they perform. It's good though, and Gracie appreciates the live music.

We checked the information booth where the wait times for each ride are posted. 120 minute wait for the Radiator Springs Racers ride. I didn't have to convince Gracie to skip that ride, she wasn't going to stand in line for 2 hours! We then headed out of California Adventure and went to Disneyland.

We went to the Indiana Jones ride and the girl did not want to grab a fast-pass and come back later. She wanted to wait in line. The wait time said 45 minutes, so I said ok. After 30 minutes, we made it about 15 feet of zig zagging waiting in line and we had miles to go (it seems). I made an executive decision and said we were done standing here, we need a fast-pass. I really hoped they were still giving them out by this time! Luckily they were and we got our appointment time of 6:40pm.

Off we went to the Tiki Room, they have a nice hidden bathroom and our feet hurt so we wanted to sit down for a bit. Perfect place to rest tired feet. Plus, the Tiki Room is awesome! On cue, Gracie clung to me just before the lightning strike and pretended she was frightened. I love that.

We grabbed some delicious burritos at Rancho Del Zocalo Restaurante. It's our favorite place to eat in Disneyland.  We left stuffed. I noticed that the prices were raised, no surprise since ticket prices were raised the other day, but the food is great and centrally located so it is convenient. After our horrible hamburger experience at the Villiage Haus Restaurant on a previous trip, I am willing to pay and extra $2 for a meal that I know will be good.

It was time to go to the Fantasyland Theater and line up for the show. I wanted to get there a little early since everything I saw said "limited seating" and this was a special showing. We arrived shortly after 5:00 for the 5:40 show and saw that the line was forming already. We went to what we thought was the end of the line. No, that was the end of that section of the line, they had a cast member controlling a gap in the line for traffic. The line went from the Fantasyland Theater into Toon Town. Into Toon Town? Seriously? My heart sank because I just knew that was too many people to be seated in the theater. We walked and walked looking for the end of the line and we finally found it in front of Goofy's House. I asked the cast member at the end of the line if we even had a chance of being seated. She said, "Oh, sure!"  She seemed confident, but I doubted her anyway.  I let Gracie go play in Goofy's back yard playground while I stood in line on the other side of the Goofy fence. This was crazy.

The line started moving and true to her word, Gracie listened for me to yell for her and she came a running. By this time, the line was piled up behind me farther than I could see. Whoa.

We actually got in! The theater had been expanded and there was a lot more seating than there was before. They used up the space that used to be the Princess line-up area. That space is now bleacher seats. Also, they expanded into the gift shop area and the restaurant seating was turned into bleacher space. It looks as if bleacher seats were installed into the open space in front too, where it was close to the stage. The theater now seats 1800 people and with all those people in line, there was still empty space. It also looks as if they'll be performing this show several times a day, every day. That's 1800 people they take out of the park and occupy in a seated area. Nice. That'll help with crowd control, wait times in lines, etc. We only had to wait a short time in the seats before the show began. While we waited, I pulled out our gigantic autograph book and let Gracie read it while we sat. A little girl next to us was peering over her shoulder, so Gracie began reading out loud to her. It was fun to see her sharing her awesome reading skills.

Mickey's Magical Map show was fantastic! I loved it! It is a singing and dancing show that is very well done. Characters appear and perform. We loved every one of them. The show was just great. Can't wait to see it again! After the show, one of the producers came on stage to talk about how the show was created. I was  hoping that there would be a meet and greet with the performing characters and we could get Pocahontas to autograph our book, but that didn't happen. Gracie didn't want to sit through the lecture, but it was interesting. We ducked out and headed to the Indiana Jones ride. We decided to ride the train to New Orleans Square and save ourselves from walking and lugging our backpack the whole way, plus, the train is fun!

We hopped on board and for the first time that I can remember, I thought they sure need a cleaning crew to stop by. The park, rides, restaurants, rest rooms, everywhere is always very clean. But we saw lots of trash on the floor of the traincar, spilled ice cream glopped around and it just looked like it hadn't been wiped down in a while. I do not understand why people can't hold onto their empty soft drink and water bottles for a bit, there are trash cans everywhere. But spilled ice cream I can understand. This was  a bit much though, and highly unusual. Sure made me realize how clean the park is that one dirty place stuck out like that. The train is in constant motion too, so I don't know how and when they clean the traincars, but I've never noticed them to be dirty before. Food for thought.

When the train stopped at Main Street, the parade was just starting and we could see and hear it from our bench on the train. We decided to hop off and watch the parade. Gracie just loves Disneyland parades!  This was the Soundsational Parade. Such a good one! We had a great view from the Train Station, so we just stayed up there on the platform and watched from above. It was really fun to see it from up here! Of course, Ariel and Cinderella made eye contact with her and waved to her! After the parade, we hopped back on the train.

We got off at New Orleans Square and made our way to the Indiana Jones ride. We got right in with our fast-passes! The line to get in still said 45 minutes and it was a lot shorter than it was earlier in the day. We were able to bypass everyone and walk right in. Gracie feigned bravery and courage, I truthfully admitted fright and nervousness. We rode that crazy ride and screamed the whole way. When it was over, she was delighted! I am just glad we survived.

Our day was done. We only had one more thing we wanted to do together and we skipped it earlier: Enjoy a Dole Whip!  We stopped into the Tiki Room waiting area and we each got a Dole Whip Float. Such a treat! They were so super delicious and sweet! Gracie couldn't find the bottom of her cup and I couldn't either, so we will have to try those again when we aren't so stuffed full of burritos. They are rich and delicious. It was the first time for both of us having the float; maybe next time we can finish them off.

The parking lot tram was our next ride. We didn't get to ride Star Tours, but we had a great day together.

Pierre... Not this year.

Well, we hoped for several years, then we planned loosely for a year or so, then we Seriously planned in a very Hard-Core way for another fifteen months or so-- including buying our own house back last summer from the people we sold it to when we moved in 2003-- that was really pretty damn amazing thing all by itself.  That hard-core planning also involved a lot of help and assistance from people in Pierre.  But, sometimes just when you're ready to swing on that final fast ball to get that "home"run, God pitches you a curve ball that catches you off guard.  Such is Life-- right?

Our Pierre Home during our fun Winter Vacation last January. Yes. Pierre South Dakota can be Fun in January. :)

So, what's up?  A family problem prevents us from moving-- and family needs will always supersede.

I know this is disappointing to many people.  I want to say thanks to the many, many family and friends in Pierre (and elsewhere in South Dakota) who have been looking forward to our return.  I know I pumped you guys up with "We're Coming!!!"-- and I want to let all of you know that I firmly believe Pierre is still in our future.  I just can not say for certain the means by which we will make that happen, or exactly when.  I guess I need more batting practice hitting curve balls. ;)

For our California friends, I know this is "happy" news for you as you hear that we are definitely staying for the time being.  Between the amazing group of caring people I work with out here, and the incredible friendships Mary has developed, we feel truly blessed.  Thank you all for being supportive.

In the meantime, even though we are not moving this year... NO-- we are not selling our house in Pierre-- I remain that hopeful & resolute.  On the other hand, we will be looking to rent it out soon.  Do you know someone who would like to rent from us and take Wonderful care of our Wonderful house?  I will be in Pierre taking care of some things at the house next week (~ Thursday, 5/30 to Tuesday, 6/4, and it would be great if I could get a renter set up during that time.  Please send me a message if you know somebody!

Thanks people! :)

Keith, Mary, and the girls!

Charlie goes to Disneyland

Finally! The day came to take Charlie to Disneyland! Our annual passes block us out for the summer months and we won't be allowed back in until after Charlie's 3rd birthday. We had to go now! After he's three years old, he would need a ticket of his own. Luckily, it all worked out so that we could go for the day. Exciting!

We left Gracie at home to have a Daddy & Gracie day. They had a blast and didn't miss us.

 I also took along a wonderful babysitter to help with these two kids. Libby is a clingy one and Charlie is a runner. Bringing the babysitter was probably the best idea I've ever had. I had two strollers but I wasn't sure if we really needed both, so we took both out of the trunk and decided that we would use them to the gates to keep the kids contained in the parking structure and through the gate crowd, then park one and go from there. I also brought my toddler-leash for Charlie. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to use it but I might need to show him that I have it and its an option.

Libby promised to wear her Rapunzel dress, but she changed her mind and wore an outfit that her cousin handed down to her, a Bambi shirt and cute little skirt. I stuffed that dress in my bag anyway. Charlie wore a handed down shirt too. He had a Mater shirt and he looked adorable.

Charlie was very happy to go to Disneyland. He fell asleep on the way there and got in a good carseat nap. Luckily, he woke up  happy! We were in the parking structure and he said "Where is Disneyland?"

The babysitter, Brit, and I made a gameplan for the day. We decided to hit up California Adventure first because Charlie can relate more to the modern Disney and Pixar attractions. We agreed to do what he would find most interesting and exciting first and then call the rest of the day a bonus. We would just leave whenever Charlie was done. Charlie immediately started asking to see Woody, so we made that the number one priority and were happy with anything else that happened.

We also decided to use two strollers in parking structure and to at least get us through the gate. We could always park one and come back to it later. My strollers are aging and they have a lot of miles on them, so I'm not too concerned about stroller theft. Especially since the kids are outgrowing the stroller phase. At this point, if the stroller disappears, then someone must need it more than I do. We ended up using both strollers all day. Both kids rode happily in the strollers and they were easy to manage this way, so we just went with that.

We entered California Adventure and made our way down Buena Vista Street. At the end, we found Mickey Mouse waiting for us! Charlie had a big hug for Mickey. Mickey was equally excited to see Charlie! Like a couple of long lost buddies, they hugged and hugged. What a great way to start the day!

Next, we saw Goofy dancing with the Five and Dime group. Charlie wanted to stop and watch Goofy. Once Goofy left the group, we went on our way. There wasn't any appeal to the live entertainment without the big dog.

We strolled down the way and came upon another street performance: Phineas and Ferb's Dance Party. Charlie loved it! He hopped out of the stroller and gave Phineas a fist-bump. Then he joined the Fireside Girls and danced with them and other children from the audience as well. Libby wouldn't leave her stroller, but she enjoyed watching Charlie. His dance moves were subtle; he was more in awe than anything. But he has a great time! Again, we only stayed for a short portion of the performance, just until the interest in it waned. On to the next.

Charlie was happy to see the other characters so far, but he kept asking "Where's Woody?" We went down to Paradise Pier to see if we could find Woody in his usual meet and greet spot. We got there and Jessie was there! Charlie was excited to see any Toy Story character, so he was pretty excited to see Jessie. We hopped in line right away, only to get halfway through and Buzz Lightyear took her place. Buzz! Libby was a little disappointed, but both were excited to see Buzz.

Because Brit is super awesome, she offered to get right back in the same line and wait for the next character. She is a Disneyland super hero and knows her stuff. Every 20 minutes Buzz, Woody and Jessie take turns in this meet and greet spot. By the time Brit would get to the front of the line again, it should be Woody's turn. Smart move! While she stood in line with Libby, I took Charlie across the way to King Tritan's Carrousel. The wait time on this ride is always minimal and it's fun. Charlie rode a lovely colored fish and he really enjoyed it. While we rode, I saw that Woody came and took Buzz's place. Awesome!

Sure enough, Brit had a place in line and she was more than halfway through so we joined her and the kids got to see Woody! Charlie and Woody really had a great visit. He asked Woody if he had a snake in his boot. They hugged, they compared boots, and Woody signed our autograph book too. It was the best Woody encounter!

Brit and I celebrated a little with some high fiving and congratulating each other with excited "Mission Accomplished" chatter. It felt great to fulfill the one and only wish that Charlie had for the day. The rest of the day is cake!  Brit took a picture of Charlie and me to document the moment.

We decided to head to the Ariel ride for Libby's enjoyment since she was being such a good girl and tagging along so nicely on Charlie's Disneyland Day without any complaints so far. She was happy to let Charlie choose what he wanted to do. Along the way, we happened upon another Toy Story experience: The Army Men performance. They drummed and chanted and entertained Charlie for a bit.

Off we went to the Little Mermaid ride. We decided to separate here. I'm sure Charlie would have enjoyed it quite a bit, but he and I walked over to Cars Land while Brit and Libby went under the sea. I thought he would enjoy extra time in Cars Land more than in Ariel's world. Brit said they would catch up with us.

Since Charlie was enjoying the characters so much, I thought our first stop should be a visit with a car rather than a ride. But first, we stopped to see one of Mater's tractors. So cute!

Down the street we went to visit with Lightning McQueen! Another of Charlie's favorite Disney characters!

If you are wondering why he isn't smiling, it's because he was too busy enjoying his visit with Lightning McQueen to be bothered with turning around for me to take a picture. He finally turned to face me for a split second and then spun back around to enjoy his time with Lightning. Lighting revved his engines, rocked back and forth a bit, and talked to Charlie. What an exciting visit!

I walked him over to see the Radiator Springs Racer ride and enjoy the stroll down the Main Street of Radiator Springs. He loved it! It's just like you plopped right into the movie, so he was loving being there and just seeing the sights. While we were viewing Ornament Valley, a cast member thought we were waiting to line up for the RSR ride and he offered to measure Charlie to see if he was tall enough to ride. I wasn't going to force the kid into a line that had a 120 minute wait, and I didn't think he was tall enough, but I let the guy measure him. He was closer to the mark than I thought! Must be the boots. I know he would love the ride but I also know that he has no idea what he's missing and we are on toddler time.

Cars Land was very cool and exciting! But, Charlie was ready for a snack. I treated him to a Lightning McQueen cookie, which he only nibbled at. It wasn't as tasty as it was fun. He ate almost half of it and then I gave him healthy snacks from our lunch tote that we brought from home. The red frosting stuck around all day though!

Brit and Libby found us. They had a great time riding the Ariel ride and Brit said the air conditioning was especially refreshing. Lucky Duck! Since Charlie had seen most everything in Cars Land and he was still going strong, we decided to walk through Bugs Land. But, wait! We found Red!

In Bugs Land we rode a couple of rides. We've seen a lot of wonderful characters but hadn't taken him on any rides yet. First stop was a favorite of ours: Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. It's just adorable.

When that ride was over, he was hooked. He wanted to ride something else too! We moved on to the spinning ladybug ride. I do not enjoy spinning, but Charlie wanted to ride. Brit and I had a little stare-down to see who had to go with him, she's as big a fan of spinning as I am. I lost. I had to spin. Libby wasn't even having any of that nonsense. Aside from the nauseating spinning, it was great! He was so excited and happy on that ride! He just loved it! What fun!

He was doing great, so we kept going. We decided to hit another attraction of one of his favorite movies: Monsters, Inc. He'll love that!  Along the way, we ran into Mr. Frozone from The Incredibles. Freeze!

Charlie then tried to find his way into Monsters University, but he couldn't get the door open. Apparently, he's too young for college. This was a photo spot and I'm anxious to see the movie with the kids. I think they'll love it! Again, Libby was stuck like glue to her stroller. She was just enjoying the ride. I'm so glad I brought Brit along to push her around while I was having fun with Charlie.

We went to the Monsters, Inc ride and Charlie was super excited. He wanted to ride in the cars and Libby kept telling him they were taxis and we will be riding in them! She was pretty happy to be telling him what to expect all day long. She's such a pro.

He loved the Monsters, Inc ride! That's no surprise since he loves the movie so much. He thought Randall was scary, but he was brave enough to handle it and in the end, Randall wasn't a threat to anyone, just like the movie.

We came out of the ride and guess who we saw in front of the Monsters University set? Mike!

We didn't wait in line to hug him. Charlie didn't want to, and I don't blame him. Mike's arms are creepy.  We waved and yelled hello to him from a bit of a distance, which was fun enough.

Charlie was having such a fun day! Brit and I reevaluated our plan. The plan at this point was merely: Stay for more or go home.  We've seen Woody, and really anything else is not important to Charlie. We decided to feed them (and us) and then decide. Food. Always a good idea!

All day long I had been fielding calls and texts from my local mommy friends who were also at Disneyland that day. It seemed like we could all go on the same day and they all wanted to get together while we were all there. I wanted to, but everyone was scattered and I really wanted to focus on Charlie.

I met up for about two minutes with my friend, Kristin and her two lovely girls. They just ate and we needed to grab a bite, so our schedules didn't sync up very well, but we promised to find each other again in an hour or so. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Like their dresses? Look familiar? They look so lovely in them! I was thrilled to see them! I whipped Libby's Rapunzel dress out of the bag under the stroller and tried to shove it on over her head so the three of them would match, but Libby wasn't having it. She claims that she grew and it no longer fits. Darn. Charlie was very excited to see the girls. He knows them well and always loves to see them, but to see them at Disneyland was very cool!

Onward. We went to Downtown Disney to find the taco place that I love. Brit loves that type of food too and Charlie is always a good eater no matter what you give him. Libby only likes churros.  We got our delicious food and Libby threw a crying fit. I was hoping that she would be hungry enough to eat, but no, she only wanted a churro and she was not happy about watching us eat while she waited. This kid!  She wants what she wants when it comes to eating. She was born stubborn like that. We inhaled our food, laughed about that, and Libby fell asleep.

We decided to ride the monorail, or as the kids call it: The Bullet Train. The monorail drops you into Disneyland at Tomorrowland, which means we don't have to go through the crowd at the front gate.

Since Libby was asleep we decided to swap strollers and move Libby to the bigger more comfortable one and Brit walked her into Disneyland while I took Charlie to the Lego store for fun. He loved it. And, he remembered it from a year ago when he went there with his Mom. Up until now, he really didn't have many memories to share of his trip to Disneyland with Lexie, but she didn't take him into California Adventure and that's where we spent our day so far. He loved looking around the Lego Store.

After a quick tour of the Lego store, I took Charlie to the restroom to change a very smelly diaper. But, I quickly discovered that I left the diaper bag in the larger stroller and I didn't have a diaper or wipes with me! Eww, oh no! I couldn't change him. I had to take a super stinky boy on the Bullet Train.

When we got to the Bullet Train, we were put in the first car with the driver. Cool!  Well, it was cool until she blew the horn. I'm sure she appreciated when we got to Tomorrow Land and vacated her little space. I'm betting the smell lingered on.

We saw the Star Wars Jedi Training show as we started our short walk to meet up with Brit and the diaper bag. Charlie was very excited to see Darth Vader!

We found Brit and Libby, who was happily eating a churro. Once we got Charlie changed and happy again, we tried to figure out what to do next. It seemed that he was just about done and we had accomplished a lot. We weren't sure if a train ride would put him over the edge or just be more fun for him. Deciding against the risk of a full on two-year old temper tantrum on a train, we strolled down Main Street toward the exit.

Our tour of Disneyland was brief, but good enough. It was actually too crowded to be enjoyable anyway. Once we left Main Street and entered the front entryway between the ticket gates and the train station, we were happy to discover Ariel the Little Mermaid turned princess!  How exciting!

Libby wanted to see her and Charlie did too. Libby didn't get to go to the Princess Fantasy Faire like she wanted to, so this was a special treat to have Ariel right there. We stood in line to see her, but by the time it was our turn, Libby changed her mind and hid in the stroller. Charlie was ready for a princess hug though. He ran right to her and hugged her like they were long lost friends. Such a sweet hug! She loved him right back and it was beyond adorable!

I think we made the right decision to leave at this point. We were at the resort for over 6 hours, the kids were good but getting tired. They smiled their little faces off and they were done. Brit and I were done too, we both felt great about the day. A person can't do everything in one day but we did the best we could and we did pretty well. Its best to leave on a high note rather than leave with a crying screaming kid, so we did just that. Back to the parking lot tram for our last ride of the day.

It was such a wonderful feeling to take my grandson to Disneyland and enjoy this special day with him. I'm very happy that Libby and Brit came along to make it more fun! I think bringing Babysitter Brit along was the ideal way to spend the day. Thank you, Brit!

Whale Watching - Best School Field Trip Ever

When I was a kid in a little town in Montana going to public school, we didn't go on any field trips. Or, if we did, I don't remember them. My sister's class all went on a field trip once, they walked across the street to our house to see a live turkey in our backyard. His name was Fuzzy and we ate him for Thanksgiving dinner. She should blog about that someday. Anyway, that's the only time I can recall anyone ever going on a school field trip.

My older two daughters went to elementary school in South Dakota. They went on one field trip. Every year the fourth graders went to an event called "Ag Day" and they went somewhere that the 4-H kids had set up convention style with booths. Booths of livestock and farm information.

Gracie's school has totally blown me away. They have a field trip every month and this month: Whale Watching Cruise. Oh yeah!  Montana and South Dakota have got nothing on California! This school rocks!!!

For a two hour whale watching cruise, the cost per person was $11. The museums cost more than that!

We got up early and left early because the cruise was out of Newport Beach which is a little over an hour away in perfect conditions. But on a weekday morning, we had to battle the commuter traffic on one of the busiest freeways in the state. This means we were traveling at top speeds of 20 and sitting parked on the freeway when it would come to an unexplainable halt. So boring!  We squeezed Gracie, Libby and Charlie in the back seat and with them squished together the ride seemed even longer. It took us two hours to get there, but we made it on time.

We checked in and waited for 45 minutes to board the boat. The kids have now been bored to death for 3 hours.

The people who paid regular price for their tickets were boarded first, and they were sent to the upper deck. The school group was loaded onto the main deck.  The boat looked smaller than it was. A long line of people boarded and there was still room for us. Everyone was choosing just the right spot to sit, little did we realize that everyone would shuffle around and trade places over and over again.

My first thought while on the lower deck was that if anyone on the upper deck were to lean over the railing in the midst of sea-sickness, the puke will land on the people below. That'd be me.

Newport Beach Harbor is beautiful! The weather was awesome too. Even the kids enjoyed the harbor and seeing the boats and homes along the shore with the Los Angeles skyline on the horizon. Very pretty!

So far the ride was nice and smooth, but the kids were hanging onto the railing for dear life. Libby already didn't like the motion of the boat on the water and we were going slow on the easy stretch. Might be a long cruise for the kid.

As soon as we were in the ocean water, we saw sea lions on a buoy. All of the kids on the boat were super excited!

And.... now the kids are bored. And cold. And feeling queasy.

We went into the cabin and sat in a booth. Now they wanted candy and crap from the snack counter. I brought snacks, but they want overpriced sugar from the boat guy. No. 

This is going to be a very long two hour cruise.

After a while we came upon a pod of dolphins. We saw several pods of dolphins, one group after another. It was great! The kids loved seeing the dolphins swim alongside the boat. They jumped and squealed and waved their flippers and tails. I'm sure they were very happy to see the boat full of school kids!

Everyone wanted to see a whale, but the dolphins were very fun to watch. We never did see any whales.

Actually, I was glad that we didn't see any whales. The thought of whales made me nervous. What if they bump the boat and tip us over? I know, these whale watching cruises run multiple times a day and they didn't mention that whales tend to tip over the boat and eat the passengers, but that thought was prominent on my mind.

The teacher asked me if I heard the safety announcements at the top of the cruise, and it occurred to me that I hadn't.  But I did a quick scan earlier to look for marked storage places where floatation devices were. Someone else said they heard the safety schpeel, so I must not have been paying attention when it was announced. Not that it mattered, the idea of whales still made me nervous.

More dolphins! Yay!

Libby didn't care about any of the dolphin watching. She was queasy and cold and miserable. She really didn't like the motion of the boat.

Charlie was feeling confined. The boat wasn't big and he wasn't allowed to run amuck. He's two! He must run around! Poor kid. Gracie wanted to run with her friends and swing on the railings and jump over people and squeeze through others. One hour to go.

More dolphins! Look kids! Dolphins!  They didn't care any more.

At this point, the whales could come and put us out of our misery. Yes, that's how much the kids were enjoying the cruise. 

At least Gracie was having fun with her school friends. I was so glad she was having a good time and hanging with her friends! She had been doing a lot of recent complaining about fitting in socially and idolizing some other kids in her class, all of that finding her place in the social construct of the playground sort of thing. This was great to see her interact with her peers and I found out first hand that she exaggerates her social woes. She's just fine and her friends treat her well and she has nothing to complain about. I was actually worrying about her. This cruise was good for that anyway.

Libby and Charlie fell asleep. Yes!!! They won't give me that "Can you make this super disappointing boat ride end already" look anymore.

When we were returning to the harbor, we saw a huge swarm of seagulls attacking the water. The Captain said they were eating anchovies. It was kind of creepy and weird.

Just like that, the whale watching cruise was done! Yay! It was great! Ok, I am just trying to convince myself that it was great. It was boring and the kids were too confined for their enjoyment. The school kids loved it, but they are old enough to get a bigger thrill out of it than the two littler kids. Gracie had a great time. I was so happy to get off of that boat with the kids!

We searched for a playground near the dock or anywhere near, actually. These kids were as well behaved as they could have been and they had 5 hours of pent up energy, and were recharged by short naps. A two hour drive home would not be easy if they don't play.

There are no playgrounds at Newport Beach.

None.

Luckily, it only took an hour and a half to get home and that included a stop for fast food lunch.

Now if you ask the kids, they will say how much fun they had when we went on a big boat in the ocean. They saw dolphins and birds and can't wait to go again!  I love that their memory of the day is so much happier than the actual cruise was. That makes it worth the hassle.

None of them puked. And nobody on the top deck puked on the people on the lower deck (specifically, me). Nobody fell overboard. Whales did not tip us over. 

With that, I declare the whale watching trip a total success! Let's do it again!

Happy 105th Birthday to my Grandma!

Only the best people can celebrate 105 birthdays. Only the most resilient, stubborn, adventurous, confident, graceful, delightful, commanding, caring, generous, compassionate, respected, intelligent, loving people can stand strong for so long. My grandma Grace is celebrating her 105th birthday today. She is legendary!

What do you give to someone who is celebrating a 105th birthday? Any and all gifts are just more junk and clutter for her to shuffle around.

Sending flowers is ridiculously expensive and they don't deliver to her home. They'll deliver to the gas station in town, but they won't go all the way out to her house unless they are sent via FedEx. She usually receives a few bouquets of flowers anyway, so I didn't do that.

Someone suggested that I buy a star and name it after her. Well, that's a great idea, but a star? I don't think  you can really own a star. I think you and pay someone and think you own a star, but I am pretty sure that's it. I decided I will wait until its dark out, look up and name 105 stars "Gracie".

I am supposed to be sewing a pair of pajamas for her and I thought for sure that I would have that done by the time  her birthday and Mother's Day rolled around. But, I have stitches in my finger and it isn't healing very quickly so I am still not able to sew. I can type because I can backspace over my mistakes. That isn't so easy to do when sewing!

Years ago, I gave her a gift certificate to the local chocolate shop, but one of her friends was making a decadent chocolate cake for her and that might be enough chocolate.

Hmmm....

All of this thinking amounted to no more than a hill of beans. The day is today and I didn't even send a card yet! Gosh, how could I have let the time go along so fast and not get a card in the mail. I really need to aspire to be more like my grandma.  She never ever forgets a birthday, holiday or special occasion. Ever! She's very thoughtful and organized.

I guess my gift to my grandma is my admiration of her and my desire to be more like her. Someday I will get this birthday thing figured out and learn to mail cards in a timely manner. You know... Before the birthday! 

I know my mother tried to teach these values to me at a young age, and at a not so young age she's still trying to teach me. It's not her fault that I am slow to pick up on this the concept of how a calendar works and plan ahead and things like that. I have been trying to teach my kids too. Hopefully it will catch on in the next generation! We went to Disneyland yesterday and we remembered Great Grandma on all of our adventures during the day since she gave us the passes. We have been telling everyone that she is 105 years old today. And, Libby and I baked cake-pops and covered them with chocolate so that we could celebrate Grandma's birthday here at home in her honor.

I am going to count myself lucky x105 because my grandma still loves me even though I am not there for her birthday and I forgot to mail her card. She knows I adore her and love her very much, but I've got a lot to learn!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!  See you in a month or two!