Disneygiving!

This year Julian's family decided to try something a little different for Thanksgiving.  We had our Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before the holiday so that we could spend Thanksgiving Day at Disneyland!  We drove out the day before Thanksgiving and found a really perfect house waiting for us.  We used Home Away to find a house so that we could spread out more than we could have at a hotel and it was perfect!

On Thanksgiving day we went to Disneyland and we had a really great time! I wasn't sure if the kids would love Disneyland or if they would be agitated by lines and so many people.  We went on the Dumbo ride first because when I was 3 it was my favorite ride and I made my dad go on it with me over and over and over.  The kids both liked the ride but I hadn't planned well for the first line so they were pretty impatient.  We headed over to the teacups next but this time I gave them each a snack cup and things went much better!  After that, we just made sure that we always had snacks for lines and we had a really good time!

Clare took naps in both of her carriers and Grayson did finally pass out in the late afternoon in the stroller but other than that they were very go, go, go!

We went on a lot of rides, visited Mickey, and watched the light parade.  The kids were very cute when we got to meet Mickey.  I wasn't sure if Grayson would like meeting Mickey or if he would get freaked out and try to run away but he was definitely excited!  He didn't really touch Mickey but he was obviously thrilled and Clare was just smiling away the whole time.  We had a very full and fun day!

The day after Thanksgiving we drove out to Newport Beach.  It wasn't super warm but the kids didn't care at all.  It was Clare's first time at the beach and she had a great time playing with the sand and watching her brother run around!  Grayson hadn't been to the beach in over a year and this was the first time where he was able to run around.  He played in the sand, immediately soaked his pants, chased birds, ran around with a stick and threw a ball with Julian and Grandpa Jim.  We had a great time!

The rest of our trip was enjoyed with family.  We spent time in the hot tub, played cards, and watched some football.  We had such a great time and we are grateful the Grandma Tanya suggested this fun trip!

Halloween '15

Happy Halloween!  We had so much fun celebrating this year!  Grayson was finally old enough to understand what was going on and he was very excited to dress up and get candy!  Clare had no idea what was going on but she loved seeing everything that was going on.

I asked Grayson what he wanted to be in September and his response was "I Grayson, Mama!"  I ended up giving him a few different choices of things that he was familiar with and when I asked if he wanted to be Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates (similar to Peter Pan) he got very excited and said "Yeah, Jake! I be a pirate!  Shiver me timbers!"  so it was decided :)  I decided to have Clare be Tinker Bell to go with his costume because honestly, this is probably the only year that I will get to dress them the way that I want to.  I was originally planning on making both of their costumes but planning Clare's birthday party was a bit more work than I expected so I ended up just buying his Captain Jake costume.  I made Clare a simple tutu dress and decorated it with some flowers that were a bit too giant but she looked pretty darn cute in it.

The only picture with the headband on

Practicing his pirate pose

The day before Halloween I dressed the kids up in their other costumes which were purchased at a consignment store after a friend texted me the idea.  Way back when we were still dating and during the first several years of our marriage, Julian would always joke about how we were going to have two boys and name them Calvin and Hobbes.  His plan was to dress Hobbes up in a tiger costume and send them on adventures together.  He didn't get the two boys but I figured we could still do the costumes as a surprise :)  It was pretty hot here still so they only lasted an hour or so in the costumes but it was just too cute!  I can't wait to see all of the adventures that these two will have together!

On Halloween day, we got the kids dressed up and then Julian and I did basic pirate costumes to go with the kids.  Grayson was extremely excited and he kept saying "I'm Captain Grayson! Shiver me timbers!"  He was hilarious!  Clare tried to eat the flowers on her dress (probably because they kept poking her in the face) and she immediately pulled the headband off of her head,  Julian's parents came over and they were kind enough to bring their wagon so that we could cart the kids around.

 Last year, Grayson only lasted for 3 or 4 houses and Clare only made it to one (she was 11 days old and it was cold in Oklahoma) so I wasn't sure how long we would be out but they both loved it so we spent almost an hour slowly going from house to house.  Clare was content to just watch everything going on around her from the wagon but Grayson had a great time running up to all of the doors.  He is a very friendly little guy who is more than happy to walk up to strangers. I love how outgoing he is!

Checking out their loot :)

We had a great Halloween and I look forward to the next few years of little kid Halloween :)