Na Pali Coast

Today we took a boat tour along the Na Pali coast line. We used the tour group I had found that takes kids, Liko Kauaii. I was nervous about a 5 hour tour with Geoffrey, but he did great. TIme really flew, and we had fun!

The trip out took about 2 hours. We stopped in a pod of spinner dolphins who swam all around us - some of them even jumped and spinned out of the water! Amazing! Geoffrey LOVED seeing them! The coast line was breathtaking - dramatic cliffs, gorgeous colors. On the way out we were against the current and towards the end, the ride got really bumpy. Katelyn and I were sitting towards the back under shade, but Grant and Geoffrey were in the front, where it was the bumpiest. At first, Geoffrey loved this,  but as it got really bumpy, he started to get scared. They moved back to sit with us, but he was pretty nervous for awhile and ended up falling asleep on me. Katelyn did NOT like it when it was super bumpy, either. She was in my carrier and she squeezed with her arma and legs after each bump, and started to cry every once in awhile. I kept talking to her "b ump, bump, bump, weeeeeee - bump, bump, bump - weeeeeeee" and that calmed her down. Also, Donna, who was sitting up front as well, came down from one of those big bumps once and hurt her back - so we're all sort of concerned about what she is going to be feeling tomorrow! The fast, bumpy part lasted about 15 minutes, then we paused (during which time Geoff moved back to sit with me, and some others moved, too) and then another ten.

We turned around at this point making it almost all the way up the coast. Heading back we took in more detail. We went inside TWO sea caves - so cool - and under a water fall! Geoffrey slept through this, but he had done so well in the morning, and had gotten tl see all of those dolphins, so we thought it would be best to let him sleep a bit. Then we stopped to snorkel - I did wake up Geoff for this. At first he didn;t want to get in, but when he did, he loved it. Grant snorkeled and towed Geoff around on a boogie board (Geoff didn't see anything but he just liked swimming.) I took Katelyn in. I used the infant life vest, but I didn't fit it very well and she HATED it. SHe liked the water but couldn't get comfortable and she did ok at first but couldn't get comfortable when Grant took her and so she started crying. She did grat when she got out and Darrel, one of the crew members, held her while I got out.

The crew - Darrel and Rob, by the way, were awesome and super helpful.

After snorkeling we had lunch on the boat and then took about 45 minutes to get back to our boat dock. This was windy and bumpy again, and Geoffrey was nervous again, but he held Nonna's hand and leaned on my arm and he was a real trooper! Katelyn slept for this part so she was ok, too!

After our trip we headed home and rested for a while. Geoff tok that nap on the boat so he didn't nap again, but he rested and played. Then Gary joined us for a little walk to see a sea arch near our unit. Then we all drove to dinner at a brand new restaurant - the Kauai Island Brewery, and then went back to Lapperts for ice cream for dessert.  Sooooooo tired....

Sunday Snorkeling

Today we went to a small beach north of Poipu just next to Beach House Restaurant. After a stop at Snorkel Bob's, we grabbed our gear and headed over. This beach had almost no sand - very short beach area - but grassy areas over at the side. THe waves were pretty big. but we took Geoffrey out on the raft we bought and it worked SO WELL. At first, he wanted to play on the raft - but after falling in a few times he settled in for a ride with his eyes on the glass and he got to see lots of cool fish, coral, and rocks! They went in but Kate was happy on the grass with Nonna and Grandpa and Uncle Blake so I stayed out awhile longer and just enjoyed the peacefulness of snorkeling.

We got lunch at Sueko's - a little window next to a grocery store in Koloa... I got a Hawaiian plate with shrimp and mahi mahi. We ate over at Gary and Donna's unit and then came over to our place to nap. Geoffrey didn't fall asleep until 4:45! Grant and Gary made dinner - we had bought opah and crusted it with macadamia nuts, with rice and veggies. Blake grilled some onions up sweet with sugar - they were really good with the fish.

After dinner, we watched Lilo and Stitch - which of course was appropriate since the movie takes place on kauaii!

Saturday - Waimea Canyon

On Saturday we took a road trip up to Waimea Canyon. So beautiful! The colors were just incredible - reds,oranges, greens, purples, blues - just breath taking. We stopped on our way up and took in the view from many different vistas. We stopped for lunch at the little cafe toward the top. It was really cool to see the colors change from the morning to the afternoon!

On our way down, we stopped at JoJos Shaved Ice - a perfect afternoon treat!

After naps, we went to TomKat's grille for dinner - Grant and I split a Mahi-Mahi sandwich and a Macademina crusted Mahi-Mahi dinner  with this delicious passion fruit cream sauce. SO GOOD. Afterwards we drove out near the old Koloa sugar plantation and find a geocache! SO FUN!!!

Friday - North Share

On Friday, we were greeted with rain. Still, we bravely headed out to find a North Shore beach. Gary, Donna and Blake did their own thing so it was just Grant, Geoff, Kate, and I. On the way, we stopped at subway to get some lunch.

We went, first, to Wailua Falls. It was gorgeous. Geoffrey really got a kick out of seeing it. There was a local there making things out of weaving fronds - hats and baskets and such. He had these cute fish hanging off of a fishing pole reed - and we decided to get one for Geoffrey - and the man gave us one for free! So awesome! Aloha!

We headed to Moloa'a Beach  - which was on the north/east end of Kauaii. The beach access was far away from the good part of the beach, but we found another awesome entrance - unfortunately it was through someone's property. Their gate was opened so we went ahead and did it anyway. The beach was awesome - the sand was not too wide, and the edge was covered in trees, so there was plenty of shade (although it was overcast most of the day...) The water was fairly calm and Geoff and Kate both loved being in the water. While we were swimming, a seal  probably a monk seal, swam really close to us - maybe 15 feet away! Awesome!!! There were only like two other families on the beach so it was very private! Geoff also loved all the coconuts on the beach. When we left, that gate was closed, but we found another gate that was unlocked. Thank goodness!

On the way home, we researched boat tours of the NaPali coast that allowed infants. We found a tour that sounded great - left from the south at 8:15, accepted infants, didnt charge for kids under 4... but we were required to provide our own infant life vest. Um, yikes... we called 3 snorkel places and one rented them. We called K-mart and walmart but neither had them... so we put that on hold for now...

The kids slept all the way home and Geoffrey miraculously woke up in a great mood. We had dinner back at the Marriott, we had a prime rib and crab legs buffet... so delicious!!!

We stopped by walmart on the way home and they did have an infant life vest (glad we didnt rely on the phone call) so we're good to go!

Thursday - Lihue

Today we started with a ride on the Grove Farm steam train at the old Lihue Sugar mill. These tracks are slowly being restored. Although the train trip itself wasn't very long, it was awesome to hear the stories of what life was like on Kauai when the sugar mill was in its hey-day!

After the train trip, Geoffrey created his own playground on a stack of extra railroad tracks and did "work" by carrying sticks across the tracks and hefting them onto a flatbed. We stayed for a bit and then headed over to the Marriott where they had an awesome koi pond. When you fed the koi, they piled on top of eachother in a crazy frenzy. Geoffrey got to feed the koi and even pet them because they were so compacted together.

We walked around the grounds - the pool was beautiful and their stretch of beach was gorgeous. The NCL Pride of America was in port. We walked to Kalapaki beach hut and had burgers for lunch. They had a small seating area upstairs with high booths that you could sit in and see the view of the ocean from the restaurant. For desert we had the most delicious shaved ice - the texture was soft and velvety - perfect! 

After we walked back to our car, we drove out to Nanini Point - there is a cool lighthouse, as well as a 180 degree view of the ocean.... and a geocache! Yes, I remembered to look up some Kauai geocaches and I was excited to find one!

We swung by walmart and then headed home.

We had dinner at our condos tonight - we ate over in Gary and Donna's unit tonight. M academia mahi-mahi, sweet potatoes, rice, some raddishes we got at the farmer's market, and salad. Oh and fresh pineapple! Yum!

Afterwards we went out to the parking lot to try to fly a kite, and then took a walk down to the beach to look for sea turtles and throw rocks in the ocean as the sun set...

Katelyn 6 1/2 months

Katelyn has been doing so well with her sitting up! She can't get there herself, but when I put her in a sitting position she will stay up for quite some time - and she LOVES to be upright! She hates to be on her back when she can't see what is going on, and she will constantly look up in a crunch fashion. She gets very frustrated when she is down because she can't get up. I'm trying to give her lots of floor time but she sometimes just lays there and plays, or stomach crunches, or cries instead of trying to roll over or sit up herself.

She also sat in a restaurant high chair at brick oven pizza last night here on Kauai and also the other night at Kieko's Paraside - that was her first time! She was wobbly but did really well, and last night I put the ergo baby carrier in the high chair for a little extra padding...

Feeding - we bought some baby food today. So far she's had rice cereal, home made green beans, some avacado and some banana. Tonight she had baby food carrots. SHe deemed interested and had a few bites and seemed to like it, but she isn't close to having a whole meal yet - she loses interest pretty quickly. We will do carrots and rice cereal for the next two days and then me made sweet potatoes which we will do next!  

Wednesday

Today we celebrated Grant's birthday! We headed to Lydgate Beach and Park. This is a great family beach with a fun park. It is near the airport, and Blake flew in today. We played on the very cool playground for awhile, and then headed to the beach where we did some snorkeling and swimming. Gary and Donna went to get Blake from the airport and brought lunch back from a very Hawaiian spot.

We stayed at the beach through the early afternoon before heading home. Gary and I took the kids home while Donna, Blake, and Grant took a detour to do some shopping.

For dinner, we went to Brick Oven pizza - touted as both the best pizza on the island and the most expensive. We agreed with both assessments! We went to get ice cream for dessert and then headed home.

Just another day in paradise!

Poipu Beach

Today we had our first beach day! So fun! We walked to Poipu beach, which is just a short walk from our unit. The beach immediately in front of us is all rocks, and sea turtles often hang out there - we've seen at least one every time we've walked by. Continue west and you get a small section of beach with huge crashing waves and very little sand - people like to boogie board there, but the water is pretty rough... Just pass that is Poipu beach and park. It has a large grassy area with tables and a play ground, and then sand surrounding some beaches - One particular lagoon is surrounded by rocks and the water is shallow and super calm. We set up here and had some fun in the sun! Geoffrey could swim / wade throughout the whole lagoon easily - it was no deeper than his chest at the deepest. Katelyn spent some time in her raft, and LOVED it! I also put her in a sitting position just where the waves mostly lapped up to her toes and she sat there for, like, 20 minutes. She LOVED it! Beach baby, for sure!

THis beach has lots of cool wild life. Besides the sea turtles, there are many wild chickens roaming around. Also, this beach is a popular spot for the monk seal to come up and sun bathe. They are endangered and thus they are protected animals. There was one on the beach today - the lifeguards had surrounded the area with safety tape so people would leave it alone, but you could get within a few feet to observe the seal and take pictures. Very cool!

After a treat of shaved ice, we headed back to our hotel for showers and lunch. We tried to put Geoff down for a nap but he would have nothing of it. After an hour we gave up. Within 15 minutes he was super fussy and whiny. Arg! We took him with us to the Farmer's Market and he fell asleep right away. So Grant shopped while I stayed in the car (there were only about 6 booths opened when we got there.) We cruised around a bit, stopping at a scenic overlook, glass beach, and spouting horn, taking turns visiting the areas because the kids were asleep in the car. When we got home Geoffrey woke up after a two hour nap in the car. (Katelyn had napped on and off, too).

We went to dinner at Kieko's Paradise which was a delicious seafood restaurant. Geoff got over his fussiness pretty fast when he saw all of the water falls and tiki torches. Katelyn sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and did pretty well as long as we kept a hand close by!  I had a delicious seafood risotto, and everyone else had Opah. Geoffrey was hungry too and ate half of his quesadilla. We shared a Kona pie for dessert which was like a mud pie but with macadamia nut ice cream. So good. (Even Katelyn liked it! heh heh)  We walked around the shops near by and Geoffrey burned off some energy running around d and dancing on the stage before we headed back home! 

SItting Up

Katelyn is sitting up for longer periods of time! She can't get up on her own, but if we set her up, she can stay for quite some time! She LOVES to sit up! She sat in the sand and let the water lap up to her here in Kauai for about 20 minutes and LOVED it! She also sat in a high chair ( a restaurant high chiar) for the first time tonight and did pretty well! She was a little wobbly but as long as we kept a hang close by she did very well!

Time Changes and Big Poops

4:00 AM. Katelyn eats as normal but is wide awake and won't go back to sleep. By 4:30, I decide to check her diaper again, even though I had changed it first thing when she woke up at 4:00 - and what do you know - HUGE POOP, through the clothes, on the sleep sack. Yesssssss... so using the flash light to clean it up woke up Geoffrey (who was sleeping with us this first night because Donna and Gary were in the other room. ) Geoffrey kept trying to sneak out of the room while I kept trying to get Katelyn to go back to sleep while trying to get Geoffrey to lay back down. He opened the door and saw Donna, who had woken up thanks to the time change - and all was lost. If Nonna was up then he could be up, too! Sigh. So I put Katelyn down at 4:55 and then went out and told Geoffrey it was nap time in five minutes. Worth a try, right? Sigh. I made him lay down with us from 5:15 - 6:30 when I finally fell asleep despite Geoffrey's kicking and hitting me with his blanket, and whispering. Once I actually fell asleep he got up and played with Nonna and Grandpa and I slept until 7:30. That last hour felt AMAZING.

Gary and Geoffrey walked down to the beach, saw some sea turtles, and played at the playground. They came back around 9:00. Then, Donna, Grant, and Gary went to Walmart and Costco. Meanwhile, Kate, Geoff and I hung out at the condo and walked around outside a bit. Katelyn was pretty fussy today and spent very little time playing independently - she wanted me to hold her almost all day. She is getting very close to sitting up for longer periods though and she was happy when I was able to sit her up on the couch. Still, she did so well on the flight, we were proud of her, and know that the thime change and being someplce new is hard to adjust to.

Once everyone else got back, we went to the farmer's market. I was expecting mom and pop, but I wasn't expecting it to be so small - so few booths! We got some sweet onions, carrots, ginger, mountain apples, and Gary got me a lei. A Hawaiian woman came up to talk to me about her children and grand children and held my hand the whole time she spoke to me. After we finished shopping, we went to a grocery store to get the rest of the stuff we needed for dinner.

Back at the condo Geoffrey napped while Donna and Gary moved into their unit which is right next to ours... too bad we have to go doen two flights then up two flights to visit each other now!

Grant made a delicious dinner of Macadamia Nut Mahi Mahi, Hawaaian Sweet Bread, and rice with carrots and onions, and fresh pineapple. Delicious!

After dinner, Grant, Gary, Geoff, Kate and I went for a walk. There is a little blow hole just east of our condo. We watched that for a while. Then we walked over to Poipu beach and park. There are wild chickens all over the park and we found them up in the trees for the evening! Geoff wanted to get in the water so we stripped him down to his underwear and he played and splashed and "fished" with his "fishing pole" ( branch) while we watched the sun set. There was this very cool sand bar that led out to a little island of sand and rocks that we walked out to as well.

Such a great night. Bavk at the condo we put the kids to bed and relaxer with an episode of Newsroom. Night!

 

Arrival on Kauaii

Hawaii!!!

We left for Hawaii on Sunday. We had an awesome flight. Our flight left about 1040 in the morning. Geoffrey watched TV for the beginning of it slept for most of the middle of it and was up for the rest for the last hour or so happy and playing. He didn't awesome job. Katelyn slept on and off for most of the flight when she wasn't sleeping she was pretty content to sit and play with her toys. I'm sure she would've liked to spread out, but the flight was packed - in our row for  four we had someone next to us, but he was nice and slept the whole time. Nonna walked around with her little bit and that was nice, but for the most part she sat with me and sometimes daddy and did a really good job. I was able to even able to watch two movies and an episode of glee.

We arrived in Honolulu on time and had about an hour and a half layover before the flight to Kawaii. At the airport there's a garden courtyard that we are able to break in while we were waiting for next flight. There were plumarias which made Donna and I very happy,  lots of neat birds for Geoffrey to see, and it was just nice to be outside in really made you feel like you're in Hawaii and just sitting in the airport. The fight  was quick up-and-down - Katelyn slept the whole thing. When we landed, I sat with the bags while Donna Gary and Grant and Geoffrey went to get the rental cars. We came back loaded up and headed out.

We arrived at our condo about half an hour later,. At this point Katelyn was tired and pretty fussy in the car seat. Got to our condo and check it out. We are three floors up so we loaded up all the bags and brought them up. Donna and Gary will be  in a different condo but there's is not ready till Monday so they stayed with us the first night. What kind of sucks is they have to go down two flights and up two flight to get to their condo so whenever we want to visit each others rooms it's going to be a little bit of a hike-  more than we anticipated since our condos are right next door to each other.

We're staying on Poipu beach. We headed into the small town, Koloa, just north of us and had dinner at a place called TomKats Grill. The town is quite small and there's just a little shopping area where the restaurant is. The restaurant is awesome - very open air with two separate eating areas (maybe three) with walls only on three sides and the fourth side open out to a really nice courtyard with plants and rocks. Donna and Gary called it the cat place because when they were here once in the past there were a lot of cats here. The waitress said there were four  there now and Geoffrey made it his mission to find them all. We found one, a white one called Snowball. It was perfect for dinner, because Geoffrey had a great time running around the courtyard finding pods, moving the rocks around, and just burning off some energy. The waitress thought he was a crack up. Dinner was excellent. Grant and  I went havsies on a mahi-mahi sandwich- so fresh, reminded Me of Bluewater Grill in San Diego- and a Hawaiian plate which had the traditional pork, some ahi poke, macaroni salad, rice and that kind of stuff. It was all delicious. Back at the condo we were pretty beat. We did some unpacking and went to bed.

Aloha!!!

katelyn sitting up

Katleyn is starting to sit up for short periods when I put her in a sitting position! She LOVES to sit up. I also feel a tooth coming soon - can feel the bump - bottom, her right.

Geoffrey's Naps:

Geoffrey's Naps:

 

Geoffrey's sleep / naps are complicated. He only naps about 9 hours a night. But he will nap 3 hours during the day and he naps HARD. About half the time he wakes up from his nap he is drowsy and cranky for most of the evening. He probably needs to cut that nap, but it is such a long one that he seems to need it.

Medieval Times

On Friday, we went to medieval times to celebrate Andrew's 13th birthday. That morning, we also had a field trip at the aquarium with Geoffrey's preschool. So that made for kind of an interesting day. Geoffery fell asleep on the way home from the aquarium, but woke up 15 minutes later because he had to Pee. We were very proud of him for waking up to have to Pee, but that meant he didn't go back to sleep. When we got home we tried to put him down for nap, but he  didn't fall asleep. Until, of course, we left for medieval times. Then he fell asleep. So when we got there he was out like a light. We put him in his stroller and Katelyn in the baby carrier and headed on in. Well, the loud cheering was not exactly the nicest way for him to wake up. He was cranky the whole evening. I can't say really blame him, because it is sort of an intense place - dark crowded lots of cheering and being woken up like that, he probably didn't realize it was going on. Like we at saw Disneyland with him being a little bit afraid of the cars ride and star tours he  is definitely becoming more aware of what's going on around him. That's not to say he wasn't always aware of it but he's starting to internalize it more and project emotions to it… blah blah blah.

Anyways he warmed up towards the end and we were rooting for the Green Knight so that helped a lot. We got home and the next day spent most of the day packing and getting ready for Hawaii.

3rd and 4th of July

 

  As I said in my last post, this week was a busy week. On Tuesday we ended up going to Atlantis park for an Allen Play Date. That was fun -  especially checking out the new splash pad.  Geoffrey loved it and spent a lot of time playing there. We left around two, because my friend Summer was able to lend me her Ergo baby carrier, so we had to drive to South OC to get  it. That worked out well, and so far I really like using the carrier. We also got a call about it used double stroller, the city Mini, on craigslist. So we met the person at the block in orange by the Krispy Kreme, and got ourselves a new double stroller, which we really like. It's the black and red one, and I think it's going to be awesome to use it Disney World.

Wednesday was 4 July. This year because we were so tired, we decided not to go to the Fourth of July parade. Actually turned out pretty well, because we sort of had a block party. Jeff next-door accidentally rented two waterslides, so they put one in front of our house and one in front of his.

The sun never really came out but that's okay -  we had a lot of fun. The waterslides were a lot of fun to go down, and we heated the pool so it was nice and warm. Angie and the kids came over as did Tammy and Andy and Lexi and Tammy's friend Michelle and her granddaughter. We had good food and  fun. Geoffrey took  his nap late though and we woke him up at 7:30 because he was sleeping so late. He never really got happy. The fireworks freaked him out. He did well though and he was brave enough to sit out there with me. But he didn't  go down the park to watch the big scary ones. This is the first year that we were allowed to  buy them again in HB. That was fun, it reminded me of when we were little. Katelyn seem to handle the fireworks well. Katelyn also had a lot of fun and did a good job taking her naps. The hardest part about it was Belle freaking out about the fireworks. as usual, we gave her her tranquilizer, but this year she had a lot of trouble with her bowels and could not stop pooping.  Poor doggie.
Ali in all, though, it was really nice Fourth of July.

Sent from my iPhone

 

Siri

Disclaimer! I have started doing some of my blogs by dictating them to Siri.. This way if I need to hold Kate I can still blog pretty effeciantly - but some of the blogs come out sounding kind of weird - it is hard to dictate in a way that sound natural in writing. So please excuse any odd explanations or run on sentences!

Disneyland - New California Adventure

Summer is here! The first week in July we had a lot of fun stuff to do. On Monday, we went to Disneyland to check out the new California Adventure. Steve was nice enough to sign us in again. We had a lot of fun. First of all, Geoffrey was tall enough to ride the 40 inch rides. There're quite a few ride you can ride when you reach 40 inches. We only tried a few, because we knew some would be too intense already. Even the ones we tried he wasn't too hot about.

It was funny though, because Grant and I were more excited than Geoff was. I don't think he quite got the fact that he was tall enough for these new rides. Although at every ride we went to he had to stand straight up against the sign, hold his hands up.... and he just made it.

The first thing we did was  go to California Adventure. We walked down the new Buena Vista Street, which looked really awesome and really enhanced the entrance to California adventure. Next we headed straight over to Cars Land to check it out. It was pretty crowded but you could tell that they did a really nice job with it. We ate lunch at the restaurant their - flo's diner or something like that?  Lunch was good, and then after looking at the buildings and some of the rides we headed over to soaring over California.

Soaring over California was the first ride Geoffrey went on with a 40 inch height limit. He went with daddy and Steve, while Katelyn and I sat on a bench and watched one of the new atmosphere shows - Minnie's Fly Girls. The show was great and Geoffrey seemed to really enjoy the ride although he was most excited about riding the train he saw at the end of the ride, which of course is the Disneyland train.

Or after Soarin, we headed over to Disneyland. Disneyland actually was not very crowded Monday in July. We got some fast passes but by this point Geoff had fallen asleep in the stroller. So we headed over to Frontierland and New Orleans Sq., and Grant and Steve rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones as single riders while Geoff and Kate napped. Once the kids woke up, we took Geoffrey on Big Thunder Mountain - he was a little skeptical about this one, but seem to like it and would probably be willing to do it again.

At this point, we headed back to California adventure. We went over to radiator Springs and got the baby swap which Steve and Grant then went to use while Geoffrey Katelyn and I wrote Heimlich's Chew Chew train in Bug's Land.  Grant and Steve seem to really enjoy the ride! Then we got some dinner over at that new restaurant by Paradise pier and Graham met up with us. After dinner Geoffrey and I rode radiator Springs while the others went on Heimlich choo-choo train again. I put Geoff on a side seat of radiator Springs instead of the middle because I thought he could see more. Unfortunately the seatbelt dug into his neck so he didn't seem to like it -  especially during the racing part when the seatbelt was against his neck. So I'm not so sure you is crazy about this one but hoping I can get him on again sitting in the middle to give it another try. This is another 40 inch height right. ("I liked it but not the racing part," he says. )

After radiator Springs, we went over to the new Ghirardelli chocolate fountain. Yes! We got my favorite ice cream sundae -  the strike it rich -  and enjoyed it immensely, except the fact that came in the ghetto plastic cup instead of the nice Glass one, but I guess I sort of understand itt since you can take the Sundae with you anywhere in the park and they don't have a way to pick up the glass, but still. After that Steve had to leave and the rest of us headed over to Disneyland. Graham waited with Kaitlyn so grant and I both could  take Geoffrey on Star Tours which is the last 40 inch ride we tried Geoffrey on. Geoff was a little nervous on this one. When we asked him if he liked it afterwards, he said no because of all the boom boom boom! But finally our brave little boy got to go on the ride that he wanted to go on all day long -  the ride he is obsessed with. That's right, the monorail. After the monorail he caught a second wind and so we went on the flying Dumbos and the merry-go-round a few times while Graham and Grant went on Star Tours and then Matterhorn single rider. I forgot to mention the Matterhorn has a new single rider line now that the bobsleds are smaller and only hold three people, and the height limit is taller. But the single Rider works fantastic. We used it earlier in the day and only had to wait less than five minutes while the regular line was at least an hour. Great system. Even when people start to catch on on how to use it, I think it will go fairly quickly.

All in all we had a really nice day at Disneyland. Now I'm getting very excited for Disney World!

Christmas 2011

This year we celebrated Geoffrey's 3rd Christmas. It was a lot of fun because he was so much more aware and into everything! It was somewhat low-key - due to my being very pregnant - but lots of fun, anyway!

The Christmas season started off as we started spotting Christmas Lights on houses. When we would drive places, Geoff would point out and shout "Christmas Lights" whenever he saw them! Gary came over to help Grant put ours up and they look awesome and festive. Geoffrey is happy because he can see the CHristmas lights from his bedroom window.

We put up our Christmas Tree in the living room and our house looks warm and cozy! Geoff got a chocolate advent calendar, and LOVED reading his "chocolate book" every night. By the end of the season, he could recite the beginning of "The Night BEfore Christmas," as well as single "jingle Bells" and "We Wish you a Merry Christmas." He also really loves any of those stuffed animals that sing and danc e - this year, his favorites were a snowman at Nonnas, a snoopy that rang bells, and the barking dog that rolls around.

We went to Irvine Park to ride the Santa Train during its first weekend. Uncle Blake came with us. We loved seeing all of the lights they decorated with. Geoff was very excited but got very shy around Santa and would not sit on his lap or talk to him. None-the-less, we got a cute family picture and Baby #2 got a special North Pole blessing.

Steve signed us into Disney one day, and we spent a full day doing California Adventure and Disneyland. We got to see the Christmas Parade and the CHristmas fireworks, as well as ride "its a small world holiday" and "Haunted Mansion Holiday."

We also visited the Aquarium of the Pacific which had some Christmas decorations put up as well.

On December 23, we went to Nonna and Grandpa's for dinner and stocking gifts.

Christmas Eve saw us in Beaumont at Darci, Scott, Drew, Parker, and Karson's house. Geoff had a lot of fun spending time Grandpa Bob and Grandma DeeDee, and with his cousins, including Taylor, Tristyn, and Josiah - until, that is, he got a snazzy trash truck which pretty much diverted his attention for the rest of the night!

(Trash Trucks were the hit of the season! Also a hit was "Don't Break the Ice" - he is starting to learn how to play games and take turns - although this will take time (the taking turns part) - and a subscription to High 5 magazine. We are slowly doling out the presents though, so we'll see what else he likes as time goes on!)

On Christmas Day we went back to Nonna and Grandpa's to open CHristmas Presents and have dinner. One of the first packages Geoff opened was a trash truck, and he pretty much didn't want to open anything else. We had to hide it and avoid any package that might include a trash truck or else the other gifts may never have been opened!

Mom, Bobby G, and Andy arrived Christmas night. Our Christmas trickled over the next week as Danny gave Geoff a few presents each day. We enjyed cozy days of holiday programing, such as "Mickey's Once Upon a CHristmas" and "Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas," where Geoffrey was introduced to Huey, Dewie and Louie, whom he thinks are hilarious!

Grant, Bobby, and mom have also spent a lot of time working on Geoffrey's new room - it is going to be awesome!

Happy Christmas, 2011

Geoffrey's Birthday

Ug - I am so stressed! Birthday planning is NOT my thing. Will I over plan? Will I under plan? I just don't know.

So Geoffrey's First birthday is coming up in less than 3 weeks - how on Earth did that happen? I know he won't remember the party, but the party is so much more than that - it is to gather together - to thank those who love Geoffrey so much.

We're planning it a Huntington Central Park. We're going to have such a range of ages there, it is hard to figure out what to do. I am hoping the play ground and the ducks at the lake will offer enough entertainment that I don't have to plan too much more.

I just hope that it doesn't rain!

 

My Poor Little Blog

My dear little blog,
I have not forgotten about you. I swear. It has just been a busy, well, year. Welcome to Motherhood, right? But we're all right, you and I. We have a mutual understanding. I know you'll always be there, waiting for me.
I love you, blog.