We finally made it to Disneyland!!

We've been wanting to take Conner and Kali to Disneyland since they were preschoolers and it never worked out. But this past week we finally got to take them! What a great trip! We flew there, which was great! We didn't have to hear, "are we there yet?" one time! Conner and Sophie haven't been on a plane since they were babies so it was like a first for them both.

We stayed at the Portofina Inn & Suites which was a quick 15 minute walk to Disneyland. The room had a king bed, bunk beds and then Sophie slept on the couch. Jimmy took Conner and Kali around on the bigger rides, Sophie and I hit the little ones and then we met up to do some that we could all do. Since I had the camera, Sophie is in the pictures the most.

We stayed in Disneyland for 1 1/2 days and then California Adventure the other half of the time. I loved seeing how excited the kids were to go on the rides. Sophie was adorable and would yell out words over and over again while we were on the rides. I had a stroller that I took around but sometime we would just park it and she would walk with me. She learned this new thing while we were there because I tell her I'm not going to hold you most of the time when she wants to be carried. So now she shuffles in front of me, turns around and says "hug you mommy". (that really means, pick me up and carry me but I can't say no to a hug when she uses her cute little voice)

Jimmy was a trooper. He took Conner and Kali on California Screaming about 10 times. The line was short so they just kept going. They went on Tower of Terror and Kali said she thought she was going to die. I wish I could have gone on some of the big rides. I did get to go on Indianna Jones with Kali and Soaring over California with Conner. Hopefully, we can go again in about 3 years when the baby is about 3. Sophie seemed like the perfect age for her first time.

Here are some pics from the trip-


Sophie kept on seeing the cotton candy and wanted it every time we past it. Finally on our last day there we broke down and got her some. She licked it a few times like a sucker and didn't like it much. None of the rest of us like it so I guess all we got was a cute picture for $5 and the knowledge that Sophie doesn't really like cotton candy.
Kali got her face painted on the last day too. By the end of the trip, we were giving in more to little demands. We spent a fortune on popcorn, corndogs, water, icecream sandwiches, hotdogs- all the junk we never usually eat! Good thing we were walking around so much to help minimize the damage.

Next to our hotel there was a little shirt shop that sold shirts for cheap so we all got matching shirts. They say, "I'm the Boss". We decided we were all pretty bossy so we got 'em.

After Disneyland, we went to Sea World for the day. That was fun to see the killer whales, dolphins, the sharks, fish, and Jimmy, Conner and Kali hit the tube ride. We were all beat from the long days at Disneyland so we only stayed there for a few hours.

Then we went to Corona, CA and stayed with our friends Deb & Stu from back in college. It's always fun to visit with them. I always end up laughing so hard at some point when we are all together. It's so great to get in those really hard, uncontrollable laughs- they don't come often enough. Our kids played great together and we got in a game of Canasta after they all went to bed. We got beat so we'll have to have a rematch next time we see them.

Getting home was bitter sweet. We had such a great time. None of us wanted it to end. We were all exhausted though and ready to sleep in our own beds with Sophie tucked away in her crib. The day we left, I had a cleaning lady come and deep clean so we came home to a sparkling clean house. (usually we leave the house a wreck because I just concentrate on getting us packed and laundry done. I have good intentions but they usually just don't work out) I was so excited to come home to a clean house- I hate coming home to a mess, it makes me just want to leave and I feel overwhelmed.

Ho, ho, ho!

Yesterday we had someone come from our alarm company to fix a sensor connection. When I answered the door, it wasn't one of the young guys that I am used to seeing work for them. It was an older man, I would guess he was in his 60's. I didn't think much of it and he came in and got to work. A few minutes later Sophie came and found me and she said, "Santa at our house, Mommy." The next time I saw him, I looked a little closer. He had a white beard that came down to his collar bone, a red shirt, tucked into black pants, and a round belly. Yep, he looked like Santa. Sophie was so excited she kept on repeating, over and over again that Santa was at her house. The man over heard her and let out a little, "ho, ho, ho!" What a good sport! Then she asked me where the presents were. So now I don't feel as bad for not taking Sophie to the mall this Christmas and letting her sit on Santa's lap- she got a home visit instead. How cool would that be? (this was great for our true or false story game at the dinner table last night)

Welcome Aubree!

On Thurs. my little sister, Camile, had her baby. We got to go see her last night and she is such a little cutie! I always forget how tiny newborns are! My parents are there helping and Aaron has had off work but today Aaron goes back to work and tomorrow my folks are leaving. I always hate it when everyone leaves and the new life starts without any help. She also has a 4 yr old and 3 yr old (girls) so her hands will be full. She is a great mommy though and I know she'll do great. I forgot to take my camera yesterday so here's a link to her blog for some pictures http://aaronandcamile.blogspot.com/.

True or False

Dinner is such an important part of our day. I love to all sit down as a family and hear about each others days. On days that it doesn't end up working out for us to all be together at dinner time I really miss it. Sometimes growing up at the dinner table and now every night in my little family we play a game called true or false. Every person takes a turn telling something (or making something up) that happened to them that day. Then we all say if we think it's true or false. It's fun to hear what the kids come up with and we hear some fun stories this way. It seems like when I ask my kids to tell me about their day they can't think of much to say so this has been a good way to get them to talk to us. I also have fun telling them things that happen to me and Sophie during the day when they are all gone. I find myself thinking during the day that I'll need to remember this to tell everyone tonight. So if you want to try something new at dinner tonight- try playing True or False!

Fun with the Fam

Last week was my 'lil sister, Camile's, bday. She is almost ready to have her baby so I went to her place the day before her birthday to watch her girls while she went to the Dr. Sophie gets so excited to hang out with her cousins, Carlie and Ellie. Then we went out to eat at the Gateway and met Steph there. (Aaron watched the girls while we were gone) It was so fun to hang out with my sisters. We don't get together enough.

On Fri. we went to Bear Lake for the night. We are going to have our Atkin Reunion there this summer so we went to go check out the place we are staying at. It is less than a year old, has 10 master bedrooms and lots of fun things to do inside. We sang some Karaoke, watched part of a movie (while we ate our Cafe Rio), played Guitar Hero, played pool, air hockey, & the kids took a bath all together in their swimsuits. It was a quick trip but it was fun to hang out in such a huge house and have it all to ourselves. We are looking forward to this summer and seeing all the Atkin clan.

Kali's Poem

I'm a Good Friend

Friends do many things together

Friends sit and talk with each other

Friends write to each other

Friends play games

Friends sing together
Friends share their snacks

Friends take walks together

Friends make silly faces

Friends can sit and be very quiet

Friends call on the phone just to say hi

Friends make each other smile

To be a friend, you just need to be you.

What do you do to be a good Friend?

Love, Kali

I kept seeing this little folded up piece of paper that Kali wrote this poem on and I've been meaning to post it for awhile. On the front of the paper it says to: Webkinz. I think she does such a good job describing a friend. I hope Kali always has good friends like she does now. I think back to elementary school, Jr. High and High School and what great friends I had. What an important role friends played in my growing up years.

All made up!

The title of this post is two fold. Yesterday, I went and got my hair done. I wanted a change. I was sick of my roots growing out and feeling like I always had to get an appointment to get it done again or just living with my brown roots. So I took the plunge and got it dyed as close to my natural color as possible. I'm sure it's not exactly the same as my natural but probably pretty close. She also put in a few auburn highlights to add some dimension (the picture doesn't really show that though) So I am still getting used to it. It feels so-o dark to me but I am hoping it grows on me and just feels natural soon. Here's a pic of the new doo.

The other half of the post is Sophie's make-up adventure. While Jimmy and I went out last night, Sophie found my make-up. This could have turned out a lot worse than it did. Thankfully it just ended up on her face and not all over the walls, floor, sink, ect. She was so proud of her lips when we got home. I just had to laugh! It was the 12 hour lipstick that doesn't come off easily so this morning she woke up and her lips were just as bright as ever. I had to take a baby wipe to them and it seemed to help. Her lips are back to normal for the most part. (notice her shirt in the bottom picture- 99% angel. It must have been the 1% non-angel that got into my make-up!)