More funny things...

Here are the ALL three girls playing Wii...

Liberty riding the Vacuum...

For Don...

Bizzie's Graduation:

In short, she was Be-awesome! I could ALWAYS hear her, she was happy and confident and so excited that Autumn and Grandma & Poppa Olsen were there. I am putting on my favorite videos so you can get a sense of how she did - there are, of course, many more at home for you to look at:).

They marched onto the mat and the program started with the Pledge of Allegiance. We all turned to face the flag, the parents started our rote way of saying the pledge when, LOUDLY, in the background you hear one little girl's voice enthusiastically saying the words too (Autumn quickly leans over and says, "Mom! That's Bizzie!") I quickly grabbed the camera but by then the other kids had caught on and were joining her...

Next they did a song I knew you would appreciate...

This song was cute watching them try to figure out how to hold all the shapes they were given...

Here is Bizzie's part, she was loud, clear and enthusiastic - I AM STILL GLOWING WITH PRIDE!

Bizzie did a little gymnastics performance...

And then received her diploma...

Truely, she was perfect.

The Boring Trip: Day 3

Meeting the Characters...
The girls woke giddy this morning - they were going to be having breakfast with Chip 'n Dale's friends! As we walked into breakfast Don and I quickly realized NONE of us were going to get much breakfast inside of us...the characters were walking around to each table hamming it up with the guests signing autograph books and getting pictures taken and we were all to enthralled to eat... With her eyes bugging out, Autumn was trying to exercise quiet decorum fit for her entire 9 years of age but I felt like leaning over and reminding her to blink! Bizzie shyly stayed by Don but after her first introduction to Dale she quickly got into hugging all of them...Liberty was more occupied with the cases of jam and syrup than anything else, and Don & I were occupied with taking pictures and trying to keep goofy grins off of our own faces over the utter joy that was spilling across our girls'!

Baloo

Koda DaleChip Pluto

The Magic of Disney...
I still have distinct memories of seeing the flower mickey mouse outside Disneyland and thinking this was the most exciting day of my life, but Don and I agree that being a parent and watching your children walk giddy pass the Mickey flowers, wide-eyed onto Main Street, in awe at seeing Mickey/Goofy/Donald in real life and watching them be filled with uncontainable glee as they see the Princess Castle is infinitely better...




Fantasyland...

Dumbo

Casey Jr. (This was Don's favorite ride as a kid and it his dream to recreate it in our backyard as an adult, hence the recording of the ENTIRE ride...)

It's a Small World (Determined to give the girls the WHOLE Disney experience and knowing we would hear from Grandma Olsen if we didn't expose the girl's to one of her favorite rides Don and I reluctantly boarded the boat for this ride...Liberty has been pretty passive throughout all of this trip thus far, her most common reaction is to put her thumb in her mouth and cling to her blankie, but she came unglued on this ride...seriously - she LOVED it! We had a time of it trying to keep her in the boat as she tried to see everything on both sides, clapping and bopping to the music at the same time! Unfortunately the video was too long to download...)

At this point we were pretty exhausted and Don came up with the most simple but ingenious plan EVER - he bought me a Diet Coke. AND he suggested we ride the train around the park for a breather...it was such a nice break and we were ready to trek to Frontierland by the time the train went full circle.

Frontierland...
We found, tucked away at the back of frontierland, a petting zoo complete with "Maggie" the cow, which Don, Autumn, and Bizzie loved...

We were pretty hungry at this point and had been waiting to be served for awhile which is the only explanation I can come up with for the silliness of this video...

Adventureland...

While Don and Autumn rode the new Indiana Jones ride (these two are fast & crazy ride buddies), Bizzie - Liberty - and I went to get our first glimpse of a REAL princess at Jasmine & Aladin's house...Bizzie waited very patiently in line unaware of where it was taking us until she could see in the door and she went still... quietly she walked up to Jasmine who took her hand and began talking to her sweetly, asking questions about what she's seen and what she liked ... It was interesting watching how different my girls are - Autumn wears her thoughts and feelings on her sleeve and true to form was chatting excitedly with Aladin; and Bizzie keeps her thoughts very close, but every now and then you get glimpses of BIG thoughts tumbling around in her mind and it was fun realizing that the thought she was grappling with is "Princesses ARE real"...from that moment on Jasmine was her princess.

As we were on our way to Tomorrowland Fairy Godmother was strolling pass the Castle so we stopped to meet her ... she was pretty funny talking about the hastle of keeping the mice in order and losing her wand this morning...

Tomorrowland...

We rode the Buzzlightyear ride and while waiting for Space Mountain to re-open Don really wanted the girls to try this Jedi training show. He explained to me that if chosen they would get to put on a robe and wave around fake lightsabers... I thought it seemed cute but there was sooo many other things we could be doing, but when Don gets his little boy excited look in his eyes I can't say no. Video camera out and armed we were pleased that both Autumn and Bizzie were chosen to train with the Jedi Masters they did everything Don said they would: they put on robes and trained with the lightsabers (Autumn was a great big sister and the Jedi Masters were kind as they both spent a few minutes helping little Bizzie get her lightsaber to stay out...) and I was just thinking "how cute, that was fun and that must be the end" when Darth Vader music started playing, Stormtroopers came down the ramp, smoke spilled off the stage as Darth Vader rose out of the mist onto the stage, then, jumping out of the pit, came Darth Maul!!! In the background I hear Darth Vader saying that the test of a true Jedi is to fight the dark side and conquer, at that point I looked at Don with a mixture of loathing and anger and said "what did you get my babies into!!!" He just shrugged his shoulders, eyes a little wide but unable to hide his happiness over the coolness of it all! It was pretty cool... and I was so insanely proud of how brave both Autumn and Bizzie were as they faced off with Darth Maul!! Again the video was too long to download but we got some cool pictures...

Young Padawan Bizzie: Young Padawan Autumn: We ended the day with an exhausting trek to the Rain Forest Cafe where we put food in our mouths as fast as we could so we could go relax in the swimming pool. Then Don took Autumn to the movies for a Daddy-daughter Birthday treat while Bizzie and Liberty conked out almost immediately!!! Wow! What a day!

For Don...

Don is out of town so in-between Disney recaps I wanted to send him pictures of the happenings with his girls... Liberty has pink-eye and we had been cooped in the house all day so I took care of some quick obligations at church and took the girls up Hobble Creek Canyon where we couldn't infect anyone with goopy eyes but still get our wiggles out. I tried the left fork first but that brought me to the dreaded teeth jarring dirt road so I back tracked to the right canyon and just beyond the Cherry Campground was this trail by the river...(I had to tell Bizzie not to be "Simba" - note the Lion King shirt - after taking a quick glance at this picture...you'll notice there is two of each picture one with Bizzie as Simba and the other where I try to get a "normal" shot...although it is probably more normal for one of the girls to be pretending to be something than not...)

A long time ago someone had tossed an apple on the side of the road and as a result these beautiful blooms stood out from the surrounding pines and scrub oak to catch our eye... such a girl trip!

Don, the end of this video made me laugh - much like the scenario you caught when you called to check in today - we are happy, happy, happy and at the blink of an eye BAM! drama happens, feelings are hurt, angry eyes and short words come out and just as quickly we are happy, happy, happy again... You poor, poor man - it will be interesting to see as the years bring us into young adulthood what talent you will master as you lock yourself away once a month for a few days to shield yourself from a stage of an even higher-strung emotional scenario....bless you...

The Boring Trip: Day 2

Oh, Babylon - oh, Babylon we bid thee farewell...

Here we are looking out one last time from our 32nd floor window at Vegas below. It was a fun, quick stay but Don and I were excited to leave it behind and go to Disneyland!!! So, after re-lugging all our luggage back through the casino, filling the car up with gas, purchasing my much needed Diet Coke, and asking directions to the highway from the friendly sun-wrinkled, cigarette raspy-voiced gas attendant lady, "Sweetheart, you take a left at that light and you're there honey" - we were finally on our way!

Saved by the ipod...

After traveling for several hours and less than 15 minutes from our hotel Liberty declared, "I've had it! I want out!" (of course, in fewer more to-the-point words/sounds/screams...). So I grabbed the thing closest to me to entertain her - the ipod - I quickly put it on the farm animal noises and handed it to her... for the final minutes of our car trip we heard "moo" and Liberty's responding uncontrolled glee, then "baa" and more glee and so on...I managed to record some of the final gleeful moments here:

The Disney Grand Californian Hotel...

As the hotel came into view, we saw kids were walking around with Mickey balloons and valets were showing up to take our luggage I couldn't help myself, I screamed to let out my long-bottled excitement causing the girls to jump up and down in their seats in glee leaving only Don in a state of quiet decorum when the valet opened the door to the van...oops:)
The hotel is patterned after the old National Park Lodges and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of nostalgia as I walked into the lobby as it reminded me of the the Yellowstone Lodge...
This is the giant fireplace in the lobby...that the girls sat at the next day in kid sized rocking chairs to listen to bedtime stories from a park ranger storyteller...

Here are Autumn and Bizzie watching old Disney cartoons in the kid's corner of the lobby while we check in to the hotel...

The art of seeing it all...

Don and I were so grateful for this program RideMax it has a list of all the rides at California and Disneyland and lets you choose the rides you want to do that day and then makes an agenda on when to do what ride (it plans ride proximity's, line waiting time, when to run and get a Fast Pass for a ride later that day and breaks). The one day we didn't us it we walked around frustrated feeling like we were wasting time finding rides with the shortest lines... So, while the girls explored the room with it's bunk beds, shower curtains with Bambi & Thumper on them and the patio overlooking CALIFORNIA, Don got onto RideMax and planned the afternoon and evening rides and off we went!!!!!

We rode Pirates of Caribbean (I was grateful for purchasing sunglasses for the girls because Bizzie kept them on throughout the ride...helped her feel safe I guess...). The updated the ride in 2006 to include the cast from the movies but it still has that nostalgic smell of tar and water that I remembered and love!

Next we hit the Haunted Mansion (which still gives me the willies) then it was time for Splash Mountain! Here we are waiting in line (Don didn't have time to go but we got him on it later in the day so look for the video of his bravery!):

Dinner at the Blue Bayou...

This was delicious!!!! The atmosphere was cool, too. It was dark and felt like an evening on the bayou with the pirates of Caribbean water on the edge of the restaurant. Pricey, but well worth the money and by far the best tasting food of the trip (sushi in Vegas not included)! Here's a picture of the restaurant inside:

We went to Fantasyland next...the girls were wide eyed as they walked through the castle, we went on Snow White and the Carousal just taking it easy...

Then while everyone else lined up for the parade we went back to Splash Mountain so Don could have his moment of glory if you look closely you can see Don's tonsils as he goes down (autumn is squished in front of him).

We spent a moment in the Hundred Acre Woods and called it a night by going back to the Hotel and taking a dip in the pool before heading to our room for Disney Chocolates on our pillows and a special channel on the tv with Belle telling a bedtime story...

What a day!! I love time just with the family no cell phones, interruptions, or obligations just us having so much fun.

The Boring Trip: Day 1

Boring Trip Revealed...

Don and I wanted to surprise the girls with their first trip to Disneyland and so when we referred to our upcoming trip it got nicknamed "The Boring Trip" with the girls thinking we were tagging along with Dad on one of his business trips with fun things squeezed in. They seemed okay with the prospect so with Christmas glee Don and I laid this out for them the night before with a note from Mickey saying: "...get into the van because they were going to Disneyland..." They were bleary eyed and confused (having never been to Disneyland) but sensed this was good news:). I am positive the next time we let them know we are going to Disneyland (now that they've been) we will have to peel them of the ceiling!!!!

Stepping out the door...

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," He used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien

Here we are, about to be swept off on our adventure!!!
We arrived at Las Vegas in good time and went to Yama Sushi for a late lunch (Don had researched this place out - it was SO good...) with full stomachs, me covered with Miso soup (thanks to Liberty's love of throwing things near her on the ground), and all of us loaded down with suitcases (Bizzie and Autumn included) we walked the miles into the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Here are the girls enjoying the giant aquarium in the lobby...

Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef Aquarium:

We had just enough time (before that's night adventure) to go through Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef Aquarium, the girls really enjoyed this 1) they were able to get their wiggles out 2) it was a great collection of sharks, piranhas, jellyfish, and other cool sea life 3) they got to pet manta rays and go through tunnels and fake sunk ships to watch the sharks swim all around them (I found moments of panic when the sharks seemingly would swim right at you and I found myself wanting to put myself between the sharks and the girls!!!)

Lion King!!!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this. I had heard the costumes in the Lion King Musical were different and Bizzie had never sat through a stage production before. My verdict?! Wow. Super Wow. The costumes and affects were different but very cool. It was the perfect Musical for the girls - colorful, very similar to the movie so they could follow along easy, and great music!!! The seats Don got for us helped a lot too, they were near the front and in the middle so they could see everything happening... (Autumn loved the way the lions fought and the book she is holding - the book was great because it showed the girls ahead of time what the different characters were going to look like.) (Bizzie's favorite parts were the Skittles and "the green guy" (Timone)...

(The girls are taking the lioness fighting stance...)

Such a cool day!! Don had cheesecake waiting for us in our room and had done wonderful with Liberty in the hotel room waiting for us. Our new Sit n' Stand stroller proved it's worth by serving as a caddy for Don bringing in the rest of our luggage. I laugh picturing Don with a stroller loaded down with luggage strolling through the casino, the image he created must have gotten a lot of stares from the "normal" crowd... (it was all old people & single people - no kids, no strollers and to get to the rooms you have to go through the casino portion of the hotel).