My Birthday Weekend

Friday was just an easy going day with my mom at the Disneyland Resort. Lisa flew home that morning  so mom and I just mostly saw the shows since the day before we went on all the rides.
We also spent some time in DTD learning about Vinylmation and eating beignets. We needed the full day to do everything we wanted to see. A lot had changed since the last time I was there. it was a really nice day and fun to just spend the day with mom.

 This one's for Lincoln. He LOVES Jake and the Neverland Pirates. 

 Mom and me with Chip and Dale. 

 This is a new show in DCA and it was pretty lame until Mickey started dancing.  He busted out some pretty impressive moves and the show suddenly got better. It was also neat because Mickey's eyes and mouth actually opened and closed throughout the performance.  Technology is definitely getting better!

 The is my new favorite parade.

I loved the fairy like princess dresses. 

Saturday was a super busy day for me. It all started with a visit to Londi at her home. Over the last several years her and her husband had gutted and reconstructed their home. I hadn't seen it since it was in construction and now that it was mostly complete it was nice to see it. We had a wonderful visit and it was so nice to see her. (I'm totally lame and forgot to take a picture of us together.) I left her house and went straight to Brea to meet Kim and Laura for lunch. We've made a tradition of meeting at our favorite hole in the wall Mexican restaurant every time I come to town. We ate yummy food and visited for an hour before I was off to Whittier for my hair appointment. Three hours later I had shorter hair with lighter highlights and I had bangs! Definitely a change for me. 

I spent the evening in downtown Brea with friends. We went for crepes at a little French joint and just spent some time catching up. Calee and I went to the Improv and saw Steve Bryne. The show was hilarious and Calee and I always enjoy comedy clubs. It seems we've made the Improv a sisters tradition when we're together. It made for a late night but it was a ton of fun.

 Calee, Me, Laura, Janelle, and Kim at the French diner. 

After sleeping in on Sunday morning I went up to Tevye and Dana's house to meet my new niece, Danica.  She is super cute and a pretty easy going baby.  Later Mom, Calee and Tony, and Aunt Alice joined us for dinner and some birthday cupcakes.  It was a nice relaxing evening. 

 Me with Danica

 Aunt Alice and Danica

 Tennis ball cupcakes that Calee made for me.  Super sweet and thoughtful!

Monday morning I packed up, left the hotel and headed home.  I did make one little stop for a facial but I was eager to get home and see my boys.  That night after dinner we celebrated my birthday with a cake that Ricky made.  I opened a few presents and we just hung out before going to bed fairly early. It was a wonderful ending to a fabulous weekend!

Disneyland For My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!! Our day started with mom meeting us at the hotel for breakfast. We then headed to Company D (the cast member store) for shopping. 
The most special part of the day was lunch...at Club 33 in Disneyland. It was SO much fun. The food was delicious, the history in there is fascinating, and the overall experience was awesome! Lots of great memories from there. Here are a few highlights from lunch in the Club:
•riding in the elevator (it's an old school one)
• going out on the balconies overlooking New Orleans Square
•laughing because mom didn't like that the cast member folded her napkin everytime she got up.
•sparkles on the cupcakes and cookies
•meeting Don Nixon, nephew of Richard Nixon
•getting a Mickey Mouse birthday cake

After lunch we set out to play in the park. It wasn't very crowded so we got to do a lot of things. Mom also hooked us up with fast passes. We tried to do all the big rides since we can't do those when we have our kiddos with us. A few things were closed for refurbishing but we still did a lot. 
• Splash Mountain
•Big Thunder
Indiana Jones
Pirates
Captain EO
Star Tours
Space Mountain
The Castle
Toy Story Mania
Ariel's Underwater Adventure
Tower of Terror

The park closed at 8:00 pm, which is pretty early but we strolled down main street and shopped until the park closed. Then we went back to DTD to close out the night.

It was such a fun day and I'm so glad I got to spend it with Mom and Lisa. I did missy Ricky and the boys but it was a great way to celebrate the big 3-0.  

Lisa and me at the top of Main St. 

 Lisa, Me, Pluto and Mom. 

 I got lots of kisses from Mickey since it was my birthday!!

 Club 33

 In front of the elevator in Club 33

 Lisa in the dining room. We got the best seats in the place - right in the back corner with doors to two balconies. 

 The dessert bar - yummy!

 We loved all the sparkles on the desserts. 

 Don Nixon

 This picture is for Calee.  

 Lisa is pointing to where we were sitting in Club 33 - right in the corner. 

 They thought they were so funny getting their Club 33 napkins. 

 This was a fun surprise. I didn't realize Captain EO came back. I loved it!

 This one was for my boys!

 When I started to see the characters that the boys liked it made me start to miss them. 

That day was my first time on the Ariel ride. It was super cute!

Lisa got a special one of a kind wine glass at the Ariba shop on main street. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was last week and I hit the big 3 - 0.  Everyone acts as if I should be worried that I'm actually 30 but to me the reality is that I can't control it.  It came whether I wanted it to or not so I'm just embracing it. My birthday present from Ricky was a girls trip to California. No kiddos. Just me doing whatever I wanted to do.
My birthday weekend celebration was off to a good start. My friend Lisa and I started our drive just after lunch and made a stop at the Cabazon outlets for dinner and some shopping. The time seemed to fly by since Lisa and I talked all the way there. We checked into the hotel about 8:00 pm and headed to Downtown Disney. We didnt stay long because we were pretty tired and had a long day planned for the next day. Day one of our trip went by quickly but was a fun. 

No I didn't actually wear this hat - just thought it was fun for a picture!

Weekend Visitors

Calee and Tony drove out from Southern CA on Friday to spend the weekend with us. Tony had never been to our house before so we got to give him a tour of our town and all the things we love about it, including a trip to Five Guys. The boys were very excited to have them here and they kept them busy jumping on the trampoline, playing games and Lincoln talked their ear off.  We spent our weekend visiting, shopping, watching a movie, eating and just hanging out. It was a fun weekend and we're glad they came. Both boys are still talking about them....I think they miss their new play buddies!

Calee and I made mom's caramel popcorn recipe for movie night. 

Ricky, Calee and Tony hanging out ready the movie to start. 

Tea Party

I was working in my office yesterday afternoon when my super cute husband walked in and said we were having a tea party!  He actually brought up some hot chocolate for me - in our china.  It's the china set that we got as a wedding gift almost nine years ago and it's the first time we used it! We sat at my desk for a few minutes and drank hot chocolate together. It was super sweet and thoughtful.

Happy New Year!

I was so excited to go to a New Year's Eve party this year.  My tennis partner was going to host a party for our team and others at her house. It's been a long time since Ricky and I have actually gone to a party together.  Only a couple of the ladies from my team have met Ricky and they all wanted to meet him.  (I'm pretty sure they were starting to think he didn't really exist.)  Really he's just been home with the boys during my tennis functions.

After trying to find a babysitter who was available I gave into the idea that we would have to have our own little family party at home.  Nobody was available to babysit.  NYE morning I went to tennis practice and one of my teammates gave me a referral for a babysitter.  Long story short, after I called and talked with her she was available to tend and she actually goes to our church. Logan didn't even make it to the New York New Year.  He was in bed by 8:30.  Ricky and I headed over to the party and had a great time. We visited, ate yummy food, watched fireworks, watched the ball drop, we I danced, and we kissed at midnight!  It was a fun filled evening and it was nice to enjoy some good adult time together.

May 2012 bring everyone much success, good health, more patience and fun memories.
Peace. Joy. Happiness. Happy New Year!

Kim, Kareth, Kristy, Me, Debbie, Linda, Trina, Bam-Bam, Lenore