Part two of our adventure

The next few days of our adventure at Disneyland were filled with lots of ride, junk food, sunscreen, and people.  There were a fair amount of rides that Paige was able to go on and she enjoyed every single one!  The trip was a memorable one and we are looking forward to the next time we get to return to the most magical and happiest place on Earth.  We were blessed that family was able to join us, making the trip even more special. 

While Katelyn and Vanessa were riding Space Mountain, Paige and Daddy road the rockets.

Paige thinking that she can drive.  My whip-lash proved otherwise!

Thank God Walt Disney used all white horses on his carousal in Disneyland (unlike that at California Adventure), because it makes it a lot easier for the girls to get on the ride quicker.  As it is, they still have to debate between which color saddle they want to ride.  The biggest challenge was getting them to stay in the same area of the ride, and not on opposite sides, so that we could keep an eye on them.

Malissa's Mini-Me!  Paige (and the rest of us) were very happy that Malissa and Eric joined us on our adventure.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with them and loads of entertainment watching the girls interact with their Aunt.

Disneyland does an AMAZING firework display.  It truly captures that magical feeling and reassures in you why you are there.

Can you tell who that is flying above the castle during the fireworks show?  It's Tinker Bell!  I was holding a kid up, standing in a very crowded area and only had my small point-and-shoot camera, so I wasn't able to get the shots that I really would have liked to have taken.  But, you can see it's her, even if she is not in focused and really small. 

But wait!  There's more to the fireworks show.  Dumbo flew over the castle too!  I've never seen him fly before in this type of show and it was awesome.  The entire show is timed with music, and it absolutely just blows my mind that someone gets to have so much fun using their creative juices to arrange these shows.

The closest shot I was able to get of Dumbo.

The fireworks painted the sky!

Minnie Mouse was Paige's second most requested person to visit on this trip.  Mickey was first.  But when we saw Minnie, she was so excited to give her a hug and kiss.  It just makes my heart melt at how sweet and innocent she is!

What was Paige's favorite ride, you ask?  The roller coaster!  In Toontown, there is one made for little ones (Gadget Go Coaster) and Paige rode it with her hands in the air the entire time and a huge smile on her face!

Our last birthday celebration at the Blue Bayou.  Remember, by this point, Paige had gotten pretty good at telling people it was her birthday and getting a free dessert (usually to be eaten by her sisters, as she usually was only interested in the attention, but not in actually eating the dessert).

Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Paige could not contain her excitement when she met Mickey.  She covered her mouth, almost in disbelief, that she was actually meeting her favorite character.

Meeting Daisy was a crazy scene.  We were in Toontown and usually when a character comes out to meet people, there is a worker there to do crowd control.  Apparently Daisy decided to take a walk out on her own, which just created a huge crowd with adults pushing in front of small children to get their picture taken, no order or line, just poor Daisy trying to make the kids happy.  So what did Daisy do?  She took control herself!  Seriously, this is one smart duck (remember, they cannot talk, just hand and head movements)!  She started telling people to wait their turn and for others to come up when it was theirs.

We caught Donald as we were leaving the park to head to the airport.  We were all really tired by this point, but still had it in us for one last picture.

Paige on all of her birthdays

Just a few hours old



Celebrating her first birthday with face painting and a yummy cupcake!

All smiles as she turns two!

Turning three!

Paige is THREE!

We celebrated Paige's third birthday a few weeks back, however because it falls towards the end of the school year, which somehow is just as busy as the Christmas season, I'm just now writing about it!

This was the first year that she totally "got it".  She knew that it was her birthday, that she was no longer two years old, that we celebrated her (and only her, no sisters!), and that there would be cake and presents involved somewhere.  For Paige, just for a few days, the world revolved around her and she milked every minute of it!

The beginning of her birthday celebration began at school.Paige's birthday fell on the last day of school for her, so it was a fun little send off before summer break. On each child's birthday at Paige's school, the parents are invited into the classroom to participate in a birthday celebration and share pictures of the child from each year of his/her life. They have a very sweet way to celebrate and honor each year the child has been born, which is demonstrated as the child holds the Earth and walks around a lit candle (representing the sun), with rays coming out (representing each month).The child starts at their birthday month, signified with an empty flower vase, and walks around the sun stopping briefly at their birthday month, adding a flower to the vase and where then the parents shares a picture of the child from that year.  As the child walks around the sun, the children sing "The Earth goes around the sun, the sun, the Earth goes around the sun.  It takes 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days."  After the child has walked around the appropriate amount of times, they then sing happy birthday and he/she gets to blow out the candle.  I had never seen this done before, and it was just beautiful.  First off, what a great way to introduce a lesson about how many months/weeks/day in a year.  Secondly, it showed the children that life happens and they grow from year to year.  We finished the celebration with a little birthday treat.

We went to dinner that night with Papa and Grandma and opened a few presents.  However, her big birthday celebration came the next day as we boarded a plane and went on a fun adventure, which I'll post about next!

A Wonderful Birthday Celebration

Saturday evening, we had family over to celebrate Bill's birthday.  Although Bill was on East Coast time and was quickly turning into a pumpkin (perhaps several glasses of wine was enabling that too!), it was a lovely event, full of yummy food and lots of wine.  The menu consisted of some his favorite foods, so there were no olives or pickles to be found anywhere!  We started the night off with some bruschetta and homemade guacamole.  Then we dined on filet mignon and crab, grilled portabella mushrooms, roasted veggies, and spinach salad.  We finished the evening with angel food cake with vanilla ice cream, berries and homemade whip cream.  Oh, and we had berry pie too!

The BIG 40!

Today is Bill’s birthday…the big one...40!  I had grand plans to take him away for the weekend, drink some fabulous wine and visit the spa.  But then he found out that he had to attend a meeting this week and asked if he could take a rain-check on his birthday plans.  So, while our travel plans get rescheduled for another weekend, and we are not able to celebrate with him in person today, I thought a trip down memory lane would be fun, looking at all of the fun memories that we’ve had together this past year.

Enjoying a father-daughter date at a professional soccer game (in the rain!)

Father's Day 2011

Riding the "Big Momma" with his girls at The Lake

Family date night out at The Lake

Enjoying one of the things he loves

With Vanessa on her first day of school

Zip-lining over beautiful waterfalls in Hawaii

At the southern-most point of the United States

Swimming with Paige in Arizona

Visiting one of the Wonders of the World

An evening out at the start of the Holiday season

Enjoying the magic of the Christmas season with Paige

Helping Vanessa cut down our Christmas tree in the mountains

In one of their favorite places on Earth

Proud Daddy

Baking Christmas cookies with his girls

Even though we are all not together today to celebrate with you, we are always with you in your heart and you in ours.  You give us so much to enjoy in life, constantly giving unselfishly to your family and never asking for anything in return.  You make us a priority and, without your guidance, support, and love, we would not be the strong family unit we are today.  We love you very much, miss you a ton, and wish you another year filled with smiles, laughter and more memories.  Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, to our loving Daddy!

THREE!

Happy Birthday Vanessa!
A few days ago, you turned THREE! What an incredible year this has been for you. A year ago, you were talking in one or two word sentences, still relying on Mommy to translate, and using ASL as a means to get what you wanted. And now, you have an enormous vocabulary, enjoy singing, and at times, I cannot get you to be quiet. I feel that early intervention has been one of the biggest blessings that we were able to provide you. You were denied from the school district for services after three and I am not sure if that is a blessing or not. We are going to continue with several of the sessions that we had already been doing, but now we are more flexible to do what we want and not what the county is telling us to do.

Watching your personality develop has brought a smile to my face. You are funny! There is no kidding about that. Almost every picture we take of you, you are making a funny face. The things you say and do, will often make your Daddy and me laugh. You are my fireball! But I love your intensity and passion, although when you were a baby crying for hours on end, I don’t think I would have felt the exact same way. However now, you are able to channel it in a different way.

For the last few months, we have been building up your third birthday. On this special day, all bottles were to be gone from your life. This was a very difficult decision for me to force upon you, however one that is in your best interest. A few months back, a child therapist recommended that we let you keep the morning bottle, as your still needed that comfort and were “stuck” in infancy with regards to the bottle. So every day, you received one bottle of milk in the morning. On the other hand, I had your speech therapist upset that we were still giving it to you. So either way, your Mommy got into trouble by one person for you. Turning three however, was a big milestone and one that we could use as a transition into no more bottles. So on the morning of your third birthday, Daddy gave you a bottle without realizing what he was doing, until I came into the room. I asked you what was supposed to happen that day and what was in your hand. You gave me a cute smile, a little laugh and threw up your hand, as if to say “Oh yah, I forgot, I turn THREE today!” You walked over and put your bottle into the sink, without any prompting. Daddy and I just looked at each other and smiled. We were so proud of you for making that decision yourself and taking responsibility. It hasn’t been a walk in the park every morning without your bottle of milk, but it is getting easier as each day passes.

Swinging is still a favorite activity of yours, but riding your “big girl” bike is a new love of yours. What impresses me the most is that you are really good on your bike. You can now ride to the park or around the block without any assistance. Going for walks is much easier now that you can get there yourself. You love to play in the water, no matter how cold it is outside. If I am outside washing the car or watering the flowers, you will join me in your swimsuit eager to help. You are still a climber, as you always have been. When you want it, you go get it. Perhaps rock climbing is in your future…while wearing a princess dress. You are so girly; I have to double check to make sure you are really my daughter. Every day is a princess day. Your favorite is Snow White, but you’ll wear any princess dress, often changing multiple times. And your outfit cannot be complete without your earrings, rings and purses. You’ve gone everywhere in your formal wear and always get the most compliments.

One big milestone that you recently reached was being potty trained. I tried to get to this point a long time ago, but realized that you just were not ready for it. The more I forced it, that more it wasn’t happening. So I backed off. This last November, you started showing signs that you were interested. And within a short amount of time, you were out of day-time diapers. Of course, Santa brought you some new big-girl panties because Mrs. Claus was so happy with you.

As I look back over this last year and try to sum up your life into a few paragraphs, I realize how much you have grown and changed in these last 12 months. Like how you are now able to use a spoon, not just a fork. And drink from a cup without spilling. And put your shoes on by yourself (although often backwards, but nonetheless, they are on). And you have more interest in books and will sit while I read one to you. And you love to follow your sister, driving her crazy, whereas prior you wanted nothing to do with her. And you can now buckle your carseat by yourself. And your food intake consists of more than just chicken nuggets. And you enjoy playing with some toys and other children. And you desire to do things yourself. And I can leave you for periods of time. And how much of a little girl you are becoming.

I am overjoyed watching you grow and change and blossom into a little person. While I am happy that I can now take some personal time, I still love the fact that you love me so much you never want to leave my side. I know that when you are a teenager, that story may not be true anymore. So in the meantime, I might as well take all the kisses and hugs while I can get them.

I love you always. Happy Birthday!
Love, Mommy