David Garrett..............WOW!

Back in January I took the kids to see David Garrett the famous violinist. We also took Mrs. Kim Skinner with us as a Christmas gift to her.

It was on a weekday so the kids got out of school early and we headed to Mesa.

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, walked the mall a little and then headed to the concert. Mrs. Skinner is amazing with the kids in strings. My kids just love her and I appreciate what she does for them! Hunter was especially excited to go see David Garrett! He has been watching on YouTube, David Garrett's playing, "He's a Pirate" from Pirates of the Caribbean . Playing that song is one of Hunter's goals. The show did not begin until 7:30, which is my kids bed time on school nights. So I was a little worries they might sleep through most of it. Logan wanted to bring his dinosaur in case he needed something comfy to lay on :) All the kids made it through the concert without falling asleep! But they crashed out as soon as we got in the car. Which made for a nice drive home for Mrs. Skinner and I. Logan was so cute to watch............he was on the edge of his seat the whole time. He just loved the music!

Horrible picture with my phone!

It was a fabulous show. So glad we went to it. The kids had to earn their own money for their tickets and the tickets were $50. I was proud of them for making that sacrifice.

We had a fun time!

Baby #5....

I bet that title got your attention!

For the record NO I am NOT PREGNANT and NO I am NOT "trying" to get pregnant.

Just a funny story about Mr. Grant.......

I found a small box of Hunter's old clothes from when he was around 18 months to 2 years. In the box was this shirt as well as probably 20 other shirts. Out of all the shirts Mr. Grant INSISTED on wearing this one. Infact, I took the shirt off on him twice this day and put it in the dirty clothes basket............both times Mr. Grant was upset, threw a fit and would go back, get the shirt out and find me to put in on him.

Silly boy, why oh why would he pick this shirt.

Another crazy thing that happened this day...........

For at least a year now I have done this little thing with Mr. Grant.

I will ask him something like, "Show me your Happy?" or "Where is your Happy?"

I taught him to reply by giving me a huge smile. I do it with him on a daily basis.

So after I did his hair this day, we were both looking at each other in the mirror and I asked him, "Where is your Happy?"

He immediately looked down and pointed to his shirt.

WHAT?

I tried it again and again and again.............every single time I asked him to "Show me his happy?" he pointed to this shirt. No smile like usual he just points to this shirt. He did this the whole day, even at 7:30 that night when Justin got home from work I told Justin to ask Mr. Grant, "Where his Happy is?"

And BOOM he pointed to the shirt.

Crazy Mr. Grant!

"It's Like Having a Toy On Your Foot!"

Logan's kindergarten homework for over Christmas break was to learn to tie his shoes. To be honest, when I read that I thought to myself.............I have so much planned for our break and that's not on my list. So note to self, only send Logan to school with non tying shoes after the break!

It was Tuesday the day before the kids were to return to school and I decided I should at least attempt to show Logan how to tie his shoes. That way when he returned to school he would at least tell his teacher that yes his mommy had tried to teach him to tie his shoes.

So I spent maybe a minute, showed him twice how you tie your shoe and BOOM he could tie his shoe all on his own!

I could not believe it!

It was so easy and he actually tied them quite well...........making sure to make the "bunny ears" the same size and everything. He was thrilled with his new found talent..........and so will Mrs. Willis, his teacher and Miss Erica, his aide. What a smart kid! Later on that day, after Logan had tied, untied and retied his shoes many, many times he said, "Mom this is like having a toy on your foot!" I love his perspective. He insisted on walking into his class the following day with his shoes untied. He showed Miss Willis immediately his new talent. Hey when you are in Kindergarten tying your shoes should be considered a talent!

The long awaited day FINALLY came!

We spent 13 1/2 hours at the Greatest Place on Earth!

Our kids were so excited to be going to Disneyland.

I was so excited to be with my fun family!

Kaely, Cambry, Doyle and Tif

The kids were excited to see all the characters. I wasn't surprised that Mr. Grant wasn't sacred of them after all he did sit on Santa's lap without any hesitation. Most 2 year olds aren't as easy going when it comes to things like this.

Look at those Muscle Men!

Ahhhhh me and the camera shop! One of my many loves!

Hunter and I in Toon Town. One of my bigger loves!!

I just adore this kid! He brings such a fun, clever spirit to our family.

Kids with Donald Duck

Hunter wanted a picture all by himself with Donald Duck.

It was a long line of people but when I told him to go ahead his face just lit up. It was so worth making the line of people irritated.........ha, ha!

It was great to see Disneyland at Christmas time!

It is just gorgeous! It was crazy crowded but something worth going to at least once. I don't think I'll want to go back at such a busy season but I was happy to experience it once. And to be together with such great company was the best!

Justin was amazing............he would run and get us all Fast Passes while we were doing other things or waiting in line for a ride. It made the day go much smoother! Thanks Sweetheart for being so thoughtful, caring and a fabulous Dad!

Logan was the most excited little boy about Autopia!

He just had a great time driving the car.

Kiersten did a great job even with her broken arm!

I just enjoyed seeing my kids so happy.

They really were very well behaved this whole day. On the drive home Justin and I commented to each other what great kids we have. It's always nice when your kids behave..........no every day or trip is like that so we expressed our gratitude to them and I surprised them each with a Disneyland pin. They were so happy!

Kaely Sue crusin' alone!

I just love this girl. She rocks!

Look at the handsome guys that were in front of us!

Loving Disneyland with my favorite people!

The weather was just gorgeous. I am so glad Tif suggested we go on this trip!

The Fairy Godmother

I loved seeing the castle covered in snow. The amount of decorations they put up here is amazing.

Thanks Babe for taking us on this vacation.

I had a great time!

All the kids were so excited to get their faces painted. Kiersten kept reminding me to look for the face painting place. So while Justin and Tif waited in line for Alice in Wonderland ride I took the kids to get their faces painted.

Isn't she GORGEOUS!

Not surprising that Logan goes for the dragon face.

Now that is one happy kid!

Hunter went with the skull and flames

He was happy with his design.

I love these little faces..........even when they are all painted up!

Cam looked so cute painted up like a puppy.

Doesn't Justin look so cute waving in the picture.

I just love him!

He was happy to be together and to be spending time with his family.

This picture just makes me smile...........the excitement on his face makes me happy!

Kiersten got her Churro and her day was complete!

Actually we all needed a little sugar boost!

Having a blast!

Mr. Grant was so happy to get a sucker!

Isn't he too cute!

Logan had been behaving extremely good the whole trip so I told him I would find him a slushy. Well we never could find one..........so he chose Mickey face ice cream instead!

Taking a short break....

Kiersten was so funny, she was talking about how crazy all the lines are. She said, "These lines are crazy here. You probably have to wait in line to take a rest and sit down! They have a line for just about everything!"

So true, so true!

Hunter on the Popsicle bench in A Bug's Life area.

We sure loved feeling like bugs...........the detail is amazing. It is easy to feel like a kid here!

I just love it!

Loved the trip!

Thanks Tif for a great time! I will go any where with you!

Kiersten felt really good by Wednesday. I was so glad we waited to go to Disneyland. It wouldn't have been as much fun for Kiersten is she was still in pain.

Logie makes it looks like he is riding the caterpillar...........and it's not even a ride!

Look at that happy face! Our kids really were so happy all day at Disneyland. It made the day so nice and enjoyable!

The kids loved, loved the Bugs Life 3D movie.

They totally didn't expect it to be as cool as it was.

Mr. Grant got a little freaked out but was able to make it through. I held Brynlee some of the time and she was getting totally scared. I felt bad but at the same time it was sort of funny...........not in a mean way. Tif and I just got a kick out of watching her flinch.

Now there is a BIG Story behind this picture.

Justin had gotten Fast Passes for the Grizzly River Run. It was about 7:00 p.m. and it had cooled off by the time we could return to the ride. The kids were just sure all us adults would not let them ride this ride and get all wet. But they don't know their parents.........not only did we let them go Justin joined in the fun.

Tif's back was hurting by this time, Doyle was fussy and done with everything, so they took Doyle and Brynlee back to the resort while we kept Kaely and Cambry. We still had hours of fun ahead of us!

I waited for the crazies with Mr. Grant. He had fallen asleep and was too small for this ride any way. I wasn't wanting to be wet so Justin excitedly took the kids. Kaely decided she didn't want to be wet either.

When they came off the ride I was fully expecting them to be shivering but they ran off of the ride with such excitement. With the amount of adrenaline in them they weren't cold at all. It was great to see everyone so happy and full of life! They wanted to ride it again and since the line was now a 5 minute wait, yeah apparently not many people want to get wet when it's cold out, so when Justin told the kids, "Let's go again!!" They all ran with enthusiasm!

The kids thanked Justin many times for letting them go on the ride again. I had brought thermals for our kids to change in to and with all the jackets and blankets I had I knew I could make them warm.

This was one of the kids favorite rides.

Mr. Grant could only take so much fun. He was out for the rest of the night!

We made our way back over to Disneyland from California Adventure.......we had Fast Passes for Indiana Jones. We got to be on Main Street when they make it "snow." It was awesome!

We were so happy we got to see the castle all lit up and watch the light show. It is something to experience for sure! Such a magical place!

Waiting for Indiana Jones.......

Logan was very sad he wasn't tall enough to ride......just by a half inch too.

The kids had a great time on the ride, but they all told Logan it wasn't that cool so he wouldn't feel bad. It was fun!

We also liked Splash Mountian!

Hunter was happy with his Disneyland pins he picked to spend his money on.

We all loved watching World of Color.

It is amazing the technology thats used........it is worth seeing for sure!

It was just a great day! I hope the next time I come it isn't peak season and I hope we get to stay more then one day. But Disneyland was a BLAST just the same. Our kids want to go back so that's means it was a good day for sure. I was surprised that they really didn't complain about all the walking. By the end of the night we were all being crazy about how bad our feet hurt, but they were all still happy to be there! We didn't leave the park until almost mid night. For our kids that is pretty amazing........they are usually crashed out by 8:00.

Logan had been holding out all day to get to spend his money. After World of Color he reminded us that he hadn't got to buy anything. Since he did not whine about it, he just asked, we took all the kids to Down Town Disney so Logan could spend his money. He finally picked this mickey hat! Doesn't he look great!

Mr. Grant must have sensed we were going to leave Disneyland and he didn't get anything either. Thank goodness he was totally happy with a $2 sucker!

It was a wonderful day and the over all trip was great! We sure enjoyed our time together away from typical life!