Christmas Finally Came for Grant

One of Mr. Grant's Christmas presents this year was a trip to Disneyland with just MOM!  He has asked me almost daily when I am taking him to Disneyland.  Ever since I took the kids this past summer to Disneyland, and not him, he has been wanting to go and he constantly reminds me he wants to go.   So you can imagine his excitement when he heard he was getting to FINALLY go to DISNEYLAND!!! 

 I have to say I have been looking forward to this trip as much, if not more, then Mr. Grant!

This was also Grant's first time on an airplane.  He was thrilled to get to ride in the airplane.  He LOVES airplanes and helicopters.  This picture was at 5:00 in the morning and look how happy he is!  He was thrilled to have his own pack of gum for the flight and he loved watching the airplanes land while we waited for our flight.

We made it to our hotel, Park View Inn, at 9:00 in the morning so we decided to head on over to Disneyland while we waited for our room to be available.  Grant was beyond excited!!!

He loved every ride we went on.....this was waiting to ride Autotopia.  He had a blast driving the car.

The standard Disneyland picture.  Too bad the train station was under construction.

It was just what my soul needed a trip to Disneyland with Grant!

It was AMAZING!
One ride I really like is Peter Pan.  After getting off that ride for the first time Grant said, "Mom, let do it again.  That made me sooooo HAPPY!!!!"
I couldn't agree more and so we rode it again!

Grant could not wait to make it over to California Adventure to get to see Cars Land and to get to ride what he calls "Mater ride".....Mater's junkyard jamboree!  

Several time through out the weekend Grant told me, 
"Mom, I neber leaving this place!"

Grant gives Mater's ride a Big thumbs up!

As soon as we got on the ride and buckled up Grant said, "Hold on mom this is gonna be FUN!"

And as soon as the ride was done he said, "Let's do that again!"

And so we did!

During our three days at Disneyland I can't count the number of times we rode this ride.  Good thing the wait was never longer then 10 minutes!!

Doesn't that look like one Happy Boy?

He sure is a good traveler!

Grant loved seeing all the cars and always wanted to get his picture taken by them.

Mater is for sure Grant's favorite Cars character.  So when he saw Mater he started jumping and screaming!  It was so fun to be with Grant for the weekend and enjoy his fun, happy personality!

Little too much fun!

I really enjoyed living like a three year old for the weekend.  Every day we would walk back to our hotel and take a nap.  I could get use to that....ha, ha!

Grant LOVES Mickey Mouse!

We watches Mickey Mouse Club House several times a week so meeting Mickey was a high light!

Grant just kept hugging him and hugging him!

The trip wouldn't have been complete without getting to meet him.  Glad we met him the first day so we didn't have to worry about it!

The weekend was full of too much yummy food!  Really going to make going back to the gym hard :)

But really that's part of a vacation to me......eating things you normally don't let yourself indulge in on such a grant scale!  Plus rice crispy treats at Disneyland are one of my favorites!

Many times during our weekend, I would look down at Grant holding my hand and it really made me wish I could freeze time!  Actually what he really liked doing was holding my pinkie finger and ring finger together.  I just loved it!  

I plan to do a better job of enjoying my kids and playing with my kids, each and everyday!

This trip helped me in so many ways and really was just what my heart needed!

Mickey's Fun Wheel was a little scary for Grant but once he got use to it he LOVED it!

Can't you tell he is having the time of his life with his smile!

It was all thumbs up once he was use to going so high!

What a handsome guy!

Glad I got to spend my whole weekend with just him!  I love doing things with my kids on an individual level so that you can focus just on them!  Plus one kid is a cinch!

Toy Story Mania was one of Grant's other favorite ride.  He also loved the Buzz Lightyear ride.  Pretty much if he got to shoot things on the ride he wanted to ride it again and again and again.

I could just go on and on about how cute Grant was on this trip. Okay I will!

It was the cutest thing, when Grant would be waiting for a ride or even just walking around he held his hands like this picture.  He never does this at home but the whole trip this is what he did with his hands, held them like he was holding his own hand  It was adorable!

We couldn't come to Disneyland without having a churro.  Good thing Grant ate most of it so I didn't consume too many calories from it!

Of course we had to take a picture in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

One day we were buying a few things in one of the shops on Main Street.  An older gentlemen was checking us out and he gave Grant a button. 

 Without me saying a word, Grant said, "Thank you berry much!"

I guess that impressed the guy because he then got another button and told Grant that "Mickey Mouse had told him to keep this special button until Grant came in."

Grant said, "Thank you!"

He was very excited about his two buttons.

About 30 seconds later Grant said, "Hey guy, I'm gonna buy you a hotdog!  And you're gonna like it!!!"

It was the funniest thing ever!

The gentleman told me, "I see people all day long, children and adults, but your little guy has more personality then any one I've met in a long time!  I love him! He is a keeper for sure!"

As we walked out I could over hear the gentlemen telling the story to two of his coworkers.

What a great kid! Looks like such an angel in this picture doesn't he?

And yes he was holding his hands like that without me saying a word to him about it!

Too Cute!

I had to wake Grant up from his nap to make it to see the Pixar Play Parade.

Boy was I glad I did because he loved it!

He was so happy to see Mater in the parade!

Such a fun trip!

I was worried Grant wouldn't sit for the Aladdin show especially after waiting in line for about 25 minutes for it to start.  But he LOVED it!

It is such a great show!

It wouldn't be a trip if someone didn't get hurt.

One morning Grant woke up and tripped over the pillows on the floor and fell right in to the desk.

He got a pretty bad goose egg and a red mark on his cheek.

Poor guy!  It hurt him really bad!

Our hotel was right next to IHop so we enjoyed breakfast there a couple of days.

Grant said, "Mom it's a pancake party today!"

This kid loves pancakes!

Every morning we went there he ordered what he wanted all by himself. 

 It was so cute!  The waitresses thought it was adorable!

If there was another character Grant wished to meet it would be Pluto!

So glad we found him!

Grant even pick out a Pluto stuffed animal as his souvenir.

He's holding it in the picture.....so fun to get to meet the real Pluto!

We got lucky and got to see Sexy Rexy!  He is awesome.....so glad I got to see him!

We loved watching Mickey's Soundsational Parade!

Grant enjoyed his Large corn dog as we waited for the parade to start.

When ever we were waiting for a ride or waiting for something to start Grant would play games with me.  He loved blowing in my hair and face.  And laughed so hard when I would do it to him.  He would also give me kisses all over my face!

Those are the moments I will treasure forever!

Disneyland is such a fun place!

Thanks Walt for creating a place "where parents and children can have fun together!"

Because that's just what we did!

While we were waiting at the airport for our plane to leave Orange County, Grant was once again, enjoying watching the airplanes landing and taking off.

He came running over to me and said, "Mom I just saw a plane and it was going...." he thought for a moment...."SUPER COMPUTER FAST!!!"

The old man sitting by us asked me if Grant said what he thought he said.  So I repeated what Grant said.  The man just started laughing.  He said, "What a kid!  He's cute and funny!  Be careful someone would steal him in a heartbeat!"

I love my Mr. Grant!!

Thanks Justin for letting us take this trip and thanks mom for helping me with the other kids back at home!  They were looking forward to going to Grammy Boswell's house.  The other kids were such good sports about me taking just Grant.  Of course they all wanted to come but I never got complaints from any of them!

Williams Trip... Day 2

We thought about taking the kids snow boarding while we were up north but since one of us would have to stay with Grant instead of snow boarding we decided to wait for that til another year.

Instead we decided to buy a few snow sleds and fun stuff  then just enough the snow together as a family!

We got really luck and our hotel had a great sledding hill right behind it so we didn't even have to get in the car.  Which made it super nice when someone would get cold or tired they just went back to our room.  The hotel also had free hot chocolate which we all took advantage of.

Grant had it made and always got pulled up the hill.

Man what I would give to be three again!

Hunter loved this sled.

It has breaks and a steering wheel.  It was nice to feel in control on a sled for once!

Logan didn't care what sled his was on...........he loved them all!

He has a natural snow boarder!

Maybe next year we'll take them to snow board at a ski resort.

Look at him go!

Hunter had the most fun playing and building he snow fort.  

Grant was such a trooper especially considering I forgot his snow boots at home.
He still loved the snow!

Hunter built a ramp with his dads help.  He got pretty nice air one time but I can't find the picture of it :(

The kids were all so concerned about leaving Peppp while we went out of town.  So they wrote a note to see if he could get permission to come with us.

They all were excited beyond words when they read his note back......

HE CAN COME FOR THIS ONE TRIP!!!

And they got special permission from Santa to let them touch him on this trip.

Having Peppp with us made this trip even more special for the kids.  They wanted him to come with us to everything.  It was fun!

We were excited to find a sleigh ride in the snow in Flagstaff!

It was just gorgeous!  And the guys giving us the ride were funny!

I just loved this trip with my family!

Getting warm in the hotel lobby after our fun sleigh ride!

After spending some time in Flagstaff we returned to Williams.  We had dinner at the Rt 66 dinner!

I have to say the food was yummy.  BUT man the vanilla Coke was seriously the best I have ever had!!!  So delicious!

Of course Peppp was there to enjoy the fun as well!

Mr. Grant was most excited about the ice cream!

We all enjoyed some time in the hot tub and heated pool!  Great job Justin finding a great hotel, even if the rooms were so tiny we ended up getting two.  

The next morning we enjoyed some more snow time before heading home.  Kiersten got really good at the snow board.  I think next year we need to take the older kids to try the real thing!

This is Hunter and Justin building the ramp for the snowboard.  But I still can't find the picture of Hunter ramping it.

What a Stud!

My Little Snowboard Girl!

What a perfect hill right outside our hotel.  It made the trip so convenient.

This trip was so much fun!

I think it needs to be a tradition every year!

The Polar Express

I was very excited to surprise the kids with a trip to the North Pole this Christmas!

We took the kids out of school the last day before Christmas break and headed up to Williams, Arizona to ride on The Polar Express to the North Pole!

This is actually a sandcastle in the Mills Mall that Kiersten and I took a picture of a week before our trip!

Isn't it so cool?

Dec 19

We were all so excited about this trip! We got to our hotel in Williams and got changed into pjs and then it was off to the train ride.

Justin wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get away from the office until the morning we left.  He had to put in some insane hours to make it work but not seeing him for a couple of weeks before this trip was worth it.  Because we got him all to ourselves for three days! YIPPEE!

Thanks Babe for all you do for us!  You are the BEST!

Waiting for the train ride to start........the thrill and anticipation building with every minute!

The kids really wanted Peppp to come on the trip with us so they sent a letter with him back to Santa one night.  They were ecstatic that Santa granted Peppp permission to come with us and that the kids could touch him while on the trip.

It made for some special memories.........they even made him a comfortable bed in a bowl, complete with dolly blankets and everything.

I just love these four little ones!

They are my whole world!

They are such amazing kids and I don't know what I did in the preexistence to deserve them but I am more then grateful they are mine!

Once the train ride began cookies and hot chocolate were passed out.  The cookies were yummy and the hot chocolate was well pretty much water with a hint of cocoa.
Our kids were so excited about being on the Polar Express!

It was fun how close to the movie they try and make it.  The ticket guy came around and punched our tickets.

Once we made it to the North Pole we saw Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause.  Then the train stops and starts heading back.  When we passed only Mrs. Clause was standing there but Santa wasn't.

They had us sing Christmas carols all together from the books they passed out.  Our kids really got into singing.  They were all so thrilled and filled with the excitement of Christmas.  For me my Christmas was made in these few hours on a train with my kids.  Because it was completely magical!

Grant was so cute trying to sing all the Christmas carols.

I loved every minute of it!

When Santa entered the train car the excitement turned to pure thrill!!!

The kids were so happy with their bells!!

Justin and I were just as happy to get our own bells!

I can for sure hear the jingle in my bell!

I am a believer in Santa because it's like I tell my older kids, it makes Christmas funner if you believe!

Look at Hunter just singing away!  

It was such a magical night for us!
I hope we can do it again next year!
Not sure there will ever be a more magical Polar Express for our little family.  So I am very grateful for this memory!
I love my family!
And I love the Christmas season and how we seem to focus more on the important things in life around this time.

Hunter found someones snow fort.  He just needed a picture of him in it!

The kids were loving all the snow on the ground.

So glad we were able to take this trip together as a family!