Our Last Trip To Disneyland (for a while)

During Mark's fall break we visited Disneyland for the last time. *sniff* Our passes ran out this month and we wanted one last Disney adventure before we said "adieu" to the happiest place on earth for a while. A few days before our scheduled departure, we measured Tyler and found that since our last trip in January he had grown the required 2 inches to make it onto the Radiator Springs Racer ride and Splash Mountain. SCORE! Then weather.com told us we were going to be at Disneyland during a freak storm. Hmm, oh well, shorter lines! 

We woke up early to get there before the Cars ride fastpasses ran out and good thing! By the time we got there, around 9 (it opened at 8), our fastpasses weren't until 4:30-5:30 pm! About 15 min later it was already at 6:30-7:30 and the park closes at 8. So we made it just in time!

 After the passes were acquired we went about our day going on all the rides that struck Tyler and Clara's fancy: Soarin' Over California, Astro orbiter, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, watching the Jedi fight thing, Autotopia, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story Mania, and of course Radiator Springs Racer! Can you believe we got through all of that in one day? And we were out of there by 5 pm. Freak storms are pretty handy when it comes to Disneyland.

 In all reality the storm wasn't that bad. There were moments of pretty bad rain (like WHILE we were on Autotopia and got soaked!) 

 But for the most part as long as we had jacket and hoods on we were fine. Worth it to get to go on all the rides we wanted.

We didn't get to see many characters this time around, except Tiana. Clara was asleep, which really is sad since she has randomly picked Tiana as one of her favorites. But Tyler got his picture with her and he was so giggly and shy. It was so funny to see him get all googley eyed over a pretty girl. 

 Another funny Tyler moment was on Splash Mountain. I sat behind Tyler and held on to him during the ride and I was curious how he liked it. As we were walking out there were several people gathered around the picture monitors laughing at a picture. As I got closer they all turned and started saying, "Hey! There's the kid!" I looked at the picture and Tyler's face was hilarious! Eyes wide open, mouth grimaced, sorta like this:

Oh my gosh it was so funny! Unfortunately, Mark had my phone so I couldn't take a picture of it! But it was great!

Lest you think he was traumatized for life, he very soon looked like this. Aww serenity!

 And finally, the crowning event of the whole day - Radiator Springs Racers! Thanks to the parent switch pass Tyler got to go twice and he loved it both times! He was very emphatic that THIS ride was his favorite. The rest of the day was nothing compared to this moment. And I agree, this ride was great!

It was a great last trip to Disneyland!

Soccer and the Air Show

After our adventure with peewee t-ball, we couldn't just forget about peewee soccer. And now as a veteran parent of both I can say peewee soccer is much more fun! The skill level is about the same, Tyler's competitive level saw an increase, luckily the unrelenting heat decreased, but the pace and the excitement by far exceeds that of t-ball. I would say Tyler also enjoyed it better. We were able to be on the same team as our friends again and fortunately had a much better coach. Plus, they looked cute in those shin guards! All in all, I would say a good way to spend six Saturday mornings of our life. 

 Tyler loved making "scores" as he called them. Actually he loved it so much that he got pretty upset when he didn't or when someone else did. One time he even hit a kid.... on his team....for scoring the goal instead of him. Oops! Mark pulled him out of the game for a while after that mishap and luckily it was an isolated incident. He also didn't seem to care which goal the ball went in to. He generally just went for whichever was goal was closest, which somehow always seemed to be wrong goal. The coach teased that we needed his name in neon letters over the right goal. And one opposing team joked that he was their MVP. Fortunately, peewee soccer doesn't keep score.

 Tyler with his coach at the end of the season team party. He ended up being a pretty good little soccer player/runner minus the whole scoring for the other team thing. 

My dad was able to visit us and watch one of Tyler's soccer games. Tyler was so excited to show Papa how he could "make lots of scores." Later that day we attended the Apple Valley Air Show. To be honest I was expecting a bit more and was kind of let down, but in the eyes of Tyler you can't beat seeing airplanes up close and even climbing inside some airplanes. Not to mention, he got a shaved ice afterward. BONUS!

Stuff

This summer, Mark and I decided that Tyler would benefit from some kind of preschool/joy school kind of thing. Something that would put him in a situation with a new adult figure and with other children his age. I checked out some of the preschools around here and decided to go for the local community preschool. So in September, Tyler started preschool -  2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. He is loving it! Parents are asked to volunteer 2 times a month and I've enjoyed going too. It's so fun to watch him learn and be in a classroom and be such a big boy. Ok fun and kind of sad too. Wasn't this kid just my baby? 

 First Day of Preschool. Clara really wanted to go too and still does! Every time we drop off Tyler she fights to stay and when we pick him up she plops right down next to him on the rug and walks up with his row to get a stamp! Luckily, the teacher humors her!

 We've also continued our occasional preschool crafts at home. Clara began joining us at letter K so now we get 2 of each craft. Tyler is able to do his basically all by himself, aside from the cutting. It's so fun to see his rendition of the craft. 

Confession: I left the woobies in Oregon. I know I'm a bad mom, but, really, it was an accident and at first no one seemed to notice/care. A month later, Tyler began to ask for his woobie again and since Tyler was asking, Clara started asking too. My mom was nice enough to ship them back and every day Tyler would ask, "Is my woobie here today?" Finally, we could say, "yes!" We all went to the mailbox, opened the special package, and rejoiced! The woobies had returned! I love this picture! Not only does it show Tyler's slightly unique use of the woobie for comfort, but also that Clara is Tyler's shadow!

 And a cute little picture of my kids who really do love each other! This is not an anomaly! It happens often!

 One of my old roommates from BYU created a great tradition for October conference. The night before conference they watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and that night while they sleep the  Great Pumpkin brings them activities to do and treats to eat while watching conference. We decided to try this and it was a hit! One drawback - for days following conference Tyler kept asking what the Great Pumpkin would bring him tomorrow! Sorry kid, it was a one time thing. 

Another tradition we started was to have an FHE the Monday before about King Benjamin and opening our tents toward the temple to hear the prophet. So for conference we set up our tent to face the TV so we could listen to the prophet. Another hit with the kids! 

While we were in Oregon, my mom recorded a book for the kids and at the end there is a little musical super hero ditty. Tyler created little moves to go with it and Clara, as usual, followed suit.

A Word About Clara

The other day I snapped this picture of Clara and realized how perfect it is. Clara is so many things all at once. She is no clone of anyone or anything. She is her and there is no one else like her! She has become more girlie, but maintains her rambunctious, crazy, tomboy ways simultaneously. Just look at that picture. Crazy hair, mixed with a pretty dress, mixed with scraped knees, mixed with babies, mixed with that adorable, mischievous grin. I love this girl! Clara loves loves loves dressing up! She goes through about 800 clothes a day - her clothes, Tyler's clothes, dress up clothes, things that aren't even clothes. For example, that lovely purple thing on her head is a broken sand toy that she put on her head and called a crown. She wore it for days until it broke beyond repair. The dress is her "tutu dress." In her mind all princess dresses are tutu dresses and all church dresses are tutu dresses. She points out every princess dress in every princess book exclaiming, "Mom! Yook! Tutu dress!" Also, every princess in every princess book is either a mommy or a Clara. And a thing about princesses - she doesn't even watch the disney princess movies. In fact, she prefers Peter Pan and Jake and the Neverland Pirates over the princesses, but somehow she has still fallen in love with princesses. And another thing about dresses. If we are going out somewhere, you know, a place where Tyler's t-shirt, spiderman, or a dress up dress will not suffice, she will not, I repeat WILL NOT wear anything but a dress. Temperature be darned, dirt be darned, it will be a dress and it will be a dress that she picks out! Even if its paired with tennis shoes and a sweat shirt. Sometimes I can get around it by claiming her leggings or jeggings are tights and her shirt is a dress, but most the time she is in a legitimate dress, usually a light summer dress! Another funny quirk about Clara is her "flavor of the week." A friend commented on how much she loved seeing Clara's newest attachment. One week it will be a baby, the next a My Little Pony, the next a book. You never know what that girl will insist on bringing with her everywhere. Most recently, she attached herself to the instruction sheet from a Jake and the Neverland Pirates game. You can see it in the picture. She affectionately dubbed it, "Cubby's Map." (If you aren't familiar with the tv show, Cubby is the pirate in charge of the map.) She took that "map" everywhere, slept with it, and cuddled it. I had to tape that thing up about a million times. Oh Clara! I could go on and on about her. How she is still the biggest dare devil 2 year old I've ever met. How we should just buy stock in band aids since she has at least 2 on her body at any given moment. How she loves her big brother and copies everything he does. How she loves to be read to and will sit and listen for forever. How she is finally learning to talk and picking up all sorts of words and how her voice is the cutest thing ever! How she is both independent and a mommy's girl. Everything must be done by her "helf" (yes that means self) but she loves to cuddle and needs her mommy! (a phase I hope she doesn't grown out of any time soon). How she is both sweet and fiesty and nice and naughty and stubborn as a mule!  I love that she is just so her! And I hope that she will never change!