Thankfulness

So I'm a little behind, my parent came up for the week and it was pure chaos with the kids excitement.  They had so much fun and Riley even got to sleep over at the hotel (and ride in a booster seat since cousin Daniel is in a booster seat now).  Jacob was especially excited to have a whole week of stay at home days even though he talked about all of his school friends all week. 

Off to the hotel with Nana and Poppy

We started Thanksgiving Day off with our first Turkey Trot, I think we are most definitely going to have to make this an annual tradition.  Marc and I ran the 10K and it was great!  I actually had my personal best time for a run averaging a pace of 9min 15sec per mile.  After our run we had about an hour before Riley ran in the kids' 1/4 mile run, next year I'll have her do the 1/2 mile as the 1/4 mile was too short but because of her age they kind of talked me into having her do the 1/4 mile. 

This is what I get for pictures these days

And she's off

She took off at the finish line, she smoked me!

So proud of her!

She loved it!

My running buddy

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for many things but I'm especially thankful for Riley being able to run in the Turkey Trot.  I'm thankful for what looks to be a future that is cast and surgery-free and I am thankful for her ability to accept her clubfeet and not let it affect her life.  She could very easily use it as a crutch and an excuse to not do stuff but she shrugs her shoulders and just says "Yeah, I had clubfeet, so what."  I'm thankful for her resilience, ability to face adversity and most of all her contagious smile that despite countless casts, AFOs and a pretty major surgery, never stopped smiling.

Cheers to all of that and more!

After our run, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for us, which I failed to capture a picture of.

Friday, we woke up early and hit up the Outlet Mall for a little Black Friday shopping.  And then went to the regular mall for more deals with kids in tow, they were good sports and we got lots of great deals!

Black Friday shopping!

Riley got a nice Buster Posey jersey earlier in the week so we let Jacob get a Build-A-Bear

The kids literally go nuts for this store

Jacob made BuberBear - his new Spider-Man bear (he calls Spider-Man "Buber-Man")

After shopping, I made Marc go for a run with me!  Needed to run off that gluttony!

Jacob loving on his poppy

Dinner with my pretty girl!

And just like that another vacation is over and now onto the next big activities...Jacob's birthday AND Hanukkah!  Let the holiday/birthday season begin!

Final Day!

Our final day was a doozy.  We had the Magic Morning Pass so we were able to get into the park a day early.  We planned to use this pass to go see Anna and Elsa before the park opened.  Well us and all other families worldwide.  They cut the early admission line at the family in front of us!  We were highly annoyed.  Anyway, Marc had me hand him my backpack and told me my half marathon training started that day.  So as soon as the Mickey clock him 8AM, I was sprinting across the Magic Kingdom to secure a spot in line for Riley.  Another woman got behind me and told me that she saw me at the gate and I looked like I knew what I was doing so she told her husband she was following me, turns out she was super cool and lives in San Jose so we chatted the whole time we were in line, the entire 2 hours!  The things you do for your kids.  Originally, they told us the line would be 4-5 hours and we decided since it was our last day that we would just do it, Marc took the kids on some rides and I held our spot in line.  It ended up being a 2 hour wait and it was worth every minute!  Riley was beaming meeting Anna and Elsa and it only seemed fitting to end our surgery recovery celebration trip with her meeting the princesses that got us through post-op recovery with the countless hours of watching the movie.  Riley was beaming and she sang "Let It Go" to them, told them they were singing their songs for their pre-school graduation, got their autographs.  It was awesome! 

After our Frozen experience we went on some rides (Jacob's request) in Disneyland, then headed back for naps and then back to California Adventure for one last hurrah.  We went on the Monster's Inc ride again and Mater's ride and watched the parade one last time.  Then off to Downtown Disney for dinner and a trip to the Disney Store there so the kids could spend their gift cards.  We once again hit the Frozen jackpot on gear. :)

Waiting for Anna and Elsa!

We're almost there!

We're NEXXXXT!

Olaf!  He's our favorite!

The smile says it all!

Jacob wasn't so sure about Anna but Marc and I were super happy to be in there with them!

Dancing a jig while waiting for Merida

Merida was FANTASTIC!



Jacob ate his way through Disneyland! 

Disney Day 3:
Met Anna and Elsa
Carrousel while mommy stood in line
Winnie the Pooh
Met Merida
Monsters Inc
Parade at California Adventure
Mater's Junkyard Jamboree

So long Disneyland!  Thanks for the wonderful memories!  We can't wait until the next time!

Disney Day 2

Disney Day 2 brought us to Disneyland!  First stop, princesses!  We stopped by and met Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora.  Oh the heaven that Riley was in.  Then it was off to go on some rides per Jacob's request.  We had to go to Dumbo which everyone loved, even Jacob, who about 30 minutes into the 40 minute line decided he didn't want to go on it.  I bribed him with the promise of popcorn afterwards and he was in.  He, of course, loved it and requested it again and again.  Next request, the choo-choo train he had been eyeing from the Dumbo line.  Ironically, we got seated in the car labeled "Wild Animals,"  how fitting!  After that, Marc took Jacob for popcorn and I took Riley on her first big girl ride, Big Thunder Mountain!  We really wanted to do Space Mountain but it was closed the whole week we were there. 

From day 1 but Ri found a Kellogg's truck and so we had to take a picture with it, it's now my desktop at work. :)

Cinderella

Poor Ariel, Riley sang "Let It Go" to her.  She used to be top princess until Anna and Elsa came along!

Jacob needed a little princess action!

Finally the wild animals have been caged on the choo-choo!

Ready to ride Big Thunder Mountain!

Apparently this is what happens when you tell your son that Mickey doesn't like his biting and he then comes face to face with Mickey.  Jacob was extremely concerned in line and then when we got back to Mickey, he turned bright red, started to shake and yelled "Done!  Mickey doesn't like it!  I'm doooone!!!"

And the final list of our Day 2 Activities!

Scored Pull Apart Olaf at Target (we've been looking everywhere for him!)
Met Cinderella, Ariel, and Aurora
Dumbo
Casey's Circus Train
Big Thunder Mountain (Mommy and Riley)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Met Mickey Mouse

Disney Arrival

Monday we told the kids that we were heading to Disney a few hours before we actually left, that cut down on the "when are we going to Disneyland?" questions!  It was a little over an hour drive from Temecula so once we got there and checked into our room and settled a bit, we walked down to Downtown Disney to pick up our tickets.  The kids were beyond excited to get there!

What was the first thing we saw when we got to Downtown Disney?  A sand sculpted Olaf!  Because he loves warm hugs of course!!!

Vacation Part 1

We braved the Memorial Day traffic last Friday afternoon and headed down to Temecula for my friend Erika's wedding weekend.  We both had meetings in the morning so we decided to leave after the kids' naps.  Well, us and the rest of the East Bay were on 580 East at 3:30PM on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  It took us over an hour to get out of Livermore (should take us 15-20 minutes).  We didn't get down to Temecula until about midnight which really threw the kids off but we managed to get an ok night of sleep.  I slept with Riley and Jacob in the bedroom because they had a hard time settling down and going to sleep after falling asleep in the car and then getting excited about the hotel.  I ended up sharing a bed with Riley the whole time we were there, I was woken many times by her punching me the face, burying her head in my back, and because she was sleeping sideways. 

We had a fun weekend, my parents came up and watched the kids while we were at Erika's wedding and my brother, sister-in-law and nephew came up for the day on Saturday.  Sunday we did some wine tasting before the wedding.  Monday we took our time in the morning then went to the Disney store where we broke the ultimate news and secrets of all secrets.  We bought matching Mickey shirts for all of us, pulled the kids to a corner of the store and asked them if we should go to Disneyland for a few days or head home.  Of course it was unanimous that we should go to Disneyland, even Jacob was excited.  We've been planning this trip for weeks and can't believe we pulled it off without them knowing!

So here are some pictures of our Temecula portion to begin with.  Disney deserves it's own posts!



Making himself comfortable in the car

Being silly with Nana

Love my little man!

These too are crazzzzzy!

Getting a lift from Daddy!

Everybody loves Poppy!

Posing with Nana and Poppy!

Cuddling up with my Toots

Family photo!

All dressed up and ready to go!

With the beautiful bride

Obsessed with his suitcase

Where's Jacob???

What I Can Get Done When I Don't Work

I've been off since December 19th and don't go back until January 2.  I had a whole list of projects that I wanted to get done.  Organize the play area, clean the kids rooms, clean my closets, get rid of magazines and I've gotten to most of them.  We've even fit in a shopping day.  Of course I've been bringing the kids to school because there is no way I'd be so productive with them around.  Jacob just moved to the toddler room on the 20th and so they told me to bring him as much as possible while I was off to get him acclimated to the class, especially since they were going to be light on kids, he'd get more attention and adjust easier.  So twist my arm.  And well Riley is Riley and does better in her routine and with the social stimulation so they've been going to school most days.  I will say drop-offs have gotten easier because they now have breakfast together so Jacob goes willingly with Riley.

Here's some stuff that I have gotten done!

For the play area - I made a magnetic chalkboard.  I just spray painted an oil pan from Wal-Mart with chalkboard paint.  I still need to get some clothespins to clip to that ribbon above it so the kids can hang their creations from it

I hung owl decals on Riley's wall.  I bought these well before I left ConAgra and they have been sitting in her closet for oh over 3 years

I hung these owls in her room - these were a 4th birthday gift, under a year to get something done is looking pretty good these days!

A panoramic view of Riley's room

I also went through 3 years + of cooking magazines and pulled out and scanned all of the recipes that I have lofty aspirations of making one day!  A lot of these magazines were older than Jacob!

And on top of all of this, we got rid of bags and bags of clothes!

And I'm so not ready to go back to work!