Babies in Disneyland

Before we left for Disney I tried to find info on taking a baby to Disneyland but couldn't find out everything I wanted in one spot so here is my opinion about taking them.

Taking Callia was a great experience. She wasn't just dragged along, she truly enjoyed watching the shows and parades and she was enthralled with the rides she could go on. Callia was 6 1/2 months old but even though she is small for her age she did great on the rides.

Babies can go on all the rides in Fantasyland except for the Matterhorn and maybe Dumbo.

In Tomorrowland they can go on Astro Blaster, Nemo and Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

In Frontierland she could go on the paddle wheel.

In New Orleans they can go on Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted House.

In Critter Country they can go on Winnie the Pooh.

In Toon town there were no rides - Roger Rabbit is (in my opinion)much too rough for babies.

In Adventureland she could go on the jungle cruise, up the tree house and in the Tikki Room.

In California Adventure there wasn't much that she could go on - she could go on the train ride in Bugsland, the 3D show in Bugs Life and the Take out ride in Bugs land. Oh - babies can also go on the carousel, Toy Story Mania (though it would be hard to shoot holding a baby) and Monsters Inc.

Apparently they have baby change areas but I found just as easy to change her in the stroller and to find a bench or the ground to nurse her. She is a quick nurser and I wanted to stay in the area the kids were in so I didn't go looking for the stations.

Remember to take hats, sunscreen, and light blankets to cover them up from the sun. If you go in the fall/winter you will need something warmer for them in the evenings as it can become quite cool. Take a rain cover for your stroller (yeah, ours never left the hotel). Some hotels have cribs you can use. We took down everything she would need food and diaper wise.

So there you have it. My biggest search was for what rides a baby could go on.

My heart breaks...

Our little guy Aiden needs glasses, or so the optometrist says. We're not sure if he does or not b/c he doesn't show any signs of needing them - has never complained about not seeing, we just took the boys in for a regular check up and came out with a surprise. We just picked up his glasses this week and he has been wearing them for about two hours a day (when we remember). The frustrating thing is that he can't seem to tell us if they help him or not. And we're confused b/c at the eye docs. he told me the glasses were for close up but at Costco we were told they were for distance and THEN one day Aiden tells me they help him see better close up and the next day he said they help for distance. AHHHHHH! But my heart breaks b/c last night he was in tears for at least a half hour about having to wear them to school. He said he'll be embarrassed, didn't even know he knew what that meant. There is a little girl in his class that wears them but that's not much comfort to him. I know glasses aren't a huge deal but as a parent you don't want your child to go thru anything uncomfortable. I think we're going to get a second opinion since Aiden seems so confused. I'd love to take this from him but then I probably wouldn't be able to see at all if I added his eye problems to my own! It's sad his baby blues are a little covered but he does look cute in them - I'll post a pic. once I take it.

What have I created?

At the beginning of September I decided that I was going to do breakfast different this year. Aiden was eating not eating enough when he chose cold cereal so he would go to school with a full tummy I had to come up with a plan. I got my idea from a friend and didn't know if I could do it but I have and it's going well - maybe too well. You see I decided that I would make pancakes one morning, which would do for two breakfasts, have eggs and sausage one morning and then on the other two mornings they can choose b/w toast, hot cereal or cold cereal. My little 3 year old doesn't remember life pre pancakes in the morning. B/f this idea took hold of our life, pancakes were reserved for an easy dinner but now they're for breakfast and Christian figures they should be for breakfast every day (or almost). This pic. was taken a couple of days ago after I told him no I can't make pancakes (wasn't quite in the groove after our trip) and you would've thought I had just told him that trains don't exist! He asks almost every morning for pancakes -he usually takes no okay as long as we've had them within the last couple of days!! Man, what have I created?

7months

Here's another update of our Princess;

-sits by herself (only topples over every once in a while, we still put pillows around)

-weighs in at 12lbs 11 oz (yeah you gained a pound finally)

-been on an airplane

-eating a variety of veggies and starting on fruit

-love mummums and stars

-still nap 2-3 times a day

-still love your brothers

-love to touch all of our faces, hair

-don't play strange

That's about it. You make me smile every day and melt my heart. Every once in a while it hits me "wow, we have a girl". I love seeing you eating new things and being able to do new things!

A Lesson Learned

The forbidden ride.

"Ah - it feels so good to confess to the genie"

Rich and I learned a big lesson while away. Christian is almost 40", the magic number at Disney, so sometimes we had a few tears when he wasn't able to go on those rides. There is one ride we figured he would love to go on, Thunder Mountain Railway but there was the 40" rule. We came up with a brilliant (or not ) idea of folding up a couple of maps and sticking them into his shoes to see if we could get him up to the magic number - and we did. However, we miscalculated the repercussion of our decision. Christian was fine - he survived the ride, he liked it - don't think loved it b/c it is pretty intense, however, Ethan was not so fine. He was soooo upset - he couldn't believe that we would stick something in Christian's shoe to get him on the ride - he couldn't believe that we would lie. At first Rich was trying to reason with him - oh Christian really would like the ride etc, etc but I just said look it, we weren't honest there's not excuse for it. We can't make excuses or we're teaching Ethan that if you really want something it's okay to cheat a little. As adults we rationalize little "white" lies, it something doesn't quite suite us we can sometimes bend the rules but to a 7 year old who clearly sees life as black and white there is NO excuse for little "white" lies. We both felt horrible for letting him down. I know how he feels b/c I'm a very black and white person, however over the years I've come to realize that not every views right and wrong the same as me, even Christians (can you believe that;0) and so I've come to see other people's point of views (don't necessarily agree with them but can see their point). Parents out there, our kids are looking up to us and we need to make sure we're living a life that exemplifies how we want them to live. I'm glad he called us on our lie b/c in a few years I don't want him to be able to say "But mom I really wanted to do that so I thought it was okay to...lie, steal b/c remember Christian really wanted to go on that ride and you lied to get him on. I know that's a bit extreme but really we have to model the behaviour and lifestyle we want for our kids.

Ethan held on to this for a couple of days. We apologized, Christian was not allowed to go back on that ride and we told him we would never stick maps in Christian's shoes again.

There was a funny part to the story. The next day when he went up to get Aladdin and Jasmines' autographs they asked the kids what their fav. rides were and Christian said Choo Choos. So they asked which one and that's all it took to prompt Ethan to explain that Christian went on Thunder mountain b/c his mom and dad put maps in his shoes. Aladdin's answer - What a trick! We were all slowing walking away b/f the Disney police could come and capture us.

oops

Just realized I wrote about Ethan twice. Oh well! Kind of funny that they both say almost the exact same thing!

7 years ago....

some of the can good he collected

star wars dudes on his cupcakes

we welcomed Ethan James into our lives. Sometimes I really feel like the poor kid is our guinea pig - he's the one that we are trying out all of our parenting skills (or lack of) on and sometimes I worry that we're screwing him up. Hopefully, God is hearing our prayers and doing His own work on Ethan to compensate for our mistakes! Ethan is a great little boy. He can SO frustrating at times and then at other times he is SO amazing. He can drive his sibs insane and then he can be so kind and gentle with them that I can't believe he's the same kid. He has a memory for everything (sometimes a good thing and sometimes not so much). We are learning that he has a very strong sense of what is right and what is wrong (tell ya more in another post). He loves star wars, lego, soccer, hockey - basically anything his daddy is into he is into. He has lots of friends - he loves to play football and recess and give me loads of grass stained clothes and stinky socks. He loves his sister so much as well as his brothers. Ethan always willing goes and gets things for me when I need help with Callia - he never argues about it. I love him so much and love to still get in the hugs and kisses when I can b/c even though he is growing up quickly he is still only 7!

For his bday party we went to a pool. They spent an hour in the pool and then some time at the poolside eating and then went in again. He wanted to invite the max. number the pool allowed - 11 - I said okay but gave him a suggestion. I suggested that instead of receiving 11 presents (no space for that) why don't we ask for 5 bucks and a canned good that we would take to the foodbank. He agreed. So on his birthday the kids all came with canned goods and Ethan collected 19 items!! We didn't have time to go to the food bank b/c of our vacation but now we will. The kids all counted the items as I pulled them out of the bag and they seemed pretty impressed with themselves. When we got home Ethan opened up the cards and was so excited b/c he was so BLESSED. Many of the people didn't just gave 5 dollars - some gave 10 or 15 or even 20. So instead of receiving 40 dollars (some couldn't come and one had already bought a present) he received 80! Not that you give to get but it's not every 7 year old who will willingly give up getting a bunch of toys so that he can buy probably just one and then give to those who need food. Anyways, it turned out to be a great day for him. We look forward to another year with our eldest - hoping that God's influence on him surpasses ours!:)

Legoland

standing in front of New York - the models moved - were lit up - played music - some were interactive

Giddy up bad boy!

Ethan went on this ride four or five times. The kids drove the cars themselves -no track and were suppose to follow signs and lights.

the smaller version for kids 5 and under.

We decided to also go to Legoland since we had heard that it is good for kids 10 and under. We had a fun day - the lego creations were amazing - the kids LOVED looking at them all and we must have spent a good hour or more looking at them all. I'm not sure that we'll go there again - the rides were not that great (well in comparison to Disney) but the kids didn't seem to notice or care (which is what's important). When the park closed we went into the store and Ethan and Aiden were able to pick out their bday presents. The both picked special edition sets and were so excited. Thankfully the next day was going to be a relaxing back at the hotel day and so Rich spent most of the day assembling their sets. They had lots of fun playing with them when they had a moment or two. I'm glad we went b/c the boys all really enjoy Lego and they were a great age for that park.

Couldn't have done it without ya!

For our trip we had both sets of parents come with us. When we thought of going we sent out an email to both b/c we couldn't invite one set without the other and they both let us know that they would love to come. We are so glad they did. At first I was a little nervous wondering how it would be with two sets of grandparents - how would we "share" the kids, how would we stick together but it worked out awesome. We all shared the kids at diff. times - we took turns staying off the rides with Callia and Christian (especially the moms). THANK-YOU! The kids loved having different people going on with them for the diff. rides. Callia was spoiled with being held and rocked when a little fussy. She was so good on the trip but I think part of that was due to the fact that we could phone up a grandparent in the morning to take her while we were getting ready or that they would hold her in the evening when she really wanted to be sleeping or just had had enough of the stroller. Rich and I got to go shopping one evening by ourselves (which was so nice) and one other evening we were able to stay later with the older two and the grandparents took the youngest home to bed - that was so much fun to be out with just Aiden and Ethan . At home our kids see their grandparents on a regular basis but by no means everyday so this in itself was a special treat for them. It was great seeing them build memories with their Poppa, Grandma, Nana and Grandad. It was also fun to see the parents interact - we are blessed that they get along. Some people are a little surprised when we say we went with both but we wouldn't change what we did for anything. Thanks for making it an awesome trip - without you it would have been pretty stressful taking four small kids to Disney.

Disneyland

So we just got back from Disneyland. Rich and I went there 8 1/2 years ago for our honeymoon and talked back then about going back with our kids one day. Well, one day arrived and we took off along with our parents. Our trip was fantastic, maybe not as cosy as it was with just the two of us but it was just as fun.

This picture was taken as we were leaving the park on the last night. Just b/f we had been on the train - the ride Christian was waiting to go on ALL day and he had been wide awake for that - within five -10 minutes of getting of the train he was asleep. He did so good going all day long every day. He only had two naps the entire time. Oh - he also really hurt his foot in the Seattle airport - at first we were afraid it was something really serious as he sobbed (unlike him) but thankfully we had a stroller for him so he rode in that and by the end of the week he was skipping around (with a limp).

We had such a great time with each of the kids. Aiden loved all of the rides too. He went on every ride he was big enough for. I think his fav. was Splash Mountain. He would cuddle in too on rides he was a little bit scared in. Christian was scared of a lot of the rides to begin with (pirate, haunted house, Nemo) but he would always go on again and those rides ended up being his favourite. He thought all of the 3D movies were scary and did refuse to go into those ones again.

On the last morning we went to have a character breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen. We hummed and hahhed about doing this but we are so glad we did. The food was so good and it was fun to have the characters come around and spend time at our table. We saw - Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Captian Hook, Princess Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty. They did fun things with the kids too like a band and the macarina. If you go to Disney dig deep into the old wallet and do a character meal.

As we were walking into Fantasyland I saw all of the Princess stuff. I couldn't resist putting this on Callia's head and when I did she lit up. SO CUTE!! I felt a little emotional when I saw all the girly stuff b/c I thought YEAH - I have a little girl to buy this princessy stuff for. We are so blessed to be able to do both the boys stuff and the girls stuff - that was only a dream a year ago and now it's a reality!:)

Ethan loved to go on any rides he could by himself (wasn't many). We had our highs and lows with this guy. Ethan was SO excited he couldn't contain himself on the first day - in fact he didn't even eat breakfast. Lack of food led to a rather irksome first morning as he complained about a lot of things. I thought GOOD GRIEF we're in Disney - who complains here? It was not turning out how I thought it would. HOwever, after he ate lunch he did a complete turn around and was pretty happy. Of course we had our moments, even in Disney no one is perfect. One minute Ethan would tell us it was the best vacation ever and then when something didn't go his way it was suddenly the worst. The best thing with Ethan and Disney was seeing his face light up during and after a great ride. His fav. was the big roller coaster at California Adventure. I also loved it when he was scared and would suddenly grab hold of my hand or cuddle up!

The boys loved to pose with any characters they saw and got all of their autographs. In fact we had to find Buzz light year for them since when we saw him the first time they were "anti" character.

Callia responded in a way I didn't expect. I thought we would just be dragging the poor girl along but we weren't - she thoroughly enjoyed herself. When she was able to go on rides her little head was going back and forth, constantly taking everything in and then (as in this pic) she was enthralled with the parades. Of course she won't remember it but for the moment she was taken by everything she saw.

Christian was our first kid to get an autograph. At first Ethan and Aiden were not going to have anything to do with the characters.

The first thing the boys wanted to do was Jedi Training so we did. We were so happy b/c both boys were picked to do the training. We also did it the last day but only Ethan was picked. Sad for Aiden but he was a trooper and didn't let it bother him too much. This was a fabulous show.

Disney was so great. I can't wait to go back there again with the kids. WE've said we will go back when Callia is 40" - that's the height for many of the bigger rides and they're very strict with it -but Idon't know if we can wait that long!! It won't be too long if she ends up being tall!:)