Sky High Sports - May 1st

N has been busy tagging and uploading pics from the last few months. Since Molly was not able to join the festivities on N's b.day (poor bug was sick) we decided to head back to Sky High Sports for some trampoline action since she LOVES to jump.

Molly got right to it...

Ma, I don't want to pose for pictures... there's jumping to be done!

Wheee!!!

The kids had a blast.

Molly taking a breather.

The girl loves to jump.

Snack break.

Daddy's turn.

For the rest of the gallery click here.

Jessie's 2nd Birthday

Little Miss Jessie turned two back in April (the 17th to be exact), but N FINALLY got the pictures uploaded (after editing, tagging, etc) earlier today. Here are some of my favorites:

The Birthday Girl and her big sis, Jamie

Molly on the jumper... her hair looks like it has been blown out 60's style...

"Excuse me... pardon me... comin' through!"

The Jodoin men.

"You want me to what?!?"

"CUPCAKE!!!!"

For the rest of the gallery click here.

Sleeping on the job

Apparently somebody is still in nap mode. Molly cleared off her art table and decided to stretch out.

Danny the Dragon

Taking in the sights from Danny the Dragon at Happy Hollow.

Hickson Day Care

I pulled the table out so the kids could each have a side
and they insisted on sitting next to each other... so cute!

On Friday we had Robert and Connor for the day. For the most part Robert and Molly entertained each other and Connor watched them run around... oh, and drooled... a LOT. The poor guy is teething and just got his first tooth. Connor went down for an early morning nap around 9:30 and slept for an hour and 45 minutes. He probably would have slept longer, but Molly ran off and before I could stop her I heard our bedroom door swing wide open and slam into the wall. Yeah, that woke Connor up. Shocking, isn't it?


Robert David! Where are you going with my daughter?!?

The kids all had lunch at the same time. I then wound Robert and Molly down with a little Sesame Street and they were napping by 1:00. I was able to get Connor down for a second nap of an hour and 45 minutes during Robert and Molly's three hour nap which was nice. I had him in our little infant travel bed in the living room and about 10 minutes after he went down our mail lady showed up. I bolted over to Sadie and held her face and told her under no uncertain terms she better not make a sound. Usually the mail lady causes her to bark like crazy. Her eyes went back n' forth between me and the mail lady, but she didn't utter a peep... and Sadie lives to see another day.


Winding down with some Sesame Street.

After nap time the kids played a bit more while Connor watched from the jumper. He really does love that thing. Jarrod came to get them a little after 5:00 and we all headed out to dinner.


Drooling on everything he can get his hands on.

For the rest of the pictures from the day click here.

Disneyland pictures

N did pick up two new lenses before we left (one was a fish eye lense) and took a TON of pictures. However, N has his process. That includes importing the pictures from his camera to his computer. Then he goes through and rates them, tags them, and tweaks them. He widdles down the massive to collection to the best of the best and THEN he uploads them to a gallery. I'm not sure how many pictures he took, but it has to be hundreds. Hopefully I can convince him to throw up a quick "Best of" gallery so you don't have to wait for the whole edit process to take place. He's enjoying some time with the guys on a friend's boat today, but tomorrow he's on Molly duty while Lucille and I see the new Sex and the City movie. He has no excuse during nap time to do anything other than PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES.

Fingers crossed you folks see something soon. They will be worth it... his camera is super sexy.

In the meantime you can check out Jenn's Disneyland gallery. Sorry, but the Choun's picture go into the void of their personal computer to never be heard from again.

Disneyland, Character Breakfast

We checked out Wednesday, but went to the Character Breakfast first. On the way in we got a group shot with Pluto. I sat Molly between N and I with our backs facing the window. This way she could see the characters (which she kept pointing out), but wasn't in a position where they could come up behind her. She was not quite down with the whole taking pictures with characters thing. I had been pointing them out to her as I saw them over the course of the trip, but whenever I mentioned going over to take a picture Molly refused. She was much happier pointing out Sleepy Beauty and the Fairy Godmother every time they passed by from the nice confines of her chair between mommy and daddy. The breakfast was buffet style and Molly dug the Mickey pancakes and fresh fruit. We stuffed ourselves silly and then headed back to the room to pack.

I packed up while N did one last con call. We were going to caravan back with the Jodoins as the Chouns were staying another day. We were on the road by 10:30 and Molly was crashed out an hour later. Unfortunately we had to stop for gas so we woke her up around 1:00 and she was NOT happy about it. She spent most of lunch snuggling N. When we got back in the car we set her up with some movies on the iPad, but she never fell back asleep. Still, she was content and we were able to drive straight through and got home a little after 5:00.

All in all it was an excellent trip. I'd have to say it was more for me than for Molly as the only way she's going to remember it is from pictures, but it was still fun to do with friends. The fact that under 3 got in free didn't hurt either. Still, I think 5 or older is probably a much more realistic age to take kids to the park. Jamie (turning 7 in July) was able to go on a lot more rides and with her you didn't have the burden of a stroller/diaper bag. I'm not saying I regret going as we were able to hang out with good friends, but as for whether or not it was worth it to take a 3 year old I would lean towards "Wait until they are a bit older"... unless you go with friends and just want to hang out.

Disneyland, Day Three

Tuesday was another early entry for those staying on property so we decide to make the most of it and head on down. This time the park wasn't set to open until 9:00 so that meant getting there at 8:00. Phew! Molly was pretty much back to normal at this time and we hit a few more rides. We did Astro Blasters first as it was one of the rides that always seemed to have a crazy line. Walked right on and did it twice as we met up with the Jodoins when we got off. Unfortunately I had my Revo sunglasses in the side pocket of my shorts and somehow managed to crush a (glass) lens when getting up. That sucked.

Robert requested It's a Small World as it was his favorite. All of the kids seemed to enjoy that one, even Connor (7 months) was paying attention. We went on the small train ride (Casey Jr. Circus Train) and then stopped for snack time as we met up with the Chouns. Molly was still working on her fruit cup when everyone else got on the Dumbo ride. As soon as she was done eating she requested her blanket and stroller and I obliged. Once again she was content to take in the sights from her comfy ride. I don't blame her as I'm pretty sure my feet were numb at this point.

The next stop was Toon Town (it opened at 10:00) and we did the Roger Rabbit ride first as that was another one that tended to have a long line. We wandered about for a bit trying to get some good pictures in and then headed to lunch. We went to Tomorrowland so we could hop on the big train that goes around the entire park after lunch. Molly pretty much used N as a pillow and laid down next to him the second we got on. The next stop was the Main Entrance and N decided to take Molly back to the room for nap time. Robert and Jarrod joined him and I sat with the Chouns for the rest of the ride around the park. We went back to the Main Entrance where Jeff and Jessie took off. Julie, Jamie, and I went on the Haunted Mansion again and then met up with Jenn in California Adventure for Soarin' Over California. After that we made our way back through Downtown Disney while Jenn hustled back to the room to pick up Connor so Robert could get back to his nap.

That night we decided to head out to dinner and went to a local Red Robin. Molly once again inhaled a grilled cheese. However, she also ate all of her cantaloupe along with mine. It wasn't all crap, all the time folks. We tried! I went back to the room with Molly for bed time and N met up with the guys for some hot tub time along with a few games of Settlers.

Dinseyland, Day Two

We had covered most of Disneyland on Sunday so we decided to start the day at California Adventure on Monday. My main goal for the trip was to have Molly see Princess Tiana (check) and go on the Monsters, Inc. ride. She actually woke up that morning and, "Monsters, Inc. on the iPad" were the first words out of her mouth. Since it took her a while to warm up the day before we decided to just let her watch her movie and have some fruit and yogurt in the room first. California Adventure was not going to open until 10:00 so we had plenty of time to make our way over. N had a con call at 10:30 so we hit Monsters, Inc. as soon as it opened and then he took off to do his calls. After the first ride we were joined by the Chouns and Jodoins (who had already done some rides at Disneyland) and we went on it again.

We then hit up Bug's Land and went on most of the kiddie rides in that area (Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies, and Flik's Flyers). It was nice and shady which was excellent because it was starting to get quite sunny and warm. Next stop was lunch. The Jodoins took off at that point and I went to meet up with the Chouns (who headed out a few minutes earlier). By the time I get to the ride they are waiting in line for I look down and realize Molly is fast asleep. N is done with his work calls and is on his way back to the park so I wait to have a quick hello before Molly and I head back to the room for nap time.

After nap time Molly and I meet up with N and Jarrod at the House of Blues for happy hour. I realize I left the diaper bag on the bed so I head back to the room to grab it while N does a quick trip to CA Adventure for yet another go on the Monsters, Inc. ride. I think we have a favorite.

Jarrod was having a massive IHOP craving so we meet up with everyone and walk over. It's right on the edge of the Disneyland property, but still a mile away. We arrive and they actually seat all 11 of us in one massive booth. They take our drink order and then Molly is done. She's usually really good in restaurants, but I saw no reason to force her to stay when she was clearly done for the day. She was feeling much better today than she did on Sunday, but still not quite 100% so we head back to the room. It was almost 7:00 and I saw no reason to force her through a meal. We got back to the room and I set her up with Monsters, Inc. and she inhales the better part of a banana. I flip through the room service menu and when I mention grilled cheese Molly lights up. She eats her grilled cheese, fruit cup, and carrot sticks and is definitely winding down for the night. I get her in a nice warm bath and she passes out quickly after.

Dinseyland, Day One

Unfortunately, Molly had a little bit of a head cold when we arrived at Disneyland last Saturday night. She was not quite herself and had a constant snotty nose. We checked into the hotel around 9:30 pm, but bug was not able to fall asleep until 10:30. We were just going to let her sleep as long as she needed and then meet up with the Jodoins and Chouns as they were planning to take advantage of staying on property and enter the park an hour early at the lovely hour of 7:00 am. Then Molly woke up at 6:20 with the (very loud) proclamation of, "Molly's awake Mommy!" I nudged N and asked if he wanted to get ready and meet up with everyone since we were up anyway. Lo and behold we were the first ones out. Funny how that works out sometimes.

Molly was totally content to chill in her stroller, but that was it. She had no interest in getting out of her stroller and going on any of the rides. In fact when we did try to get her out she would whine that she wanted to go to Disneyland. I tried to tell her we were IN Disneyland, but I think she meant she wanted to go back to the room. However, she would calm right back down as soon as she realized we weren't going to take her out of her stroller and continued to take in the sights. N and I took turns hopping on rides with everyone else while Molly people watched. N also took her to go get a bagel and some OJ and she was much calmer after that. We slowly made our way towards New Orleans Square as Princess Tiana was going to perform with her Jambalaya Jazz Band at 10:30. That got Molly up. She stood to the side with her blanket bunched up in her arms, but she was out of the stroller finally.

So, what ride do we take her on first? Why the Haunted Mansion of course. It was next on the list of things to hit and Molly was pretty content for the most part. The only objection came when you were tilted back to go down to the next level. That she did not like, but quickly recovered and took everything in. After that we took the raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island and let the kids run around. Molly climbed to the top of the pirate ship and when we got back down she immediately walked over to N and demanded a snack. Once we got back to the mainland Molly wanted back in her stroller and we headed to lunch. Well, by the time we arrived to our lunch destination Molly was OUT. N and I had a quick bite to eat and then N headed back to the room with Molly for nap time. I ran to the store to get a few more snacky items since we had a fridge in the room and then met up with Julie and Jamie for some more rides. You will be happy to know Julie and I officially converted Jamie over to a Space Mountain junkie.

Molly was a little clingy after her nap so she cuddled with N on the bed while they watched their respective iPads (it's no longer my iPad, it's MOLLY'S iPad). When she was in a better mood they meet up with the rest of us for some more rides and then dinner. After dinner we quickly took Molly on as many rides as we could in Fantasyland as she had missed out on them that morning. We hit Snow White, Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland before heading back to the room for bed time. N was content to hit the hay early himself so I was able to sneak back out with Jenn and take advantage of the park closing at midnight. We hit Indiana Jones, Pirates, Star Tours (which is going away for good in a few weeks), Astro Blasters, and finally Space Mountain (which still had a half hour wait at 11:00 at night!). After that we were officially done.