More Disneyland!

Before our vacation, there was much talk about all of the Disney characters that we would get to meet.  Devon suggested that we purchase an autograph book for the characters to sign.  I wasn't in full support of an autograph book- I mean, what would we do with it?  We'd fill it with signatures of fictional characters, and then we'd bring it home, and then what?  Would it be kept with the kids books, or put in a box with special memory items, like Lucy's baby hair and Joe's school pictures?  Would we ever look at the autographs again?

Well, I came upon the autograph books in a gift shop, and I found that along with a spot for an autograph, each page also has an insert for a photograph.  A-ha!  It suddenly made perfect sense!  An autograph would be accompanied by a photograph, and then the book would be filled with memories, and it would sit with our photo books at home (the ones that haven't been updated since 2006), and if I never get around to compiling our vacation photos into an album, at least I'll have the autograph book completed!

Now I had brought upon myself a great task- to fill the autograph book.  Every page needs to be filled to truly complete the book.  So, all week I've been on high alert for Disney characters, and also looking for short lines to meet Disney characters (we haven't met Tinkerbell yet, because the line to meet her is a 45 minute wait!).  With only 4 empty pages left to fill, I spotted and stalked followed a character, hoping for a photo and an autograph.  Joe and Lucy did not even know who this guy was, but I didn't want to be in the picture alone, so I grabbed Lucy. Devon has since made fun of the fact that I devoted a whole page in the autograph book to this character, in a desperate attempt to fill the book.

If you can be the first one to correctly identify this Disney character, I'll send you a special Disney prize :)

*as a side note, I'd like to add that the signatures are really cool.  Each one is practically a work of art, and my mystery character's is no exception!  Here is a hint: his "t" was made to look like a kite!

Some more pictures to share:

Disneyland!! (continued)

A highlight of the trip has been dining at Ariel's Grotto, where we were able to meet Ariel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Belle.

Lucy was very excited to meet the special ladies! She was a little nervous, but we helped her think of things to say to the Princesses.  For example, she asked Snow White, "How are the Dwarfs?"

The Princesses were all very kind (of course!), and they all told Lucy that she looked lovely.

We are having so much fun exploring the Magic Kingdom!  Sure, we are very, very tired, and we are all trying not to be grumpy (refering to the mood, not the Dwarf!) when we don't get our way (refering to the children, not the adults!).  Overall, Joe, Lucy and Max have been great, and Devon and I are enjoying each of them as they experience every delight that Disneyland has to offer :)

Disneyland!!

R is for

Really happy Rantzs!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from day #1

Road Trip

"Where is Max?"

"Has anybody seen him?"

"OH! There he is!"

We took a quick road trip to Oregon this week. The kids and I played in Eugene while Devon worked.

 It was a lot of time in the car, but I'd like to think of it as a lot of time together as a family :)  Good, old fashioned, family time on the road!

Go To Target to Get To The Sea!

In case you are wondering if Jack Johnson's new cd To The Sea is worth buying, I'm here to tell you that yes it is!

In my own humble opinion, you just can't go wrong with Jack Johnson.  He is mellow and happy and is a real crowd pleaser in my car.  I can get through at least 4 songs on this new disc before my peeps in the backseat start requesting something silly.

I have several favorites on To The Sea, but for the mommies and daddies out there, the song "My Little Girl" will make you go, "ahhhh, so sweet" with lines like "Hey little girl, Look what you've done, You've gone and stole my heart, And made it your own."

If you'd rather not make the purchase, you may borrow or burn my copy :)

Look what my Nana spotted in California!

I wonder if California Lucy and California Max are as goofy as my Washington pair!

And is there a Bonus Joe in that car??

Forty Dollars, etc.

Forty dollars cannot buy me a full tank of gas.

It might cover a nice dinner date with my husband.

It is enough for a mani/pedi.

Would you believe that $40 brought home this table!?

GET OUT!! RIGHT??

What was once a clothing store display table is now at home in my kitchen, and it was a steal of a deal!

Me likey :)

In other news, Max says "ahondiss".

Ah-on-diss.

I want this.

In this instance, ahondiss Oreo cookie.

Joseph has been introducing Lucy and Max to light sabers.

Totally not my cup of tea, but I suppose that it balances out Lucy's princess obsession, and Max is destined to love all things related to "The Force" anyhow, so why not start him young?

We visited Aunt Merry this weekend, and she taught Lucy how to do a somersault.

That is all I've got for now!

A Bad Day for Snow White

I received this photo text from my friend Katie, and it made me laugh :)

"Poor girl... don't you hate it when you feel like this!"

Morning

If I could just get 5 more minutes of sleep...
Max's head was just a few inches from my face.  He opened the drawer of my nightstand, and then he slammed it shut.  And then he opened it again, and then he slammed it shut.  And then he knocked over the picture frame and began to push it so that it would fall behind the back of the nightstand.  I open one eye just in time to save the picture frame, and as I set it back up, Max excitedly pointed at the picture and exclaimed, "Dada!  Dada!"  Yes, that is your dada.  Where is your dada now?  Did he send you up here?  And did you notice that mama is also in that picture?  Mama?  Remember mama?

"DEVON?  DEVON?"

"What?  I'm in the bathroom!" 

"Mom, I need to change my dress.  Can you help me?"

My eyes still aren't open.  Lucy is changing her dress already?  It isn't even 8 o'clock.

"Yes, I'll help you.  Mama is awake."

Max gleefully yelped as I stepped out of bed, as though he had succeeded in his mission.

"Sorry they woke you up.  I had to go to the bathroom and they escaped.  I'll get you some coffee.  Lucy is in her fourth dress and fourth pair of panties."  Lucy's panties must always match her dress.  My laundry is endless.

I sat with my coffee and tuned into Matt Lauer.  He is so dreamy.  The current story is about motherhood and a woman who just wrote a book called I Love My Children, I Hate My Life.  71% of moms wish they had more time to themselves, and 85% feel that they don't have enough time with their children.  That is all the information that I could gather from the report, because Max and Lucy are so loud!

"I wish that children came with volume control."
"Yeah, like a mute button?"

Max gathered a pile of toys, and then threw them one at a time down the stairs to our front door.  As they hit the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs, I thought, Well, Joe should be waking up any moment.  Max is the in-house wake-up call. 

Devon filled a bottle with milk for Max, and just as he returned to sit beside me on the sofa, Lucy piped in that she reeeealllly wants some chocolate milk. 

As Devon made his way back to the kitchen, Lucy and Max both disappeared up the stairs.  Ah, it is quiet.

"MOMMMMMMMMMMM!  MOM!  I need a costume!"
"DADA!  DADA!"

Devon climbed the stairs, retrieved Max, and Lucy followed them down wearing a costume.

"Alright, I've got to get ready for work."  No, don't leave me!

Max pulled my wallet off of the dining room table and was emptying all of it's contents out as fast as his little hands could work.  Devon collected the wallet, much to Max's disappointment.  His squeals are so sharp this morning.

"Baba!  Baba!"

Where did his baba go?

We began looking for it- behind the sofa, behind the cushions, under the table, among the toys, in the garbage, up the stairs, down the stairs.  It is missing, and we can only hope that it is right-side-up.

I sat back down in front of the TV, hoping to finish my coffee before it got cold.  "Oh, there it is, behind the TV."  Found the baba!

"Where is my chocolate milk?"  Oh dear.

"Okay, honey, I've got to get moving."

"Okay, I guess it is time for me to clock-in."

Max snuggled in beside me, sucking the last drop of milk out of his bottle, and then climbed onto my lap, wrapped both arms around my neck and planted a big, open-mouth kiss on my face.  He smelled like poop.

Good morning mama!
Get to work!

Some of our fun this week...

My Idea of Romance

This weekend,

Devon went to Stroller Strides with me,

and he took me on a date,

and he let me sleep in,

and he vacuumed the whole house and cleaned the toilets.

Be still my beating heart!!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Before I moved to Seattle, I'd heard that it rains and rains here, and then it rains a little more, and then when the clouds finally open up and the sun appears, you would be hard pressed to find a more majestic city.  On a clear day, the air is clean, the grass is green, and snow capped mountains surround as far as the eye can see. 

Now, you know that I am a California girl at heart, but I've got to say that I live in a very beautiful corner of the country.

So, I moved here six years ago, I found a tiny studio apartment that had one window which faced west, and I embraced the rain, waiting for the day when I'd get to see the glory that is a Seattle summer day.

And then it arrived.  And it was more lovely than I'd even expected.  And I drove around all day with my sunroof open, iced caramel macchiato in my cup holder, enjoying the view of the Olympic Mountain range which suddenly appeared across the water of the Puget Sound.

Boy, did that sunshine heat up my little apartment!  It was impossible to create a breeze through the room with only the single window, and I desperately searched for the air conditioner.  Where was it?  That box on the wall only controlled heat?  Heat??  Shouldn't there be a control box mounted on one of these four walls?  I searched the walls several times until I finally called the front office and asked, "How do I turn on the air conditioning?"

Can you guess how that conversation went? 

I baked that summer.  For real- my home was an oven. 

*******************************************

Summer finally arrived this week, and the temperature has shifted from a high of 65 on Monday to a record breaking 95 on Wednesday!  Yes, we are joining the rest of America in the heatwave!  We are packing up our children and taking them to lakes and pools!  We are rubbing on the sunblock and drinking a lot of water!  We are hot!

I won't complain about the sun or the heat, but I will complain all day long about the fact that air conditioning is not standard issue in homes. 

It is 10:31 pm right now, and my bedroom is 88.5 degrees.  Seriously.  Ick!

Joe is keeping cool in his basement bedroom.  But as for Lucy and Max, I just don't have the heart to move them to their beds upstairs, away from the ceiling fan in the living room.  So, here they sleep :) 

Tiny Dancer

Guess who took her first ballet class this morning!!!

Ballerina Lucy!

She has been excited for weeks (and I have been equally excited, if not more!), and she really enjoyed her first class this morning.  I didn't get to take any pictures of her dancing, but I will eventually, and you'd better believe that they will be posted!

And while we are on the subject...  Max is working on his performing arts too :)

Any other Laurie Berkner Band fans out there?  My kids can't get enough of her!

Destination Disneyland!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

(I screamed)

I've been working on planning a family vacation, and it is totally stressing me out!

I just booked our hotel, and I used the "name your price" option on Priceline.com, which was just a bit too much livin' on the edge for a control freak like me.

Devon assures me, "Everything will be great!"

Of course it will be great- it is the Happiest Place on Earth, right?!

a little break from vacation planning to play with the web cam

Happy 4th of July!

When I was a kid, the 4th was all about the Lake of the Pines carnival and fireworks over the lake.  It was about spending the whole day in bathing suits, being lathered in sunblock, and eating snow cones to keep cool in the high California summer temps.

Here in the Northwest, the 4th of July is a bit different.  The joke around here is that summer actually begins on July 5th, meaning that today will be cloudy with a chance of rain and tomorrow will be clear skies and temps might reach the 70's, or maybe even the 80's (not likely). 

Oh, how I long for California today!

But, anyway... I am looking forward to celebrating with my family and continuing the traditions that we've built on this holiday, regardless of the weather.  It makes me smile to think that one day my kids might say, "...the 4th was all about (still) wearing our winter clothes, and Merry's pool was heated to 90 degrees, and we would hope that the clouds would clear by night so that we could see the fireworks over Issaquah..."

What are YOU doing today?  What are your traditions?

Well, rain or shine, Happy Independence Day, friends!

The Fan Club Meets Again

Last night I went to see Eclipse with Katie and Mary Beth.
Mommies Night Out!

We did not join the Twilight fanatics at the midnight showing this time- a good decision, I believe- but I will admit that I missed hearing whoops and hollers when Edward appeared on the screen, and the cheers when Jacob is shirtless (which is often!).

I enjoyed the movie, and I especially enjoyed my girlfriends :)
I am considering reading the books again, because though the movies are good, the books are sooooooo much better!