SNOW, SNOW GO AWAY!

So, we had a white Christmas this year, it was great. But then the snow wouldn't go away. This was the view out my front door for about three months. Actually by the time I took this, some of the snow had melted...and then it snowed again. I love that it snows here for Christmas. I can't imagine living in a place where they don't have white Christmases. But enough is enough. I say after the New Year, all the snow can stay in the mountains and leave us poor people in the valley alone. I am so ready for spring!

Just a note about my Mason

Just to let everyone know about Mason. Mason was diagnosed with
an OCD disorder called Trichotillomania. He has a compulsion to pull out his hair. He tends to only pull his eyebrows and eyelashes but he occassionally pulls his hair out behind his ears. He also started pulling out his arm and leg hairs but he told me "that hurts, mom". (Like pulling out your eyelashes doesn't?) Anyway, we are working on finding the right treatment for him. He is very good about telling me when he has a bad day and has been pulling. I just wanted to let everyone know so if you see him and he looks a little strange, that's why. If you happen to see him pulling he is ok with you quietly letting him know so he realizes and stops. He even was brave enough to stand up in front of his class to let them know about it. They have been really great about it and they all help watch for the pulling so they can let him know when he's doing it.

OH SO SWEET!

One of the very few occassions that Adam actually took a nap. Maybe he just needed a comfy place.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Zachary and Mason decided to go as Death Eaters from Harry Potter. Sadly I don't get to do any cute little princesses or fairies on Halloween. We only get to do scary or gory things. :(

Hayden and Adam went as Aniken Skywalker and Obiwon Kanobi (sp?). It was so funny because Adam kept saying that he is Hayden's boss. Hayden makes a great jedi. They looked so funny walking around the neighborhood looking like little men.

THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

YAY, we finally made it to Disneyland. I've been planning it for two years and I didn't think I'd survive the drive (small minivan, four boys and 11 hours...enough said) but we made it. The boys loved it, and I mean all of the boys. James was almost as crazy as the kids. James, Zac and Mason all loved Space Mountain. Hayden and Adam loved Pirates and The Haunted Mansion. They all loved the Matterhorn and especially Splash Mountain. I thought I was being smart going in October thinking it would be cooler and there off season. Boy was I wrong. CA was in the middle of a heat wave and I guess the off season starts in November. Oh well, we had fun anyway.

The smartest thing I ever did was reserve a kid's suite. The kids had a seperate bedroom with a bunk bed, sleeper sofa and their own tv.

The best thing ever, James and I got our nights to ourselves.

The first night in California, we went to Medieval Times. The boys loved it. Zac, Mason and Hayden were so excited. Adam loved it until he was done eating, then he got a little bored. He decided to entertain himself by needing to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so, even though he's not pottytrained yet.

Our knight was the red and yellow knight. The boys had fun cheering for him and waving their flags. They really got excited once the jousting and all of the sword fighting started.

Our niece and nephew, Grace and Isaac, are going to be Alice and the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland for Halloween.

This is for you guys!

In line for Pirates of the Carribean. They have made changes to the ride and added Captain Jack Sparrow from the movies. They did a great job. It looked just like him. The boys loved finding him in all of the scenes.

Goofin' off with goofy in Toontown.

Hangin' out at Mickey's house. It was so hot and Adam was a little grouchy. He refused to get into the picture.

Hayden and Adam with me in line for The Haunted Mansion. It was hot so I put my hair in a ponytail. Adam decided that he needed a ponytail too. He kept pulling mine out until I finally put it in his hair.

The only time everybody was happy at the same time, was in an air conditioned building and eating. ;-)

This is my "I thought this was the off season...NOT!" picture.

ON TO SEA WORLD!

On Tuesday we headed down to San Diego to go to Sea World. Zac and Mason were almost as excited for this as they were to go to Disneyland. They couldn't wait to see Shamu. It turns out their favorite part was actually The Forbidden Reef. We were able to pet and feed the Bat rays.

Mason had a blast with the bat rays. He kept getting splashed by them. Then when he tried to feed them, he didn't let go of the fish in time and got a little nibble on his finger.

I think Zac was the only kid to walk away from the rays not completely soaked. I don't know how he managed it.

Look at those cool boys. I think I'm twitterpated.

SO CUTE!

All of us waiting for the Whale show to start. Notice that nobody is sitting in front of us? Yeah, we were sitting in row four and all rows through 16 were the soak zone. Nobody was dumb enough to get any closer. This is what I must endure being mom to four crazy boys.

This is the underwater observation for the killer whales. The boys couldn't believe how big they were and this was the smallest whale there.

BACK TO DISNEYLAND

On Wednesday, we decided to hang around at the hotel for awhile and go swimming. We had lunch and then decided to go to California Adventures. We didn't get there until about 1:30 not knowing that they closed at 6:00. Oh well, at least we could just walk over to Disneyland. Thursday we hit Disneyland all day. We got to go in early so we were there at 8:00am. Yeah, that was a long day.

Zac, Adam, Hayden and Mason with Pluto at California Adventures

The boys at a "candy" corn farm.

Isn't Zac just a stud? And that's Adam's "I'm tired of taking pictures" pose.

It was so hot!! How could we have known they'd be going through a heat wave the 2nd week of October. Thankfully there was a waterfountain playground for the kids to cool off.

All of the boys and James. They had the cutest things out for Halloween.

The last day there, we ate lunch at the cafe in New Orleans Square. During lunch a jazz band came out with a jazz singer. They invited some kids up to help. Hayden and Mason volunteered and each got to play the tambourine. They marched around and sang Zippitty do da, Zippitty a(?)

Friday we headed back home. Of course, the ride home is always more crowded and disorganized then the ride there. Somehow we survived that too. The kids want to go back, but I told them we'd wait five more years. Even though we had fun, I don't think I'm brave enough to do it again any sooner than that. And next time, I think we'll go in November or February maybe we'll actually go during their off season. ;o)