New Years Eve 2010

The last day of the year. And I'm sort of ambivalent LOL. Not sure why that it is. Maybe because we don't mark the closing of the past year with partying and silliness. We just hang out at home, eat something yummy(tonight enchildas made for us by my MIL), play video games with two of the kids(one is going to a sleepover) and make a toast to our family and future at midnight. Not such a bad way to close out the year.

But I do feel like something is brewing as I go into the New Year. I want to make changes in myself and how I do/handle things. I want to remember the strong, confident person I used to be. Somehow,I've allowed motherhood to own me, to define my entire self. While being identified as a Mom isn't entirely bad, losing faith in myself and my abilities is not so great. Well this year I plan to change that. I intend to rediscover the things I've allowed to lay dormant over the last decade. Now I have found some things in these past years that I really enjoy, like papercrafting and photography, and with those, i plan to push myself and discover how much further I can push them.

So with that, I declare my One Little Word of 2011: (Re)discover.

Sad and a Recipe.

So our hard drive bit the dust and I lost all my photos from Nov '09 to Early Dec '10 :( .
I went from hyperventilating to not wanting to talk about it to searching the web to find a way to recover those photos. No luck. The whole season of soccer, photos for the school yearbook, day to day stuff..gone. Could have been worse though like baby or wedding photos.
So I received an external hard drive for Christmas and will be figuring out how to backup all those photos very soon.

Along with the photos were fonts, files, recipes and drivers. I'm taking a little time each day to reload the lost items so I can get things back to normal. As soon as I can find my camera software, I'll begin posting photos again.



We had a wonderful holiday season. We spent time with family and had a LOT of great food. One of those yummy items was a buffalo chicken thing I made. The bookmark I made of the page is gone so I'll post it from memory.

Buffalo Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup hot sauce(like Franks Red Hot)
1 cup cream cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

-marinate chicken breasts in 1/2 cup of hot sauce in fridge for one hour
-heat 1 tbsp olive oil in medium pan and cook chicken until juices run clear
-remove from heat and let cool until you can handle. Shred chicken
-Mix cream cheese, and 1/4cup of hot sauce, salt & pepper then add shredded chicken. Mix well.

This mixture is DIVINE! I used it in two ways:
I filled filo dough and rolled it, baked it cut it in slices and it was good.
Then I made little purses from filo and baked them for individual servings. Yum.

But you can do so much with this-baked pastry cups with the filling topped with cheese & browned in the over. A calzone (double the recipe) ..possibilites are endless.

Reappearing

So photos first:


Maddie and two of her friends before her 80's inspired Skate party. All the girls looked fantastic and their dress was a combination of St Elmos Fire meets Valley Girls meets Breakfast Club!

Wyatt in a corn maze. Well it wasn't really a maze more of a "corn was planted in rows with a path". But he had fun.

My Halloween-ers. Wyatt, a StormTrooper, Maddie is not Oscar the Grouch, she's a can of green play-doh. and Sophie is a Motorcycle Mama. She was supposed to be a cowgirl , but we just couldn't find the right components.

Sophie, the morning of her last game and the day she made her first GOAL!! It was so awesome to watch. She set out to do it, and she did! TOtally proud of her!

Maddie, the day of her last game. It was freakin' cold! Everyone was bundled up!

Ok, so Wow, totally disappeared there for a bit. I'm back today ...not sure how long it will last though.

So, for the one person(Irene) who reads this, here is what I've been up to, in no particular order:

-running my tale off for PTA-Scrap Night, Book Swap, Movie Night, Breakfast with Santa. All of these events are within two weeks of each other.

-Christmas shopping. Used to love it, want to hate it now but I can't pass up a good deal. Went out on Thanksgiving Night and didn't return home until 7am on Friday. I think I'm still recovering,.

-Making lots of Caramel Corn. Want to be sick of it, but I'm not. LOVE IT!

-Finished a few crafty gifts to give as gifts.

-Still working on a few crafty gifts to give as gifts.

-Offending my Husband.

-Playing with camera, but still not feeling like I'm "getting" it. *&#!

-Avoiding house maintenance. While, the surface looks ok, the corners and behind doors is a big 'ol mess.

-Taking photos-but not great ones.

-Finished outdoor soccer and made crafty gifts(which included photos I took all season) for all 30 girls

-Thinking about what I want to do next year and have come up with nothing yet, except to stay away from the caramel corn.

-Got an all clear for no tumors on my parathyroid! YAY! Turns out I'm low on VIT D

-Hosted Thanksgiving for the 3rd year for my parents and In-Laws. Sometimes I wish Troy wasn't an only child from his Mom.

-Planning Christmas Day Brunch at our house. What should I make?

-Offending Maddie by simply breathing in her direction.

-Rescued two dogs that literally knocked on our door. Two Chiuauas that were cute as can be..found the owners after two days.

-Went to an adult only Halloween party for the first time ever. Had a blast and so happy that I have friends in this neighborhood that I can "let down my hair" around. I dressed as Rosie the Riviter and Troy was Dwight Schrute. Funny.

Listened to my friend as she dealt with a huge mess in her life. Glad I can be a sounding board for her, but frustrating to watch the same thing ahppen over and over again.

So there ya have it.

I'll be back.

Maybe.

I've been playing with my camera

or to be more accurate, learning how to use my camera! I'm taking a dSLR photography workshop from a friend of a friend and I'm learning a lot. I have a pretty loose knowledge of photography to start, but more theory than practical. That little teeny, tiny bit of knowledge has helped me to understand what he is explaining. Showing us what he is explaining has been the best though!

So the instructor asked what ONE thing we wanted to come away with . Mine was easy- I want to stop the ball. I'm ok with getting the ball in the pictures I take at games(very important-gives relevance to the player) but it's always this round blur streaking across the photo. Frustrating is not even close to the word I think when this happens. BUT now I can do it! So exciting I tell ya!
So the picture is not great -dark and light and bleh. But I stopped the ball! I can zoom in on the ball and actually read the label!!

This one, not so great. Sophies' foot is blurry but I was focused on the ball. Which is stopped. HA! Still not really sure how but I'm close to knowing!

Menu Plan Monday

Week of Oct 10

Havent posted my menu in a while but I have been doing well. In fact, i honestly can't remember when we ordered out for dinner last. Hmm...Remember to check out Laura and Menu Plan Monday ..Lots of fall meals being planned!

Sunday - Beef Stew with biscuits

Monday- Faux-tissarie chicken, watermelon, & ?

Tuesday- Meatloaf , mashed potatoes & gravy & peas & carrots

Wednesday- Creamy chicken and bacon pockets watermelon & green salad

Thursday- leftovers(yay!)

Friday- Grilled tri-tip, baked potato, & green salad-using up the last of the garden tomatos

Saturday- Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread and a veggie?

It Is Oct 3rd

And I survived! Our Fall Festival is now done for the year and it was total success! Our Parents are the best and they are what helped pull this event off..THANK YOU!
A quick rundown of my day:
-Up at 5am
-Soccer at 9am
-At school by 12pm
-Commence to pull out tables, boxes, chairs, games, auction baskets, prizes, ice chests, etc for the next 3 hours.
-3pm Festival begins and we are RUNNING! Walkies in hand, us organizers kept tickets at the booths, volunteers hydrated, raffles winners pulled, Basket winners were notified
-730-9pm do the opposite of my 12-3pm job.
-930- showered and in bed!
This is the Wave Rider -works similar to a mechinical bull-Riders rides a surfboard though and the operator can make it go slow or fast. Maddie did a good job.

My sweet husband taking charge of the grill. He did anything we asked(or told) him to do! Thanks for the support Troy!

Pumpkin bowling! First time for this at the festival and it was a lot of fun! Our Neighbor friend trying to get a strike!

Country Kitchen! This was a huge job in and of itself! The woman on the right organized all the donations and ran the Kitchen all night. It was such a hit !

Human Hamster Ball! What a fun activity! This was by far the favorite of the night. It will be back next year for sure! That is Wyatt in there so it's great for lots of ages.

Is is October 3rd yet!

Sunday I'll be heaving a huge sigh of relief as our PTA sponsered Fall Festival will be over!
The planning and gathering has been fun, and at times exciting, but boy is it a lot of work! I feel like I've been going every day without stopping since August.

EAch time we got a positive response from a donation request, it's like we won the lottery! and seeing all the class sponsered auction baskets is incredible! The creative-ness of some them is just outstanding! In fact, one particular basket has a DONATED value of $400! And when I say donated, I mean just about everything in the basket was given by companies or by parents who had things on hand! It is something else!

Since we are in the final countdown, all the last minute tasks..and fears, are starting to service. But that happens with any large, planned event. It will be what it will be and no matter how hard we work to cross our t's and dot our i's, something will be forgotten or someone will not be happy. The bottom line is that we earn some cash for our school and the kids have FUN!

Before I sign out, I'm posting some pics from the last few weeks. I think I have A follower that will be happy to see them(Hi Missy!)




Our new family member: Cupcake Sunflower. She's a bit of a rascal as she has managed to escape twice so far. I think we've been able to seal all her escape routes so hopefully she'll stay put.

Yearly Air Show. This photo was taken from our backyard. The jet was directly over us and I just zoomed in and snapped as fast as possible. I then cropped in as tight as I could. Look closely and the pilots helmet is visable!

Another soccer Saturday!

Wyatt and our dear neighbor friend. Wyatt's preschool went to a local nursery theme park and we asked our friend and Mom along. We had a lot of fun!

Wyatt in a block of cheese. They were totally intrigued by this!

And last but not least, My Maddie. She turned 10 yesterday! WOW. I feel like I'm on the downward slope of her time left in our home. College is just 8 years away .... And that's less than the amount of years she is! LOL! Madeleine is a great girl. She is funny and silly and pretty easy going. She loves "facts" but doesn't want to read-just give her the bullet points! She does have a bit of the pre-teen angst thing going on right now, but it actually makes her comments and insights even funnier at times. Maddie is going to be an awesome young woman and it's been so great watching her grow. I love you Maddie Magoo!

Soccer Season is Underway

Maddie getting hydrated before the game.

Sophie warming up!

Most kids around here begin playing soccer at 5 or 6 years old and most will play through Jr high, if not High School. MAny will go onto play select, which I don't think we'll do for two reason:cost and talent. While my girls enjoy playing and look forward to it each season, they have only played since last year. Unless, there is a huge jump in ability, we'll stay with rec LOL Plus, there are some girls who are just plain talented, even in the U-8 area!

I never thought I'd be the "soccer mom" but I love the roll. I watched my best friend play through school(she played select) and thought, meh, boring. But boy, when it's your own child, it's easy to get caught up in the game. And I'm the unofficial photographer for both teams(not that I'm talented with sports photographer) and I'm having fun trying to capture good shots of the girls.

So a soccer field is where you'll find this Mom for the next 12 Saturdays...

Week of Sept 5th-Meal Plan

Feeling "frugal" so once again, I'm taking inventory of the pantry and freezer and really trying to plan meals and snacks around what I have and/or what I have to build on.

This week will be "normal" busy, meaning I have nothing extra on my plate. Which is good because I caught the cold that is making the rounds and I need to slow down a bit to keep from getting worse and for me that would mean a sinus infection. Hate those.

So in no particular order:

Creamy penne bake, salad, garlic bread


Grilled hamburgers , fresh fruit, chips


Grilled steaks, crash hot potatoes, fresh fruit, corn on the cob


Faux rotissarie chicken & tortellini salad


Creamy chicken taquitos, lime cilantro rice & tortilla chips

Leftovers 2x


i also plan to make an artichoke dip and a yummy dessert for Labor day.

Menu Plan Monday Aug 22

I didn't do a plan last week because Troy was gone and I was giving the kids free reign for dinner. We ate out once so I think that we did great!

This week is a little of the same. Troy is gone for a few days but I felt pretty frazzled last week so I won't be doing the "willy nilly" when it comes to dinner. I won't be serving 5 star meals but they will be planned by gosh!

Pizza with green salad

Beef Stew and homemade cheddar/garlic biscuits

Greek chicken and Rice and caprese salad

Chicken tenders and fresh veggies with potato crowns

Leftovers/ free for all

Grilled Hamburgers and corn on the cob

Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad

Hoping to make some banana muffins or bread for the kids lunches/snacks this week. Bananas seem to turn so fast these days.

Our PTA is the best!

If I do say so myself! We planned our first "Under the Stars" movie night and it was a huge success!

The plan was for our School families to come and mingle for a couple of hours while having dinner and allowing the children to do a craft and play. Then once it got dark, we started the movie. We had tons of people show up as it was getting dark and so far the response has been 100% positive! MAddie and a couple of her friends claiming their spots for ultimate viewing!

Wyatt(in green) with his best buddy!

First Day of School

Today I have a 2nd and 5th grader! Maddie is in her last year of elementary school and that has been pretty hard for me to swallow today. She is so little that I just can't see her going off to middle school next year. And in case you can't tell, Maddie is on the right in the picture above. And yes her 2nd grade sister is almost the same height! Now you know why I say she is little still!

But we are all looking forward to a great year. Maddie has an awesome 5th grade trip in the spring and Sophie has the "duck project" this year. And they are both fortunate to have spectacular teachers. Each of them will be a perfect match for the girls' temperments. Fun stuff!

Weekly Menu Plan

Week of Aug 8

This is our first week back to school. Add soccer into the schedule and back to school night, I need easy make ahead meals! Everything is either easily assembled ahead for the oven or crock pot.

Loaded twice baked potatoes, watermelon

Chicken BLT's, watermelon, chips

Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread(never made it last week)

Crock Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, peas

Grilled Rib Eye, skillet potatoes with onions, cucumber & tomato salad

Meatloaf, salad, bread

Leftovers

I'll link this to what I call "meal plan mania" over at orgjunkie on Monday morning.

Menu Plan Monday week of Aug 1-7

School starts next Monday so this is the final summer menu..School won't change much of what/how I cook since the weather isn't changing, I'll just be on more of a schedule.

Speaking of last week, how did I do with my "life change"? Pretty darn good I think. I made dinner every night except for Thursday(which is leftover night) and Friday because Troy took the family out to Cheesecake Factory! What an awesome treat! We did decide however that the next time we eat there, it will be appies and dessert only. We brought home half our appetizer and half of all our meals! Crazy volume of food per dish.

I didn't get a chance to make the Orzo salad. I did however make this from Mommy's Kitchen. It was very good according to Troy and I, the kids were "meh". But what do they know ?LOL

Tortilla Soup (by request)

Spaghetti salad and garlic bread

Greek chicken and Orzo salad with tomato and cucumber salad

Cheeseburgers fresh fruit (another request)

Okie Tacos melon

BLT's fresh fruit

Check out orgjunkie for other menu plans!

World Photo Walk

I was supposed to take part in Scott Kelbys' World Photo Walk today in South Lake Tahoe but Troy wrenched his back a few days ago and can barely put his pants on by himself, let alone take care of the kids all day. So I stayed home but I was there in spirit! I promised myself that I would get up and take photos of the sunrise this morning. I have ZERO technical knowledge when it comes to photography. I just enjoy capturing whatever I can with my camera.


This was taken from inside the car. I like it because you can see a bit of the sun in the dew drop that is on the door frame.

The idea is so great-millions of pictures, all taken on one single day from all over the world!

Menu Plan Monday

Week of July 25-31





I have a friend who says, "I'm going to change my life, you just watch". And she does change. Sometimes it takes her saying it a few times, but once she says it, I know she is moving towards that change. So here I am, ready to quote her:





"I'm going to change my life". And I need to. I have said before that I have a menu plan cycle where I go for weeks planning our meals and using what we have in the pantry and freezer. Then i have a couple of weeks where I am just disenchanted with the whole kitchen and what it stands for LOL. There are a couple of reasons behind this change:





1) I want to be a better steward of the funds we put into our kitchen. Be it through the food we purchase or the kitchen equipment we have, I want to use it all to the best of my ability.





2) I'm going to be busy! I have taken on the role of VP of PTA this year and we have a lot to do and accomplish. Plus the girls are playing soccer and participating in Scouts. I need to be sure to have healthy meals ready for my family every night.





3)Troy has a new position at work that requires some travel. I will have days(and weeks-gulp) when it's just me and the kids and no one to tag team with. I know I will be tired and frazzled some days and having a plan will definitley help!








I have been finding inspiration at food/recipe blogs these last few days and feel ready to start on this "change". My goal is to move from a weekly menu to bi-monthly, and maybe even end up with a monthly menu.





July 25 through July 31



Grilled hamburgers, watermelon potato salad
Grilled chicken and chopped caprese salad
Mediterrean orzo pasta salad & Greek Chicken


Red beans and rice cornbread and fruit
Taco salad(ground beef) with fresh guacamole
BBQ chicken pizza


Leftover Night

Check outhttp://www.blogger.com/www.orgjunkie.com for loads of menus and recipes!

This may post out of order because I drafted it this weekend..haven't figured out how to schedule a future post.

This girl is 7

Wishing my sweet Sophie Girl a Happy Birthday! Who is Sophie at 7?
She's sweet.
She's giggly...very giggly.
She's helpful.
She's sensitive.
She's a champion for the under-dog.
She's become fearless-seemingly overnight!
She's the peace-keeper.


Here's to another wonderful year for my soon to be 2nd grader!

The truth about dogs......and our family.

My family yearns for a dog. It's has been the frequent topic of conversation since we moved into our home 2 years ago. I've been hesitant, because, well we all know who will end up taking care of the dog-MOM. I just haven't felt ready for the committment a dog takes. Plus, I was interested in an older dog, one who perhaps had alread ybeen house trained, maybe knew a few commands. Troy wanted a puppy so "we can raise them to fit our family." Ah, whatever.

So this last few months we began looking for a dog. We know what type personality we were looking for:loyal to family, good with our kids, good around strangers and somewhat intelligent. We especially wanted a dog that we could take in the car, the park, soccer practice/games.

Well, we were offered a dog by a family member. They have 2 other dogs and were feeling like this pooch needed more attention than they could give. They offered her to us on a trial basis-if she wasn't a good fit for us(or us for her) then they would take her back with open arms. So we got Isis. A big 'ol baby who loves belly rubs, sitting in your lap and treats.

Isis also likes to bark. A lot. At every knock on the door, every dog on our block, and every child who dare stand in our yard. She barks because she is trying to protect us from all the danger

others can pose to us. And that is all good. I rarely answer the door to solicitors because as soon as they hear the bark, they take off. I know that if someone, God forbid, try to harm us, she would defend us. All that is good. But she won't stop barking-When we tell her no bark, when we crate her, when we spray her face with water(per training tips), she continues to bark. She just can't protect us enough i guess is what she thinks.

Well, that protection came to a scary moment the other day. Part of her issue is lack of socialization early on so I've been leashing her and taking into the yard to smell and see al lthe comings and goings of the kids and the people in the neighborhood. She lunged and nipped at a little girl. My heart stopped and I was scared. Luckily, no contact was made.

After a lot of discussion, we are giving her back. We are to busy and active and she is too protective. Those two things just don't mix when we have folks and kids coming and going from our home. I wouldn't know what to do if someone was to be injured by her. We have all been tearful and sad, but the kids understand. As much as they can wrestle her and play with her, they know their friends were afraid.

We also decided to wait on a dog. We realizedthat we arn't ready for the training commitment that a dog will need. Between work, school, meetings and activities, it wouldn't be fair to any animal.

We have a few more days with Isis. We will love her, walk her and give her tons of treats.

Parades & Fireworks

The Girl Scout unit our girls belong to participated in our citys annual Fourth of July parade(held on July 3rd LOL). The theme was "Stars & Stripes" and so myself and one of the leaders made signs with all the Girl Scout laws on them. The girls had an awesome time and I'm a total sap.
While watching from the sidelines, I was very teary seeing our community come together for such "small-town" thing.
Our city is in the middle of a large county with citys and towns squished all together and because of that, I think it's easy to blur where/what makes up your "hometown". Seeing people lining the street, the floats and just the participation made me feel very proud and honored to have my girls be part of it.
Sophie on the left posing with one of her Brownie friends.

MArching in the parade, proudly holding their sign!

And Maddie, my "has to be in the middle of everything, has to know what's going on at all times" child. She is directly in the front line of the Girl Scouts!

I'm terrible at fireworks pictures but I think this one turned out pretty well. I like the streams of light shooting out.

How American! Watching fireworks and eating ice cream!

Oh and texting...
I absolutley love the joy on Wyatts face! He's smiling so hard his eyes are closed!

All in all it was a fun weekend. We were with family and friends which is always so fun!

Wyatt & his Best Buddy & MPM

Wyatt is a total Daddy's Boy. In fact, he rarely calls him Daddy or Dad, he calls him Best Buddy. I love it. It's a simple term of endearment that completley defines the bond Wyatt and Troy share. Wyatt loves to help Best Buddy do anything and everything. This weekend he was able to help mow the lawn and like a typical man, after he was done using the power tool(ie mower), he had a puffed up chest and strutted around the yard. He explained to me how it's done as well.

So I also have my menu to post. The weather man has indicated HOT weather this week so we will have light and/or easy meals.

Sunday- Family BBQ-Grilled burgers and hot dogs, mac salad, melon and grilled corn.

Monday-Taco Chicken salad

Tuesday-Grilled Beef Kabobs with rice

Wednesday- Spaghetti and salad

Thursday-Leftovers/Fend for yourself night

Friday-Grilled steak with grilled zucchini & roasted potatoes

Saturday- TBD-LOL running out of ideas..it's time to clean the pantry and freezer...

Menu Plan Monday June21

My last planned menu went okay. I made the ham then went to Disneyland! I had to freeze the whole thing and now need to use it up.

Sunday-fend for yourself. DH works Sundays so no big Fathers Day Dinner.

Monday-Ham and Potato casserole with fresh fruit

Tuesday- Mediterrean Grilled Chicken skewers with cucumber salad

Wenesday-Grilled Hamburgers with cantaloupe

Thursday-Cheese Tortellini with cream sauce and salad

Friday-Beef Tacos with guacamole

Saturday-Italian Chicken with Rice

Lots of ideas and menus at orgjunkie.

Love this blog for all the people who contribute

"Take me out to the Ballgame..."

Or otherwise known as Family Fun Activity #3! Saturday was Scouting Day at Raley Field. Girl and Boy Scouts from all over the area came to watch the game. They paraded around the field prior to game start ...

Maddie is here watching "Chalk Talk" which is were two players and a representative for the team answer questions from the stands.

Sophie settling in to listen to Chalk Talk.

Of course there was junk food galore at the ball park. The first choice-SnoCones! Wyatt, with a few bites to his Mom and sisters, ate this entire cup of Sno!

Troy enjoying a nice cold beer and a Dinger Dog. Obviously the thing is HUGE! All 5 of us shared this hot dog! I can't imagine eating this by myself..LOL

ANd at last, a photo of the family. As the family photographer, I'm not usually in front of the camera. But I'm trying to change that. It was so cold by the time this picture was taken. We were huddled together trying to stay warm! The weather has been absolutley crazy so far this summer- we had a high of 77 yesterday and it was 55 by the time we got home..Of course the breeze off the river didn't help us in keeping warm.

We had such a fun time at the ballgame! The one and only game I went to was back in 1998 when we went to the city to watch the A's and the Diamondbacks. PArt of the magic of the night was being outside and enjoying the camraderie of the other fans. We plan to take the kids to more games!

Summer Family Activity # 2

Yep, we went to DISNEYLAND! It was a very impromptu trip as Troy was able to get two days off (so total of 4 days together) so we booked it Tuesday and left on Friday. We had a fantastic time and we are already planning our next trip LOL. We would love to go at Christmas time to see the park sparkly and lite up.

Believe it or not, this was our first official family vacation. We have done day trips here and there, but nothing was more than a couple hours drive and we NEVER have stayed over anywhere. The trip down was good. The kids kept themselves busy by reading, talking or sleeping. Once they knew we were 25 miles away from the hotel, they got a little excited...Too bad that the 25 miles took nearly 2 hours! LA traffic is the worst!

Our first day at the park was Saturday. Tour Guide Troy decided to turbo us through the park at light speed. We came in at 8am and left at 10pm. Boy, did our bodies pay for it that night and the next day! We walked onto all the main rides though so it was great to get those in. The kids went on all rides without fear but Wyatt was very sure of the rides he "will not ride ever again" .

California Adventure was fun too. The best part that we experienced was Toy Story Mania. MAddie, Wyatt and I were the only ones to ride it, but it was by far my favorite! Sophie, apparently, is a little dare-devil. She rode California Screamin' TWICE! Maddie rode it once and cried before, during and after...Who would of thought my little girl who is afraid to sleep in her room al night, would be an adrenaline junkie?

Our 2nd day was sunday and we slowed our pace down a bit. We spent the morning and early afternoon at Disneyland and then took a break at the hotel for 3 hours. We returned to California Adventure until 10pm. By this time we were all tired and worn out. i think we felt like we were running in circles.

Monday was our last day and my birthday so we went for a few hours just to round things out and to pick up souvenirs for the kids. Oh and I was good all weekend and didn't indulge in treat after treat. I waited until Monday and I got a Dole Whip..LOVED IT! So glad I waited it was the perfect end to our day. I picked up a "It's my Birthday" pin and it was fun to hear all the cast members wish me a Happy Birthday!

I have only a few things I would do differently. I would take more time to watch the shows and parades. And I would have taken more pictures of the special things at Disney-you know all the things that help make Disneyland so special. Luckily Troy agrees with me so I know our next visit will be a little slower paced.

I'm sure our next Summer Family Activity won't top this, but I'm so glad we got to add Disneyland to our stash of memorable moments!