Joy

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Kittens

We are the proud, new owners of kittens.  As you can imagine the girls are ecstatic. (well, so am I, but I hide it better)   I love kittens/cats but Josh has allergies and is not a fan - although I find it suspicious that sometimes I'll catch him with a kitten napping on his chest.
Claire picked out the gray one - Gandalf, and I chose the other one  - Arwen.

We wanted to get siblings so they would not be lonely and and have a playmate.  They are so fun to watch.  Arwen is much more playful and is always the instigator when it comes to their little wrestling matches.  She can't leave his tail alone.  (the floor is a mess because Paige decided to dump out the kitty food and water and play in the litterbox while unsupervised for 3 minutes.)

We took them outside for the first time and they apparently have never walked on grass before.  Arwen leapt everywhere she went trying to avoid touching the prickly grass.

 Gandalf wasn't too happy with it either and just refused to move.
Poor Arwen got the short end of the stick and is the one that is "Joy's cat".  Joy does not understand how to be careful with these little kitties.  (they weigh 1 3/4 lbs)
 Gandalf is a cuddler and has accepted his fate of being "Claire's"  Claire does really well with him and he doesn't seem to mind that she holds him practically all day long.

I had to make a new rule "no kittens at the table or in the play oven."

He's a cutie.

The play hard and nap hard.
 If only the infant stage would be as fast as the kitten stage.


Saturday, May 17, 2014

End Of Awana

The Awana year has come to a close.

Joy getting her Puggles "award"
I am so glad that both girls had WONDERFUL leaders this year. We are so thankful for them and the time they put into Awana.  It's not easy!

 Claire with her first book award.  She is so anxious to get the Sparky Plaque for finishing all three books.   She's going to have to be patient though - you can only do one book per year.
 Next year Joy will be in Cubbies and Claire will start her blue book in Sparks.
Why are they standing so weird?

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Disneyland Trip

We had a fantastic time on our short trip in California and Disneyland!

The girls did great in the car and we only had to stop once.

 We stayed at Peacock Suites and it was really nice! We got condo rooms so that Paige could be by herself and not be disturbed by the rest of us. 
 
Paige's room.
 
and this one for the rest of us.
The last thing we want is for her to be awake any longer than she has to be.  

Our room and my parents room had an adjoining door so the girls loved being able to go back and forth freely.  We went out to dinner and hung out at the hotel pool.  
 The pool was heated but it was freezing and windy outside.
 Claire, Joy and Josh went in. 
 
 Joy turned out to be sensible when it comes to cold.

The next morning we got up and enjoyed the hotel's free breakfast and hopped on the bus to Disneyland!!!!

 The lines weren't so bad and we were right up next to the rope when they officially opened the park.  We didn't want to waste time getting pictures first thing in front of the castle.  (Plus we would have been trampled by the crowd.)  "There's plenty of time to take pictures."  I said.  So we didn't and forgot until it was too dark.  Major FAIL.

The only picture we have of anyone in front of the castle is this one Josh took.  Which I am so glad he did.
We planned to work our way around Fantasyland before the crowds got too bad.  Surprise!  The crowds were bad before we got on the first ride.   We went on Peter Pan first with only a 15ish minute wait but by the time we got off all the rides seemed to be 40 or minute waits. Oh well.

No one else would ride the tea cups with the girls.

Paige could go on most of the rides if we held her.  She hung out in the ergo carrier most of the time and the rest of the time she was Poppy's partner.   He doesn't really like rides.  It was so nice to be able to leave the little girls and the stroller with him while we went on the bigger rides.

We waited way too long for the Storybook Canal boats.  Joy was scared of going into Monstroes mouth.
 Mr. Toads wild ride was a bit scary for Joy!

Of course Dumbo was a huge hit.
 

 At this point Claire was getting anxious to go on a big ride so we went to the Matterhorn and ate lunch while we stood in the line that wrapped around the mountain.  It went pretty fast though.


 It was Claire's first experience with a rollercoaster type ride and she loved it.  Nana was right in front of her though so I think that helped her not to be scared.

We then decided to go see if we could get a picture with Mickey Mouse and/or Minnie Mouse.  Joy LOVES Minnie Mouse so we knew we had to see her at least.  We went to Mickey's house because Minnie was at lunch.  Oh my goodness.  We waited in a line inside Mickey's house for what seemed like forever. (an hour) just to be led into a dark room with horrible lighting for pictures, to get a quick snap shot with Mickey.  Why could there not be several "Mickeys" in several different rooms in the house so that the line could go quicker??!?!?!?!?!?!   No one would see them together, the kids would be happier to not wait, the parents would be happier to not waste precious time and you would actually have time to see more than a few characters in one day.  (and there is the reason why not,  they don't want you to be able to do it all in one day)
 Later, Josh took Claire to go on Splash Mountain.  No one else wanted to risk get wet, because it was starting to get cold as the sun was setting.  While they did that, my mom and I took Joy to see Minnie Mouse. 
 
Her house was more fun and wait wasn't so long
 
but still infuriating.

 Joy was so excited.


Josh and I and my mom and Claire all went on Thunder Mountain and we decided it is the best ride at Disneyland.  Claire LOVED it.  She was so brave she put her arms up the whole time!  (well, except in the tunnels)  We went on it twice.

Paige was an absolute angel this whole trip.
  
She enjoyed the rides and watching the weirdness around us. It helps that she was held most of the day but we couldn't have asked her to be any better behaved
 Even as we were all exhausted, getting ready to leave the park she was being a sweetheart.

It was such a fun trip, everyone had a great time.  I feel like we did a lot of the park but now that I think about it we had to leave out many things.  We didn't see any princess.  (60 minutes wait for the regular princesses and 120 minutes for Frozen characters) We didn't see any shows or the parade, we opted for shorter lines instead! We didn't even make it to Tomorrowland (except for Autopia.) Pirates of the Carribbean was closed,  there were a few other rides we didn't go on because of wait times.  

 It was a good first trip.  The girls are dying to go back already!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Off We go!

We are leaving for Disneyland!!!!!

We are surprised too, it came about quickly.  We have been telling Claire for quite a few months that this would be the year she could go to Disneyland during our beach trip this summer.  It is the perfect time,  Claire would be 6 and is finally tall enough to go on all the rides (except Indiana Jones) and Joy would be almost 3 (which means FREE to get in).  When we found out the beach trip wasn't going to happen this year we were a little bummed but my parents offered to take us instead.  We quickly decided to go before school got out to hopefully avoid the peak summer attendance (and temperatures).   We are so excited!  I think I am more excited than the girls!

So off we go!  We are armed with snacks, games, and our beloved Patch the Pirate cd's.

California here we come... and tomorrow Disneyland!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Lazy Saturday

We had a relaxing Saturday.   Claire and Josh went to the church's Kid's Camp car wash fundraiser and I stayed home with the little girls.  It is amazing how quiet and calm the house is when Claire is not here!  I'm looking forward to her week at kid's camp. (yes I am letting her go to kid's camp this year - she is going to love it.)

My mom invited us over to play in their pool while it filled up.  
 
Joy apparently doesn't remember swimming last year,  it was half her life ago!  She was timid and a little unsure without someone telling her what to do but she had a good time.

Paige does NOT like pools or baths.  Snacks helped her cope though and then she got sleepy and sucked her thumb. 
 
  Darling - I've always wanted a baby that sucks her thumb.