Friday, May 18, 2012

Back From Vacation and Having Withdrawls!

We are back from vacation and all are feeling quite sad about it! Last month my husband, on a whim, booked us a good chunk of time at Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel. Now, I do understand that we are only about an hour or so from the park, but us Freestones were in desperate need of some away from the hustle and bustle and just relax and just hangout with each other. Plus, with it being the baby's first time we knew we needed to do it right and take our time in both parks. My husband got off work on Monday morning and we were off!

The one thing I wanted to do was sit and be by the pool. I mean, yes I wanted to go on rides with my fam, but I really wanted to sit by the pool and play in the water with the fam too. We got to Disneyland around 9:00 and to our surprise our room was ready! We quickly took our stuff up and went into the park, took Em on her first ride in California Adventure, The Little Mermaid ride. She sat with her Dad. Held on to the bar and stared at everything. No crying, no fussing, it was great! We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with my husband's sister and her daughter. We all got in our suits and headed down to the pool. Now, for those of you who dont know, the Disneyland Hotel just remodeled their pool. It has 2 pools, 3 water slides, and a splash pool for littles. The weather was sunny and warm, perfect day for hanging out by the pool, playing with the girls, having great conversation, and laughing and having a good time. making memories, to me is one of the most important things we as family members can do. I am lucky to have a sister in law that I get along with and have a great relationship with. And my niece Sam, she is almost 3 and couldn't be sweeter! Little Miss Independent Thinker, I love it! After we were all waterlogged and pruned out we got changed and headed into the park. The girls had a blast together. I was so proud of my big girl. She played so good with the two little girls. There was no complaining that we were hitting up a lot of kiddie rides. I am thankful for that. Thankful to have such a thoughtful daughter. What an example she sets for the other kids. By the time we got back to the room it was late and we all crashed out!
She loves the movie, Finding Nemo! Loved this ride too!

Pretty Girls!

Loved this ride!


Room service arrived the next morning at 8:30. We sat around, ate breakfast and drank coffee. After BSing for a good hour we made our way into the park. We hit up Bugs Land with the kiddos and when it got too hot we, yes you guessed it, went to the pool! It was so nice to just go as we pleased.
She loved rides!

Being cute!

Silly face!

She just wanted to be big:)

Hands up!

Monsters Inc ride

Late afternoon pool fun!
We were sad to see my sister in law and niece leave, but knew that we would be hanging with them again soon!

Our third day we decided to get room service and then head out to the pool first. We were at the pool from 11-2! We had so much fun with the girls. Disneyland Hotel really does a good job at the pool area for little kids, big kids, and adults. After the pool we headed into the park, hit up some rides and we had a dinner reservation at the winery restaurant in California Adventure. We were so excited about good food!  I chose the seafood pasta, my husband got Filet Mignon, and the kiddos ate Spaghetti! That meal was one of the best meals we have eaten in a long time! After dinner we had preferred seating for the World of Color show. It was AMAZING! By the time the show was over it was late and we wanted to get up early the next day so we could get into the park early. The park opens an hour early for hotel guests:)

Hangin at the pool!

Love this!


Love my big girl!



One of the waterslides!

Tay relaxing..



Splash pool!


Feeding Dada snacks.

Could've sat there all day!



Playing!


Characters just walking around the lobby!





World of Color!




I think i have this crazy obsession with pools and sunshine. I could have SAT THERE ALL DAY! Our next house MUST have a pool and comfy lounge chairs!

Toddler Meal!

She wasn't even scared of Mickey!




Mmmmm, my seafood pasta!
The fourth and sadly the last day we were there we got our room service and headed out early. Magic Morning started at 8 and we wanted to get there right when we were able to get in. My husband took our big kid and I took our little kid. They hit up Space Mountain and Star Tours while Mama and baby hit up Fantasyland. Our first stop was of course, Dumbo. That line is always so long! We walked right one and not every Dumbo had a rider. It was great! We did a couple more rides and then met up with daddy and sister. It was really weird walking around Disneyland and it being dead, no crowds! It was a ghost town. It was GREAT! What a treat! We did a little shopping and had some lunch, packed up our stuff and checked out. We were all sad when we were packing up the car and heading home. My husband and I were talking about how usually after a vacation you say, "yeah I'm looking forward to my own bed and being home." Not us, we were the opposite. We could have easily stayed another night or two! In fact my husband messaged me already this morning telling me he misses Disneyland, the pool, and hanging out with his girls already. We are going to try to go again in September. It will still be warm and school will be back in session so the crowds will be down as well. 

What was the best part? Ahh, there were many "best parts," I think having quality family time with my little family and my niece and sister in law. It was so nice to all be together and building those memories together. To me, I was having fun watching the girls have fun. And that is what our life is all about right now, family vacations. 

To anyone who is thinking about a vacation to Disneyland, I highly recommend it! We had a great time and can't wait to go back!!


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Proud Mama Moment!

Today was Saturday and yes, you guessed it, we were at the ice rink. Tay has been down for the past week sick with something that went around our house and destroyed everyone in its path. Anyways, she hasn't skated in a week so I knew that today she was going to be winded and tired. However, I was proven wrong, so very very wrong! Tay KILLED it in her game today! But first let me back up a little bit. She has been playing full ice against boys for a couple seasons now and they have yet to actually beat any of the boys teams. But today, oh today was a different story. Not only did the lady reign BEAT the boys, my baby scored 4 goals!!!! The final score was 7-4! She finally got her hatrick that she has been wanting and trying for forever. It was awesome to see all the hats get thrown on the ice after she scored the third goal. She was flying out there, she was getting rough, and holding her own out there. Dad was on the bench and Grammy and Nona's were both there to see it happen. What a great day to be a hockey mom. She hasn't stop talking about it and it happened almost 12 hours ago!

After the game we sat and chatted for a little bit and then deceided to go and eat a late breakfast. We went to a place called, Kountry Kitchen. I opted for a healthy item, a veggie omlette while my husband and daughter decided on stuffed french toast:) Our friends from hockey joined us so it was a meal shared over laughs and good conversation.

As soon as that was done we were on our way down to a birthday party. One of the girls from Tay's team was having a party at one of those inflatable play areas. It was fun, the whole hockey team was there I think! Emi even joined in on the fun! By the time we left both girls were dog tired and it was a very quiet ride home. We BBQ'd chicken for dinner with our sides being just veggies, yum!

Girls are bathed and this mama is one tired one! Baby is whiny so that means she is ready for bed, I just may join her:)

Night frends!!






Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Am I Doing Enough?

I was reading a blogger I follow, ohdeardrea and today she was talking about if she was doing enough with her little one. It got me thinking about my two girls and I asked myself, "Am I doing enough for both of my daughters?" For the longest time, 8 years it was just the three of us, me, my husband and our daughter Tay. I felt like we did a lot with her. We had season passes to Disneyland and I felt like we got a lot of use out of them. We didn't have much money but we did what we could. When we moved , thankfully she got involved with a great group of friends that all us moms are now friends as well. We were always getting the girls together for play dates. Taking them here, taking them there. When Baby E came last year it was a very hard adjustment for all of us but mainly I think it was a hard adjustment for Tay. Here she was this little girl who for 8 years our world revolved around her, now a little baby was a main focus. It was so hard for me to see her adjust to our new life. Those of you that have multiple children, did you have this issue too? I try to give the girls my equal attention but it is still hard, especially since E is attached to my boob it seems like 24/7. She really isn't, but some days it does seem that way. Am I doing enough for Tay?!?!?! Am I giving enough of myself to her individually? I try. I really do. I am thankful that my parents  and sister are extremely close to Tay so there are times where they take her and have sleepovers where 100% attention is on her, I am thankful for that 10 times over! And here I sit, getting all emotional as I type about whether or not I am doing enough as a mother for my big girl. As she grows up will she know I am trying as hard as I can??!! I do miss our one on one times together, going shopping, getting our nails done, I even miss her sleeping in my bed when my husband is at work sometimes. I'm just having a hard time re-assuring myself that I am living up to being a great mom to my children. Sometimes I forget that she is only 9 years old and still needs Mama:) She has become so independent, a good thing I think, so many times I overlook the fact that she is still just a little girl.

We are actually taking a vacation this month, we are headed to Disneyland for 4 days! It is going to be great. We want to build memories with our children and I think Disneyland is a great place to store some! We are hoping that the weather is nice and warm the week we go so that we can enough the sun and the pool! We have seen and heard that the Disneyland Hotel has the best pool! It has been cold and rainy here so I am crossing my fingers that this is the last of the rain and the sun will come out. Hoping too that maybe me and Tay can go on some rides together, just me and her. Dad can handle to baby for a little while, right?!?!

What have the Freestone Four been up to lately? Here are some pictures to catch you up!
Thawing out, the ice rink gets WAY too cold somedays!

My husbands turn to play hockey


OBSESSED!!!

Sick kid.

My husband at work, yes, alot if work this month!

Took our girls to the Science Center

Silly tay!

My beautiful girls and my beautiful niece Sam

It was Bubble Fest!

She made her own bubble wand!

Playing in the tunnels

Get sprayed in the rocket area!

Tay, Sam and Sammie's Mama Windy

Shooting!

Dad's turn!

Took a trip to the Mission San Luis Rey

My Grandpa and Tay

My Mom and Tay

Baby E
The baby is already asleep so I think I am going to lay down too. Night Friends! I apologize in advance if I was rambling tonight.....