Lagoon

Lagoon on Memorial Day: one of life’s best-kept secrets.

Perfect weather, few crowds, and happy memories abound. What a perfect way to spend a day!

We go every year with Dave’s fam-damily. For the first half of the day, the moms stay in Kiddieland, relishing the smiles and laughs of their little people, while the dads sicken themselves on the wild rides with the big people. We all meet up for lunch, and then ride together for the second half of the day. What an ideal set-up!

 

We usually take Wild West photos. This year we got two for the price of one, making the punch to wallet feel a tad less painful. I think we make for pretty cute cowboys:

Coley Bear cried when he found out he didn’t get to keep the cowboy clothes. Sadness!

Cole also cried when Kate won the toy snake he had his eye on, when he got wet on the rides, and after a couple of rollercoasters;) But don’t let him fool you, this kid had a blast. The next morning he chatted on and on about all the rides…

   

We kept with tradition for dinner and  met up with our Pope friend at Buca di Beppo. Nothing in this world tastes better than their antipasto salad and margherita pizza, especially after a good and dirty day at Lagoon!

Look Who’s 6!

The day finally came! She is 6, folks…6! And it’s a darn good thing; she was tired of seeing all her friends turn 6 before her!

 

We’ve decided to limit birthday parties with friends to every other year; less crazy, and will hopefully make the kids a smidge less spoiled, if that’s possible;) Also, it gives us a chance to celebrate as a family; so that’s what we did this year. Our little family hit boondocks. Kate and the dad rode racecars, and poor Cole was not tall enough. He was actually okay with it, though, and enjoyed waving at all the passing racecars. He and I also took a walk on the mini golf course to admire the fire-breathing dragon, which was right up his alley.

The kids (and Dave;) played video games and cashed in tickets for prizes. Kate got a whoopee cushion that didn’t survive five minutes. We got her a second, and that one didn’t survive the night. Tears were had (both times). Cole got a ninja sword, which he continues to love.

For her bday dinner, Miss Kate has the same request every year…Tepanyaki. While it’s a lovely show, the atmosphere is a tad creepy. We talked her into trying Benihana, which is the same show, but nicer and pretty comparable in price. 

On Sunday, we had parties with both my family and Dave’s. Cole just loved trying on all of Kate’s gifts for size. He was sure the shark Slip ‘n’ Slide gift was his, and after Kate opened a Lion King playset, Cole gleefully cried, “Mine!” It totally reminded me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo.

After that party Kate said, “I just loved all my gifts. There wasn’t a bad one!” I thought that was pretty cute!

 

Here are the cupcakes my talented hubby made:

And the birthday girl, dressed as Merida, blowing out her candles! Happy birthday, Sissy!

Memorial Day 2013

I kind of like Memorial Day. Dave buys flowers every year, and makes it a point to take the kids to see all of our deceased loved ones. It takes just a little over an hour running to 4 different cemeteries, and is something we’ve done since Kate was born. At each gravestone we get to share memories about these people, answer Kate’s questions, and yell at Cole to not touch the bird poop;) It just makes for a nice way to remember our ancestry. And it’s not just the old lady in me saying that I think the kids like it as much as we do; though I recognize they’ll probably drag their feet in years to come.

Singing Performance

Little Kate is did a great job at her year-end On Broadway singing recital. Her class did a medley of Enchanted songs, where she too, got to sing a little solo. She absolutely sparkled on stage, and if I were more of a stage mom, I’m sure she would be a star by now;) Either way, the parents and the grandparents were certainly proud of her darling little voice!

And let’s not forget about Little Brother. He was a perfect audience member in his little fedora. He sat quietly through the show (munching a bag full of chocolate chip cookies) and was more than excited when Sister got on stage. Afterwards, he proudly gave her flowers for her outstanding performance. 

 

Modeling Gig

We’re famous. Dave and I are like the poster children for awesome racers. We discovered our faces (and bods) plastered on the Timpanogos Half Marathon registration website (http://timphalf.com/race_info/). I was slightly taken back as we weren’t notified. I mean, we did, after all, do some pretty great advertising for them; just look how exhilarating this race looks because of us;) One would think they’d offer free registration for this year’s race, or at least a, “Hey, we’re using you guys for our website.”  Oh, well, we’ll count this as a pro bono deal.

A Parisian Vacation, Day 5

Disneyland Paris…because what would a vacation be without a visit to Disneyland?

This was our last day in Paris. Sigh. We had seen and enjoyed every museum and then some, but it was nice to have a different kind of activity for the last day. Plus, I kinda love seeing the effect Disneyland has on the Hubs. He’s all smiles at that place.

Here are a few notables from the day:

This is us standing in front of the entrance to the park. The Disneyland Hotel is built right over entry, and the lines to get in were much shorter than at home:

Lucky us, we got to visit during their 20th Anniversary Celebration.The park was not overly decked out, but it was cool to be there during their anniversary, I suppose:

The castle has a dragon’s lair underneath it:

Space Mountain Mission 2, Dave’s favorite, is substantially more sickening than Space Mountain. Those Euro’s make some crazy rollercoaster rides:

The Phantom Manor, my favorite, was substantially more gory than the Haunted Mansion and it’s theming was fun; lots of skeletons with mangled flesh. I dug it:

The Storybook Canals. Instead of a whale, you entered through the Cave of Wonders. We were then treated to stories like the Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast, and Pierre and the Wolf (not Peter).

I did gather, however, that the French don’t have the same standards of upkeep. There were a whole lot of dandelions on the ride, and kind of a funny patch job (see below):

Small World was fun to see. Its décor was all consistent, unlike ours,
and it was fun seeing the representation for the US of A:

(Above) African-American cowboys, hmmm, that’s creative…

(Below) Athletes and Hollywood
 

Lunch was kind of unique. Mark and I both had the Croque Monsieur, while Dave and Tisha both got some sort of cheesy flatbread. Mmm…cheese:

Oh, and I almost forgot about our 2nd celebrity sighting of the trip! M.J., himself, back from the dead! Very cool; he had his hat, his white socks, his old nose (as Dave said) and a super sparkly "M" bedazzled on his belt:

 

The forecast for today was supposed to be the hottest of all our travel days. Of course it rained, something we hadn’t planned on. We got good and soaked during the first few hours, finally broke down and bought $20 ponchos, and then minutes later the rain stopped for the rest of the day. Lovely. **I will say, however, I am so GRATEFUL we had such good weather for the whole trip. It actually was supposed to rain almost everyday we were there, and never did even once. So lucky!

 

We ate dinner at Walt’s. This restaurant was designed as a tribute to Walt Disney, since most Europeans aren’t as acquainted with his life. The restaurant's lobby features many items referring to Walt and his achievements. And then upstairs, which is where you dine, is designed as a Club 33. So, YAY!, we can say that we know what it’s like to eat at Club 33 now…sort of…

And the castle in all its majesty. I like how the sunset matches the castle perfectly. We got to watch one heck of a firework show that had all sorts of special effects and things projected onto the castle. It was neat; my favorite show I’ve seen Disney do:

We did have one little hiccup in our Disneyland fun. We had park-hopper tickets so we could visit both Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios. Around 7pm, we tried hitting Walt Disney Studios and they were CLOSED!!!! Lame. We kind of blew that one;) So, yeah, we only saw the one park. Oh, well. It gave us some time to buy some very much loved souvenirs for the kids, and also allowed us to go on a couple rides twice. I hear the other park is quite boring anyway…

***And that, my friends, concludes our Parisian Vacation. The flight home the next morning went smoothly...Dave and I each got our own row of seats to lounge as we pleased. And once home, the kids were "semi" excited to see their parents, but very excited to play with their souvies.

Overall, the trip was a dream! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, interesting, and exciting destination. All of our i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed, so the whole trip was flawless! I was especially impressed by Mr. Blackhurst and his navigational abilities. And the company couldn't have been better. Our Williamson friends are the coolest and make life a party. So sad it’s over, but so glad we got to do it! Until next time, Paris, au revoir!

A Parisian Vacation, Part 4

Versailles! My favorite part of the trip, hands-down! It’s enormity and opulence is just ridiculous; such a crazy, cool place to visit.

So here we are probably 30 minutes from opening. The line is short, compared to the snaking pattern that endlessly winds the front courtyard as the day goes on. We were glad we got there early:

Good thing we had the best of company with us for all the long waits:

Chapel inside where Marie Antoinette & Louis the 16th were married:

The gaudy Hall of Mirrors:

The back side of the palace (some of it):

In the gardens, in front of the Apollo Fountain:

One of my favorite parts of the day was riding bikes; something I haven’t done since I was a kid, and something I’ll not soon forget. What a cool way to see Versailles and its meticulously manicured gardens, sculptures and fountains…and still not being able to see it all! It’s absolutely no wonder why people wanted to chop off heads after seeing this place!  Also fun, was watching Mark cruise around as if he were riding a dirt bike;) Awesome!

We ate lunch in one of the garden cafes. It was a lovely, picturesque atmosphere, except that I had a rather large egg shell inside my omelet. I bit into and it totally felt like I was munching on glass. Gross. Oh, well. I’ll take any experience, bad or good, so long as it helps me keep this trip vivid in my mind. At the café, Mark and Dave were taught the peeing ways of Europeans. With no toilet or urinal (just a drain on the floor) one Spaniard showed them how the Euro’s  just pee on the wall. I put the pic in below not only to give you more of a visual, but also to show you what all the women (waiting their turn for the women’s bathroom) got a view of:

In the Domain of Marie Antoinette; liked this Brady Bunchesque picture:

And the best part of the gardens is Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet. Apparently, she dreamed of peasant-life so much that she had an entire village created for her in which she could fulfill these fantasies. She had little homes and shops, veggie gardens, farms (complete with washed and perfumed sheep) and the likes. She knew what was up! This place was awesome!

So several hours later, and with feet that could barely walk, we mustered up enough strength to get ourselves back home to the hotel to rest for a bit. NOT LONG, mind you, but for a bit. Once rejuvied, we headed out to dinner and a stroll through Luxembourg Gardens. *Background-Before the trip, Dave and I learned how very much the French love to smoke. When we found Cigarette Bubble Gum Sticks from Pirate O’s (the kind that lets out a puff of powder), we knew we’d need them for our Parisian Vacation.*

So once we got to Luxembourg G’s, we casually busted out the sin sticks, trying to fake out Mark and Tisha. I’m really not sure of their reaction as I was way too busy thinking we were so freaking hilarious! I so want to post a great big pic of the picture below, but instead, made it miniature so my children won’t see it. Don’t want to encourage cancer and sloppy habits, you know. But go ahead and click on it to make it big…I think it’s rather side-splitting, if you ask me.

Cutest pic of the trip…again, if you ask me;)

Not far away is the Restaurant Polidor, which made clear that it hasn’t accepted credit cards since 1845. You knew it had to be good if they’d been open so long. We ate here not knowing much about it. We’ve since learned, however, that it was one that Ernest Hemmingway frequented. We have also since discovered that it is in the movie Midnight In Paris; kind of cool. Food was great, as usual. For dessert that night (because dessert happened every night while on vacation to Paris) we tried going to the famous Berthillon Ice Cream. Sadly, they had a little sign in the window saying that they were closed for the evening. Alas, we couldn’t go without dessert, so we went to Amorino yet again. And as always, it didn’t make me sad going there.