Disneyland Part 5- Toon Town

Thursday was only 80 degrees instead of 100 and we were so happy! What a relief! The day started out perfect by meeting Mickey- again!

Next, we did all the original Magic Kingdom rides that we all remember from our childhood. It was nice to get Juliet out of the stroller and participating with us. Tim took the big kids on Dumbo and then we stopped in the Mad Hatter to try on hats. Davis ended up with the Mickey Visor. I kept tellling the kids I would buy them Mouse Ears, but they just weren't interested- they were more interested in candy!

Most of the day was spent in Toontown. The kids just could not get enough of this place. It was fun to let them be in control and doing exactly what they wanted to do. The weather was perfect and the kids were happy- this was a highlight of the week!

Tim wins dad of the year for sitting in the 2 hour line to meet Rapunzel while Charyl and I took the big kids on some rides. It was a little over rated but Em was excited to see her. Davis had a little meltdown once he got inside. I think he thought we would get to go up in the tower and you didn't. Plus, it was lunch time. Oh well, he made up for it after lunch by going on the tea cups-finally!-with me while Tim took Emmary on the Matterhorn.

The day ended with a walk through Pixie Hollow. It was nice and shady but we didn't really know what to expect after our 1 hour wait. It was just 2 fairies that we got to meet and oh my is Tinkerbell's skirt short! She had to stand just right to keep it mostly G rated! We took the monorail over to Downtown Disney where we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed. We all slept so good this week, which is the benefit to running the kids ragged and overstimulating them!

Disneyland part 4- the Magic Kingdom

After leaving California Adventures, we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and some lunch. Then, we headed back to over to start the Magic Kingdom. It didn't turn out quite like I had pictured it in my head. I imagined the kids jumping up and down with excitement and giggling for joy, and me crying as I caught everything on camera. They were happy and excited, but it was overshadowed with the heat and exhaustion. Us poor Salt Lakers hadn't seen the sun yet this year, so this was a pretty big shock to our systems. It was just a very casual and laid back entrance into the park:)

We were lucky and ran into Pluto right away, which lifted everyone's spirits a bit and got the kids more excited! Then we rode the carousel and Davis was the happiest boy on Earth when he found this tea cup sitting empty. He was looking forward to the tea cups more than anything the whole trip so red faced and all, he jumped in and smiled his heart out!

The premier of the new Pirates movie was taking place at Disneyland on Saturday, so you can see the spotlights in the background. There were bleachers set up down Main Street for the photographers and fans, some things were closed or altered. It was an intersting process to see, but I was glad that we didn't plan on spending the day in the park on Saturday- it was way to crazy!


Sweet Jules and her Grandma Charyl. These two spent most of the trip together and Charyl was priceless to have with us. It was so perfect to have one adult per child and we never had a moment of losing a child- even for a minute. We have had a lot of sad this last year in the Fowers family, and it was wonderful to have Charyl with us in the Happiest Place on Earth.

Disneyland Part 3- Finishing California Adventures

We started out the day ready for another 100 degree scorcher. The kids bought sunglasses first thing to help with the glare at least:) We needed to finish up California Adventures- there was still a lot we hadn't seen.

A Bug's Land was so much fun! We spent a lot of time there because the kids loved it so much. Juliet could ride a lot of the rides with the big kids so it was fun for all. Plus, there was lots of shade, which made it really fun for me!

We finished up on the backlot of C.A. and you can tell that the kids are just exhausted. It was so hot and they were ready for lunch and a break from the heat. There were absolutely no crowds and it felt kind of weird to be wandering around alone. It almost felt like we had broken in or something:)

No wait at all for the Monsters Inc. ride- but the air conditioning was running at full speed- AAAAHHHH!

Tim was the only one who would go up and meet Mr. Incredible. Don't you see the resemblance? I wonder if they are distant cousins or something....

Disneyland- Part 2: Emmary's Birthday!

One of the reasons I chose this time of year to take our big trip was because of Em's birthday. We went into the park for the first time on Tuesday May 3, Emmary's birthday. This was also the first time her birthday landed on the day of the week she was born. I was so excited to give her the best birthday ever. She is such a joy to have around and I can see that it isn't always easy being the oldest in a lot of ways. Emmary handles it so good and is always so willing to compromise and/or accomidate the younger kids. I wanted to give her a day that was all about her for a change: She deserved it! Shona got her a cute pin to wear on her shirt that said Birthday Girl, plus we got one from Disneyland. Everyone told her happy birthday and called her by name and it was so fun to see her so happy.

We started out the trip in California Adventures. I really wanted to kids to see the castle of Disneyland first, but it didn't really make sense because we had a special birthday lunch scheduled at Ariel's Grotto. I had been watching the weather like a hawk and it had been a perfect 75. We got into the park that first day and it was 80 by the time we started. It ended up getting up to 100. For any of you who know Davis, he is the world's biggest sweater, so he was flushed and miserable a lot of the time. Not to mention overstimulated and exhausted. He didn't behave as well as I hoped he would, but we survived with the help of Grandma Charyl. We spent the morning doing some fun things like the Redwood Forest and hanging out at the pier before our lunch.

The birthday girl, who wouldn't smile for the camera for some reason.

We lucked out and got to see Mickey first thing. We chose the perfect week to do Disney- there were no lines and hardly any crowds. We timed it perfect: after the spring breaks and before Memorial Day and the summer season.

In Ariel's grotto after our delicious lunch. I had heard conflicting things about the food, but it was so good. I mean, not $30 a plate good, but not hamburgers and hot dogs either. I would do it again for sure. This is Em with her chocolate seashell.

One of the nice things about the character lunch is that all the princesses come to your table, so we didn't have to track them down in the park and wait for a chance to get a picture with them. My kids aren't huge princess fans, but they wanted to see them so it worked our perfectly. Em was her shy self but when they walked away she just gleamed!

By the afternoon, it was too hot for Juliet to be out, plus she was running a fever from some new teeth that were coming in, so I had to ask Charyl to take her back to the hotel to cool off. That was the nice thing about getting a hotel across the street. Tim and I stayed with the big kids and did some rides, but even they didn't want to be out in the heat for long, so we all headed back to hotel and jumped in the pool while Juliet took a big nap. We ate dinner and headed back to the park for the World Of Color show. We got some fast passes so we had awesome seats right down on the pier. The show was one of the highlights of the whole trip! It was worth all the heat from the day to see it. I highly recommend it!

Disneyland- Day 1: Hoover Dam

Okay, I am finally blogging our big trip. It was a month ago, but it has taken me this long to recover and regain the energy it drained from me! I will break the posts up into days to make it easier for you to read and me to put together:) We drove to St. George on Sunday night and relaxed at Tim's mom's. She was coming with us, so this worked out perfectly. Monday we got up and hit the road. If any of you know Tim even remotely you know he HATES to spend money. So this trip took a lot of convincing on my part. Tim's only request for the whole trip was to see the Hoover Dam on the way. I couldn't object. So, while I thought it was a pretty big waste of time and not really worth the detour, we can check it off our list of Important Things That We Have Seen and Exposed Our Children To. Plus, Tim was as happy as a child at the engineering magic of it all. In case you haven't seen it, I included a little colage of the highlights:)

A super sweet picture and Tim and Emmary. Really though, Emmary was terrified of the height and clung to Tim like a spider monkey!

Our best family picture we could muster. When we were leaving Disney to drive home Emmary said, "Mom, do we have to stop at the Hoover Dam again?" I said no. She then asked,"Do we ever have to go there again?" Tim was heartbroken. This picture is pretty awful, but it is my proof that we have already done that therefore we don't have to do it again!

How Juliet spent most of the next 5 days: smiling in the stroller.

Em smiling because this was taken just before we got back in the car to drive to Anaheim:)

A Big Day!

Emmary learned how to ride a bike last Saturday. I love these beautiful days that keep us outside and busy! We decided that Emmary needed to ride a bike now that she is 6. Tim took her out and within 5 minutes she was off on her own. It is incredible how that is one of those things that you learn once and never need to learn again, no matter how long it has been since you have done it. Tim was super man running next to her to keep her from crashing and managed to save Juliet from the oncoming train that was Emmary. It is funny to watch kids as they focus so hard on not tipping over they end up crashing instead!

Another big day, Juliet learned how so say "cheese" and actually look at the camera while I am taking her picture. She really is so cute with those squishy cheeks and thighs:) She LOVES being outside and just watches the front door like a hawk. If it doesn't close all the way she is out the door and attaking my flowers faster than a kid chasing the ice cream truck. Which, since when did those turn into creepy things rather than super- cool? I would not feel comfortable with my kids chasing down a stranger in a car that has loud music blaring from the windows. I'm just saying is all....

I wish this was the day that Jules decided to walk, but no. She is being so stubborn about it. It's like she knows I'm about to steal her babyhood from her so she is torturing me on purpose. It is really making me nervous- I am so not able to carry 2 babies around! In the meantime, Jules just does the stink bug walk when she is outside.

Juliet's favorite place to be.The little white flowers are her favorite and she picks them off one by one. I wish she would just find the dead ones, but no. She is very thorough at picking all the dead and pretty ones:)

Davis got his first big boy bike today as well. He just loves riding and I think he spent the entire day going up and down the driveway and around the circle. Living in a circle is the best thing ever, by the way. We are at the center of the circle too, so we can always see where our kids are. They know not to leave the circle without us, so they feel like they have freedom, but we have peace of mind. I highly recommend it and it might be a requirement for the rest of my life!

What we've been up to....

Here are some of the highlights of our May- besides Disneyland, which I will blog about- eventually! I haven't even been that great at taking pictures, but I am trying to pull out the camera more and document our lives. This pregnancy is sort of sucking my will to live! Not really, but it is taking all my energy; whatever is leftover from my kids at least:)

Somehow Emmary's elbow found the exact spot on Davis' forehead that would swell immediately upon contact while they were running next to each other. I felt so bad for him, but he was fine within 5 minutes. Unfortunately, the bump stayed for a good couple of days. I feel awkward when I go places with my kids and they have a noticeable inury and people ask what happened. I almost feel like I have to prove to total strangers that I don't beat my children!

Emmary lost her first tooth on top. This was an event at our house that took up most of a Friday night. She insisted that she wanted to tie the tooth to a string that's tied to the door and then slam the door to make the tooth pop out. She has been watching too many America's Funniest Home Videos latley! Needless to say, it doesn't really work as easy as they make it look in books and in movies. That tooth is small and slipery and by the time it actually worked, the tooth was hanging there sideways. I think a strong breeze could have pulled it out! But, we were successful and Emmary got some good money and a piece of candy from the tooth fairy.

Our primary had a good family activity at Temple Square and we made a smart choice to leave Juliet with my mom while we took the big kids downtown. It was lots of fun and the weather couldn't have been nicer. The kids really enjoyed the tours and they got to see all the brides in their pretty dresses. I then promptly begged them to never get married at the Salt Lake Temple on a Saturday in the summer- too many crowds!

Not a good picture of Emmary, because she was being a stinker about the sun being out, but regardless this is her on the last day of Kindergarden. It is amazing how she has grown this last year. I'm glad I had the thought to take her picture before school. I think it is something I will make a tradition out of so that we can compare the 2.
These were just some of our highlights for the month. This summer is already in full swing and I shift between being excited for this baby to get here and wishing that I could stay pregnant forever! Not really, becuse any woman who has been pregnant knows that no one wants to be pregnant past 36 weeks. I've never been pregnant in the summer either, so I am a little nervous about the heat, but we've got central air and popsicles to keep me happy:) All in all, I am looking forward to the summer and I am hopeful that I will have the energy to keep my kids active and doing fun things instead of just watching too much T.V. We'll see.....

Davis Birthday!

My little man turned 4 last sunday! He has grown up so much this last year and we are so happy:) He wanted a panda birthday cake, which I was more than happy to make for him becuase it was so easy! Pre-made blak frosting, and white- you can't get any easier than that! We had a small party with my parents and a couple of neighbors after church to share the cake and ice cream. Davis got a big boy bike and some clothes and toys from friends. It is such a joy as parent to see your child so happy and to realize that it doesn't take much for them to be completely happy with life. Simplify, simplify, simplify is all I have to say!




Blowing out the candles!

The piece he wanted out of the whole cake was the ear. So it was black mouth and teeth for the night!