Disneyland!!

The back story:
When I was growing up we went to Disneyland every 5 years starting when I was 5.  My mom thought it worked out quite well and suggested we start the same tradition with the boys.  So we got two of those 5 gallon water containers and put one at my mom's and one in their bedroom at our house.  We called them the Disneyland Buckets, and every time they found spare change they were to put it in the bucket so that when the bucket got full we could go to Disneyland.  I'm not sure exactly when this was all put into place, but probably for about a year we've been talking about it.  Well, after one of those life planning discussions (for lack of a better term), Matt and I decided that it would be better if we went this year instead of next when the boys would actually be 5.  With my parents on board we went about making the plans.
 Now because we had only had the Disneyland buckets for about a year, they were nowhere near full, but luckily my mom just happened to have a spare 5 gallon water container full of change in her basement (I know, I know, only my mom would have something like this).  So we decided that the day before we left (Sunday) when we went over to my mom's house for dinner we would surprise the boys with an almost full bucket. Then we had everyone there that night give them money to put in their bucket until it was full and then told them we were going to Disneyland the next day (that's right, I didn't tell the boys until the night before we were leaving that they were going to Disneyland to avoid the constant asking of 'Are we going to Disneyland now?!?!).  It was pretty funny, I don't think they really understood what all of the fuss was about.

My mom had gotten each of the boys a Disneyland backpack with a plush Mickey, a Mickey watch, PJ's, a Buzz Lightyear Pez dispenser, a Mickey shirt for each day, and a Mickey wallet.  I thought we were giving it to them when we got there, but she was too excited to wait.  I'm glad though because the boys loved having their own backpack on the plane. 

The next morning things were a flurry of activity to get everything ready and get out the door.  Things were actually going pretty smoothly too until we were putting our suitcases in the car and one of the wheels broke off on one of them.  I could just picture what a hassle it would be trying to get through the airport and security with this suitcase and the boys so I decided to make a last minute trip to Wal-Mart and buy a new one.  I made it to the check out lane in record time, only to discover when I got up there I had grabbed one without a tag.  Of course.  Still not a huge deal, I made it home in plenty of time.  The boys were really getting excited at this point.  They looked super cute decked out in all of their gear.

 

On the way to the airport Carter was singing a song "I'm going to Disneyland, oh yeah!"  Here's a little sideways clip from my phone:

The whole airport process was a little stressful, but things went really well.  It helps that my dad works there and is pretty familiar with the process and where we were going.  The boys were very excited to go on the plane.  Poor Carter had to sit next to me which meant there wasn't a lot of talking or fun because I get plane sick and have to hold very still and usually keep my eyes closed most of the way.  He was a trooper though and played games on my phone most of the way.  Matt and Spencer had fun though.

By the time we landed, got to our hotel, got checked in, dumped our luggage in the room and grabbed some lunch, I'd had a day.  But our day was just beginning as we headed for the park. The excitement on the boys faces as we walked in was priceless.  And right as we walked in there were a few characters that we were able to grab pictures with. 

 

After that we went over to the Town Hall where we got buttons for the boys that said it was their 1st Visit to Disneyland.  For some reason I didn't get a picture, but they were cute and it let all of the workers know it was their first time so they got lots of comments made to them.  Carter said he wanted to go on Pirates first, but as we were trying to orient ourselves we ended up at the Jungle Cruise first.  There was hardly any line so we went on that first.  Spencer and Carter were very excited to get a map of their very own and Spencer led the way with it.

Not the best picture, but you can see Spencer's 1st Visit button really well.

Once we were done we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean and again there was only about a 3-5 minute wait.  Carter got a little scared in that ride, but did great for the most part.  Then we hit the Haunted Mansion.  While in line for this a lady and her daughter struck up a conversation with the boys, who were more than happy to fill her in on all of the details of our day.  Just as we were about to enter the ride, the daughter snapped a picture of the boys.  I just had to laugh, thinking we are not part of the attractions here at Disneyland. 

After another minimal wait for Haunted Mansion we came to Splash Mountain.  I hadn't anticipated going on a ride like this right off the bat, but the line seemed short, and we were right there so we decided to go for it.  45 minutes and two restless kids later we finally made it to the front of the line.  My dad was the lucky person who got to sit in the front of the ride and man did he get soaked!  I think we had all forgotten how wet you can get - we all had a good laugh over that.  The boys LOVED the ride and wanted to go again right then.  We wised up this time and Fast Passed it while Mom and Dad went back to the hotel the get changed.  While waiting we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride twice - no line there.

After Splash Mountain we headed across the park to meet my parents and while waiting Matt and the boys rode whatever this thing is called.  Thankfully Matt doesn't get motion sickness - there was no way I was getting on that thing.  Then we rode the Buzz Lightyear ride about 4 times and then watched the parade.

After the Parade we headed towards the exit.  The boys wanted to go on the train and we found out that on it's last trip of the day it makes a round trip the whole way around the park.  While we thought this would be quick, it ended up being a pretty long trip because they had to stop at every station and if there were passengers they were supposed to pick them up.  By the end we were squished and ready to get the heck out of there. 

The walk back to the hotel.....

All snuggled up after a busy day - can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!

May

May was really all about our Disneyland trip. The rest of the month sort of faded to the background. Other then the hundreds of pictures we took of Disneyland, we only managed to take 4 other pictures in May.  So here they are.....First is what the boys made for the Grandma's for Mother's Day.  I know that a lot of the other cute moms in blog land would have had cute smocks for their kids to wear during an art projects such as this.  I'm more the type to just strip 'em down to their tidy whities.  It didn't seem to compromise the quality of their work at all.

I thought they turned out cute! 

Not the most quality photo, but you get the idea.......

The boys played Soccer for the first time this year.  Here is a preview from their first game.  More to come.....

April

This may look like a Christmas picture, but it's actually April Fool's Day (notice the bunnies in the windows).  Shelly called and really wanted to play an April Fool's prank on my mom while she was at work.  This is the best we could come up with.  The boys were all smiles as we dragged out her life size nativity set piece by piece.  My dad was just shaking his head the whole time, I'm sure because he knew he would be the one putting it all back after we'd had our fun.  It was pretty hilarious when Mom got home, and we all had a good laugh.  She took this picture later that night, I especially like the random caroler on the end.

This year Easter was COLD!! I knew the Easter egg hunt was going to be freezing so I dug out all of our winter gear and dressed the boys as warm as I could. This year the boys had a few things going against them: 1. They moved up an age group and so they were the youngest kids in their division. 2. They could barely see out of their masks and had no peripheral vision. 3. They were wearing the kind of mittens that only have slots for the thumbs making it hard to pick up candy. Needless to say it was quite comical watching them trying to find stuff to put in their baskets. Even though they weren't the fastest kids out there, they still managed to come away with more candy than they needed, and had a great time.

Not sure who or what this was supposed to be, but Carter thought it was fun.

My mom's Easter morning tradition continues, and this year the boys were really in to it.  I'm not sure how Matt felt about it as I was making him help me the night before, but he was a good sport about it.  It's not as easy as it seems to make up random rhymes (don't be a dork look by the forks, you're not a slouch go look by the couch), and making sure all of the eggs are in the right order can be a little confusing, but it's so fun, and brings back memories from when I was a kid.  In the end the boys ended up with these:

After church we went up to Matt's Dad's house.  Here are the boys with Grandma and Grandpa Speirs.

The boys are always very interested in what Grandpa Wade is working on.  They follow him around like little ducklings asking him a million questions.  I like it because it gives me a break (my brain can only come up with so many answers to so many questions) and I know he loves it too.  Here they are helping him do some work around the yard.

As the boys get older, the amount of 'Firsts' they have is decreasing.  So when they got invited to their first birthday party I don't know who was more excited, me or them.  I thought it was so cute!  They looked so big as they ran into the party, hardly even giving me a second glance as I walked out the door.  They are getting so big! 

Spencer came home looking like this:

Carter managed to stay looking the same.  I guess he wasn't too keen on putting on a shirt over his regular shirt.  Spencer thought this was the coolest part of the party.  He insisted on wearing the shirt to bed, and even the next morning he wanted to keep wearing it.  That night when I went to check on the boys I got quite a shock when I saw Spencer.  It took me a second in the dark to realize he had fallen asleep with his mask on.  He takes this superhero business pretty serious.

There are a few crimes against fashion happening in this picture:  Pants tucked into socks - not really working for me.  Socks with sandals - again, not really my first choice.  MY socks with sandals - umm, no.  But when he puts them on by himself, who am I to criticize?  He really enjoyed the reaction he got out of me, as you can tell by that smile on his face.

Here kitty, kitty!  I love when imaginative play turns into real life drama.  I think I was most surprised that they managed to not dump out the entire gallon of milk.  I'll take these two kitties any day!