Phineas and Ferb tour and private screening...

A friend of Neils' from H.S. is a producer (and has written a couple episodes) for the Disney cartoon, Phineas and Ferb. When he heard we were coming to California he insisted we come up for a tour and private screening of the show. We spent the day having lunch, watching an upcoming episode with the creators of the show and then walking around to see the different parts to how the show is made. We met those that draw just the props to those that do all the coloring to seeing the story boards. One of the creators, Dan is also the voice of Dr. Doofensmirtz and as we left he said to us and the kids in his screetchy voice, "Stay EEEeeeVilll!" It is an interesting process and I'll never look at a cartoon the same. Here are a few pictures on the Disney lot and in the studio where it's created. Thanks Lance, it was an amazing day!

Then it was off to the beach...

Had I known Brooke was going to spend the ENTIRE time in the water, I would have worn my suit or at least the bottom half of my suit. By the end of the day, my jean capris were soaked! What a yucky feeling to have jeans sticking to me mixed in with some sand to scrape my legs everytime I tried to wiggle the darn things around and air them out. Uggghh... But I'm so glad she loved it. I was a little afraid of the kids reaction. My kids (all three of them) are very particular about being clean. Jett will not hold a Chips Ahoy cookie in his hands cause it gets crumbs on his hands. I have to hold it for him and feed it to him. Sky, is a freak-a-zoid when it comes to cleanliness. She gets so upset when things are a mess. So when we reached the sand, Sky's first words were "Is there any place where there's NOT ANY sand?" Ha! Uh... no!!! She did fine, and I was shocked when her sucker landed in the sand and she didn't freak out. Normally, this would have been the end of the world for her. But I guess because the weather was so great and we had so much fun, it didn't seem to bother her. After all we were headed for a Thrifty Ice Cream cone (yes, it's inside a Rite Aid now, but it's still called Thrifty Ice Cream for those of you that grew up in California) afterwards. It was a gogorgeous day and I'm so glad we were able to meet up with Arlo, Kathleen and kids. It was their short day at school so it worked out perfect for us all to go! Thanks guys we had a blast!

Backyard fun!

Everyday was so beautiful, the second the kids woke up they were begging to go outside. Grandma has the best backyard! There's a playhouse with a play kitchen and tons of toys, there's a minitramp, a little slide, a bouncy horse to ride, tetherball... the fun just never ends. It was everything any kid could dream of. So off they went, after breakfast, outside. Tuesday, while I enjoyed a three hour nap (what the heck is that? I haven't had one of those in ages) Grandma played games with the kids. Like I said, DREAM VACATION!!!

Notice that this is an old Fisher Price vacuum? My Mother in Law has kept her toys in perfect condition, even after nine kids. They all still work and look brand new. She had a Speak and Spell that looked like she bought it yesterday and it worked like new too. My kids thought that was the funnest toy ever! Why don't they still sell it?

20 Years Later...

It was absolutely amazing to be able to reconnect with an old gymnastics teammate of mine, Sonja Kuderna! We were buds in the gym and did everything together. There were endless sleepovers before meets, going through gymnastics magazines and hoping to be the next Kristie Phillips. I can remember her working at doing "The Phillips" on beam! Thanks to Facebook, I found out that Sonja was alive and living not too far from my in-laws in California. So, I made sure I saw her while on my trip. She drove down and we went to lunch at Chilis and then went back to my in-laws and chatted and chatted and chatted. We could have gone on all night. I even made a call to our old gymnastics coach Jim Trost and said hello. He was floored and very happy to hear from us. It was a FABULOUS catching up and Sonja even challenging me to a handstand contest. It was awesome to see her and I can't wait to see her again!!!
First thing we noticed when we saw each other is that I grew and she stayed the same. I used to be that short!

Headed to the park...

After lunch at SuperMex we drove down to meet up with Uncle Arlo and his family. We walked over to the park nearby his house. The nicest park I've ever been to with a shade covering so nothing was too hot or wet from rain.
Sky of course posing for me as we start to walk... (yes, I made her pants!!!)

First Highlight...

SUPERMEX!!! It was at the top of the list of things to do while in California, go to SuperMex to eat! So, Saturday afternoon we went there for lunch. Not as good as we had remembered. But, maybe that was because the service was pretty poor this time around. Oh well, we still love their salsa!

What a trip...

Pictures coming soon...
But for now...It's been a rough couple of days adjusting. The kids went from having gorgeous weather to run outside and play in to this cold snowy, stuck inside the house business. They had Grandma to around to play with and now only a mom that's been busy doing laundry and unpacking. Hopefully, by the end of the week we can at least get out and go for a walk. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!
We had a fabulous time in California. Top 5 Highlights (even though there were like 100 great things about the trip)... 1. We ate at SuperMex, and In and Out Burger ( I think I had at least 7 burgers while on our trip which explains the weight gain, but they were truly enjoyed). 2. We spent a whole day at the beach with Arlo and fam and Grandma J. The kids LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it and the weather... PERFECT! Not too cold and not too hot! If only I had worn my suit. I ended up soaked anyway cause Brooke did not want to get out of the water. 3. I met up with an old gymnastics teammate that I have not seen in 20 years. She and I were quite the pair when we were young. We did everything the together and gave each other the courage to keep going. We spent so much time together at the gym that she was like another sibling so it was incredible to see her again. Thank you FB. 4. We went on a tour of the show Phineas and Ferb. We got to be in the studio where the cartoon is created from start to finish. VERY COOL!!! We even got to sit in a boardroom with the creators of the show (Swampy and Dan) and a few top execs to view a never before seen episode. One that is still in the works. That was a neat experience and the kids loved meeting some of the key voices to the characters. As Dr. Doofenshmirtz (Jeff "Swampy" the creator of the show) said to us as we left "Stay Eeeeevil!" 5. We went to Disneyland and Suzanne and fam were there too. Made it that much more fun for the kids!
The trip was perfect. Wish I could have stayed another week with my FABULOUS inlaws. I am so incredibly lucky to have such great inlaws. They took great care of us and the kids while Neils flew back during the week to work. We were spoiled for sure. Not sure I'm even adjusting well. I miss them terribly and am going to have to go back SOON!!!

Cute little story...

I overheard the cutest conversation this morning and had to write it down...

Jett: Sky do you want some chapstick?
Sky: Sure
Jett: Then kiss my lips and you'll get some.

I was curious, what would Sky do? Would she kiss him, would she say, "eeewww..."
I watched in anticipation...
Sky walked over and gave him a little kiss on the lips.
Jett: Yumm.. huh? It's strawberry
Sky: I like strawberry. Thanks Jett.
Seriously, so cute. I melted!
They are the best of friends sometimes and I love to sit back and watch them interact during those moments. I love my little angels!!!

My sweet Sky!

Today, before rushing Sky off to dance class, I insisted she let me take a picture of her. I tried somthing new with her hair today and I thought she looked adorable. When she was a baby, or little, I'd complain almost every day that she had yucky hair. I was bummed she didn't get good thick, straight hair like mine. I felt limited in what I could do it and always envied my sister's little girl who had the good, thick, straight hair. Well, I'm not envious anymore. I think my little Sky is gorgeous and has beautiful hair. She's growing up way too fast and sometimes thinks she's the mom around here. Today, she was my little angel in her dance outfit and her hair all done up on the side. My beautiful, sweet Sky!

I'm so excited...

Last night I went to my friend Suzannes house (I know shocker huh?) to make some pants for our girls. I've never sewn anything. Well, okay, I take that back... I've sewn two rag blankets of which I kept one for Sky and gave the other away. I figured I could sew straight lines and just gave it a shot. So last night was the first time I had ever sewn anything of WORTH. My mom is an excellent seamstress but rather than teach me she just bought me a sewing machine one year for my birthday. My friend Suzanne is the "self taught" master. She's basically a self taught photographer, and you've seen her work... AMAZING! And she taught herself how to sew. She can do it all. She makes costumes every year for Halloween. So, I thought I'd suggest we make pants and then do my best to learn from her. This is not a pattern we bought at the store, she made the pattern herself. We cut the fabric and she walked me through where to sew exactly. This is what we came up with...
I was so excited to try these pants on Brooke this morning. I got home way too late to do it last night. They are WAY too long, so I'll have to go back and make them shorter, but this is what they look like. You can see where I had to roll them so you could see her little toes at least poke out at the bottom.

So YES, it's in need of a make over! I've neglected it long enough. I stopped going to my own blog because I didn't like the way it looked and I didn't want to take the time to fix it. Well, so now just like I do with dieting, it's time I get back on track. I'm going to give it a make over and start blogging about my precious little nubies once again. There's always so many stories I write down when I'm good about keeping up. I like having them in one place. So over the next few days, I'll be working on fixing it and adding some cute stories and pictures. Hope you'll check back soon...