California!

WARNING: Prepare yourself for a really long post!

So we decided to take our annual trip to California in June this year, right after Jacey got out of school. The kids really wanted to go to Disneyland and California Adventure this time, and I went on eBay a week or so before we left and scored some awesome, cheap tickets (like $45 for two-day park-hoppers). Jacey seemed to be over her illness, and so the Saturday before Memorial Day we left to drive down to my parent's house in SoCal. We were making pretty good time and the kids were doing well, so we drove pretty much straight through to Barstow before stopping for dinner at the oh-so-lovely McDonald's there. When we were nearly done with our meal we noticed that Landon was making some weird gagging noises that he had never made before, and before we knew it he was urping up everywhere. Jon and I literally just watched him bewildered that such a small kid could possibly have so much in his stomach to unload (sorry for the graphic detail). I ran to get a teenaged worker to help us clean up, and sheepishly apologized to all the green patrons around us. Jon took Landon into the restroom for a bath in their sink, and after getting cleaned up as best as we could we high-tailed it out of there!

Based on how bad Jacey got the bug the couple of weeks prior to this I dreaded the week ahead and feared the worst. Amazingly, Landon seemed totally fine and normal by the time we reached my parent's house. On Sunday we stayed home from church just in case, and Sunday evening we ventured out to one of the kid's favorite places, the Castle Park:

Does this look like a boy who is sick? I think not!

(unfortunately the "bug" took a day break, and came back full force on Monday.)

On Monday we were all planning to go swimming at the newly reopened pool by my parent's house, but Landon woke up with the runs that day, so in the name of cryptosporidium, he and I stayed behind while Jon went swimming with the girls, Michael and my Dad. That night Jon wanted to take me out to a fancy restaurant since we never get a chance to go anywhere, and we got all dressed up and went to Mastro's while my parents watched the kids for us. Mastro's was very nice and expensive (one sign of an expensive restaurant is required valet parking, even though the parking lot was literally 20 feet away from the restaurant), but we had a good time and it was nice to have a "real" date for the first time in a long time. Thanks to my parents for watching the kids that night, and to my mom for being brave enough to change Landon's dirty diaper while we were gone.

Tuesday was Disneyland/California Adventure day! Landon seemed to once again be feeling better, so we stuck to our plans to go to Disney that day. Michael and my dad joined us for the whole day, and my mom came around lunchtime as well. The kids had a great time and Jacey surprised us with her bravery by going on every single ride with the exception of Tower of Terror. She even rode California Screamin', the big roller coaster at California Adventure. Here are some pics of our day:

Tuesday was a great day, but Landon started having stomach issues again in the late afternoon and my mom and I decided to cut out early so I could take him home. Wednesday we decided just to stay close to home to let him finish recovering, and Thursday we headed back to Disneyland again with my dad and Michael. Thursday was much more relaxed, and since Landon was finally feeling better, even he was in a good mood that day. Since we had saved so much on the tickets, I let the girls pick out cute hats for souvenirs. Brookie also got to wear a special "Happy Birthday" button since her birthday was the next day, and she felt so special when anybody wished her a happy birthday!

These girls are wishing that we can go back to Disneyland real soon!

Jacey's Last Days of 2nd Grade

Jacey missed quite a bit of school in May due to a recurring stomach bug. I felt so bad for her when she had to miss a lot of the end-of-year events such as field day, parties and assemblies. At least she was able to make it to her 2nd grade "Bugz" Musical that she was in, and she also got to participate in the annual dance festival on her last day of school.

Brookie's Preschool Graduation (sort of)

Brooklyn finished up her last year of preschool in May. Instead of doing a graduation for the kids, her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Clark, had a last-day-of-school swim party instead in her backyard. The kids went down the water slide, swam in her hot tub, and ate ice cream to their heart's content. It was a little bittersweet for me to think about my little Brookie going on to real school next year. Yeah, I'm still in denial even though the big day is now only a few days away!

Brookie and her buddy/boyfriend Ethan
Landon just loved riding around the backyard in the little cars!

Good Ol' Uncle Michael!

My kids love their Uncle Michael! He has visited us many times over the past year, and he is a good sport about playing with them when he comes (particularly with Brooklyn, who could play Super Mario Bros. on the Wii with him for hours). These are some pictures of when he came to visit for Landon's birthday, and I am happy to report that he has since cut his hair! I hope he doesn't hate me for posting these!

You gotta love this picture of Brookie picking her nose!

This was so funny! Michael was so tired one morning and Brookie jumped on him to try to wake him up, but ended up snuggling him instead. Since she didn't get the job done, Landon started ramming into them both over and over again with his toy walker.

Another Vegas Vacation

This is kind of posted out of order, but Jon, the kids and I went to Las Vegas in April for a little vacation while Jon attended a conference down there. The kids and I killed time while Jon was gone during the days by going swimming, doing a little shopping and sightseeing, and we went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay. I was a little stressed about watching out for all three kids by myself everyday (particularly in the swimming pool), but I was surprised at how well we all did. The kids were very obedient and cooperative, and Landon did quite well also despite the fact that he had burnt his hand quite badly just a couple of days earlier on a space heater. Here are some pictures of what we did:

Not the best picture here, but I wanted to show one of Landon's poor bandaged hand (which he kept sucking on to the point that the bandages kept falling off). Brooklyn was having a tantrum here as I recall.

You can't go to Vegas without seeing the Bellagio fountain show!

The kids in front of a fake garden area at a shopping center (no lie, the grass was turf, and the plants and flowers were all fake. Why would you need to do this in Vegas?)

The kids loved Loved LOVED swimming in the pool! Especially Landon!

The kids enjoyed the Shark Reef Aquarium

The Bellagio Gardens:

And possibly the highlight of the trip for the girls: A shopping spree at Justice!