Living Planet Aquarium

The new much bigger, much better Living Planet Aquarium opened this year. We finally had an opportunity to check it out this fall. Taylee is not a huge sea life explorer, but we still had a good time exploring. The new facility is much nicer and "friendlier" than the previous aquarium. The only disappointment was the sea otters. On previous visits to the Aquarium they have been very active and playful. On this visit they were napping the whole time. Bummer. The penguins, however, were a highlight! They were jumping in and out of the water, and having a darn good time! We are lucky to live near so many amazing indoor and outdoor recreation activities.

Cutie Patootie!

"Riding" a killer whale!

A wee little baby penguin.

Little Big Change

 I really rocked my own world this summer, cutting my dark brown hair off, and dying it blonde! It took some adjusting, but (I think) I like it! The before and after photos really are not fair, as the before was taken at 2 am at work, and the second includes huge sunglasses to cover the dark circles, but you get the idea....

For now, I guess I am out to prove that blondes really do have more fun!

Kindergarten!!

I know! I can't believe it either! Not only is our little darling five years old, she is now a kindergartner. We heavily debated sending her, as she is a very young five year old with her birthday in late July, but after much consideration we decided to go for it. And so far, we are sooo glad we did! Taylee LOVES her teacher Mrs. Brewer, and is picking up the material quite well. I volunteer one day each week reading with her classmates, and doing other academic skill testing. It gives me a lot of insight into where Taylee falls among her classmates. She seems to be right in the middle, which I feel great about! I am so grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer with her class. The afternoon time slots make it possible for me to volunteer without interfering with work, so it works out perfectly. I love going and watching her interact with her teacher and classmates, and see how much fun she has learning from Mrs. Brewer. We heart Kindergarten!

Five is Fabulous!

This silly, sassy, little girl turned five. I can't believe how quickly these five years have passed. It feels like just yesterday that I held this sweet little newborn girl in my arms for the very first time. She has changed my life in so many ways and made me the person I am today. Her sweet spirit and adorable little personality have charmed me since day one. She is the light of my life and I am so blessed to be her mommy!

Sweet, Silly Taylee

We threw a super duper fun summer birthday party with all of Taylee's neighborhood friends. They got to swim in the pool....

And slide down the water slide HUNDREDS of times! (thanks Grandma and Grandpa, for use of the slide!), plus play fun party games like pin the wand on Tinkerbell and Musical Chairs, bust open a pinata, and of course enjoyed some yummy cake and ice cream!

Even Skyler joined in!

The girls were happy to help spin each other around while blindfolded!

This darling five year old was also totally spoiled rotten! Between her generous friends, and her loving parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, she got everything a five year old girl could want!

Markers, and coloring books, and dress-ups, and movies....

And art kits, and fairies, and Princess castles, and more!

I take zero credit for her fabulous double decker Tinkerbell cake, but it sure was cute!

Happy Birthday to our most special girl in the whole wide world! Love you!!!

Goodbye Disneyland...

After several fun filled days at Disneyland and California Adventure, our last day in the parks was our chance to catch all those rides and shows we missed our first time through. We used our "Magic Morning" pass (early entry), and were able to shorten the line for Anna and Elsa down to 40 minutes, from the average wait times of 2-3 hours. Total craziness! We were only able to visit with Elsa because of our savvy timing, but totally worth it in my book!

Taylee, receiving advice for life from Elsa!

We all got in on the Frozen action!

The rest of the morning was spent on things like Dumbo, Tom Sawyer's Island, Splash Mountain, and a second trip through the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! 

We took a break in the middle of our day and headed back to our little home for a swim and a little downtime. We were planning to head back to the park that evening for Fantasmic and some nighttime festivities. We got back over to the parks just in time to enjoy the live stage production of "Aladdin," which Taylee absolutely LOVED! After a quick repeat spin on Radiator Racers, we were headed back to Disneyland for Fantasmic. There was a bit of a corn dog debacle, but after an hour long wait, we had a spot saved for Fantasmic, and a delicious meal on a stick.  Unfortunately, in the meantime, Taylee had fallen asleep in her stroller. Bummer. She missed the corndog, as well as the show! Somehow she revived herself after Fantasmic and insisted we ALL ride It's a Small World. We were the only people on the ride! Now that's a creepy experience for sure.  

We sure had a great time on our vacation. Until next time... Au Revoir Disneyland!

Dumbo!

Little Miss Stink Pot hiding her face from the camera!



Big Thunder Mountain Railroaders!



The Caves at Tom Sawyer's Island

The Graduate... Mickey Mouse Style



Family Photo of the year

Boys will be Boys... at Tom Sawyer's Island!



Oooooh Scary!



Free Day...at the Grotto

We "allowed" ourselves one free day in the midst of our amusement park mania vacation. Funny enough, just because of the way our "schedule" worked out, we had to stop in to California Adventure that morning for a little breakfast at Ariel's Grotto. Nana, Taylee, and I were pampered with a deluxe breakfast, and we got to meet Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, Tiahna, and Belle. Holy Cow! Every little girl's dream come true!! It was definitely a hit, and I am so grateful that my mom talked me into doing this with Taylee. Thanks Nana!

While us girls were busy dining with the princesses, the boys took a spin on a few of their favorite rides.  It was a nice way to spend the morning, and we were on our way out of the park well before noon.

We headed for Venice Beach, and despite the windy, coolish weather, Taylee had us straight into the ocean! We froze a little, but had a fun time splashing around a bit. After our swimming experience, we went to check out the boardwalk and grab a little lunch.  Although our shopping and pizza left a bit to be desired, it was a nice afternoon away from the parks. We found ourselves back at the house and the pool (where it was much warmer!), by late afternoon. Another takeout dinner was enjoyed that evening!

 

Family Photo Op wth Ariel

 

Taylee's Decadent Hot Chocolate!

Me and my little Lovey





Our Cute little Crab



My Studly Baby Daddy



Fun in the Sun!



Universal Studios Hollywood!

We took a break from Disney on our third day in Anaheim and headed for Hollywood! Universal Studios Hollywood to be clear. The trip was long, but we had a darn good time. This park was much more adult oriented than Disney, and Taylee was one heck of a trooper. We took her on almost every ride (including Transformers!), and she did awesome. She was a little freaked out (maybe a lot freaked out!) by a few rides, especially Transformers. But, we were super proud of her!

Skyler and Optimus Prime, who, by the way, was pretty HUGE, and pretty freaky. But cool. Way cool.

Sun's Out Gun's Out!

We did, however, give her respite from the Jurassic Park ride. Mostly because Nana wanted to miss this wet ride, so she took Taylee to the kids dino playground. And Taylee probably would have been a bit overwhelmed by the enormous, life like dinosaurs. And probably wouldn't have enjoyed the 84 foot drop at the end either.

Headed into Jurassic Park!

We did spend a few minutes watching other people make the big drop on Jurassic Park after riding. Taylee sure enjoyed that!

Funny little fam, on one of the 5 ridiculously long escalators in the park, designed to get you from the "upper lot" to the "lower lot." I have to say, I am pretty grateful not to have to walk that many stairs!



Kent and Skyler with the friendly Minions and Gru.

Universal Studios has lots of fun rides, as well as some pretty cool shows. The Water World show is quite a spectacle, and we loved it. Taylee, well, she doesn't like fire, so she wasn't so sure about the show. Her eyes certainly never left the arena though, that's for sure!

 

Water World

A little fun in the fountains while we took a lunch break. Skyler is such a good sport!

Family Photo, Taylee was once again a bit uncooperative.

Selfie Fail. And my photo bomb! (again)

A little better effort at the family selfie. We were on the Studio Tram Tour. The longest ride EVER.

Taylee loved the Minions.

City Walk, on our way out...