Disneyland!

This past November I finally realized my long anticipated dream of taking my kids Disneyland! (It started when I was miserably sick in my pregnancy with Austin. I got through the vomiting and pain by visualizing my future little boy at Disneyland.)

November 1st, the day after Halloween, my whole family got on a plane and flew to sunny California. This included my parents, Heather, Debbie and her family too. My wonderful parents gave us this trip as a gift so we could all go play.

We were there for 5 fantastic days. Already I can't wait to go back! Anthony laughs a little when I say that because my memories of the trip are already rose-colored. I have hopes of putting together a scrapbook dedicated to all our future Disneyland trips. If I ever do, I may share online. For now though (and because I'm so behind on blogging) I will keep it super short.

Here is a collage I printed and framed for everyone for Christmas. Just a smidgen of the good times:

1. Outside the new Monsters Inc. ride. One of the little kids' favorite rides - including Austin. Austin was pretty freaked out by all of the "dark" rides (the black-light lit rides). We took him on Pinocchio and that sealed the deal - no Snow White, no Peter Pan, no Mr. Toad, no Alice and definitely no Haunted Mansion. I was totally fine with this because I wanted his memories to be happy, not painful. We did coerce him onto Pirates because I had to see the Jack Sparrow updates. Austin spent the entire ride with his head in my lap. Just for the record, the Pirates changes were nicely done and a fun way to pull in more of the movie.
2. Grandpa and Makayla strolling through Critter Country eating churros. Mmmmm.... churros.
3. Me and Austin in front of the Brother Bear playground area. Austin and Ruthie had a blast here. I never understood why Disneyland put this boring old playground in their park. Now I get it. Disneyland caters to all ages - playgrounds for kids, farmer's markets and wine galleries for the "elderly". Those Disney guys are pretty darn smart.
4. Anthony and Austin with their "A", all decorated with a Christmas Goofy. Ruthie and I got a similar picture by the "R". I thought this would be a fun picture to take every year and compare. Turns out, though, that California Adventure is about to get a major overhaul and the letters are going away.
5. The gang with Minnie. We had a great time playing in Toon Town - a section of Disneyland I'd mostly ignored until this year.
6. The most awesome parents on the planet! Tigger is my mom's favorite character to collect. She has about 50 Tigger memorabilia.
7. When we arrived, the park still had it's Halloween face on. This Goofy pumpkin sat atop the entrance gate. By the time we left, most of the Christmas fun had arrived.
8. On the bus. The kids came to think of the shuttle as being as much a part of Disneyland as any of the other rides. Whenever Austin and I "play Disneyland" at home, it always begins with the bus ride.
9. Me and Ruthie on the carousal. This girl was amazing. She was so easy. I thought a 1-year-old would be kind of tough, but she completely enjoyed herself. She gave up her afternoon naps for a week (despite a few of my half-hearted stroller nap attempts) and was basically happy and easy going the whole trip.
10. Kalyana and Makayla with Snow White. Character greeting is another piece of Disneyland I've always ignored. But these kids got into it (as we knew they would). Grandma gifted them with autograph books and they filled them up!
11. The gang with Pluto. Seeing Pluto at Disneyland holds a special sentiment for me and my sisters. Back in the day (when I was 5ish) my Dad worked for Disneyland. During a park worker's strike, the business guys (my accountant Dad) were called in to run the park. My Dad spent one day operating Small World and another day playing Pluto. We didn't actually see him do that, but as kids that story felt magical.
12. The entire group in the Tiki Room. A little Disneyland wisdom my Dad passed on to us early in our park-going youth - escape the hot afternoon with some pineapple ice cream and a nice air conditioned animatronics show.
13. Grandpa and Tyce aboard the Astro Blasters. I still think these rockets were funner when they were on top of the people mover platform. You could see the whole park then! And for the record, I miss the Skyway too.
    
14. Heather and Austin on Autopia. What kid doesn't love driving a car? The crazy thing is that even though the park was nearly empty when we went (an average 5 minute line) Autopia had a 40 minute wait the whole time! And for some reason the Fast Pass wasn't working for this ride. We still rode it twice though - and reminded ourselves that Disneyland is way more fun in the no-line off-season.
15. Tarl and Tyce on Mr. Toad's. It was so great to be on this trip with the whole family. We spent part of the time all together and part of the time in our own families doing our own thing. It worked well. And I love that all the kids have this very memorable experience to reflect on and share (and they do talk about it often).
16. Perhaps the favorite character meeting - Woody! All the kids are crazy about Toy Story. Kalyana may vote for the princesses, but I'm sure the rest would pick this guy. Sadly, Buzz doesn't do appearances anymore (I'm picturing parental mob scenes perhaps).
17. Debbie, Makayla and Tyce on Dumbo. The very first ride on the very first day (not counting the bus)!
18. Grandma and Austin on Tuck and Roll's Bumper cars. Bug's Land was completely empty on Tuesday. Seriously, it was us and two other families. We walked right on to the rides and then stayed on them three or four times before getting off. If you'll notice, my Mom is chatting on her cell phone here. This was a reoccurring theme in many pictures. Mom did a great job of keeping the group together.
19. The Lambsons with Mickey. We all got pictures with him at his house in Toon Town and again at CA Adventure. No trip is complete without the big guy. (Oops, two #19s. The second is of Sleeping Beauty's castle - the defining icon of the park).
    
20. Me and Kalyana on Splash Mountain. This girl, now just above the height limit, discovered roller coasters big time! She was tall enough for all except California Screamin'. I believe she picked Splash as her favorite coaster - despite the cool weather and all. A girl after my own heart.
21. Mom and Heather with Mr. Big Cheese. Heather knows the parks better than any of us and has probably gone an average of once a year her entire life. She spent the $40 to upgrade her pass to a season pass and is planning to go back with some friends before the one-year mark. $40 extra dollars for another 5 days? Pretty smart.
22. The family at the Princess lunch. We debated about spending the money ($30 per head) for this character meal, but in the end (and thanks to mom and dad taking the tab) we all felt like it was one of our favorite events. It was so nice to sit, relax, eat great food and recharge our batteries in the middle of the day. The kids had a blast meeting 5 princesses - including the boys (and we saved ourselves 45 minutes of standing in line to meet them).
23. Anthony, Austin and Grandma on Toy Story Mania. A new family favorite! As Mr. Potato Head says, "It's a ride that's a game. It's a game that's a ride." Tarl ending up pulling in the family high score (of course), but I had a pretty close second. We rode this one twice, but like Autopia, the line was consistently 30 minutes long with no Fast Pass, otherwise we would've ridden it a ton more.
    
24. Ruthie looking out the porthole on the Finding Nemo submarines. It was so much fun to watch this little girl enjoy the park. In my visualizations of Disneyland I always pictured Ruthie as being like a 6-month-old blob. I'm glad we didn't go until she was 1. She had so much fun on this trip and delighted and surprised us all with her squeals and laughs and animated faces. This ride was a huge crackup. Every time she saw the bubbles rush past the window she'd point and pant like she'd just won the lottery.
25. The Johnsons outside the teacups. Notice Ruthie's apple? Grandpa gave that to her. It was literally as big as her head. She loved it.

Oh the joys! Ok, now to recall one or two small drawbacks:

1. We made Austin wear a leash around his wrist. He hated it. He was the only one forced to wear it and I think he was aware of the unfairness of it. But that boy has always been a boundary pusher. When you say, "Stop!" it's often an invitation to take one more step...and then another. I'm glad we insisted, because momentarily loosing him would've ruined the trip completely (I've lost him before and it is devastating). However, one morning in particular, us Johnsons spent an hour outside the entrance while Austin threw the biggest and longest tantrum of his life, smacking his head on the concrete and giving himself the biggest goose-egg I've ever seen. At long last he gave up and then we had a great time for the rest of the day!
2. Lack of sleep slowly crept up on us. Us parents went to bed at the same time as the kids because we were that exhausted. Plus, with everyone sleeping in one room, the rest isn't quite as restful.

And finally, three stories I wish I had pictures of:

1. Austin discovered a love for swimming on this trip. The hotel pool (we only went once) had a 20-foot diameter area that was only 3-feet deep. Austin loved the freedom of being able to run around in the water on his own.
2. One morning Austin and I got an early start in the park (Anthony and Ruthie took it easy at the hotel for an extra two hours). We did our own thing, including the Playhouse Disney Live On Stage show. Spending that one-on-one time with my boy was so much fun. He finally had the freedom to take the park in at his own speed - walking slowly, looking at decorations, going on Monster's three times in a row, etc. It was wonderful bonding time.
   
3. Ruthie slept in the bathtub. She's the lightest sleeper in our family and we didn't want every shuffle of the sheets to instigate a crying attack. Our extra small playpen fit perfectly in the center of the bathtub. So that little girl got to sleep in her own room.

Did I mention I can't wait to go back?!

First Talk

Austin gave his first talk in church last week - the First Article of Faith. After one Family Home Evening lesson he had it memorized! He gets quite an astonished reaction from anyone he shares with, so he loves to share. In church, when it was his turn, he got up and recited this without any help. We were proud parents.

Halloween

When we last left our heroes, they were anticipating a sugar-filled Halloween and a trip to Disneyland. Let's see how it all went down.

Halloween night we took the wee ones, plus the L kids to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. We had a couple fairies, Buzz, Baby Ruth, and me - Jessie, the yodeling cowgirl. Ruthie only went with us to a couple of houses so I could show her off, then my mom took her home. The L girls were all business, running from house to house trying to max out their candy horde. Austin was the opposite, he walked slowly enjoying all the decorations and saying hi to all the neighbors we passed. I ended up carrying him piggy-back from house to house so we could keep up with the girls. Austin did eat plenty of candy that night - licorice, nerds, and lots of suckers. Anthony I got all the good chocolate stuff.


Unfortunately, having our first real neighborhood Halloween, I overestimated the number of trick-or-treaters we'd get. Recognizing the upcoming holidays, Anthony insisted that I not keep that much candy around for us to fatten up with. Crazy, I know, but I'm pretty sure my cub scout parents would not have appreciated me unloading 5 pounds of sugar on their kids.

After a fun Halloween, we got up the next morning and flew to... Disneyland! Finally! That was an awesome trip - and for the next blog post.

Share Your Christmas Fun Ideas

I'm ramping up for a month of fun in December. I'm excited to have a kid old enough to enjoy the holiday season and I want to play! I'm trying to come up with ideas of things to do and need your help!! Please share with me your favorite family Christmas ideas. Here are some categories to get you thinking:

Movies (TV specials)
Crafts
Early gifts (decorations, toys)
Books
Food
Games/Activities
Outings (that's the big one - stuff like temple square lights - what's out there that I've never heard of or haven't thought of in ten years?)

Thanks everyone!

Nativity Re-enactment 2008

That's Creative

The kids got creative for Halloween. They made a gingerbread "house", except that if it were to be a house, it would've been my project, so instead they made gingerbread cookies. After gobs of mess on the kitchen table, we moved upstairs and painted the tub with frosting.

What's the difference between a 3-yr-old and a 1-yr-old? About 2 pounds of mess.

We had our first snow of the season two days ago. Austin and Anthony went out to play and this is what they built.

Austin has beaten me to the punch - he wrote a book. His creativity also included writing it on post-it notes in green ink in some form of Swahili. But here's the interpretation... (if you compare this video to the one of Austin's tonsils, you'll notice his voice has changed. Less nasally and higher pitched.)

The full story is as follows. Look for it in stores near you:

Once There Was A Spider

Once upon a time there's an Austin and a mommy and there's a scary spider named Ruthie. And she scared mommy. And the spider walk walk walk to mommy. And the spider went up to mommy's head and the spider pulled mommy's hair out of her head. And mommy said, "Oh spider, spider. Where's my hair?" And the spider said, "It's right here in my hand." And my spider friends want their hairs. And mommy said, "Guys, I want my hair back! I want my hair back! I want my hair back!" And the spider said, "Ok. Ok, ok, ok." And the spider get the hair on mommy's head. And the spider get mommy's hair on her. And she drove. And the spider and mommy drive, drive to my house and the spider drive to my house too. And mommy and the spider drive the fastest. And Ruthie and Austin go to work at their office. The End.

Playing Together

Don't you love it when your kiddies play together? Austin and Ruthie recently discovered yet another game they both enjoy - WALL*E! Austin and Ruthie spent half and hour making trash in Austin's WALL*E box. Ruthie fed the trash in and Austin crushed it. This appealed both to a 1-year-old's love of putting objects into containers and a 3-year-old's love of imaginative play.

31-5-31

31... years ago (last month) Heidi J. was born.

My little clone was born 30 years later. Is she me, or what?

5... years ago (2 weeks ago) the J Fam began.


31... years ago (last week) Anthony J. was born.

My Tonsils Are In The Trashcan

Here's the whole tonsil history. Mid June, Austin started waking up 5-6 times a night crying, sounding like he'd just had a nightmare. We often laid down by him to comfort him back to sleep. That's when we noticed that his breathing often sounded like this:

In August Austin had his well-child check up where a very exhausted mother complained about his poor sleeping patterns to the doctor. He suggested it might be sleep apnea. We followed up with an ENT who said that his tonsils were definitely large and getting them out would significantly improve his breathing. (To help you decode this picture, his tongue is in the foreground and you can see the uvula almost dead center.)



We scheduled surgery for three weeks later. In the mean time, I did my best to prepare my little man. We checked out a handful of books from the library about hospitals (Froggy Goes to the Doctor, Franklin Goes to the Hospital are both highly recommended). When I saw this Halloween costume and doctor kit at the store, I couldn't resist getting it for him - in an attempt to create a positive association with all the paraphernalia. His cousins were very willing patients and nurses.

Austin did great at the hospital. He was very nonchalant about the whole thing. He was super excited to get his name bracelet, and quite content to watch TV while he waited. I can't help wondering just how much he remembered from being there almost exactly one year ago for ear tubes. (Which fell out just before his surgery and which dropped Austin's ear infection rate from 7 the previous year down to 0 last year). On the left, Austin 1 year ago for ear tubes. On the right, the recent tonsil surgery.

15 minutes before surgery, they gave Austin an oral tranquilizer, which basically made him drunk. It was hilarious to watch him try to sit up like his arms and legs were two sizes too long. We had to put the bed rails up to make sure he didn't fall off. Too bad I didn't get video of that.

The surgery went quick and one hour later we heard him crying as they carried him back down the hall to us. He cried loudly for about 20 minutes, then fell asleep in my arms. When he woke up an hour or so later he was groggy, but great. The next day he seemed almost back to his old self. He was a little more aggressive that first week, which I attribute to the pain killers making his head foggy so that he really didn't "know his own strength." And for 5 days his voice sounded like he'd been sucking helium. I tried to get some comparison video, but the helium sound is a little harder to hear on video. Video 1: The night before surgery, grandma came over to give Austin a Woody doll to take to the hospital with him. Video 2: A few days later.



Austin is now 6-weeks post-op and doing great. I'd throw in video of his breathing now, but he breathes silently now, so there'd be nothing to hear! I'm so glad we did the surgery. He breathes so beautifully now and he wakes up only once a night (sometimes zero). When you ask Austin what happened to his tonsils he reports, "The doctor threw them in the trash can."

Do You Dressup?

I think adults with trick-or-treat aged kids should take full advantage of the creative opportunity! I've discovered that I enjoy creating a theme around Austin's costume choices. (Ruthie should've been BullsEye to coordinate, but I had to dress her as a Baby Ruth candy bar while I still could!) Last night Debbie and I discussed that the reason we get into dressing up is all thanks to Tarl. Tarl's costume enthusiasm is contagious.

Do you dress up? What are you going to be? Or what would you be if you were cool like that?

Lost Comments - Ya, Yeah, Yea

I know when I have comments because I get an email telling me so. After changing over my blog I apparently messed up that setting. I just discovered I had comments tonight. What a glorious feeling to go from wondering, "where is everyone?" to realizing they were all there the whole time. Ya friends.

Ok, so does anyone know the proper use of Ya, yay, yeah and yea? I just throw them out at random. It's one of the big grammatical hurdles I've never mastered.

And if you're wondering how to switch over your blog (Rachel), just go to Settings -> Publishing. Then change the address to something like "portalj1". Then immediately create a brand new blog with the old address "portalj". Make the old one private and start publishing on the new one. Voila!

Ruthie and Finger Foods

Ruthie has taken the next step in finger foods: feeding other people. Lately she's finding more pleasure in stuffing other people's chompers than her own. Like most young families, Heidi brings to church a veritable stash of crackers, fruit snacks, goldfish, and anything else that will keep them busy during sacrament meeting. Today when she divvied out the bags of goldfish to Austin and Ruthie, Ruthie just sat in my lap, fished out a goldfish and stuffed it in my mouth, then fished out another, stuffed it in my mouth... It kept her entertained for a good 5 minutes.

Worst Hour of The Day

Announcements (blah, blah): I've wrapped up my third year of blogging. Yea me! In the interest of blogging security, I've moved all my old content to a private blog and am starting fresh. Anthony has decided to start being part of our little family journal by chiming in with witty comments - hint, hint.

Do you ever find yourself staring down the clock, urging on each minute, waiting for a better moment just around the next 'toc? When that time arrives for me, 4pm is most often the culprit. My blood sugar is low as I try to hold out till dinner, my kid fun ideas are used up, TV time is long past exceeded and the father of said kids isn't due home for 2 more hours. So I retreat into semi-coma mode. A child's bed becomes my cave as I hibernate the dreaded hour away with an occasional eye looking over at my (please be pleasant!) little ones. When the liberation of 5pm arrives, my second wind kicks in knowing the end-of-day process can begin.

What is your worst hour of the day and how do you deal with it?