Disneyland Fall 2010

I know we go to Disneyland too much, but where else can you go with two little children? We really enjoy it and it is so fun to watch the magic in the kids' eyes. We always go and walk through the gardens by the Disney resorts and Isaac loves to look into the Neverland Pool. One day I would love to stay at a resort just to capture the full Disney experience.

Isaac is really starting to understand if things are scary and he is finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides (with some added shoe help). He was just barely below the 40" marker so we put cardboard in his shoes to give him that extra little help. So glad we did because we were able to take him on Splash Mountain and Soarin over California for the first time. He absolutely loved Soarin and enjoyed Splash Mountain. His very first time we were in the front of the boat and so I just held on to him from the 2nd seat. Sarah did much better this time and didn't cry when we took her on every ride.

It was fun to meet up with our friends Jordan and Anne from SLC. They have 2 kids about the same age and so Isaac enjoyed playing with Harrison, big H. The boys are both into Star Wars so they really enjoyed the Jedi show. We tried to get them to be chosen as a Jedi, but I think they are still a little too young.

I love going to Disneyland in October because of all the Halloween decorations. They decorate it so cute and they have a wonderful area by Big Thunder Railroad where there is a petting zoo and amazing pumpkin carvings and Woody makes frequent appearances.
We were also able to get some tickets for the new show, World of Color, in California Adventure. It was really amazing and even though we didn't have the best seats we were still able to see almost everything. It is a water show, similar to the one in Vegas, but they have colored lights in the water and do scenes on the water from Disney shows.


Isaac was so funny the one day and decided to take some polished rocks and put them in his pocket before we paid for them. We didn't know he did this until we got back to the hotel and found him playing with them under the covers. We asked him about it and we told him we had to take them back. The next morning I got him dressed and the first thing he tells me is that his shorts don't have pockets in them. He is too smart! When we took them back and made him tell the lady he was sorry she gave him a button instead. Well I don't think he learned that lesson!

Of course we hit the beach on the last day and had a wonderful time.The weather was so hot for us so it was nice to relax in the sand and put our feet into the water. Isaac has absolutely no fear of the water and would run into all the waves and down the shore and after the seagulls and you get the picture.

September Visit

So we headed back down to Salt Lake for Stephanie and Trevor's wedding. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was so fun to see family again.


We also had some fun at Red Butte Gardens again. They always have that place looking fantastic and Gary gets jealous that his yard doesn't look like theirs. I have to remind him that they are paid for making the gardens look that way! We let the kids play in the fountain and Sarah was really into this time. I love her expressions running through the water. And of course Isaac enjoyed himself as well.

We had fun walking down to the river and we actually remembered bread this time to feed the ducks, but they were no where to be found so Isaac and Gary fed the fish instead.


The next day we went for a walk in City Creek Canyon.
We used to do this walk once a week and I really miss seeing all the leaves changing.

The pictures just don't do the colors justice. Isaac was a trooper at first and kept up with us but he ended up hanging on to the stroller.

Gary had to head back to Washington for work (hey - someone has to) and so I stayed another week with the kids to hang out with family and friends. I was able to see some friends from high school and it was so fun seeing Kelcee's new baby girl! She is adorable. You forget how tiny they are. I was able to go to the park several times and I even made it to a Utah football game. Thanks, Tiff! I had so much fun and wish we still had season tickets to the games. It was so nice to see everyone. We had a great time!

Portland

We decided to head to Portland over Labor Day Weekend. We had such a wonderful time. The weather was going to be nice so decided to head to the zoo. We went to the Portland zoo last year but it down poured the whole time so we didn't get to really enjoy it. It was really nice to see the animals and it was fun to see the black bears that used to be at Hogle Zoo. We also enjoyed the bird show and Isaac was very upset that the birds didn't land on his arm. It was pretty amusing.

The next day we decided to go to the Children's Museum and we LOVED IT!

We were there for 5 hours. The kids had so much fun playing with all the different activities.
We enjoyed the water section for quite a while and it took Sarah some time before she figured out she could play in the water. After that she was all smiles.

They also enjoyed the supermarket, the vets office, construction area and many more. It was worth the money!


On Monday it was Gary's and my turn to enjoy ourselves before heading back home so we hit IKEA (Isaac is finally tall enough to play in the kid area) and then off to the outlet mall. We wanted to stop at the waterfalls on the way home but with it being Labor Day the exit was closed because of too many visitors, so it will have to wait till the next outing. Hope you enjoy the photos.