Austin and I both had birthdays in September. Due to our Disneyland trip, we opted not to do gifts but we still needed to celebrate somehow! For my birthday, we went up to Logan and had dinner with my amigos (aka Carlie and Josi). We went to Firehouse Pizza and it was so nice to catch up with my friends. We don't get together near enough. For Austin's birthday we went on a simple date consisting of dinner and a movie. We watched The Intern and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Austin was lucky enough to sit on the saddle and have the whole crew sing to him.
Happy Birthday to us! Now we are one year older and wiser too...
The next three days were spent running around Disneyland and California Adventures. We got there as soon as the gates opened each day and left when they kicked us out. The week of Labor Day is an amazing time to go Disneyland. The park was surprisingly empty and the lines were short. It was also the 60th Diamond Celebration which made the park extra magical. The only negative was it was soooo hot. We basically melted each day. On our first day, we started in Disneyland and due to the small lines were able to hit most of the rides so we ventured to California Adventure for a bit. That evening we watched the Paint the Night parade and the Disneyland Forever Fireworks. This was my favorite part of our whole trip! These productions are the special evening entertainment for the Diamond Celebration which meant it was new to me. It was stunning! No fireworks show will ever compare to the productions Disneyland puts on!
The next day was spent mainly in California Adventure. Soaring Over California, Radiator Racers, and Screamin California seemed to be the favorites. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and then finished the evening off with the Aladdin show and World of Color. They are getting rid of the Aladdin show in a couple of months so I was so glad we were able to see it one last time. The World of Color was amazing as well. Disney sure knows how to out do itself!
Our last day was spent hitting all of our favorite rides one last time. It was also the first day of the Halloween season so it was fun to see the park all decked in the Halloween Decor and villians roaming around. I will say that Haunted Mansion is really disappointing all decked out for Halloween. The scare level dropped. It looked cheesy. I wish they would have just left it alone. Rant over. We also visited as many Princesses and Characters as we could for Kennadi's sake. That evening we watched Fantasmic. Fantasmic is such a classic, I love it!
I mentioned before that my favorite part of the trip was the Paint the Night parade and fireworks. I also loved being able to sleep through the night with no kids. I would venture to say Austin's favorite part besides showing his family how amazing Disneyland is, was the food. He researched all the must have food items and we indulged. The Monte Cristo sandwich, Cream Cheese Pretzels, and Dole Whips rank at the top of our must-try food items.
I love Disneyland and can't wait until the next time I go visit. Hopefully it is sooner rather then later!
Since our last Disneyland Trip, Austin was hooked and wanted to go again. I wasn't about to turn that down so we saved and planned for our next trip. Disneyland is always more fun with more people so Austin's family decided to take their inaugural trip to Disneyland with us. Let me tell ya, it was a party! We love our kids but we also opted to leave them at my parent's house. We are strong advocates of taking kid free vacations! :)
Austin and I flew to LA on my birthday (best birthday present ever!). After surviving the airport, the insane rental car building, and traffic we finally made it to Anaheim. Travel Tip: spend the extra money and fly into a LA area airport that is not LAX. We stayed in a hotel right across the street from Disneyland. There is no other way to do Disneyland (unless you are super rich and can afford staying in a Disneyland hotel). After we settled into the hotel, we ventured to Downtown Disney to grab a bite to eat and wonder some shops. After dinner Austin and I headed to the Angels Stadium to watch the Anaheim Angels take on the LA Dodgers. I am not much of a baseball fan but there is something exciting about being in a stadium watching some Major League Baseball. We ended up bailing the game a little early and headed back to the hotel. We knew we had some full days of fun ahead of us!
-eats 4 oz every 3-4 hours. We have tried oatmeal and bananas a few times but she isn't a big fan. She will just spit it out as soon as it goes in.
-Naps like a champ! She will take an hour nap every morning, a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon (at the exact same time as Kennadi), and occasionally will take a small cat nap in the early evening.
-is not sleeping through the night anymore. She was doing sooo good until one day she decided she needed to wake up at 4 am and get some more food. It has happened every night since. Not cool.
-Rolling like crazy. She rolls all across the floor and is never quite where we left her.
-Starting to sit unassisted.
-loves her big sister. Kennadi is the best person to get her to laugh or smile.
-is 31 pounds and 37.5 inches tall. She wears 3t clothes but 4t dresses. She is just too tall for the 3t dresses! -obsessed with Disney, princesses, dress up, and playing doctor.
-goes down for bed at 8 and will sleep until 7. And is still taking a 1-2 hour nap each afternoon.
-Is too social. She will throw tantrums whenever it is time to leave the park, playdates, or preschool. We have tried everything under the sun to get her to stop it, but it still continues. I am hoping and praying she grows out of it soon because it drives me nuts.
-is so sweet to Quincy. Every morning she goes into her room and in a high pitched voice says, "good morning sunshine. Good morning sweetheart." Melts my heart.
-loves her fruit and veggies. She would choose broccoli over french fries or apples over cookies any day. -loves watching random vlogs and toy reviews on Youtube.
-Is a big fan of Nursery. I would even venture out to say it is probably her favorite part of the week.
-Is a singer and a dancer. She can be found making up songs or twirling around anywhere we go.
Kennadi has turned 3! Why do kids grow up so fast? I swear I was just bringing her home from the hospital. Due to crazy schedules we opted not to do a fancy party for her birthday. Instead we headed to Tremonton and had a little get together with all of our Tremonton family the day before her actual birthday. Lindsey was so sweet and decorated the house perfectly. We then opened presents where Kennadi got exactly what she wanted, everything Disney Princess! We also ate some ice cream cake that Kennadi decorated all by herself. She thought it was pretty neat to eat her own creation. On her actual birthday Kennadi got do some of her favorite things. Doughnuts for breakfast, Nursery, Walks to the parks, and more presents.
Kennadi working hard on her creation (aka eating most of the frosting). Notice the big globs of frosting and sprinkles on the cake.
Now that Summer is drawing to a close and I am pulling out all of our winter clothes, boo! I wanted to reminisce on some of the fun things we did in the warm, sunny weather. It amazes me how fast Summer zooms by! Good thing Summer always ends with good memories.
Drawing with Chalk.
Eating lots and lots of ice cream and popsicles
Swimming
Splashing at the Splash Pad
Playing at the Park (with her oh so beautiful hat).
Kennadi started preschool this Fall! Me and a few other moms in the ward opted to put our kids in a co-op preschool. This just means that we take turns teaching from a set curriculum at our houses. I was really excited to be a part of this because I wanted to Kennadi to go to preschool but I was hesitant to fork out $100+ a month for it. I also wanted Kennadi to benefit from socializing with other kids and having to listen and learn from other teachers. Plus I LOVE the break when i'm not teaching. This co-op preschool was a win-win! Kennadi's first day of school went great. Saying she enjoyed it would be an understatement. Kennadi loved it so much that there were many tears when it was time to go home. She refused to leave. And then I got the pleasure of listening to her talk about preschool all day every day until it was time to go again. Here are some things I want to remember as Kennadi starts her first year of preschool.... -Her favorite color is pink. -She can count to 14. She can count a bit higher but after 14 it gets a little sketchy! -She can sing the ABCs. -Her favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. -When She grows up she wants to be a Princess.
