Road Trip Day 3: Disneyland!!

Despite the rain and occasional emotional moments from each of the kids, Disneyland was magical and totally worth it. :)

So here are the pictures.

In the hotel elevator ready to go!

In the parking garage decked out in our rain gear, ready to go!

In the park!!

At the castle!

Maris in line for her first-ever Disneyland ride.  :)

First ride--Owen's pick, the Nemo Submarine.  Picked partly because the line is covered and it was raining!

It was pretty fun!

And then the splitting up began!  The girls and Eric went on Space Mountain while I took these guys on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

We met back up to go on It's a Small World, I love it!!  Owen doesn't look too happy because his seat was wet. :(

Then these guys went on Star Tours, 

While Maris and I waited in line to meet some princesses!

She was so adorable I had to take lots of pictures of her.  Not to mention the rain made her hair SUPER curly, like a halo, it was so cute.

She was a little shy around the princesses, but she would totally talk to the princes who were helping in the lines, so funny.  We got to met Snow White,

Ariel, (her least favorite, as you can tell from her face haha)

and Elena of Avalor, who we had never heard of but who was totally her favorite haha.

Next it was time for the Jungle Cruise and Tarzan's treehouse!

Then after an early dinner, Eric and the girls went on Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain, 

While we did Tarzan's treehouse a couple more times, it was totally owen's favorite!!

And we went on the carousel, and enjoyed toontown.

We met back up at Mickey's house because Maris was set on meeting him.  Luckily the line was short!  But even if it had been long it would have been worth it, it was probably the highlight of the day to see her little face!  She was SO excited when we went into the room, she ran right up to Mickey,

stroked his cheek,

and hugged and kissed him!!

So precious, she wanted to hold his hand instead of standing with the rest of us!

We ate snacks in toontown and Owen bought his souvenir, the Mickey grabber. :)  And Eric and all the kids went on Gadget's Go-Coaster a couple of times.  Maris LOVED it, since it was the only roller coaster she was tall enough for.

Then we hit the Dumbo ride, 

And got in line for what ended up being our last ride, Autopia. 

5 minutes later Maris was out!!

It was the ride we waited longest for all day, so I wondered if it was worth it, but check out Whitney's face as she started driving!  it ended up being her favorite ride!  So I'm glad we did it.

We watched a bit of the light parade (good job Eric holding up 2 kids!), finished shopping, and as we were walking out Maris got to meet Minnie Mouse!  She couldn't stop long enough for a picture, but we were totally fulfilled.

And when we got back to the hotel (only a 10 minute drive) Maris was SO dead asleep that I didn't even try to put pajamas on her. :)  

A super fun day.

Our Big Road Trip! Day 1 & 2: Ivins, UT and the Cravens!

We went on an awesome pre-baby road trip in February!!  We hadn't been to CA in a year and a half, and I really wanted to go before the baby comes.  I needed to see my aging grandparents, and I wanted the kids to spend some time at my parents' house since Maris had no memories of being there, AND we wanted to see Donny and Christine before they move to JAPAN for 2+ years!!  And I wanted to see the ocean.  SO Eric made my dreams come true and we planned this trip.

The first stop was to see the Cravens in St. George (Ivins).  It was lovely to be outside in 60 degree weather, play with cute cousins, and talk to Katrina and Phillip!

Just look how cute they are: Hazel, Lydia, Owen, Whitney, Kate, Ryder and Maris.

We even got to go on a hike, which we have sorely missed the last few months!

Katrina and I turned back halfway with these two, because there were some steep dropoffs ahead/they were too slow.  We got some great looks from people-- two largely pregnant girls hiking alone with toddlers!

It was super fun to hang out and spend the night with Katrina before we have our babies!!  She and Phillip are so fun and hospitable and the kids get along great.

Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting and then spent the rest of the day driving to Anaheim!  We splurged and got a suite at the hotel-- it was SO NICE to have 2 bedrooms and a living area, plenty of beds and space for us all.

Eric snuggling with his girls. :)

We hung out and got some sleep to be ready for our Disneyland Day!!

Winter

Oh what do we do in the winter time, when all the world is white?

These 2 play superheroes:

and try to help shovel the driveway (super adorable but counter-productive!)

Katelyn took an ice skating class and LOVED it!

Every time she was smiling so big the whole time!  She wants to do it again but this next session didn't work with our schedule and it's all the way in Provo.  I feel bad!  But she will do it again for sure sometime.

I am getting huger. :)  This was my 30 week picture, and I am SO grateful for my neighbor Rebecca and my friend Kristen who both gave me cute maternity clothes!  It really helps me feel good about my looks to wear something that's not form 2006 haha.  And I didn't want to spend money on new maternity clothes just to wear for a couple of months!

The girls requested ribbon-y braids for Valentine's Day. :)

And Maris got this scripture bag in the mail form Grandma the other day and wanted to take it to church right away!  When I told her it was only Tuesday and we didn't have church for a few more days she was heartbroken and cried and cried until I suggested she could put on a dress and we could have pretend primary here at home.  So that's what we did!

My facebook post about this awesome blanket:

Finished this blanket for my baby. All of my kids have one--a friend made the first 2 and I have done the rest. I always have so much fun picking out the fabrics and putting it all together. I can't wait for her to use it for lots of stroller rides, picnics, and naps. 😊❤ #sixmoreweeks #itsgettingreal

I love the colors; aqua is my favorite right now!  So I had to use it even though it's for a girl!  Last child= I get to use my favorite color. We'll see if it's just a running blanket like owen and the older girls', or if she sleeps with it ever night like Maris does with hers now!

We got Maris moved in this weekend and these two cuties are super excited to be roommates!! #besties #babyprep #itsgettingreal

The transition has gone really smoothly, thank goodness.  They really are delighted to share with each other.  Now to get the baby's room cute and ready!