california trip: sea world and solvang

this post is a little late in coming. it seems like since we got back from california and found out that we're most likely moving to san antonio right after i get back from my deployment, it's been a little crazy around here.

first off. i need to set the record straight. i did not get 900,000 on the buzz light year ride. that is a bit of an exaggeration, nor did i only get 21,800 as the previously posted picture shows. i did in fact get: 93,400 and here is the proper photo documentation.

the day after disneyland, we decided to go back again for round two. but not until we had a delicious meal at the shake shack on the PCH in newport right where we were staying. such good food and a pretty sweet view too.

we finished off the southern california trip with some pretty exciting activities. first we went the tour finale of so you think you can dance (SYTYCD) in san diego with emily's sister whitney and her husband wade. it was so moving. (not pictured)

then the next day we took william to meet shamu. needless to say, he loved him. thank goodness shamu lives in san antonio too. will especially like the big jumps and started saying "awesome" when he was so inclined.

once we got back to LA, the only thing left to do was the solvang prelude, metric century ride in solvang, ca. the start line was about a a 2.5 hour drive from emily's parents house and the forecast was shaping up to be around 38 degrees. steve and i were back and forth as to whether the drive/ride was worth waking up super early to freeze to death. but i had hauled my bike all the way down from slc to la for the sole purpose of riding solvang. so in the end we decided to go and i'm really glad we did. solvang is this sweet little scandinavian town tucked up away in the hills outside of santa barbara. it's not northern california wine country, but it is certainly close. the scenery was amazing. these pictures don't quite do it justice. the ride was a lot of rolling hills through tons of vineyards and this sleepy little town.

this last photo is a little deceptive. yes we did cross the finish line. but not really the way we had planned. the whole metric century was mapped out to be 65 ish miles. we were cruisin along, making good time. we hit the first sag stop and enjoyed the goodies. then around about mile 43 we were expecting to hit the second sag at any minute and somehow ended up at the finish line. somewhere along the ride when the course crossed back over itself, we had made a wrong turn and cut out about a 20 mile loop. so while we felt a little bit robbed, it's not like we could ride out to find our mistake and make the right turn, so we just grabbed some snacks and enjoyed the tents before our 2.5 hour drive back. to recap: 5 hours in the car for 2.5 hours on the bike in sub-40 degree weather. but it was totally worth it. and who can put a price on quality father-in-law/son time...?

steve and i decided we would have to plan a year when we got the whole family to come out and ride together. that would be a sweet family get-away. who's in?

a fun little surprise

what do . . .

sugar and spice, and all things nice . . .

barbies, and princesses, and baby dolls . . .

pinks and purples and reds and other sweet colors . . .

lace and ruffles and bows and flowers . . .

and having daddy wrapped around their little finger . . .

all have in common????

yep, we're having a baby GIRL!!!!

and we can't wait :)

yesterday was our anniversary.

yesterday, peter and i celebrated our third anniversary.

in just THREE years of marriage, we have:

-one and a half children

-lived in three states (new york, mississippi, utah--which couldn't be more different from one another, by the way)

-bought a car, got rid of it, lost a lot of money, and bought another car

-bought a house

-started our lives as an air force family

it's been crazy, and a complete whirlwind, but also so very wonderful and i couldn't want it any other way! but, just because the last three years have been crazy, doesn't mean the next year will be any more calm.

in the next year, we will:

-send peter off on a deployment to the middle east

-have a baby

-and move to texas!

and those are the only changes that we're aware of so far . . . who knows what else the next year, or three, could bring!

but i'm glad and grateful to spend these crazy years with my main squeeze, peter :)

california trip: disneyland!

we decided to really let will get the full disneyland experience by going for two full days! and by the end of those two days (plus sea world the next day--more on that later), this pregnant mama was pooped. that's a lot of walking . . . but it was worth it! we had a great time, and it was so fun to watch william run around, experience rides for the first time, and to see his friends mickey, donald, and goofy.

and since it was william's day (or days), we let him have whatever treats his little heart desired. including this really nasty gummy lollipop. luckily will thought it was kind of nasty as well, and he never finished it.

and in case you were wondering, yes the three of us are wearing matching shirts. we're one of those families. at least they weren't like fluorescent green with our family name screen printed across the front.

here we are on the merry-go-round. will actually isn't smiling in the following picture, he's really saying "no, mommy" over and over because he did NOT want his picture taken.

the bug's life 3D movie. kinda creepy. it freaked will out, so we left early, but it was fun to wear these awesome glasses.

william LOVED the teacups. he wanted to go on them over and over. he was a trooper too. spinning the wheel himself and loving to go fast with daddy. sometimes he'd get a little dizzy, but it didn't phase him, he just wanted to spin and spin some more.

peter got pretty into the buzz lightyear game. i think his official score was something like 900,000 or something crazy like that. i don't think i ever broke 20,000. my mom even beat me on that ride.

the dumbo ride and meeting pluto. speaking of, will loved seeing the characters from afar, but when we'd go in for the picture he would get completely freaked out. maybe next year he'll be a little more excited to give hugs and get pictures.

being prego, the amount of rides i could go on was pretty limited. and then the ones that i could go on, but that wouldn't still make me sick limited me even more. i did try this swinging ride in the bug's land of california adventure and about 30 seconds in, i was about to lose my cookies. as our little chinese take-out box swung around and around, if i looked out to the side or anywhere other than straight at peter's face, i would have lost all the cotton candy and mickey rice krispie treats that i'd eaten that day. it was rough. anyway, i learned my lesson and pretty much was just the official photographer for the rest of the time.

as everyone knows, will loves mater and mcqueen. so he was super excited to go and see them, but he was too excited to take a picture with them, so instead peter and i got to pose with mcqueen :)

will's first real roller coaster. in toon town, there's an awesome roller coaster that even little guys can go on. and it's pretty fast. so, since there were practically no lines, will and daddy took a couple of trips on what will called the "fast, fast chu chu." he loved it. and i love the picture of him nestled into peter's armpit :)

and here we are, sitting in mickey mouse's car:

and lastly, a few pictures that really show will's personality. he was running around the entire park like a mad man and he'd love to jump off of any curb he walked on. such a little cutie.

california trip: newport beach and halloween

we recently got back from a long, much-needed trip to california. we filled our week and a half with lots of family time and fun activities. so this post is the first of a multi-part series :)

when we first arrived, we just hung out in pasadena at my parent's house for a couple of days. and, as promised, my parents took will to the build-a-bear store to make his very own stuffed toy. i've never been in that place, and it was a riot. especially entertaining was the worker there helping us. because it was just a couple of days before halloween, he was dressed up in his costume: a salt with a deadly weapon. weird. he was dressed in a giant salt costume, but didn't have his weapon because it wasn't appropriate at his work. he was pretty funny. anyway, william chose to make a monkey and dressed it in lightening mcqueen jammies, and even named him "money mkeen" (which is how he says monkey mcqueen). it was pretty cute and a fun outing for all of us.

on the saturday morning after we arrived, peter and my dad began their week of bonding (more on that in another post). they donned their cycling gear, and took their bikes down to montrose to join the weekly local pelaton ride. it was a 40ish mile bike ride with about 80 riders. and they are hardcore--averaging 27 mph. peter had a blast and i'm glad he and my dad could get out and ride in some nice weather.

on sunday, my parents, peter, will, and i drove down to newport beach (where we stayed in the marriott villas for a few days) and cort, kim, and their kids, and whitney, and wade, and their kids joined us for little kate's family birthday party. it was fun for all of the cousins to get together. and when they are together, they are WILD. and i mean really wild. but they're all so cute and we had a fun night.

the view from our hotel room:

cute kate and emmy:

weston, holding money mkeen:

kate, sampling her birthday cake:

little parker, just exploring the place:

with monday being halloween, we made the last few pieces of our halloween costumes and then drove down to laguna niguel to cort and kim's to celebrate and go trick-or-treating with them. cort's neighborhood gets very, very festive, so it was pretty entertaining to walk around and see all the elaborate decorations and meet the neighbors. some of the neighbors were even having a little chili cook-off, so we were able to sample chili (and even tequila shots at some houses if we'd been so inclined) as we took the little munchkin around. okay, well, when i say "we", i mean, peter, cort, kim, and our parents because even since i was pregnant with will i can't eat chili. that's another story. a gross one, so i won't share. anyway, trick-or-treating with william for the first time was a blast. he was totally enamored by the fact that he could just walk around and collect candy. he was very cute though, thanking the neighbors and holding onto mom and dad's hands.

so, our plan was to dress up as a family of garden gnomes, however, william apparently had a different agenda . . . he REFUSED to put on his beard and hat. this is the closest we got:

finally, we gave in and put him in his skeleton jammies. and he was much happier. mostly because they're comfy, he won the battle, and because he loves yelling, "skeleton BONES!" and it was cute because little parker and annie were dressed to match.

here we are strolling down the street. don't mind the fact that peter's and my costumes make us look like we're about 100 pounds overweight . . .

the cute little cort townsend family. every year, cort wears pretty much the same costume and just rotates between being indiana jones and a cowboy. this year he kept saying "there's a snake in my boot" all night long, so i guess he was dressed as woody? i don't know. but his little fairy princess and two little skeletons sure were cute :) thanks for letting us hang out with you guys on halloween!