Disneyland - Reliving Old Memories

We've been enjoying Disneyland over the last couple of weeks. We decided to buy annual passes a few weeks ago and have gone twice already. It has been fun to relive old memories from a trip we took to Disneyland back when the boys were 6 years old. They are now 10 and have changed a lot. We decided to compare some old photos and here are a few examples:

Andrew in 2009 vs. 2005 (a few inches taller)

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Keaton in 2009 vs. 2005 (older...and wiser)

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Tea cup ride 2009 vs. 2005 (same old nauseous feeling)

What a fun place! We are about an hour away when traffic is good. Keaton and Andrew have really taken a liking to Star Tours. We stayed until 11:30pm on Saturday and it wore us out. The boys kept begging to go on one more ride. After we caved they would ask again...I guess we're softies.

Rock and Roll Baby

Check out my pearly whites

Really?

This is my new dog, Spot

Hamming it up, standing on my own, hanging out

Matthew was having so much fun on his Birthday. He loved all of the attention and was hamming it up for the camera. Here he is rocking to the music.

Happy Birthday Matt!

The Birthday Boy

Lots of of fun cars from my brothers

Homemade pizza for dinner

He wasn't quite sure what to do with his cupcake. He dropped the first one on the floor, so we gave him a second. He liked the cake better than the frosting. YUM


Birthdays are exciting, birthdays are fun, especially when you're 1.

Hollywood Boulevard

This is as close as we came to the famous landmark.

Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium!

Some of the many stars on Hollywood Blvd. and some of the few we saw and recognized.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre


Posing with Bumble Bee from Transformers.

Keaton and Freddy Kruger

Our first trip to Hollywood...and probably our last! We dropped Cindy and Jen off at the airport on Saturday and decided to do a little exploring. We thought it would be fun to go to Hollywood. We headed north and drove forever. We had no idea Hollywood was soooo far away. We finally arrived and were surprised at all of the characters in costume lining the Blvd. Anything for a tip, we came to find out. All of the characters were basically dressed-up beggars. A photo for a tip - no exceptions. We fell into the trap and took a few pictures. Andrew was worried about catching a disease from one of the characters and wasn't interested in posing for any photos with characters (we saw Darth Vader, Yoda, Superman, Superwoman, Batman, Spiderman, Shrek, Snoopy, Cat Woman, and many others). We then took a tour at the Guinness Book of World Records Museum. It was strange and interesting. All in all Hollywood was a disappointment. We were exposed to lots of graffiti, interesting characters, angry street preachers,and so much more. This was definitely not our favorite trip. In Keaton's words,"It was loud, dirty, busy, and crazy. You wouldn't be sad if you never went there." That sums it up. And now we know that other than a trip to Universal Studios we probably won't be returning to Hollywood.

Enjoying Time with Family & La Jolla Beach

Cindy and Jen came for a visit last week. It was so nice to see them - we only wish they could have stayed longer. We spent our time visiting, shopping, doing crafts and exploring. Matt loved all of the attention. Luckily, the boys were out of school on Friday and Chris was able to take the day off so we spent the day at La Jolla Beach. It was windy and cold for California. We bundled up and went to see some seals and find some tide pools along the beach. Jen was brave enough to reach her hand in for some shells until she saw a crab or two.

This beach was beautiful with lush greenery, flowers and cliffs

And lots of cool weathered rock formations

On the beach with Dad

Exploring the awesome rock formations

The boys loved climbing on the rocks

The tide pool area

On our way to see the seals

Seals waiting to have their pups

Jen, Cindy & the boys seal watching

We dropped Cindy and Jen off at the airport on Saturday. It was sad to see them leave. The boys kept saying how it just wasn't as fun without them.

Exploring Southern California

San Juan Capistrano Mission

Koi Pond with Giant Goldfish

San Juan Capistrano

The family

The boys

At a distance

We've been trying to see new things each weekend. A few weeks back we decided to take the Ortega Highway on our way to the mission San Juan Capistrano It was a steep, winding two way street . The view of Temecula and Lake Elsinore from the top of the mountain was amazing. The boys didn't like that there were no tire guards or railing to keep our car from going off the road. It turned out to be a long drive with most of us feeling a little carsick.

San Juan Capistrano was a really neat Catholic mission, all but the exterior walls of the church were destroyed by an earthquake several years ago. The boys had been learning about some of the missons at school and thought it was neat to see it firsthand. There was also an olive press (it looked like a giant wagon wheel), garden and cemetary on the grounds. It was a beautiful place.

On to our next adventure at Tom's Farm.

Panning for gems/rocks at Tom's Farm

Matt enjoying the train ride

Me and the boys after our quick train ride.

Tom's Farm is a neat place not too far from home. They have carnival rides, restaurants, a furniture store, a produce stand and candy shop. They also had a shooting gallery, train ride and mining area. The boys loved panning for gems and rocks in the mining area. They were excited to find an arrowhead as well as several other minerals. The train ride was very short and a bit dissapointing but the atmosphere was pretty cool with a live band and cowboys roaming the streets.

Homemade Surprise

I copied this from my friend Diane, I thought it sounded like alot of fun. If you want to participate, here’s how it works:

1. Be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and I will send you a handmade gift sometime in the next 3 months.
2. You get to pay it forward as well by doing the same thing for 3 people on your blog, plus one back to me.
3. Once you leave a comment telling me that you want to participate, you need to make a pay-it-forward post on your blog within one day.
Get crafting!Go right ahead and be the first three. You never know what you might get!