The back, I mean, side yard project!

Hurray, Hurray, Hurray!  Someone finally answered Mommy and Daddy's phone calls!  The dirt pit where our tramp has sat is no longer a giant digging spot for us!

This is what it looked like without the tramp.  

And this is what it looks like now!!!! We are finally going to be able to set up our playground!  I am so excited!

There is still some concrete that will be laid but Mommy was just so excited about her bushes and plants and fruit trees and pretty grass (because we haven't killed it yet) that she had to share!  There will of course be more pictures to come as the concrete is finished and the playground is set up!

Backpacking

I was so lucky this last weekend.  I got to go backpacking with Grandpa again! This time my Daddy and Grandma got to come too!  We had a blast.  We hiked in early evening Friday and then had to be out early morning Saturday for Grandpa to go do the Subway.  It was fun anyway.  I loved building a fire but my favorite part is always sleeping in the tent.  (Daddy and I had quite the adventure with that.  As it turns out not all the tent parts were in working order or even in the bag, a fact we didn't discover until we were setting it up!)  This year I was even big enough for the backpack and didn't cry at all!  I can't WAIT to do it again!

THE BEACH!

At the end of our Disney trip, we did squeeze in some time at the beach.  Originally, Friday was supposed to be a beach day but I was so insistent on that day at Disneyland!  Plus, Mommy is not a fan of the California beaches, especially north of San Diego.  (Okay she does find Carmel-by-the Sea stunning.)  Anyway, we went in the morning and it was cold and foggy but Cara and I LOVED it.  This was Cara's first time at an ocean beach if you can believe it!!  We stick to the lakes and Disneyland.  

However, it was very fun at Seal Beach.  We played in sand and inadvertently played in the cold waves (they can sometimes sneak up on you!) but it was great.  We even saw actual seals playing!  

Mommy and Daddy walked us to the end of the pier and we enjoyed brunch at a 50's diner.  There were lots of people fishing.  Very fun.

Disneyland...again!

Sheesh! Where to start?! I don't even know.  This will be a HUGE post.  We have done a lot of posts on Disneyland because if you can believe it I have been more times to Disneyland than I am years old. That's right. This was my FIFTH trip. Again, we have a lot of pictures of Disneyland. But Mommy says that I keep changing and there are more memories worth capturing!

Anyway, this trip was supposed to be all about my mom but she turned in to all about ME. Mommy and Daddy thought for sure that with shoes on I would be tall enough for all the 40"er rides (Big Thunder Railroad, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, etc....) However they discovered on our very first day there that I was still a centimeter (at most) too short still. Discouraged. So Mommy got down to business crossing off things of our new Disneyland Bucket List. We have a sheet of paper with all 86 attractions or so they are claimed by Disney and we are going to cross off all of them at one point during the year. It's been pretty neat. For example, Mommy had no idea that you could pet goats and donkeys and big horses right outside of Fantasy Land. It's called Big Thunder Ranch and was a fun spot to hang out.

So we spent most of the first day going on delightful rides such as the tea cups and Go Coaster (which was my favorite until day 2!) and doing Toy Story etc.

We also got to enjoy a delicious dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Great. They were awesome and let us stay at their house and play with Chloe when we weren't at Disneyland. 

Okay back to why it was all about me. On the second day, Mommy suddenly got it in her head that she was going to get me on those 40"er rides. She just had to. She was going to get me on Splash Mountain and we were going to stuff my shoes with napkins to do it. And it WORKED. I got to go on Splash Mountain! Now this next photo collage will be all about the next two days and how my attitude clearly morphed about the ride. I loved it right away but it made me nervous until the last 2 times I rode it. I really LOVED it then. Mommy kicks herself for not buying one of the pictures because it was too perfect. We couldn't have planned it better!

Okay this was me before my first ride.....

And this was me after the big drop!  I thought it was great!

Now here are how my "in ride" pictures turned out!

Can you guess which one Mom wishes she had bought?  So the one on the bottom right is it and it was because I was the very front and could actually SEE the drop.  The one bottom left was my last time down! Can you tell I loved it?  I think Mommy looks more scared than me in that one!

If you can believe it, she and Daddy even took me on Space Mountain 6 times.  That's because it was the 6th time that I finally enjoyed every minute of it.  We weren't even supposed to be going to Disneyland on Friday but I insisted when we woke up that we go so that I could go on more big girl rides.  Turned out it was a great idea.  (My first time on Space Mountain however involved me shaking so badly in line Mommy thought I was cold and then me asking to be held and sung to "I am a Child of God".  Mommy still feels a little guilty.)

Actually she thinks I was so scared because she bribed me on to Tower of Terror before that (I got a bubble gun!)  If you look at that picture....

I was scared but everyone gave me high fives because I didn't cry or really scream.  I was TOO TERRIFIED.  I think I'll do it again though!

We just had so much fun this trip.  We loved the time of year.  It was hot during the day so you wanted to do a ride like Splash Mountain and it was fun to sit and play at Dot's Splash Puddle and then at night everyone leaves and you get to do fun things like play with Mickey in his house all by yourself.  That's right, Mickey took me on a personal tour and sat and taught me how to play his piano and then how to dance.  That doesn't happen every day!  We also finally got to meet Fawn the animal fairy which was the last one we hadn't met!  The colors on this picture are so fun!

Cara had a terrific time to.  She got to meet Minnie and Pooh and Eyore and Mr. Rabbit when I was on other rides.  She is the funniest on Pirates.  She loves that ride and loves to keep her hands in the air on the very last huge hill that they pull you up to get you off the ride.  Too funny.  

Okay Mommy and I are getting a little tired and we're not sure anyone is still reading this far down so here are a couple last photo collages and a few great videos that are worth your time if you have scrolled down this far!!! 

Oh this photo is a favorite of Mommy's.  This was OUTSIDE Haunted Mansion.  Cara assumed the position and so did I.  (You can even ask Cara about it and she'll tell you AND show you what she does for the ride!)

And here are the videos!

I think this one is a little mean because you can hear Mommy and Daddy laughing at us and it's their fault that we are falling over dead tired in the stroller!!

My Birthday Post

Guest Post by Mommy:

Don't worry. For those of you who know that I've been in Disneyland, I promise lots and lots and lots of pictures of our fantastic adventure. This post however is about some thoughts I had while celebrating my special day in Disneyland. First off, I have an amazing family. The one I was born with (and I like to think that I did actually choose in the pre earth life) and the crazy man who married me (and the rest of his family.) Oh and those sweet adorable spunky girls that I managed to create. They all knew I would spend my birthday in Disneyland and they all thought it was great (my Dad maybe thought I was a little nutty since "didn't you just go to Disneyland?" but my brother silenced him for me with a "didn't you just go to Joshua Tree?" which is his Disneyland.) I loved it. And I felt loved. We had a great party at my parents house to co-celebrate my birthday with my Dad the day before we left. We ate cake, opened presents (well I wore most of mine since they had been bought previously), and sat in the jacuzzi. It was very nice.

 And then Pete let me take our little family to Disneyland. He did his best to make my birthday all about me and getting me on my favorite rides, but somehow by about 2 pm I was in a funk. The big rides kept closing down on me (including Space Mountain which I was inside the mountain and had to walk out!) and he had been on a bunch of rides with the girls and I was just getting more and more surly. Then we went over to California Adventure and I stayed with the girls for a bunch of rides in a row and it dawned on me. I was different. I wasn't at Disneyland with me and my buddies. I was at Disneyland with my family and that's why I was cranky. I wanted to spend my day with them. I wanted to watch the girls' faces on each and every ride. We hopped on Mickey's Fun Wheel and rode it around and I just sat in that little cage feeling the love from my daughters. It was a strange feeling to have that epiphany right there but it was true. I was different. I craved their company and their excitement.

 And then of course, I went on reflecting as we went from ride to ride. It's been kind of a big year for me. Last year for my 27th birthday, I just wanted it all to go away. I didn't want to talk about it and I wasn't very happy. My Dad turned 50 that year so I was perfectly content to let it be all about him. I was in a dark place career wise and I things were just not turning out how I planned. Now I find myself on my 28th birthday, very much fulfilled career wise! Surprisingly not how I thought either. I am now a stay at home mom who gets to teach fitness classes which I was doing anyway. I found a way to make money doing what I did anyway! Pete's work has also been very steady and we are fixing up areas in the house and I'm finally feeling like I earned my 28 years and I'm acting like the grown up I want to be. (Let's leave Disneyland out of this!) So I will close this guest post by saying, I AM HAPPY! And I'm pretty much happy everyday. I am blessed and I am grateful. Thank you for all the birthday love!

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter Weekend. (Mommy is still bingeing on the candy that I've forgotten about...bad for her hips and waist.)

We of course spent time in the sun....


And Mommy helped Grandma and Aunt Angie make a killer cake for Uncle Eric's birthday.



Which he thoroughly enjoyed in his new MorphSuit (Cara calls it his silly scary costume)




We also loved (slept) on Daddy....



And as far as Easter celebrations were concerned, we enjoyed a neighborhood egg hunt and the Easter bunny left me a new helmet and Cara a new toy and then she even hid Easter Eggs in my house! (Mommy giggles because she overheard us talking on the monitor when we woke up Sunday morning. I told Cara that the Easter Bunny didn't come until we got ready for the day and then we had a massive, shouting match over whether it was morning or not and I kept insisting that Cara "Look at the light! The sun is UP!" before we finally opened our door and discovered our goodies!)



We just had family pictures taken last month in our cute outfits at H&M's wedding, so Mommy only made us do a photo op!



All in all, it was a great weekend. We are riding through a particularly beautiful and fun patch of the life roller coaster track right now. Very blessed.

Slight Blogging Slump

Sheesh. I don't think I can remember when the last time Mommy only got me posting 2 posts in 2 weeks. We normally strive for better! Sorry, Aunt Becca! I know you check it. We promise lots of pretty pictures on today's post. Maybe we should even make it two posts!

We have enjoyed our first week of April thoroughly! That's maybe why we haven't been blogging. Mommy just goes to bed at the end of each day! We started it off with a visit from Aunt Margaret and the girls, Mary and Hannah and our favorite, Hannah's friend, Celi! They played kitties with us and jumped on the tramp with us, slept in our bed, ate yummy dinners with us. We were kind of sad to see them leave after three days. Unfortunately, not one Mommy thought to take a picture. How shocking. We'll just have to think about it often to remember it!

We also spent our very first day of April out in Snow Canyon with Grandpa and the family in between conference sessions. We went to our favorite White Rocks trail with the big beautiful white sand dune that you run down. So much fun!

And then we also had a little fun at the Main Street Splash park before heading into the library.



We've been out shopping with Mom.



Oh and we dyed Easter Eggs!



And then we got to hang out with Mommy's cousins, Sophia and Savannah (who are actually only 2 years older than me!), and climb with Grandpa in Snow Canyon!