Halloween 09

Pinkalicious & the Mummy

 

 

 

 

Why Jetta will be sleeping in our bed for a month...

 

This weekend was our first time ever trip to Disney as a family. We waited until Paul and Gunner’s birthday to take advantage of the ‘free on your birthday Disney special’, and we figured 4 and 6 were the perfect ages for the experience.

Perhaps for Gunner it was…but Jetta was freaked out nearly the entire time. By the time we were on the third ride (Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad’s, Pooh’s) she had her hands over ears and she was rocking back and forth saying “it’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real” over and over again…

At that point we decided ‘no more rides’, so we made our way towards the princesses castle…when Jetta spied it, her eyes lit up; she relaxed and become super excited and giddy…until we actually went inside the cold and narrow, pitch black castle hallways with little windows depicting the Snow While story (with heavy emphasis on the Evil aspects)…freaked out again, poor girl.

Oh, and the evil Queen from Snow While just happened to be the one Disney character we crossed paths with on the Enchanted Pathway.

 

Despite the challenges, we stayed until the Fantasmic show (by which point Jetta was in her stroller with a blanket over her head).

DESPITE these challenges, we are hitting up Disney again, and next time we are determined to have an amazing Disney experience… either we are going with more of a kid-friendly (or scaredy-kid friendly) agenda...or waiting until the little one grows out of some fears…

P.S. There were highlights for the little J…

She had ½ of a frozen lemonade…(the other ½ melted into the stroller when we left it to ride Alice).

And she decompressed the next morning at the mini-pirate ship water park at the Ho Jo...who would've though there would be more fun had at a Howard Johnson...

 

Another Joint B-day Bash

4 & 6!!!

I wasn't sure the kids would want to do a joint party again this year...we actually tried to talk them into Disney in lieu of a party, but either they wanted to celebrate with their friends or they had too many toys on their wishlist, because they both opted for a big pinata-bashing, gift-giving, cupcake-eating fiesta...

And so it was...

 

 

 

and it was the best!

And the toys...oh the toys...a spin-art maker, a mad science kit, a slip-n-slid, and Operation!! OPERATION! One of my favorites from when I was their age...Personally, I think the kids made the correct birthday celebrating option!

Whats New????

A LOT!!!

In the past 48 hours our familiy has had some pretty amazing experiences...not all of equal importance, but each super significant in its own way...

1)Paul's baptism...down at Mission Bay and it was amazing! And he wore his "Gunner" shirt from medschool- a shirt that he and his buddies wore long before our Gunner was even on the horizon

 

2)Gunner's first day of Kindergarden...he was super psyched and I managed to hold back the tears (yay!) with a little help from my next-door-best-friend who was dropping of her FIRST(!)grader

 

3)Jetta's fourth birthday at Chucky Cheese...(AKA Chucky Grime) or as my friend says, "the only restaurant that chooses to have a rat for its mascot"

 

oh, and we finally got my mom hooked up with video chat and she was able to watch Jetta open the gift she sent...PRICELESS!

Paul's countdown

Countdown to 4.
Day 10: Yesterday we went for cupcakes at Cupcake Love (obviously Jetta can appreciate this kind store)
Day 9: Late night swimming at Bergstroms and holding her own with the two boys

9 more days of 3

Jetta has only 9 more days of being 3...
This is bittersweet, b/c we all LOVED the Jetta 3,

We loved how the 2-year-old frustrations declined but the cuddling increased.

We loved how she was big enough to dress herself but small enough to be propped on a hip.

We loved watching her independence bloom but also watching her come hurling towards us with open-arms every time we came home (even the 5 min milk runs).

We loved her special shelf on her bookcase where she arranged and re-arranged all of her "treasures"...daily.

We loved how she could curl up in the tiniest ball on your lap.

We loved her insatiable appetite for yogurt and her sugar seeking ability.

One day in the car when Paul and I were recapping similar jetta 3isms she exclaimed, "Mom and Dad, 4 is going to be great too!"

Yes we know, I'm sure we will love 4...

But we're holding on tight to these final 9 days of 3.

Apparently we are a 2-cat family...

 

 

I though we could be a 4-cat family, Paul hoped that we could be a 4-cat family, the kids wished that we could be a 4-cat family….BUT our alpha male Jags was pretty sure we were a 2-cat family, and he made his decision crystal clear by “marking” his territory…one time missing the new Persian rug by 2 inches. ahhhhh!

OK, time to find the kittens a new home.

After 100’s of flyers, 2 craigslist ads, a few email chains, and many prayers…

We got the call from the most amazing family who had just had to put their much-loved cat down. They just got back from a week long vacation during which they morned the loss of their cat and decided that when they returned that they would look for new kitties…

Amazingly, when the family returned they checked their email to find 2 forwarded messages about our kittens…one that originated from Paul’s work email and one that was forwarded from our friend Rick’s law firm!

We all felt it was meant to be…so after many kitty kisses and one last squeeze from Gunner and Jetta… I drove them off to the cutest craftsman home in to North Park.

The family got introduced and fell in love, exclaiming how much Thunder looked like their old cat. The kitties acclimated nicely and with a huge sigh of releive, I returned home to our 2-cat family and a very happy Jags.

Welcome to your new home kitties!!