Disneyland ~ Day 1

 We are officially addicted to Disneyland! It's true! We love spending time there. We have so many wonderful Disney memories and we were fortunate to be able to visit The Happiest Place on Earth during Spring Break this year instead of having to wait until the summer! We spent three days between the two parks and with the exception of meeting Aladdin and Tinkerbell, we pretty much did it all! 

Meeting characters is must with our five-year-old! Ok, ok, ok. I like it, too!! 

The whole crew on Small World:

Leila was so brave...she tried Pirates again. Last year she had a panic attack and wouldn't set foot inside the gates. Now it is one of her favorites!

We spent part of the day in CA Adventure.

In the evening we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. My favorite time of day at Disneyland...when the lights start coming on and the park cools down. We found a spot on Main Street to watch the fireworks, bundled up in our sweatshirts, hot chocolate in hand and enjoyed the magic.

The end of day 1 found Leila wiped out! 

Easter

 We spent Easter in beautiful Huntington Beach this year! We had just flown in the day before so we had a very relaxed morning rather than diving right into the Easter festivities. Christopher made pancakes for the whole family and sadly, we watched the Red Wings lose pretty badly. After Leila's nap later that afternoon we discovered that the Easter Bunny had paid Aunt Chris and Uncle Ken's house a visit! It was so nice to be able to hunt for eggs for outside and not be chilled!! Or rained on!

 After Leila found and opened her eggs, the three of us went for a nap while dinner was being fixed. There is a park just around the corner from the house so we spent some time on the play structure and then checked out the harbor.

Easter Eggs

We flew out Saturday afternoon for California and Disneyland. That evening we arrived at Aunt Chris's house and after dinner we dyed eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide. Waiting for the tablets to dissolve is always the toughest part!!

 Aunt Chris had found a kit that came with gold toned paints. Leila loved painting some of the eggs and trying something different. I didn't really get a good photo of the finished gold painted eggs, but they were beautiful!

Surprise!!

The Friday evening that Spring Break started we surprised Leila...big time! We had planned our vacation months in advance and kept it secret! Chris came home that evening and decorated the house with Disney streamers, confetti, plates, napkins, a tablecloth, and cups. I picked Leila up and stalled until I got the okay to bring her home. Chris met us in the garage with pictures of Disneyland that he had printed off the computer. He told her these pictures were our dinner items for the night: Matterhorn milk, World of Color water, Main Street macaroni, Autopia applesauce and Gadget's Go Coaster grapes. Leila then followed a trail of Disney confetti to the kitchen table. She still didn't piece it together that the Disney dinner and decorations meant a trip to the Happiest Place on the Earth! We had to ask her what they all had in common. "Is it a special day for Disneyland? It is Disneyland's birthday?" Nope! We told her we were going to Disneyland the next morning and that she was already all packed! Our sweet girl didn't scream or jump or yell or run around the house...she calmly left the table and ran to hug us. What a fun way to tell her!! We still call it Main Street Macaroni!!

Teacher of the Year!

Chris was selected to be Puyallup School District's Secondary Teacher of the Year! There was a group of students that nominated him and by late March he had been selected...only he didn't know ANYTHING about it!! I had heard rumors of the possibility and had asked his wonderful principal, Brian, if he would keep me in the loop in the event that he was going to receive it. Thankfully, he did and with the help of my amazing principal, Steve, both Leila and I were able to be at ERHS to see him receive the news!!

Leila, Steve and I were hiding out in the hallway so I didn't hear much of how the surprise was announced, but here is his reaction when Chris found out the superintendent was at the staff meeting to rave about the wonderful things that Chris does in his classroom and with the theatre department. Unexpected staff meetings are never a good thing and Chris told me later that he thought ER was getting news that their principal was being sent elsewhere. Thank goodness this unexpected staff meeting did not bring disappointing news! 

Dr. Yeomans congratulating Chris on his well-deserved recognition. 

 This is the point in the celebration when we got to come in! I think he was pretty darn surprised that we were up so EARLY and that we had kept the secret!!

Lara, Brian, Chris, Dr. Yeomans, Vince and Karey (ERHS's admin staff and PSD's chief academic officer)

Brian, me, Leila, TEACHER OF THE YEAR, and Dr. Yeomans

Way to go, Babe! I am so proud of you! Chris will be officially recognized at the upcoming school board meeting on April 22nd, so beware! I will be posting again about my amazing hubby!!

Wednesday Night Skate

 The week before Spring Vacation, we wanted to ice skating but knew we would be unable to for the next two Sundays. Luckily, Sprinker offers its Cheap Skate sessions on Wednesdays too! So, we opted for a mid-week skate and this time we invited Papa and Gramma along. While Gramma prefers watching to skating, she was all game to come along. 

Chris wanted to wear his new hockey gear and skate a couple times with it prior to hockey lessons later in the month. 

My Mom got Leila this shirt for Christmas and she loves wearing it to the rink!

Hockey Hubby

Chris has a long history of being a hockey lover. He loves watching it. He loves talking about it. He loves cheering the Wings on. He loves sharing the sport with his wife and daughter. Up until now he hasn't been able to say that he loves playing it though! Well, beginning in late April he will have the chance! Chris signed up for hockey lessons at Sprinker!! We are so excited to watch his practices and scrimmages in the near future!!

Rudy McGroody

 Rudy finds the strangest places to hang out in! The other night he was sound asleep on the back of the couch, which isn't so crazy except that his back legs were straddling the couch.

Another favorite hang out is the bathroom sink. Quincy used to do this too. Weirdo!

More Skating

 For St. Patrick's Day we went skating at Sprinker. I didn't take any pictures on the ice this time, but got  a few good cuddle pictures while we waited for the Zamboni to resurface the ice.

Leila's favorite part of waiting for the Zamboni to finish is the fact that she gets to enjoy some Starburst candies while we wait.