Our Disneyland Adventure

We have been on holidays for most of the month, and visited many spots, including... DISNEYLAND!!

I will blog all about our excellent adventure later this week, but thought I would start with the hot spot first.

Emma did not know we were going to Disneyland until we told her at the Calgary Airport. She responded in true Emma style... "overwhelmed and crying"!! After she wrapped her head around the whole idea, she was very excited (about 10 minutes after the fact).

The photo below is Emma showing us her first response to our surprise.

This photo is the front gate to California Adventure @ Disneyland

Here is the photo I remember as a kid.. the front gate to Disneyland!!
It is hard to believe Mickey's face is all fresh flowers.


This photo of Mickey and Walter is made up of tiny separate painted pictures (approx. 1"x1").
It is very cool to look at.



Emma at California Adventure Park. I went on that roller coaster (Screamin'), while Dann and the kids watched. I had a blast and felt like a kid again.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first, but I figured if I could give birth to a 10 1/2 pound baby, I could go on a darn roller coaster! I am so glad I did!

Dann and his pal Goofy! I really do not need to say more do I?

I love this pic of Emma...

Emma enjoyed a lot of the rides, but her two favorite were the carousels (one in Disneyland and one in California Adventure). She must have went on both like 10 times.

Ethan enjoyed going around in circles too.

I do believe the "Tea Cups" was Emma second favorite ride. Actually, Emma would say "Soarin' over California" was her favorite ride, but we do not have any photos of this. The ride simulated like you were in a hang-glider, soaring over the sky in California. It was sooo awesome... it was the best ride we went on!

We ate lunch at Ariel's Grotto with Ariel and friends. Emma was so excited to be able to meet and dine with the Disney Princesses.

Emma made Ariel a picture and she gave it to her when they met. Ariel was very sweet and thanked Emma.

Emma and Cinderella

Emma and Belle

Emma and Snow White

Emma and Sleeping Beauty, who she was dressed like that day.

The "Character Lunch" was awesome and I recommend it highly to anyone who has a little Princess of their own. Emma was in her glory and still talks about her lunch date with all her princess friends.

Fantasyland...

Emma danced with all the Princesses below at the "Disney Princess Fantasy Faire". She got to become a member of the "Royal Court"... It was a lot of fun.

Friday morning we had breakfast with Minnie Mouse and friends. The breakfast buffet was amazing and Emma had a hoot meeting and posing with all the different Disney Characters.

Emma dressed up like Minnie Mouse that morning and I thought this photo was one of the best shots we got all trip.

Emma and Tigger

We spent a lot of time at Mickey's Toontown, which was magical even for Dann and I. The detail that is put into each ride and display is amazing.

Emma is driving Goofy's car below (which was crashed into his mail box).

Emma jammin' on the piano at Mickey Mouse's house.

Emma powdering her nose at Minnie's

Dann and Emma on the rocket ride (forget the actual name).

I watched with Ethan... my tummy does not handle the rides that go in circles too well.

I guess Disneyland has a bit of crime of it's own. This was an offical Anaheim Police car parked by the gates at California Adventure and Downtown Disney. Cutest little "golf cart" police car I have ever seen! I wish I could have seen it cruising down the road with it's lights and sirens on!

We watched the Parade one afternoon. The floats were awesome and Emma loved seeing all the Characters dancing around etc.

Pluto really hammed it up for his photo with Emma.

The family with Mickey Mouse

Our final day, we decided to do one more Character Breakfast. We went to Goofy's Kitchen and ate with Goofy and friends. Emma was thrilled because Jasmine was there (she was not around at Ariel's Grotto for lunch).

Goofy lived up to his name!

Emma with Wendy

I never knew the difference between Chip and Dale until this trip.

Dale has the brown nose and Chip has a black nose (learn something new every day).

Our last afternoon at the park.

Ethan was spent...

Unique Hats For Your Special Itty Bitty

My friend Jenny started up her own little home business knitting hats for babies and children. She has knit several hats and sweaters for Emma the past few years and now she will be making a profit from her talent.

Her business name is: "Itty Bitty Knits" and she has a blog page to advertise all the different hats etc.

If anyone is interested or needs a great baby gift idea, check out Jenny's blog page!

www.ittybittyknits.blogspot.com

Emma loves her pink fuzzy striped hat and Ethan is too darn cute in his striped ski hat.

Thanks Jenny, the hats are awesome (the cheque is in the mail)!!

10 months

Ethan is 10 1/2 months old now and is growing stronger by the day. He weighs in at 27 lbs 9 oz and 32 inches long. Ethan is also learning a few new things, so we captured some video of our amazing son! The quality is not great, but it will give you some idea of what he is up to.

Ethan has learned how to wave "bye-bye" and we like to think he is saying "bye-bye" as well... but in baby's words, "ba-ba"! Dann videoed Ethan performing, but forgot that when recording video, even on a digital camera, you cannot turn the camera sideways. Oh well, you still get the idea!

Above is Ethan crawling. He resembles a Navy Seal or G-I-Joe who is scooching under something. Ethan does get up on all fours and rocks, but he prefers to pull his body around with his forearms and pushes with his legs.

Ethan enjoys all foods thus far (just not baby food in a jar), and has started to say "Mmmmmm" after every bite... too funny & cute!

I thought I would close with some cute photos Dann took a couple of days ago!

Ethan playing "Peek-A-Boo" with the camera!

August Birthdays

Emma was invited to her friend's "Fireman" Birthday party yesterday and she had a hoot. Liam & Noah (twins) started their party with a tour of the fire station. The kids were very excited and Fireman Ben had his hands full!

The Birthday boys got to try on Fireman Ben's turnout gear, they looked very cute. Of course all the kids wanted to try it on, but we told them only the birthday boys were allowed.

Group photo!!

I wanted to hook-up my friend Holly with Fireman Ben, but he is married with kids... too bad Holly!

Emma liked checking out inside the fire truck.

The boys loved playing with all the dials and hoses.

The Firemen set up a hose outside for the kids to play with.
It was a big hit. Emma loved washing the Fire Chief's truck with the hose
(that is what she is spraying).


After the tour, we headed back to Liam & Noah's for cake and ice cream.
What a great Birthday party!



Here is Emma posing with her pregnant tummy.
She has a baby every other day I swear
(I think she is taking after Grandma Hein... LOL).


Bath Time!
Ethan playing in the tub...

Me and my kiddies

Ethan and Mommy

Dann and the kids bought me a little "Bling" for my Birthday...

Earrings and a necklace from the "Elle" collection.

There is a ruby set in the back of each piece (their signature).

The necklace and earrings are hard to see in this photo, but I love them.

To top it off... Roses!

A guy cannot go wrong buying a girl flowers!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

FIRST HAIR CUT

Here is Ethan "HAMMIN' IT UP" for the camera with a piece of celery.

He loves to nah on celery... must feel good on his gums.

As you can see, his hair is hanging in his eyes.

I think I finally had enough of it last night because after his bath... it was hair cut time!!

He sat still for about 5 seconds... and then he was a wiggle worm!

I just cut the hair on the top of his head. Some of the hair was still from birth (did not fall out), so those pieces were mega long. He looked like he had a comb over... but not no more!

The final product!!

It will due until I take him to the Barbers for his first real hair cut

(maybe after his first Birthday)

Last Week's Events

Emma and I went shopping at Winner's last week and I found this adorable pink shirt for Emma.

She loved it because it has silver princess crowns on it...

I love the t-shirt because of what it says...

Look closely and you will appreciate the humor, especially if you know or have grown up around my little Emma

Drama Queen... how appropriate!!

(gotta love it)


In this photo, Emma decided she was going to wear her sun suit with shorts over top to bed. I thought she looked hilarious, but she did not seem to find the humor in her beautiful outfit she put together. As you can she, she was not that impressed that I took a picture either!

Ethan, on the other hand, was totally happy playing with Daddy on the floor.
We introduced him to his Leap Frog farm animals toy, and he loves it (thanks Stacey & Perry, great gift).

Dann had to put up a magnet board from Ikea for the toy though... darn stainless steel fridges (no magnets stick to them).

Ethan loves to sit and listen to the music play while he puts different animal sounds together. It is a catchy little tune that plays, and I have found myself singing the song when it is not on!




I gave Ethan his first fruit leather yesterday....

Needless to say, it was a hit!

I am not sure how much he actually ate, but he sucked the heck out of the thing!

Emma and her new army green hat... too cute. Many people have comment how much she looks like me in this photo.

Update

Old friends from PR stopped in for a visit. It was great seeing Marg & Bob and the girls (who are getting so big). Emma loved having "older" friends to play with.

Emma & Mackenzie hit it off and we did not see much of them as they were busy with their stuffed pets in the playroom.

Kristen is very much a "young lady" now and she enjoyed being around the adults and Ethan. She will make a fabulous babysitter, as Ethan loved all the attention Kristen gave him!!

ETHAN UPDATE

We went to Edmonton for a few days last week, and Ethan cut his first two teeth on the bottom (he is not toothless anymore)!!
Getting a picture of them is another story.
Dann was trying, but Ethan would not cooperate!


So... Dann took some cute photos of Ethan's toes instead!!

Love them toes!!

Not only did Ethan cut two teeth at nine months, but he is working on his crawling technique as well. He has mastered the "bum rock" but still uses the "roll" maneuver to get around. Soon he will figure out how to move all four and he will be off (YIKES)!!

Ethan @ 9 Months

26 lbs 4 oz

31.5 inches long

Emma was practicing her "styling" techniques on Ethan last night. Ethan did not seem to mind being Emma's guinea pig, sitting quietly while she created her masterpiece.

Tah - Dah

So pretty Ethan!!

Last week old friends from PR visited us.

We enjoyed seeing Katie & Jeff again, but the best part was seeing how much their daughter, Kennadie, has grown and of course, meeting the latest addition... "Sawyer"

Sawyer - 2 months

Ethan - 8 1/2 months

Kennadie - 2 3/4 years

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Happy Canada Day... one day late.

We had a great time at our friend's Canada Day bar-b-que.

Emma ran around and played with all the kids (forgot my camera, so no pics) and Ethan sat on my lap for most of the afternoon. His ear infection is still with us and we are on the second round of antibiotics. Hopefully the darn thing will take a hike and my old Ethan will come back to me.

I know Ethan looks pretty happy in the photo, but his mood changes so quickly. I wish I could fix it for him and take away the discomfort!

Dann joined us after he got off work.

It was a beautiful evening so we stayed a bit later to enjoy it!

(the first evening in over a week that there were no thunder showers).

hum-drum

Not much new on the home front. Dann and I ran into Costco the other day to pick up a few groceries and left with a new bedroom suite. I took a photo of the picture attached to the dresser so you can have a peek (it's a bit blurry, but it gives you an idea). Once our new bedroom is all set up, I will take some photos and post them. We have been hunting around for a new bedroom suite for some time now, but just never took the plunge. Dann wanted to down-size from a King bed to a Queen, and I have always wanted a bedroom set, so I guess we both got what we wanted! We are planning to sell our King Sleigh Bed, I do not think we will have a problem getting rid of it.

Rowena is out of town taking a Mutual Funds course, so I have been hanging with the kids the last four days. Emma has had a busy schedule (school, play camp, soccer, swimming) and Ethan has been a trooper tagging along to all the events!

We had lunch out on the deck on Sunday and Emma ran through the sprinkler with her new bikini!

Dann had the camera out last night, snapping photos of the kids and me.
I played around with the photo shop and this is what we ended up with...