Our Kids Blog

In order to take a little break from Disneyland and to give Kenny a chance to take a nap, Papa Swany drove us down to Dana Point Beach (hmmm, why did we choose that beach?).  We didn’t stay long, but we still had some fun.

It was in the mid-60s, so not balmy, but nice enough to get bare foot.

Kenny thought the sand was a little too strange to walk in. He preferred to be held, but he can say that he touched the Pacific.

Emma enjoyed the beach. She wished that she could have stayed longer.

Skirts do get wet easily, so the skirt was removed for a bit.

The sun was an issue again, but we finally are all looking at the camera.

We got to Disneyland when it opened at 8:00am. It was nice not to wait for Pirates of the Caribbean and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Emma loved the Mountain Railroad which is a pretty speedy roller coaster (here is a video of what it’s like). After 9 am the lines started to get a little longer so we hit the princesses again.

Some morning cuddle time with Kenny.

Though a day had passed, Snow White still remembered Emma from breakfast. Again, she seemed to be the nicest of the princesses.

Emma next was able to meet with Sleeping Beauty again.

The two of them posed nicely for the cameras.

Minnie Princess was a surprise and actually Emma wasn’t that excited to see her. She would have rather have seen Pocahontas.

Later in the afternoon we stood in line one more time to see the princesses. This time with cousin Landry.

Kenny and mom entertained themselves with a water bottle.

Cousin Landry was with us for this trip to the Princess Fantasy Faire.

Cinderella greeted the girls first.

The girls then met with Jasmine.

Sleeping Beauty was the last princess for the day and the trip.

We went on one last ride, Roger Rabbit’s Wild Ride. Kenny didn’t like it too much, but he did like the fountain in the front of the ride.

Kenny liked the fountain and the two girls enjoyed Kenny.

After the ride we got one last picture in front of the castle.  We flew out the next morning. It was a short trip, but one we will never forget.

Our family took a weekend trip to Anaheim California to visit Disneyland. Though it rained the first day that we were at Disneyland, we had lots of fun. We got to see lots of princesses, and the lines where short. An afternoon boat ride on It’s A Small World had a 6 minute wait (the next day was sunny and warm and the wait was close to an hour).

We were a little late for our breakfast reservation at Ariel’s Grotto, but Ariel was still taking pictures with all of her guests. Emma’s smile shows it all. She was so excited to finally meet the princesses.

The next princess Emma met was Cinderella.

Snow White was probably the nicest of the princesses. She really took the time to ask some questions of Emma.

Emma’s not really forthcoming with hugs, but Snow White was able to get one.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) was impressed by Emma’s dress. Sleeping Beauty is probably Emma’s favorite. The only thing that Emma was disappointed with was that Aurora’s dress didn’t change color from pink to blue.

Belle stopped by for a visit.

We got all of the princesses to autograph Emma’s scrapbook. Kenny was pretty excited too, but it was the food that caught his attention. The breakfast at Ariel’s Grotto was nice, but very expensive. If you want to see princesses, we would recommend the Princess Fantasy Faire located in Disneyland. You have to wait in line, but you’ll save a lot of money and meet the princesses just the same.

Our first official ride of our Disney experience was a Merry-Go-Round in the California Adventure Park.

Kenny enjoying a drink.

It rained on and off all day. The sun would come out and we would get hot and then a dark cloud would bring a cold rain. It wasn’t too bad and it kept the crowds to a minimum.

Emma’s rain coat came in handy and it sure is cute.

Kenny got his diaper changed 150 feet up in the air on Mickey’s Fun Wheel (Ferris Wheel).

It was a little windy and cold 150 feet above the ground.

Kenny didn’t seem to be scared of how high we were.

This might be one of the favorite pictures from the trip.

Family pictures were a challenge. Kenny just had too much to look at besides the camera.

If we got Kenny to look, we had issues with the sun being to bright.

Kenny spent quite a bit of time in the Ergo Carrier. He really liked it even falling asleep once.

After 30 minutes in line, we were about to see the princesses again. As you can see, all the kids in this picture are looking for something to keep them occupied.

At the Princess Fantasy Faire, there are three random princesses that rotate about every 15 minutes. After meeting 5 princesses at breakfast, Emma was hoping that she would get to see Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Tiana. As we rounded the corner to see who she would meet, there was Jasmine.

Belle was next, and though we had already seen her, Emma was not disappointed.

Another autograph.

After Belle, there was Princess Tiana.

Princess Tiana is the newest of the Disney Princesses. She was in the movie, The Princess and The Frog.

We ended the day by going back to the California Adventure Park where we watched a live presentation of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

At Emma’s 4 year appointment, it was quite clear during her vision screening that she was having some difficulty seeing well. We hadn’t exactly noticed anything at home except that she likes to sit close to the TV, but we thought that every kid was like that. Last week we went to the eye doctor and found out that Emma has astigmatisms in both eyes which are keeping things pretty blurry for her. After getting a perscription and spending some time looking for frames, these are what she came home with. They are Disney Princess brand, but don’t actually have any princesses on them.

Emma did a nice job wearing them on her first day. She was motivated by a sticker chart, but she wore them straight for about 3 hours. It will take some time for her to get used to them as it will take some time for her mom and dad to get used to them also.

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody.

Emma has figured out that if she poses nicely that we can be done with pictures quickly.

Kenny still doesn’t know that pictures aren’t supposed to be fun.

Further proof of what I just said. We’re sure this will change soon though.

Emma has been taking ballet dance class this school year. She has really enjoyed it has made some nice friends. Here are just a few shots of her dancing with a purple ribbon.

Kenny usually goes to dance class. He does pretty well, but he does like to get out and walk on the dance floor. He will sometimes do a little hip shaking himself.

Kenny had a fever of 104 yesterday, but then this morning he seemed to be doing a lot better. After his afternoon nap his fever was back up to 103.8. We decided to go into Urgent Care to get him checked over. The doctor could see that his throat was quite red and with white “junk.” He hoped that it would be strep throat so we could get him some antibiotics and be done with it. The strep test came back negative though. We left urgent care just with the explanation that it was a case of viral tonsillitis. After his afternoon nap his fever was back up and this time 104.9, so we called the on call pediatrician. Her diagnosis over the phone is that Kenny most likely has mono. High fever and sore throat with white secretions are pretty telling when it comes to mono. So the plan is just to keep him as comfortable as possible with ibuprofen and if anything changes to go back to the doctor.

Right before bed Kenny was actually doing a little bit better after a fresh dose of ibuprofen. He let us put a baby wipe on his forehead to help him keep cool.

America’s largest mall is only 100 miles away and every Tuesday they have discounts for little kids and their parents. Emma, Tammy, Jack, and Leslie made the trip and everyone agreed that it was a very fun day and that they hoped to do it again sometime soon.

Emma and Jack started the day on the Merry-Go-Round.

There were few of the rides that Emma and Jack could go on by themselves.

On the other rides Tammy and Leslie were able to join the young ones.

Emma enjoyed the hot air balloon ride.

The whole time she was in awe of the ups and downs and all the things you could see.

They had a little roller coaster type ride. It didn’t go upside down, but it was still pretty fun.

Emma maybe found her profession…truck driving.

To make it even more realistic she picked up a hitch hicker along her route.

Then again, after watching her drive bumper cars, truck driving might not be the safest career.

This was one of the rides that they rode on multiple times. It would take them up high and then bounce them up and down on their voyage back to the solid ground.

Every year around Emma’s birthday, we dress her up in a swimsuit that was her Great-Grandmother Howard’s and the wedding dress of her Great-Grandmother Miller’s. We’ve included in this post all her previous pictures as well as the two new ones. So from age 1 to 4, here they are.

January 13, 2007

January 13, 2007

January 15, 2008

January 15, 2008

January 13, 2009

January 13, 2009

January 17, 2010

January 17, 2010

Emma had 7 of her friends over for a birthday party. They all dressed up like princesses and princes. They ate pizza, cake, and did some fun little crafts. They all seemed to enjoy themselves.

One of the crafts was to decorate a picture frame.

The knight in shining armor got tired out. I don’t know if it was from fighting off dragons or from fighting off all the princesses.

I got in on a picture with our little princess.

You can’t quite see it, but Kenny was dressed with the theme. He had a shirt on that said “King of Hearts.”

Emma and Breely where told to wait until the other girls where done eating so this is where they waited.

Sleeping Beauty lived in our garage the last few days, but she still looked and tasted good.

One last time to blow out some candles.

Here is everybody that made it to the party. It was a lot of fun.