Disneyland

Although going to Disneyland was only 1 day out of our 8 day vacation, I think the 3 little kids (you and your two cousins, Laila and Nolan) enjoyed it the most!

We had our Gough Family Vacation this year in Palm Desert, with a day trip to Anaheim for Disneyland.  We drove this year, which... could have been worse.  It really could have.  We did pretty well on the way down, and not too bad on the way back home.  We did run into a blizzard on the way home, but it only lasted an hour or two, and it was really only dad that was stressed out.

We stayed in Las Vegas on the way down (and the way back home).  Kate got her own little room in a pack n play, and you shared our room.  It was pretty hard for you to fall asleep with us in the room (and just not in your own room) but it was kind of fun to actually watch the winding down process.  You did okay -woke up around 3:30 and probably couldn't really get back to sleep for at least an hour and a half.

The next day we almost drove the entire 4 hours through the desert without stopping.  Laila (we were caravaning (sp?) with Dusty and Shondel) needed to stop at a pretty scary rest stop, and then 20 minutes later Hyrum needed to pee.  Thank goodness for boys and the ability to pee out the car door in the desert.

We finally arrived in Palm Desert and had some pool time that afternoon and the next day.

On Tuesday (our trip started Saturday) we went to The Living Desert, a zoo with animals that are in North America and Africa.  You got to feed a giraffe, and we sort of saw this awesome model train exhibit that I didn't get any pictures of and we didn't ever take you back -like we had planned.  

There was a petting zoo area with a bunch of goats you liked -until one of them decided to head butt you a bit.  It mostly just scared you.

There were plenty of bronze animals that posed nicely for pictures.

And a fun playground that you guys could have stayed at all day.

Fun with cousins at the condo in their new Disney shirts from Mimi and Papa.

I didn't get any good pictures of the beautiful resort we stayed in.  You slept pretty well -dad and you shared the sofa bed most nights.  Kate and I tried to sleep in the main bedroom.

Tuesday evening and Wednesday you and Kate were pretty sick.  Fevers and just being extra ornery.  Luckily you were both over the worst of it by Thursday, which was when we went to Disneyland.  You were still a little pale and tired (and made a few extra bathroom stops) but you were a trooper.  

We left for Anaheim about 7:30 am -no easy task, considering we had been up since 2:30 am because dad had some kind of allergic reaction, trip to the ER, and waking everyone else up in order for me to pick him up 2 hours later.  

We've been talking up Disneyland to you and you were super excited -although you had no idea why.  I suppose that's with most small kids.  We got to the gates about opening time and you said hello to your first character -Pluto.  (Mostly because we didn't want to stand in line for any of the more 'high profile' characters and I wasn't sure you'd care much anyway).  

Our first ride was with Laila and Nolan -It's a Small World.  You were excited that it was a boat and seemed to enjoy it.

After the first ride we found ourselves right outside of Toon Town and it was opening in about 15 minutes.  We waited and you got to see Mickey and his house, go on your first roller coaster, and play around for a bit.  Whenever we go back, I'm sure we'll spend a lot more time there, when we have more time in the park.

We walked around for a bit, waiting for everyone to show up.  Kris and Marime had a hard time with Konner and we barely saw them while we were there.  You liked the Jungle Cruise -with all the animals and water that sprayed at your.

You and dad went on the Buzz Lightyear ride -"shooting Zurg" which you said was your favorite ride.  You and I went on a flying dumbo ride and Autopia.  You also rode the carousel with Papa.  You seemed to like the Pirates of the Caribbean (Kate did NOT -so I didn't even get to notice any of your reactions).

Another one of your favorites was probably the train that goes around the entire park.  We waited until the end of the day to go on it, and had to wait quite a while for it to leave (I'm not sure what kind of problems it was having) but you loved it of course.  You and Kate also seemed to really like the Parade (no fireworks that night).

Oh, the cute shirts you and Kate were wearing were Shondel's doing -they were super cute.

One last picture of the cousins.  Minus Konner.

Friday was another pool day and we packed up for home.  We had a lot more stops on the way from Palm Desert to Las Vegas on the way back.  It's never as fun on the way home from a vacation!

The place we stayed at in Las Vegas was more than big enough for our little family, and I think the 4 of us got more sleep that night that we had any other night on the trip, which was must needed.

It was pretty cold and rainy, so we didn't got to the pool, but we had a giant tub that was almost as good.

We were all pretty excited to get home on Sunday, but you keep talking about the fun time you had in Disneyland and playing in the pool.

Thanks to Mimi and Papa, it was a great vacation!

Why?

We've entered the "Why?" stage of development.  I knew kids asked why a lot, but I think I neglected to realize it's over EVERYTHING!  Not just legitimate questions of curiosity.

Don't hit your sister.
Why?
Because you will hurt her.
Why?
That's what happens when you hit someone.
Why?
Because... that's the rule.

Put your trains away, please.
Why?
Because it's time to clean up.
Why?
Because there are too many toys out and you're going to get hurt.
Why?
Because you'll step on them and hurt your feet.
Why?
Because... that's the rule.

I either end the endless questions with silence (and ignoring the questions) or, "that's the rule".

Your dad likes to turn the tables on you quite often and ask you why over and over again.  You usually can go quite a few rounds with answers, or repeating your answers.  Today and said, almost under your breath, "cuz' that's the rule".

I guess it's starting to sink in.

Trains

The other day I tried to write down the name's of all the trains you had.  I came up with 21 different names (all Thomas the Train and Friends).  You have multiples of a few (especially Thomas, himself) and I believe since then you have received 2 or 3 more, with one more coming tomorrow from Grandma Carol.  You still love your trains, and can usually build some of the track by yourself, which is nice.  One of these days I'm going to get a picture of all them lined up, although I think I'll need a panoramic to get them all in.

You loaded up a few trains in your play lunch box and announced you were going to work.

You spend a lot of time in the foyer with your trains now -so you can keep your sister on the other side of the gate.

Kate likes to be right in the middle of it all.

This is probably about half of your trains.  Maybe a little less.

After playing with Grandpa Lafeen for an hour when he was babysitting.  You need a train table.  And a separate room for it!

Now I see our problem

"I hurt myself", that's what I hear all day long.  All. Day. Long.

It was AWESOME!

I can't remember if I've mentioned on here how much you say "That will be awesome!" with such sincerity.  It can be for anything from Christmas and spending time with your family (which you love more than anything) to getting ketchup with your chicken nuggets.  But, the funny thing is, you mean it every time.

So, Christmas was awesome.  You were incredibly spoiled.  Not so much from mom and dad and even Santa (camping chair, Diesel train, water bottle, and a kids MP3 player) but from all your grandparents.

We made Santa some sugar cookies earlier in the day, since we didn't have any time later on.

You got a lot of Thomas the Train stuff at Grandma Colleens Christmas Eve afternoon with cousins.  Grandma Colleen also made you this amazing train that is pretty much a quiet book with snaps and zippers and cool compartments.  From there you got more cousin time (with a karaoke machine) at Cindy and Lon's.  Along with a delicious prime rib dinner, which you actually ate.

Christmas morning came and you were excited to see what Santa brought you.  I'm glad that you made that last minute request, because you loved your diesel train.  You also got a kick out the radio (mp3 player) that we gave you.  Not long after our little Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen showed up, and April.  We needed help at church since dad and I were putting on the program, so we invited them over for Christmas morning and church.  Not surprisingly you were incredibly spoiled by them.  A few Thomas the Train sets a Cars race track (which is still in the box -we're going to let you take that to their house on Thursday to play with it there).  You also got a few other cars and pj's from them.

You did pretty good at church and from there we went to Mimi and Papa's.  More cousins and presents.  Mimi and Papa are taking the whole family to California in February, so that was our main gift.  We opened a few presents from cousins and Mimi and Papa and then had to race to the Hardcastles.

More presents!  Your aunts and uncles gave you a memory game and Thomas dvd.  You also got Woody pajamas -which had to be put on immediately and worn the rest of the night.     Grandma and Grandpa got you a fun Car thing (lots of slides and an elevator) and clothes.  You had fun passing out everyone's gifts before we started.  From there we went over to Greg and Sally's -or as you refer to it as, Paige and Nacole's house.  You were very excited to go over there.  One more delicious dinner and a personalized quiet book from Great Grandma Hardcastle.  We slept over at the Hardcastles so the fun continued on Monday.  It was a long hectic weekend, which you absolutely loved every minute of it.  It was nice to finally get home (and clean up the tornado that we left for ourselves after Christmas morning).

I just have to say, I think people love giving you gifts because I have never seen a more genuine and grateful kid when you open presents.  I'm so proud of you that you make sure you say thank you and most of the time give the people hugs right after you open something.  It's so nice to see the innocence that comes along with being a kid.  We had a great Christmas weekend and you were a big reason for it.