Friday, November 14, 2014

Disneyland

We just got back from our first family vacation out of the great state of Texas.  Disneyland was an absolute blast for the boys and Steve and I had the best time experiencing it through their eyes.

We left on Wed Nov 5 bound for LA on a direct flight.  It was Noah's 1st flight and Joshua's 2nd.
When we arrived at the parking garage at the Austin airport Noah asked, "Is this Disneyland?"  We all had a good laugh.   They did great on the flight since we were armed with books, Iphones, and a Samsung tablet downloaded with episodes of their favorite shows.

After couple of wrong turns, we finally made it to the hotel which was much more spacious than I expected.  Joshua and Noah each had their own queen bed.  We later went to Daison, Anita, and Hannah's house that evening for dinner.  The boys loved playing with all of Hannah's toys and really didn't want to leave.

The next morning we started off to Disneyland with our double stroller in tow.  That was the best rental investment we made.  We immediately saw Pluto as we walked in and got a great picture with him.  Joshua and Noah were in awe of all the characters that would just pop out.  Steve and Joshua rode Splash Mountain first and since Noah wasn't tall enough, we rode Winnie the Pooh.  What a great 1st ride.  Such a gentle fun loving ride and Noah loved it.  Joshua however didn't like Splash Mountain and we were asked on each ride if there were any upcoming "hills."

After standing in lines in the 91 degree heat we got tired by 1:00 and went back to the hotel to take a nap.  By the time we woke up and left to go back it was 5:00.  By 6:00 it was already dark.  We rode quite a few rides while people were waiting for the parade.  We even whizzed thru Mickey and Minnie's house.  The parade was amazing even though we weren't curbside.

On Friday we met Daison, Anita, and Hannah at California Adventure Park where we had a fun productive day.  We rode so many rides, had lunch, watched a parade and went home around 6:30.
Can't believe we spent the entire day there.  Joshua and Noah loved having Hannah around.  So much fun experiencing Disneyland with friends.  After the kids went to bed Steve and I watched the fireworks from our hotel room.

On Saturday we met the Thomas family, Annie and her family, and Maria and family, and Nick at the Long Beach Aquarium.  A fun day looking at all the marine life with the kids and catching up with everyone.  We ate lunch with everyone and then went back to the hotel to take a short nap.  We then met up with Balaji, Trisha, and the kids at Buca for dinner.  We had such a nice time at dinner since it had been about 7 years since we'd seen them.  After dinner we went back to the hotel just in time for the kids to catch the fireworks.  They got a little scared of the noise so we watched them inside our room through the window.

Our trip was coming to an end.  We had to get up at 3 am to make it to the rental car agency and then to the airport for our 6:30 flight.  The boys loved every second of it and I realized that my boys are great travelers.  We have so many trips to look forward to...




                                                                   Pluto
                                                           Snow White's Castle

                                                                Inside Mickey's House

                                                                  Buzz Lightyear
                                                    Enjoying The Dole Whip
                                                                  Chip or Dale?
                                                                       Noah loves Minnie


                                                              On the Disney train
                                                          At Minnie's House
                                                                       Doc McStuffins


                                                              Anita and Hannah



                                                          The caterpillar train (their favorite)
                                                                 Lightning McQueen






                                                                 The parade





                                                           At the Aquarium










Monday, October 27, 2014

October Fun!

We started off the month of October with a chalk walk in Round Rock.  We watched so many people of all ages make beautiful drawings with chalk.  The boys played games and listened to music that Sat. morning.
Steve went to a Cowboys game with friends on Sunday while the boys and I had a great relaxing day.

The next weekend Steve and I attended our first ACL where we listened to many bands and musical acts with some of our favorites being Outkast, Sam Smith, Avett Brothers, Eminem, and Pearl Jam.
Mom hurt her foot that weekend so I didn't attend Sunday so we could give Dad a break.  Mom is slowly on the mend with a cast boot and limited walking.

The third weekend we went to Chisholm Trails in Georgetown where the boys again played games, listened to music, and rode a horse. One of the big attractions was the Sam Bass shootout which Joshua and Noah didn't like because they used blanks in real guns and the guns made loud noises.
The other attraction was the longhorn drive.  So nice to see the longhorns up close.

This past weekend my brothers, Julie, and Christian came up for a visit.  I hadn't seen Subin since last Christmas and now that he's moved to Dallas it'll be nice to see more of him.  We got up early Sat morning and went to Sweet Berry Farms for the pumpkin patch.  Joshua and Noah loved hanging out with Christian all day.  We took pics, ate grilled corn, rode horses, bounced on a parachute, rode on a hayride and barrel train.   After we got home and ate pizza we went to ride Sophie the Train.  What a fun day!

On Sunday we got up late and went to the park.   So much fun seeing Christian walk around and play with the boys!

                                                         Chalk Walk

ACL
Noah roping a bull

                                                               Playing horseshoes



                                                Longhorn drive
                                                         Sweet Berry Farms














                                                   Sophie the Train



                                                            Monkeying around


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Fall is going by too fast!

Now that school has started and Noah is getting used to his first year of preschool the fall season is flying by.  Before I know it, Thanksgiving will be here.  Joshua is already asking when we can put up the Christmas tree!

We had a great September with lots of fun filled kid activities and even some late night events for Steve and I.   We went to the Thinkery on a rainy Saturday and the kids really enjoyed themselves playing with air rockets, magnets, paints, and lots of produce.  Go figure they really like to play with fruits and vegetables, not so much eat them.

They also had their dentist appointment which was Noah first time to be in "the chair."  The nurses were very impressed with Noah allowing them to clean his teeth.  He was definitely the charmer.

And then of course the event that Joshua and Noah have been waiting for all year long...Day Out with Thomas.  This day couldn't come any sooner for these boys.  They didn't want to go anywhere the night before because according to Joshua, "We need to go to bed early so we can get a good night's sleep."  Unbelievable.  That's how serious they were about Thomas.  So Sat Sept 27 we drove the 40 minutes to Burnet and though I think it's a complete waste of money, my boys had the best time ever.  We stopped in Liberty Hill at Dalia's Cafe where we had some of the best southern cooking - chicken fried steak, fresh green beans, chocolate chess pie.  Still thinking about that meal.

That evening Steve and I went to the Pratham Gala - a charity event to raise money to increase literacy in India.  Great event downtown with many prominent people working to bring awareness to this issue.  They had a "Dancing with the Stars" portion of the night with Austin celebrities as judges.
Oct. 3rd weekend we went to downtown Round Rock for the Chalk Walk and the kids loved walking around and watching the artists, listening to music, and participating in activities.

Steve and I went to ACL this weekend and had a blast listening to great music at Zilker Park:  Outkast, Eminem, Iggy Azalea, Avett Brothers, Sam Smith, just to name a few.  Steve went tonight to see Pearl Jam and Lorde.    Next year I think Noah will be ready to go with us.

                                                                The Thinkery



                                             The new train playscape at Sophie the Train

                                                     Displaying Joshua's art work
                                                          Noah in the dentist chair
                                                                    Joshua's a pro

                                                           
                                                            Day Out with Thomas






Pratham Gala