Disneyland Day Trip {summer bucket list}

Who wants to see my pictures from The Happiest Place on Earth?!? I think I have just crossed the line to become "that girl". But since you are here, why not take a scroll down the page.  These pics are from the latest trip with my sister and the kids.  We had a blast and strangled every minute out of the day for a total of 13 hours of Mickey saturated bliss.

In my opinion there is only one way to do Disney, sun up to sun down. Call me crazy but I want to get every red cent out of my ticket. The goal was to be there for the park opening but there was a minor issue with the base gate putting us 30 minutes behind schedule. Heck ya, there's a schedule! Sorry it's engrained, I get paid to plan events. I will humbly admit the schedule issue required a moment of regrouping and some positive self talk, Keep Calm & Carry On. And all was good again. Disneyland here we come.

Autopia

Tommorrowland is always the first stop. Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, and Space Moutain are all favorites. I have boys remember? There are no other options. My sister and I tricked got all of the kids on Space Mountain. I'm pretty sure the youngest is scarred for life. And the middle one might be too. I could not keep this from you all. Look at this face! Poor baby!  Am I the only parent who catalogs away embarrassing moments and pictures for the dating years? Oh I can't wait.

We spent all morning at Disneyland and went to California Adventure in the afternoon. Total loss because of the newest addition, Cars Land.  I took a ton of pics in Cars Land but we didn't ride a single ride. The lines were insane and simply put not. worth. it. Here is a little taste of what it's all about. No detail left undone. It's kind of the Disney way isn't it?

I promise not to keep you hanging. I'm creating a special Cars Land post, so you can see what all the fuss is about.

After 13 hours of Disney fun, my sister and I vetoed the kid vote and decided to leave. As soon as we got to the parking garage, the fireworks began. Talk about perfect timing.

Wow, I think I have a little Disney high!
I can't wait to put together the Disney California Adventure post.
Stop back soon.  

Discovery Science Center Santa Ana {summer bucket list}

My sister left this morning. She had such a short visit but totally worth it. We took total advantage of checking things off our Summer Bucket List while she was here. One of my favorites was Discovery Children's Museum in Santa Ana. If you are in Southern California, you should go. If not, check out all the pictures below. You'll feel like you were there! 

My sister flew in Thursday at John Wayne Airport. It's probably the nicest airport I've ever been to. I wouldn't expect any less from Orange County though. After the airport, we stopped for a quick breakfast of coffee and pastries. I don't know about you but that is my favorite breakfast! Next we headed over to the science center. It's a five minute drive from the airport right off Interstate 5. Parking onsite is only $4. If you would rather not pay, then you can park on the street or near by shopping center.

Everything is hands on. I love that! 

Learning to fly

Experiencing a hurricane

Ky & Zac were brave enough to lay on the bed of nails. They hadn't tried it before. My poor children could barely handle it. Their little chests were raising up in down in sheer panic and I thought my son was going to start crying. Opps, I'm guessing he can check that box and NOT do it again!

I think my sister had the most fun. She was right in there experimenting and playing with all the exhibits. Here she is at the Wildlife Refuge animal exhibit. The big brown blob is a condor puppet. The game is to feed the condor baby "food pellets"in 30 seconds. Our top score was 2! Epic fail. 

Here are a couple more pics.

Figuring out the pulley. Future engineers? Let's hope!

Oh yeah, I'm teaching the boys to grocery shop. Won't their wives love me?!?

What I Wore Wednesday...06

Hello everyone!

Thanks for stopping by

to check out my one and only

Photo from the Week.

Sorry!

Wish I had more

But…

I love my yoga pants and tank tops!

BTW…you all looked fabulous!

Yes, I checked.

Black top- Old Navy

Tank Top- Mossimo @ Target

Denim shorts- Ann Taylor Loft

Flip Flops- Target

Thanks again to Leslie @ The Pleated Poppy

 who continually lets a girl have her fun. 

Leaving

Blah!...Ugh!...*sigh*

These words are becoming more frequent in my vocab.  They best describe how I feel about my husband's training schedule and upcoming deployment. I've been doing the military wife thing for 13 years and it doesn't get easier.

Confessional Friday #3

Another link up with Leslie at A Blonde Ambition for Confessional Friday.

Last week we vacationed in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Absolutely loved that part of the country. My husband is ready to transplant from California and he definitely will not be returning to Iowa after his military retirement. I'm not in the least disappointed. However all of the heat & humidity & swimwear has me thinking about some things I need to confess.

I confess...living in a swimsuit last week has me seriously planning my exercise & diet routine to start YESTERDAY! I'm terrible at keeping to a plan but things are starting to fall apart! I'm thinking cleanse, fast, and then regimented healthy diet?!? Any suggestions?

I confess...I am wore my hair au natural all last week because of the insanely high humidity in the South. Such a fashion faux pas in Southern California to wear your hair curly. I felt like such a rebel! Not to mention that I looked like I was in dress rehearsals for The Lion King. Here is the tame version of Nala.

I confess...I am wearing a Carebear shirt in the photo above. It was a gift from my friend in Japan. They love cute American cartoon characters and I adore her. Therefore, I love my shirt!

I confess...I truly believe frying food has been made into a culinary art form in the South. Fried Green Tomatoes, hush puppies, frog legs. Really how can anyone stay thin around here?

I confess...I saw an amardillo for the first time in my entire life. And I'm 33! Such weird little creatures!

I confess...my Apple computer doesn't even recognize the word 'amardillo'. Am I spelling it right?

I confess...now I'm just obsessively thinking about amardillos. Do you know the popular children's character on PBS, Arthur? Was he an amardillo?

I confess...I love Target. And not just love Target like I shop there. But admire the ingenuity of the marketing team because no matter how often I shop there, I can always find more stuff to buy.

I confess...I never find as much cute stuff at Target as I do when I am on vacation. How does this happen? There is only so much room in the suitcase. And the huge wicker basket perfect for storing blankets will not be cheap to mail from Florida to California!

I confess...my husband now gives me a time limit at Target. Unfair I know!

I confess...I did find some pretty awesome and inexpensive hair products at the local Target store. Love the Garnier Fructis Style Curl Shaping  i.e. frizz prevent-er. It's a gem in this weather. If you have naturally frizzy curly hair...go run to the store and buy some!

I confess...I'm totally bugging that my vacation is over which means deployment starts too soon. AND I am back to work :(

Well enough confessing this week. I think I enjoyed it a little too much!

Vacation to Florida {summer bucket list}

We just returned from our trip to Pensacola, Florida and the Gulf Coast. I have to admit I'm a bit sleepy after all the early mornings (really!), heat, and adjusting to different time zones.  The whole week went off without a hitch. As I said in my introduction post, our family is all about adventures and new experiences. Our trip was nothing short of those!

Two things to note about our travel style: #1 we are definitely kid-friendly travelers. We always try to do things interesting or entertaining for the kids. If we do adult-focused things, then we follow it up with a kid-focused thing. We push the boundary at times to see if the kids are up for it. #2 we cut costs when possible. I think this is important to do with family travel because you are multiplying almost everything by 4, 5 or 6.


We spent most of our time in Pensacola on the beach. We would wake up at 6:30am to walk the beaches for shells and end up in the water. We walked the beaches at night and end up in the water. Such a great memory for this trip.

"no pin"

One morning we even met up with some friends we were stationed with in Japan. I've always been told the military is small. Eventually, you will meet up with people you knew from another duty station. 

We picked up a ton of seashells.

And saw some sea life up close.

We also took advantage of some touristy things on NAS Pensacola. We toured the lighthouse (a first for us) and the National Aviation Museum which was free. I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area.

Not only did we have a great time in Pensacola but we ventured to Gulf Shores, Alabama to the beach.
We found a great miniature golf course called Pirate's Island Miniature Golf. Another check on the summer bucket list.

Such a cute pirate-theme course. We all had lots of fun.

To finish our trip, we spent two days in the New Orleans area to check out a swamp tour, the French Quarter, and Audubon Zoo.

Absolutely loved the South and definitely want to make the trip again soon!

InstaFriday

We are on vacation this week. Phone camera is working overtime. Here are some photos from our week.

Sunday: We flew out of LAX earlier in the morning. Not the best flight time but it gave us the afternoon to travel across the Gulf Coast with stops along the way.

Monday: Beach day

Tuesday: Dinner @ Fish House in Pensacola, FL

Wednesday: Happy 4th! We had a busy day! We met friends at the beach, toured lighthouse @ NAS Pensacola, National Aviation Museum, dinner @ McGuirre's in Pensacola, and fireworks.

Thursday: We went on a swamp tour. Way too cool!

Kid with a camera! Can't help but be goofy.

Thanks for stopping by. It has been a fun and exciting week of adventures for our family. A great vacation before the hubby leaves for more training. Highs and lows is the name of the game in the military.