Disneyland with Princess Jasmine x2

This was such a fun trip to Disneyland! One of the best! Katie and Andrew came with us and we loved having them along to share our day.

When we were approaching Disneyland and sitting at the red light on the corner of Harbor Blvd and Ball Road (you can't really see Disneyland yet because an overpass is in the way), Libby starts pointing and squealing and waving her arms in excitement. She knew! She knew where we were! She is 18 months old and she knows the approach to the Happiest Place on Earth - How cool is that!

We ended up parking in the Jesse Parking Lot, not the best, but it wasn't too bad. There were plenty of buses shuttling people from the Toy Story parking lots as opposed to the minimal number of buses that transported people from the Pongo parking lot last November. I don't like having to park in the overflow parking lots because that just means the whole day will be nothing but crowds and long lines. This was true in some parts of the park, but in other areas it really wasn't bad at all.

We got in the ticket line because I needed a new annual pass. There wasn't anyone in the lines for tickets! We were at the window swiping my credit card in no time. This time I added the parking pass to it. It was expensive, but taking these little princesses to the Happiest Place on Earth is well worth it when they are this enchanted by the Disney magic. And, we made Walt happy, right?

We went up Main Street, through the castle, up and inside the castle to see the Sleeping Beauty story, rode the carousel, went through the Small World, saw the Princesses, toured Toon Town, rode Winnie the Pooh, and went to the Tiki Room. All of those things were very very fun. But the highlights of the day were the Celebration Street Party Parade where Gracie got to dance with Pooh Bear and the Princess Tiana Show where Gracie got to go up and dance with Tiana and play a tambourine! We also tried two rides for the first time: The Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland caterpillar ride.

The Pirate ride was pretty dark and scary, but we made it through without any crying. A wee bit of screaming, but that was just me. You ride a boat through this ride, very similar to Small World. But as you go into a dark tunnel, your boat takes a dive down a steep slope. Not far, but far enough that you sploosh at the bottom of the slope and get splashed. Then, it happens again. This is right where Libby woke up from her nap. In the dark pirate cove in a boat, splashed with cold water while falling down a river. She was wide-eyed and clung to me fast and hard through the whole ride. Gracie clung to Katie for dear life through the first half of the ride, then when we finally got to the cute puppets, she was fine and had fun. When we left the ride, Gracie was singing "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me", so I think she had a good time on that ride.

The Alice in Wonderland ride is one I've never been brave enough to try. The reason is: back in June of 1997 when Katie was 8 and Lexie was 6, we stood in line for this ride. It was a hot day and the shade of the two big trees was refreshing while standing in that long line. We worked our way back and forth toward the front of the line when the unthinkable happened. Directly overhead, a big fat bird in the tree released all of his pent up poop and it landed ON MY HEAD! This must have been a 5 gallon bird. It was all over my head, down my neck, on my shoulder and down my front and my back and on my arm. I screamed under the white slime and the crowd parted like I was Moses. I ran screaming and people pointed the way to the bathroom as I ran by looking like a horror film character. The ladies room had a line, but everyone backed away and let me through and I stuck my head in the sink and tried to wash up as best I could. Of course, nobody helped me, ewww, yuck. Luckily, my long hair was pulled back tight, gelled and braided, so it didn't penetrate much through my helmet hair. I was able to wash off pretty good but now my shirt was poopy and wet too, so I ran over to the nearest gift shop and bought a new shirt. When I got back to the Alice in Wonderland ride to meet up with my husband and daughters (pre-cell phone era, I was just hoping they'd be there), I saw them emerging from the ride on a caterpillar. The girls were all smiles. Since that day, I haven't been brave enough to stand under those trees in the Alice in Wonderland ride again.

Today, we did it. We waited till it was dark to avoid birds. It worked! We successfully made it to the caterpiller cars and boarded a pink caterpillar! Poop Free! The little car went into the ride and just as we entered the "rabbit hole" and went over the little peak for the gentle drop into the rabbit hole and Alice's Wonderland when our caterpillar car jerked to a complete stop. We were maybe 3 or 4 feet into the ride. All the lights came on and an announcement that the ride was broken, stay put and a Disney cast member would come help us soon. 20 minutes later, they found us in the rabbit hole and let us out of our caterpillar. We had to walk through part of the ride and they opened an emergency exit door and let us out.

Score: Alice 2, Mary 0.

Oh, by the way, the Princess Jasmine costumes were a big hit! The girls were comfortable, the costumes held together and they were just adorable! We heard comments from people all day long about how cute the little Jasmines were. Here is a pic of both of them. Libby didn't get beads, but now that I had to spend a day man-handling her all day, I'm glad I skipped the beads on her outfit. Here are both the girls in all their Princess Jasmine Glory.

Pooptacular!

Someday, Libby is really not going to like me for retelling this story.

Gracie pooped in her potty chair, I know, she's still not going in the toilet and if she would this probably wouldn't have happened... So she pooped this gigantic turd in her little potty chair and then stood up. Libby, the little observer, was standing there watching and was very impressed by this turd. She reached out and GRABBED IT!

Then, her little poopy hand was headed for her mouth, I imagine to lick off the mess? Mouth wide open, tongue out, hand getting closer, Me flying through the air screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I got there just in the nick of time and held her arm away from her face. Got her scrubbed up with LOTS of soap and water and still managed to get G's butt wiped and the turd flushed. We really avoided a near catastrophe!

If there are any poop events in the Olympics, I would win the Gold!

Tidbits not big enough to Qualify as Ramblings

Lots of little topics today:

Libby is constipated. Hey, don't look shocked! If you are going to read my blog, you are going to hear about Poop once in a while. This child is a poop champ and never fails to fill her diaper to capacity or beyond a couple of times a day. Well, today begins day #4 of nothing accomplished on that end. She's fussy and her belly is pretty dang big. I think she's gonna explode any time. Gosh, I sure hope so! Watch Out, World! And hold your noses!

Teeth are coming in. Libby got a new top tooth this past week. She knows it too, she grins like she's showing off a full set. So cute! And sharp.

The happy little couple had a busy week of newlywed bliss. Katie had jury duty and she had to run around getting her name changed and getting her car in her name instead of her dad's. That was a wedding gift, she no longer has to make payments on her car and she got the title. Of course, the courthouse, the county offices and the DMV are nowhere near each other. But, she got it all done, jury duty, wedding paperwork, and car registration! Plus went to the insurance company and the bank and whatever else she had on her list. Andrew had to work at the Navy recruiting office all week. Plus, his ring didn't fit so they were back at forth at the jeweler's getting that done. They managed to spend time with us, and time with Andrew's family and time with their friends too. Married life is busy! On Saturday morning Andrew flew back to South Carolina and Katie is here waiting for him to line up housing and all that jazz. It could be a couple of weeks or a couple of months while they live on opposite coasts.

I filled my mini-van with newborn baby things and cleared out some storage space. Sad to let the newborn things go, but glad to reclaim some space again! There are two newborn babies who we are passing thing on to. One is a baby boy in Las Vegas who probably doesn't need anything but he's getting it anyway since we're friends. His name is Eden and he's getting a bouncy chair, exersaucer and a small bag of baby boy clothes. Not sure why I have boy clothes, but I do. The other baby is here in town, a little girl named Ella. She's a week old now and already has enough of a life story that she could write a book! Here is a blog with her story; in summary for anyone who doesn't click to it: she was born to a prison inmate and her 19 yr old half-brother (college student) from her father's side got custody of her until inmate-mom's release in 4 yrs. Poor little kid doesn't have anything so I was more than happy to donate. There will be a baby shower for her soon, so she'll be loaded up and ready for anything shortly. But, I was able to pass on my bassinet, pink bouncy chair, baby monitor that I never use, baby gym, soft carrier, tons of baby clothes, blankets and whatever else I tossed in the back of the van. It was full! It really feels good to pass on the baby things. I tried to sell them on Craigslist, but everyone is selling everything and nobody is buying (darn economy!). And I tried to donate them, but I missed the truck when it came by picking up donations. Finally, I have cleared my little space of things I'll never use again. I'm sure it'll fill up fast since Gracie and Libby are growing quickly!

I'm working on getting a space set up for my sewing machine and my new serger. I still haven't even taken it out of the box! I found a group of women online who post tips and tricks and projects and all sorts of discussions about using the same serger machine that I have. It's called Viking 936 Users. That'll be me! As soon as I get it out of the box! I need to look into the classes that are offered at JoAnn Fabrics so I can learn how to use my new machine. It's a lot like rocket science and brain surgery; ok, it's not. But I still think taking the class would help a lot!

We went to a birthday party yesterday for an adorable 4 yr old. The party was in a backyard pool in Vista. The sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day! I put sunscreen on the girls, but I see now that I missed spots on Gracie. I didn't get it rubbed in right up to her straps, so she has a little bit of sunburn right on the edges where her swimsuit straps were. And I didn't account for her perpetual swimsuit wedgie. Her little cheeks are red! Oooops! Why can't they make swimsuits that don't ride up anyway?

Sounds like everyone got home just fine and enjoyed their vacations to Southern California. It was so nice to have all of our families out here to celebrate our daughters' big events with us. Gracie wants her cousins to come back; she's been wondering where they are. She wants to go to the beach and look for them, maybe they are there. Cousins! Come Back!

My Birthday Today, Poop and Scary boys - What a day!

Today is my birthday. I'm not big on celebrating my birthday or anything, but I did hope to have a nice day. And I did. I'm on a diet, so no birthday cake or excess calories that will bring guilt to me tomorrow.

The teens took me out for the afternoon and we left Toddle-Pants and Daddy at home. The girls and I went to get pedicures! Ooooh, nice! It was really nice. So good to be pampered. Who knew spending $70 on your toes could make you feel so wonderful! So, the three of us have very pretty toes now. Woo hooo! Then we went shopping for some pretty sandals to show off my pretty toes. Found a couple of pairs of capri pants too. I always want more of those since I tend to get food, boogers, slobber, and other misc goo wiped or hugged onto my legs. It was a wonderful afternoon with my girls.

But just before we left for our nice afternoon, we had a little poop crisis. Warning: Stop reading this post now! The rest is just disgusting! I am not responsible for any reaction you might have while reading the rest of this post!

So.. I'm changing Gracie's diaper earlier today.... it was just a wet diaper, no big deal. Then the phone rang, so I let her "air out" while I chatted on the phone for a few minutes.

While she's running around with a nakid butt, Daddy let her and the dog out. He didn't know she was going commando. He's out there tinkering with the grill that isn't working today, Gracie is playing in her dirt spot under the orange tree with "balls" (oranges), and Sandy is taking a crap under the trampoline. Fine, I'm on the phone.

After a bit, here comes Gracie running in. She has dog poop all over her foot! Ewwww! She stepped in it!!! And she has a muddy hand. Mud? Where would she find mud to play in? Ewww, that's poop too!!! GROSS!!! Then I realize... I never finished diapering her. oh no, please no!

Oh Yes! it's HER poop! She pooped in her dirt spot and then picked it up and gave it a good squeeze! Ewww! Yuck, I'll scoop up the yard later she needs a bath now! I yelled at the dog cuz the dog was sniffing her poo. Ok, that's just gross.

I hauled her upstairs for a bath. She had poop on her legs and her foot and hand were totally disgusting! After a nice bath with lots of soap and water and scrubbing, I have a clean girl again! Lets get that diaper on, shall we?

Clean diaper, clean clothes, yippee! Now I just need to go clean up the yard. It's time anyway, I haven't scooped up dog turds for a couple of days. Bad, I know. So, I went out to scoop, and Whaaah? Where are Gracie's turds? They're gone!

I ask the grill master... did you go out and scoop up her turds? Thinking, he should have scooped up the dog schite too! Why would he only clean up her poop and not the dog poop? Men are weird. He says "No, I didn't". Me: "What? Please tell me you did, cuz they're gone! Gracie's poop is missing!" Keith: "Oh, No! Oh, Gross! That stupid dog!"

The dog ate Gracie's poop!!!!

While I'm carrying out the sack of dog crap that I picked up... since the dog doesn't eat her own schite, just Gracie's. You should know that we have the zero lot lines which is how I met Lexie's scary friend. I have to come in the house with my sack of dog turds and go out the front door to take it out. So, I open the front door and some ugly teenage kid is standing right there with his hand up to knock!

I screamed!
I jumped!
I yellled!! Oh My God!!!

The poor kid was here to see Lexie, and I screamed in his face. I didn't know he was there and he really startled me! My ever so easily amused husband starts laughing so hard he just might pee his pants and the kid looks frightened, very frightened. I said to him... "You scared Me!"

So then I yelled to Lexie, since I'd already made a fool of myself, "your scary friend is here!" The whole time, I'm holding a bag of poop.