Disneyland Part 2

We stayed at the Desert Inn and Suites right across from the park.  There we are entering Disneyland, and there's our hotel right behind us.  It was great.  Last year we tried to save a couple hundred dollars and stay at one that had like a 12 minute walk.  With 4 kids who are tired by the end of the day and want to be pushed in the stroller or carried... this was the way to go.

So here we go!  Day One...

We always do Peter Pan first.

I'm pretty sure Brynnlee didn't remember much about Disneyland last year, so this was kind of like her first time.

She was nervous.

Then we went to Toon Town.  I don't think we came to Disneyland at a good time. It was hot, and super crowded.  We weren't sure if it was so much more crowded this year because of the new Cars Land that opened up, or if we were too close to the Spring-breakers... but either way... the lines were longer this time.

Brynnlee spent a lot of time playing in the water fountain while the brothers rode the roller coaster.

When we got to Splash Mountain we split up.  I took Jaden...

...then Charles took Bradley and Jaden.  It was supposed to be Kaleb's turn, but he opted for Winnie the Pooh with Brynnlee and me.  We were a little surprised because he loved Splash Mountain last year.  Bradley took his very first ride and was a champ. His face might show fear, but he was begging to ride again and again.

Last year we tried to make sandwiches to bring in, or buy food from the outside to eat inside the park... but this year we just bought the food there.  And these kids eat a lot.  Charles had to keep going back for more.  $40 per meal.  Ouch.  Maybe next time we will plan better.

Then it was time for Brynnlee's nap, so we rode Pirates.

Another First, was the Haunted Mansion.  None of the kids had ever wanted to ride it in the past.  The only part I thought might freak them out was when the ghost appears to be riding with you when you look in the mirror.  And guess which point we were on the ride when it broke down?

Then we spent some time over in Tomorrowland hitting Buzz, Star Tours, Buzz, the Orbitor, Buzz and... Oh right. Buzz. I usually am busy trying to take pictures of the kids on all the rides, but this year I played more.

This is the Orbitor, or as the kids call it, the "Rocket Ride."  I hate this one.  It scares me to death.  I always feel like I am going to fall out.  But I went with them anyway.

When we only had a couple hours left, we asked the kids to choose their favorite ones.  Splash Mountain for Jaden and Bradley, and Mr. Toad/Carousel/Tea Cups and parade for Kaleb and Brynn.

The last hour of Disneyland was when we had the most fun.  Guess no one wanted to get wet that late in the evening and so there was no line.  We rode Splash Mountain 4 more times.

Charles had fun walking onto all the rides with Kaleb and Brynnlee too.  The parade was going on, so they didn't have lines either.

Brynnlee thought she was so cool and so brave riding the tea cups with her hands in the air.

Now she does it in the car too.

We rode and rode till the park closed and they wouldn't let us ride anymore.  My cell phone battery died and I hadn't made plans with where to meet back up with Charles.  Luckily just about every other person has a cell phone nowadays, so after scanning the park looking for just the right stranger to approach, I found a young mother of 2 and borrowed hers.

We made it back to the hotel, and I bathed the kids while Charles waited an hour in line at McDonalds for dinner.  Everyone crashed.

We booked 2 adjoining rooms this time.  We put Brynnlee to bed in one room and the rest of us watched TV in the other while we waited for her to fall asleep.   Then Charles and I crept back into that room, leaving the boys in the other, and everyone slept well.

Disneyland Part 1

Well... we decided to take the kids to Disneyland again.  We wanted to wait another year, but since we had used Disneyland as bribery to get Jaden and Kaleb to do reading lessons at home, Bradley knew it was his turn.  

In fact, I wasn't even planning to do reading lessons with Bradley.  Call me lazy, call me pooped out on my 3rd child, or whatever you want.  But I worked hard forcing the first 2 kids to sit through those lessons and learn to string some sounds together into words.  But.  Here's my issue.  Was it worth it?  Yes we got to go to Disneyland, but come on... it's Disneyland.  We would have taken them anyway. 

I decided to teach them to read at home, because I have noticed that boys struggle more than girls in that area.  I figured that math and science would come easy to them, so I wanted to give them a jumpstart on literacy.  And they did.  They were "ahead of the class."  

For like 5 minutes.  

Now neither of them are ahead and they are struggling.  Not only that, but both Jaden and Kaleb hate to read.  I mean hate it.  It is a fight to get them to do their reading for homework everyday.  Neither of have the joy of reading books.  Which I think is sad.  I hope this will change.

So I guess what I'm saying is that, I'm not sure those hours and hours of working with the kids early on even did very much for them, and I'm not sure if my forcing them to do these lessons played a role in the way they feel towards reading today.  Who knows, maybe they hate it so much because they are boys.  Maybe it's because they are young and still learning.  Maybe it's because they would rather be out playing with friends.  I don't know.  What I did know, was that I was no longer motivated and so I wasn't going to push Bradley.

I didn't push Bradley.

I didn't even take him to the store to pick out little prizes for him to earn along the way.  He brought the lesson book to me.  Everyday.  He wanted to read.  He wanted to go to Disneyland.  There were days when I was just exhausted from being a mom and had to tell Bradley, "No, we're not reading today."  What?!  How does that happen? But Bradley wanted to learn.  

And so I taught him.  

I was a little nervous because I didn't want this to squash his desire to read, but I also couldn't turn him down.  When we were about 2/3 through the lessons, we realized that if we were going to take them to Disneyland it would need to be in a couple weeks, or wait till October.  I kind of think we should have waited until October, but there were some issues going on at Charles' work that swayed my decision to go sooner than later.

Bradley wanted to surprise his brothers with the trip.  He actually did the first half of his 100 lessons without them even knowing.  But... he was excited.  And the news slowly came out.  So Charles and I decided we would surprise them all since Bradley hadn't actually completed all 100 lessons, and we needed to make the trip earlier.  We let it slip so many times, we were amazed that the kids didn't know what was going on when we pulled up to our hotel in Anaheim.

Poor Jaden was torn.  He wanted to  go to Disneyland, but he had just spoken with his Grandma Socci on the phone a few days earlier and had told her that we would be there that day.  He was worried about hurting her feelings by not showing up.

Jaden Turns 9

This year was a little different when it came to what Jaden wanted for his birthday.  In the past it has always been toys. Legos mostly. But always some sort of toy. This year he didn't ask for a single one. All he wanted was name brand clothes.  Nike to be exact.

I have to admit I was a little shocked.  He's only 9 for goodness sakes!  I don't remember getting into that until like Jr. High! And these long black socks... I thought he was crazy for wanting to wear that.  Then I started paying attention to what the older boys in his school was wearing. Yep.  Basketball shorts, long black socks and Nike shoes. I thought I was being such a cool mom, picking out some nice outfits from Old Navy, that I thought were in style.  Nope. He just wants to wear Nike basketball shorts "that don't show his knees," and a T-shirt.

Jaden is also very into Minecraft.  He plays on Grandpa's server every Sunday.

Jaden was a little nervous about having a birthday party this year.  We had just moved to South Jordan and hadn't had much time to make new friends.  He invited a lot of kids from the old neighborhood, but he also had 3 or 4 new friends attend.

Here, they are designing and building their own catapults.  Charles and I are the Webelos leaders in cub scouts and we had just done this activity with our scouts.  Our own kids thought it looked so fun they wanted to do it too, and then Jaden wanted to do it at his party.

When they finished, they set themselves up on 2 sides and armed themselves with marshmallows, ready to battle.

Pizza for lunch...

The balloon stomping game...

Cake...

...and presents.

Happy Birthday Jaden. Keep being the kind and compassionate kid you have always been. Your brothers look up to you and think the world of you. So do we. And stop growing up, would ya?!

Jaden at 9:
~Still an obedient and helpful child
~Still super sensitive
~Has more of a sweet tooth like his mom
~Still gets up, dressed, fed and his lunch made before I even wake up in the morning.  He likes to get up early so he "has time to watch his favorite TV shows."
~Loves to read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
~Is VERY good at math and memorization
~Can be too hard on himself
~Makes friends pretty easily
~Takes care of others
~Likes basketball
~Worries if his socks are not even
~Taught himself to ride the ripstick in a weekend
~Listens to adult conversations a lot more than I think he does... watch out!