Taking a break-part 2.2 E's moment of a lifetime

My favorite part of Disneyland (and this is taking into consideration that huge plate of desserts at the princess lunch) was the Jedi training academy.  Even before I had kids I've wanted to have one of my kids be selected to do the training (no I'm not going to deny it, since they don't let adults do it, I was wanting to live vicariously through my kid-- I've become that kind of parent).  On our last day at Disneyland, we dressed him in his only Star Wars shirt, got there early to stand at the front of the crowd, made him stand up and look excited even though he was tired and the Jedi masters had arrived yet (just in case there were cameras watching- I already admitted to being that kind of parent so you can't judge me).  I could hear all the other parents giving their kids pep talks and coming up with a game plan to get them on stage, but I was convinced my kid was the only one with the Force strong enough to be worthy of becoming a Padawan learner.  Then the Jedi master arrived with his dramatic entrance, did his fancy lightsaber performance, and then motioned with his hand and carefully selected the participants.  I almost screamed when he picked two brothers that had shown up at the last minute and squeezed their way to the front of the crowd.  But then the moment I waited for all his life finally arrived--E WAS SELECTED!  (I may or may not have cried.) I nearly had a panic attack when I turned on the video camera and saw the "card full" message flashing at me.  My only option was to hastily delete videos as if my life depended on it (because nothing I could have possibly recorded in the past was as monumental as this moment).  E got robed in his official Jedi cloak and was given loaned a lightsaber. 

He then stood on his designated circle and watched attentively as he was being instructed in the ways of the Force and light sabering.

Of course, that was about the time that Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and the Storm Troopers arrived. (Maybe I got choked up a bit).

 One by one the kids battled them.

 

The Force was especially strong with E (a mother's intuition is never wrong) so the Storm Troopers went after him after he challenged Vader (yup only him-- I guess I'm not the only one who recognized him as the chosen one).

  

Luckily E was able to use the Force to push them back and flee to safety. (I can neither confirm nor deny tears at this point).

With the other kids, E rejected the dark side

and was accepted as an official Padawan Learner.

(Okay, I'll just say it, I was verklempt.)

And what made me giggle a little bit was after we left the training I looked down in the stroller and saw him trying to Force push things as we strolled past them.  Then in line at Space Mountain, he asked me if he still had his powers.  I told him that he probably didn't have them without his Jedi clothes on. (I only told him that so he didn't try to use his newfound abilities on his poor little sister). 

I was so happy I E got selected to have this experience.  I hope he remembers it. 

By the way, if my overly dramatic play by play and abundance of photos wasn't enough for you, feel free to watch the video.

Taking a break-Part 2.1 Miss A's big moment

About a week before we left on our trip I told Miss A we would be going to Disneyland.  She was super excited about going to the castle and meeting the princesses.  Then a light went off in my head.  I told my sweet little girl, who'd been wearing pull-ups since March and only pretending that she didn't know how to use the bathroom, that the princesses only met big girls and she could still wear baby diapers if she wanted but she would have to wear panties if she wanted to meet the princesses.  (It's okay to stretch the truth a little to get a stubborn child out of diapers right?)  I was testing fate trying to potty train a child right before traveling (that's what did our progress in last time), but my hopes that her motivation would pull us through the potentially soggy times.  She did, in fact, take the bait (which led us having to take her into an airplane bathroom more times on one flight then I think I've ever been in one my whole life) and by the end of the trip we still had all the extra clean changes of clothes still in her suitcase. 

When we finally made it to CA, She (and I) lucked out when daddy spotted a princess lunch and got the two of us a reservation.  

I had such a fun time watching my little princess's face light up when she saw the other princesses.  

I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed myself (especially because Miss A was distracted enough to allow me to eat my DELICIOUS meal)

No more diaper changing, A met her idols, I got one tasty meal. 

One satisfied mommy.  One promise fulfilled. One over-the-moon girl.

Definitely the happiest place on earth

Taking a break-part 2

I guess when you label a post "part 1" you have to follow it up with at least a part 2.  So let me pick up before I interjected with my crazy self assured daughter. (by the way, this is her as a barbie doll-- I was in the picture too until she informed me that I was not welcome to pose with her and essentially kicked me out of the box)

 

After leaving St. George we headed to Sunny California. I felt like my kids needed a more well rounded Disney theme park experience so I've been begging Br to let us go to Disneyland (I'll come up with an argument for Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo later).  I was able to work a little magic and we managed to spend a couple days with our good friend Mickey.  It was fun to see the kids experience some of their favorites from Florida (and point out the differences) -- Pirates of the Carribean went something like this "I not seen that before, I not seen that before, Look another bones, I not seen that before..." There were also tons of things new to them.  E finally got to ride Space Mountain and riding in a bobsled with my two-year-old thrill-seeker with arms raised as we zipped through the Matterhorn was priceless. Another thing CA has that FL doesn't is this--

and

For the purposes of this post we shall call it a pirate ship-- since of course any boat with a mast in the Melton house is a pirate ship. E had the time of his life exploring the ship--above and below deck.

 

For the first time we let the kids get autographs from their favorite friends. 

I'm glad I found the books at the dollar store because Miss A lost hers by the second day.  Oh and I swear E was more excited to see the characters than he looks in the pictures.   

Of course, we did a lot of walking in the street

But also took some breaks to dance in the street

We played make-believe inside and outside, night and day.

 We explored and made our own adventures

and of course, we rode rides.

 

Before leaving the coast we took a quick trip out to Santa Monica to visit cousin Cici and let Miss A see the ocean for the first time. 

 

This may seem cliche, but in the end, the best part of our trip was just spending time together. Thanks Br for finally giving in.

Confidence to spare

We were on our way home from a very eventful evening tonight and A was making sounds that were annoying E.  E said something like "you better stop or I'm going to say I don't like you".  The response went as follows:

A-"I like myself"

Br-"That's right. Oprah would be proud" 

Then quietly to me "She's her own kind of woman"

Then loudly from the backseat A-"I'm my own kind of woman".

When we pulled into the garage Br game me a little kiss (shhh. Don't tell him I told you) and the kids asked, "Why did you kiss?"

Br gave a very nice response which included "because I love her"

 to which A responded, "I love myself". 

No daily affirmations needed here.

Taking a break--part 1

E's Christmas break started early this year so in an attempt to beat the Holiday travel crowds we took a trip early in the month. Our adventures began with a quick but fun visit with our bestestes (yes that is a word) before we caught a super early morning flight to Las Vegas.  Br and I both guessed it would take E under 30 seconds to ask to play the slot machines and we were right. (A friend of mine once said that Chuck E Cheese was Vegas for toddlers so I guess from his perspective it was Chuck E Cheese for adults. I'm sure he was looking around for a giant mouse, tickets, and the prize counter.  I'm also a little curious as to if all the flashing lights triggered a hankering for bad pizza in either of the kids.)  My mom was coincidentally on vacation in Las Vegas so we stuck around and played a little after a nice breakfast with her.

Despite the nice visit with my mom, Vegas was actually not our intended destination so we got back in the rental car and headed to my Grandpa's house in St. George. Grandpa Hobbs' house is one of my happy places. We sometimes find it hard to make it out there, but we never regret what we had to sacrifice to make it happen.  Br and I were debating whether it would be too stressful to take our two high energy kids into such a calm house with so many things to look at touch.  I decided that no matter how stressful it might be for us, I really really wanted the kids to have Grandpa Hobbs memories of their own.  E was excited to go visit "the guy from Up!" (one day when he was watching Up! he spontaneously yelled out, "That's Grandpa Hobbs!"). I am SO GLAD we didn't take the "easy" way out because it was such an amazing experience to share with the kids.  They were so calm and happy the whole time we were there.  Besides the only tragic moment when a tiny bird statue became the only casualty of their busy hands.  The kids loved listening to his stories and telling him some of their own, listened carefully to his advice, and only fought over who got to sit on his lap while watching the Wizard of Oz and Snow White.  Luckily Grandpa had one leg for each kid and lots of love to go around.

 

 They had a fabulous time exploring the yard---especially during our game of hide-and-seek.
 
We even had a nice little walk down to the cemetery to say "hi" to Grandma. 

 
I know the strong Spirit in his home helped bring about the miraculous demeanor of my kids.  There were many great spiritual and personal things that happened for our family while in his home.  I will be eternally grateful for having such a wonderful man and priesthood holder as my Grandpa.  We are truly blessed to be his, and have him as ours.

Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year

 Love -The Meltons

An escape from reality

While I'm playing a little catch-up it would be crazy of me not to mention the best vacation I've ever had.  Early in November I went to visit the always fabulous Loralee Lewis.  I had the time of my life pretending I am a famous sugar artist.  It was so fun to spend some quality creative time with a person who inspires me so much.  I'm not kidding when I say that when I'm planning a party I often find myself asking "WWLLD?" (What would Loralee Lewis do?) We put together an almost surreal dinner party set in a lightly snow-dusted canyon next to a babbling brook.  Her design and inspiration brought out my girly and elegant side which rarely makes an appearance these days.  Unfortunately, I was too caught up dreaming up sugar creations, enjoying the breathtaking scenery, smiling so much my cheeks hurt, sitting peacefully doing what I love and of course eating chocolate cake for dinner with ladies I feel like I've known for a lifetime, to take pictures but I was able to steal some from her blog.  

  It was also nice to see some family (my fabulous aunties) and friends that feel like family.

Right after I returned back to reality my bestest (
Kelly) came up with her kiddos so she, her oldest, and I could attend the cake wrecks books signing.  People have you seen that website before?  You really should take a look.  It's quite amusing... even if you aren't into cakes. As part of the event, they invited people to bring cupcake versions of their favorite cake wrecks.  With so many to choose from I couldn't possibly pick just one so I attempted to recreate constipated Santa, the princess crown, the Gerber daisy and an homage to creepy baby shower cakes. 
 

I ended up winning a coveted Mohawk baby carrot jockey necklace. Try not to be too jealous. 
 
 There really isn't anything like making memories with friends that feel like family.