Disneyland Visit #2

Even though our planned-months-ago trip was pretty much rained out this weekend we STILL managed to have some fun :-)  The girls loved Disneyland a lot more this time but were also scared by more things than they were before!  When we first got there it was raining pretty hard so we decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe to kill some time.  As we were being seated the hostess said "Are the gorillas ok?"  I just nodded because I had no idea what she meant....Yaaaaaa cue huge animatronic (sp?) gorillas going off every 10 minutes.  It was an interesting lunch to say the least hehe.  It was still raining like crazy so we went to our rooms for naps.  We then had a nice dinner at the Storytellers Cafe and then donned our ponchos and headed into the park :-)  We managed to do a few rides before the girls were ready to crash--they LOVED Pirates of the Caribbean this time!  On the way back to our room Lu entertained everyone we passed by yelling "Yayyyyyy" and throwing her arms up in the air (she thinks the stroller is a ride lol).  In the morning we got up super early to get into the park an hour early and managed to get a number of rides done rain-free.  This time we avoided Pinocchio (the girls hateddddd it last time) and tried out Peter Pan for the first time (which they loved) and Dumbo.  Of course we had to do Astro Blasters a few times since the girls love that one so much.  We met a lovely group of young girls all at Disneyland for their first time and they wanted to know where the girls first-time pins were....I laughed and said "Oh these girls??  They're veterans!"  People might think we're crazy for taking them so often because of the price and the fact that they won't remember but since they're free until 3 and we have season passes the money isn't really an issue.  So what if they won't remember?  We do and even though it can be stressful, tiring, and down-right miserable (when it rains) we love the memories and the time we get to spend with them.  I also try to take enough pictures so that they can remember through the pictures (at nearly 1.5 the girls have SEVEN large photo albums of their first year and a half!).  We ended our trip by riding It's a Small World and then grabbing some sugary treats for the drive home.  Even though the trip didn't go quite as planned, it worked for us and I can't say it enough but we have some pretty awesome kids that go-with-the-flow!  It was also a great birthday weekend for me and I know I said this last year but I will say it every year:  my birthday became the greatest day ever since the one I had TWO years ago when I found out I was pregnant.  The years have flown by and at the same time I feel like the girls have always been a part of our lives :-)

Lu wanted to "love" all the Bullseyes

She said "hi! hey!" to every single one

The good thing about rain is it really empties the park :-)

It's a Small World

Lu wanted to take pictures

Halloween 2012!

Our kids were actually awake this Halloween!  Crazy huh?  Hehe.  Check out our Halloween last year: http://www.mcewansplus2.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-fun.html & http://www.mcewansplus2.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkins-and-princesses.html

This year was still very low key for us as dad and mom are always exhausted from working on the house :-)  We decided to let the girls finger paint on their pumpkins, then dance around in their Minnie outfits.

Lu was a little hesitant to stick her hands in the finger paint and preferred using a paintbrush.  She really got into painting her pumpkin and even moved on to painting the stem when her canvas seemed full :-)

Emma loved putting her fingers in every single color and wanted to hold the colors which really meant she just kept dumping them on herself!  Good thing mom is a preparer...I had a waterproof blanket down, covered by a cheap plastic table cloth, then I bought $4 leggings and sweatshirts in black from Target (just in case the paint wasn't truly washable).  It all ended up really well--the pumpkins turned out adorable and the girls cleaned up very easily--can't ask for much more!

Emma's pumpkin

Olivia's pumpkin

Quick Trip To Lombardis!

We have been so busy lately and it feels like October is going to pass us by before we know it!  We thought we better at least run into Lombardis to let the girls run around and play.  Here are some pictures from their adventures:

So many pumpkins!

I like this one!

This is definitely THE ONE

You're right Mom, this one is more sensible!

Home Sweet Home *For Reals*

Today we finally closed on our house!  These last few weeks have been trying, stressful, and at times just plain awful but it's over...we are officially residents of Agua Dulce!  Since everything finalized late in the day there was really no point in trying to accomplish anything so we just decided to take the girls over and let them run around for a bit exploring their new surroundings (Dozer as well).  Tomorrow we will start cleaning the place out, painting, and restoring the wood floors.  I'm very much looking forward to physical stress as opposed to the mental stress we've been dealing with hehe.  Here are some pictures from today:

This step is tricky business!

For the most part Emma's got the hang of the step...

You would think we never let them run around!

...still working on this step...

I promise to behave myself :-)

The girls' room (minus the dune buggies of course)

Dozer out exploring

The house is really ours!

Home Sweet Home

We are soooo close to no longer being homeless!  Yay!!  I haven't wanted to share too many details about our house hunting recently because it's mostly been depressing but we are finally in the homestretch and in 1 short week we will move into our dream house!  When we decided to put our house up for sale we had a very specific idea of what we wanted to leave behind and what we wanted to move forward with.  However, with the housing market being what it is, and such a low housing inventory,  our "dream home" seemed elusive.  Factor in our VERY picky standards and, well, it seemed we might be living out of boxes at my parents for some time.  We had several features our new home needed to fulfill:

*Lots of space: we intend on growing our family!
*Land: we both grew up with huge backyards and wanted that for our girls too.
*Privacy: we are homebodies and truly enjoy hanging out in our own space with few distractions like neighbors, noise, traffic, etc.
*Location: short distance to freeway as Alex commutes but far enough away to have our privacy and a short distance from a town/schools.
*Move-in Ready: we certainly don't mind projects but we needed something we could comfortably move into with two 1-year olds.

That all being said....I present to you our new home...2.5 acres of heaven in Agua Dulce:

We fell in love with this house right away but it was investor-owned and he wasn't so easy to deal with but we hung in there and it paid off :-)  With a little love it is practically move-in ready.  The property is within walking distance to the elementary school and very close to the town and freeway yet far enough away from everything that all you hear is horses and roosters.  This is our forever home and we are so excited to move our little family in!  The main house has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths and the guest house over the garage has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.  There's so much land we can't decide what we want to do first but all that matters is this is what we want for our family.  Don't get me wrong, we love Santa Clarita and all it has to offer but we wanted something different for our girls.  We want them to be able to run around, explore, build things, tear things down, get bug bites, scrap their knees, learn to love and care for their animals, and so much more, all in a setting that's safe and allows them to develop into the bright young women we know they'll be.  Alex and I both grew up outside--and by that I mean playing outside, for hours, until we were dragged back in the house.  We didn't really feel our girls would have that same experience at our house in Saugus and so we saved and saved and saved some more so that we could give them what we feel is the absolute best chance at being a kid. 

The next several weeks are going to be quite busy for us but living out of boxes with two 1-year olds has been challenging to say the least so I'm ready for whatever lies ahead!  We are so appreciative to my parents and my little sister who graciously opened their doors to us during our "homeless" period.  My sister happily moved her belongings into the office so that we could have her room and the one next to it (for the girls) with a jack and jill bathroom,  my mom moved her "office" into the dining room, and my dad allowed us to park our nine zillion vehicles (ok, I'm exaggerating but 4 vehicles for two people is still a lot, and yes I'm embarrassed we have that many cars) in his "beautiful" driveway :-) Our clothes have been hanging on two garment racks in my parents' pool room and we have God knows what else stored under their pool table.  The girls' wagon and surplus toys have taken over my parents' garage and I won't even mention what my parent's poor family room looks like since it became the "playroom."  On top of ALL THAT, we have a storage unit packed to the ceiling and a pod packed to the ceiling.  It is most definitely time to get into our own space!  I will be a little sad to lose all my built-in babysitters (thanks mom and dad!) and I really want to take this time to say how thankful I am for my little sister.  Natalie: I cannot express to you in words how pleasantly surprised I've been by how helpful you've been with the girls.  You made each and every day so much easier on me by playing with them, filling sippy cups, tying shoes, dishing out (and sharing) yogurt, allowing me to use the bathroom uninterrupted, and in general for just being another adult I could have adult conversations with :-)  I know moving back home after college wasn't at the top of your to-do list but having you here made all the difference to me!  Please, please, please don't move to Seattle, me and the girls will miss you terribly!

Well, there you have it, the end of one adventure and the start of another!