Disneyland and Mexican Cruise

For Christmas, James and I got Disneyland passes for each other. We used to say that if your child needs to be in a stroller, then you shouldn't bring them to Disneyland--they are too young to enjoy it and will never remember it! That's what we used to say. Now I get it and sorry to those of you that hate walking behind someone with a stroller. But, tough "bleep." After getting the passes, we took Charlotte two Sundays in a row. We have slowed down a little though and only make it down about once every three weeks. I love it. These pictures are from the first couple of visits we made. You'll notice that there aren't pictures of her on rides. We took her on a couple the first day, but she got really freaked out and we mostly walked around. She L-O-V-E--D meeting the characters, however. She goes ape you-know-what over Goofy. Why Goofy? I don't know!

Here we are riding the tram to go to Disneyland for the first time.

She loves Goofy (??????).

She loves Pooh too.

This is what happened when Minnie went on break before we could see her.

Mexican Riviera Cruise--March 2009

View from our verandah.

Charlotte on the lido deck.

Eating...

Welcome to Mazatlan.

Cousins Carol and John in the "taxi" next to us. We were taking unscenic route through the city.

Doing the Mexican hat dance!

She was obsessed with the mini bar.

Hanging out in the shower (?).

Cabo San Lucas

On our way to get a beer in Cabo.

Charlotte helping to pack by finding things in the closet.

Sunset somewhere off the coast of Mexico.

Merry Christmas Two Months Later

Wow, it has been forever since I have posted pictures! I don't have just one excuse, there are many. First of all, the month of December we all got the flu and were down for the count. Charlotte and James got the worst of it but I was the lucky one cleaning up all the throw up and running the show (dog and pony show!). It was absolutely disgusting around here for a couple of weeks. If that much vomit came out of someone elses kid I would have run away. Ugh. I would love to report that we were all feeling better by Christmas, but that was not the case! Charlotte had an ear infection and was a complete Grumplestilskin on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Poor thing. I was home on vacation until January 7, and that together time seemed to do the trick. Charlotte slowly but surely felt better and I have to admit that it was nice having her be so cuddly. Oh, James? He recovered too! The other excuses involve being overworked, underpaid, and just a little bit lazy too.

I decided that since I am so far behind on the pictures I will catch you guys up on the Christmas/December photos and my next post will include some pics from our first trip (and second trip) to Disneyland as well as our cruise. Below are a few pictures of Charlotte decorating our Christmas tree, enjoying cookies on Christmas Eve, and opening presents on Christmas morning.

She was very careful with the ornaments and didn't break a single one the whole
time the tree was up!

C is for cookie...

That's good enough for me...

Charlotte's work table.

I would love to say she's picking a book to read, but more likely to throw.

Christmas Day!!!

James picked out a doll to give Charlotte. It's her baby.

When she opened the Elmo doll she immediately found her Elmo video and did some comparing.

Helping Daddy.

A giraffe from Grandma Linda.

Happy Halloween and Update on the Pets

What better costume than a monkey? Charlotte is definately not the princess or angel type this year! She seemed to enjoy dressing up and stomping around in her suit and we actually went trick-or-treating for the first time. First, we stopped by our neighbor Celina's and then down the street to visit neighbor Kristine and her new baby Haiden. We scored some seriously yummy goodies. Along the way we ran into some of our other neighbor friends trick-or-treating and got a chance to look at their costumes.

Charlotte was helping James test his fog machines and set up the tombstones.

I had dressed up earlier in the day to celebrate with my kids at school and decided to dress up with Charlotte too.

We recently had a scare with Moo Moo and are happy to report that she is doing much better. We discovered that she has hyperthyroidism (nice, huh?) and had to have a radioactive injection to destroy the little tumor on her thyroid. While at the lab (literally) they discovered a mass in her abdoment. I thought I was going to die. Luckily it's benign but it's the size of an orange and will need to be removed once she has regained some of her stamina. We are optomistic, but hope you will all say a little kitty prayer for her. She is 15 years old but I know she has a few more years left in her.

Moo Moo is the little one in front. Caesar is the fatty in the back.

Caesar making a spectacle of himself as usual.

It wouldn't be fair to not include our other baby Piper. She is the best doggie in the whole world. For real. Here she is enjoying the beach in Oxnard.

And, I thought we'd end with a cute shot of Charlotte at the zoo.

Charlotte's Crazy Summer!

Summer was full of action for all of us. I continued to work through June (end of one school year) and July (beginning of another school year), and finally went off track in August. During my six weeks off we redecorated Charlotte's room and condensed our "office" into a computer hutch in our bedroom. The end result is Charlotte has her very own room finally, and we can get on the computer now. Woo Hoo!

In addition to hanging around INSIDE the house--it was hot as hades out here--Charlotte found time to visit most members of her family. In June, we celebrated her one year birthday at Grandma Helen's and spent time with family and friends. Later that weekend, James' Uncle Nick, Aunt Anna and cousins Wendy and Paige visited from Michigan. It's always special to see them! In August, Grandma Linda was able to come for a week long visit. During her visit we decided to drive to San Diego and visit Grammy the Great and to meet Charlotte's sisters. I had met her sisters prior to her birth, but this was the first time that they had seen Charlotte. It was a very special afternoon for them and for us. A week later, we went to Palm Srpings for our annual week long vacation and we were joined by cousins Kerri and Clare. I believe they had fun playing with Charlotte and scrapbooking with me. And, last but not least we stopped by Aunt Katie and Uncle Brian's house on the return trip home from our vacation to BBQ and hang out.

Time flies--I have returned to my 5th grade class, the weather is getting colder, and we are planning for Halloween now. I hope to have some fun pictures of Charlotte in her costume soon!

Love the shades.

Cousin Wendy is right, the Winne the Pooh ride along is the greatest gift in the world for a toddler!

Exploring post it notes.

Dog days of summer.

Charlotte was very excited to stop at the petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano (on the way to San Diego).

Feeding the bunnies and goats with Grandma Linda.


Ni--ce goat. Ni--ce is one of Charlotte's first words.


Charlotte with her older sisiters Rachel and Vanessa.

With Grammy the Great!


In Palm Springs with Kerri and Clare.


Spending special time with Daddy...and a duck.