Easter weekend

Sarah performed in her first dance recital (or, in Sarah's words, "dance recycle") on Saturday.  She was a snake from the Jungle Book.  And it was very, very cute.

This is Sarah and another little girl performing their dance.  There were about 12 girls in her group.   (sorry, not a great photo)

In the midst of our normal weekend "busyness" we managed to have an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  Freezing cold.  And yes, they are wearing their pajamas!! 

I snapped a few photos of the "littles" before our mad dash to make it to church on time.  Wanted a group shot, but just didn't have time. 

So I took a few of Sarah's dress after church (she was the only willing subject at that point!)  I love this dress, and Sarah does, too! 

Spring has been s.l.o.w. to arrive in our neck of the woods.  Our trees are just starting to bud... but at least the grass is green!  We are supposed to get some more snow tomorrow.  :(

Hope you all had a happy Easter!  He is risen!

The Beach! (Spring Break, part 2)

This year we went to La Jolla to see a group of seals that enjoy sunning themselves on a beach there.

 You can just see the excitement on their faces.  ;)

 Here are some seals playing in the water....

and some resting on the sand.  It was pretty cool to see so many seals up close and not just at Sea World in an enclosure.   The kids were not as impressed as I thought they would be, but of course, they had other things on their minds.  So we hurried back to the beach to get down to business...

I could do a whole post about Jason and the beach.   All kids love the sand and surf, but Jason has a special love for the ocean.  When he was a baby, he loved to roll and roll in the sand.  Now he spends hours chasing the waves, watching the seagulls, and just being mesmerized by the whole experience.  He's my little beach bum, for sure. 

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau

Spring Break fun, part 1... in which we see the inside of the Matterhorn

So, we haven't been to Disneyland for three years, and since we live relatively close, we thought this year was the time to go.  Jason was just two the last time we went, and this was Sarah's first time.

Cute picture of Jason and Logan at the hotel pool.  

Just days before our trip, Jason crashed and burned on his bike and cut up the side of his face.  I was coming home from a soccer game and rounding the corner when I saw Logan carrying Jason into the house with blood streaming down his face.  Not something a mother wants to see, for sure.  :(

Anyway, after cleaning Jason up we decided to run him over to the medical clinic in our small town (fortunately it was open late) because one of the cuts was a little deep.  The doctor put dermabond (aka super glue) on it.  We've never had experience with dermabond before, but it worked great and the cut has healed nicely.   Whew. 

The first afternoon at Disneyland, we decide to ride the Matterhorn.  Both Jason and Sarah are tall enough now and love roller coasters.  So we hop in line and our family of seven takes up an entire bobsled.  ;)  All is going great until we get near the top of the ride, when suddenly, we jerk to a stop.  

Huh?  I don't remember this part. 

Then the attendant gets on the loudspeaker and tells us to stay in our bobsled with our seatbelts fastened and someone will be with us shortly to get us off the ride.  Off the ride?  We're near the top of a mountain.  ;)

After about ten minutes, a door opens, and two Matterhorn attendants tell us they are going to help us get off the ride.  We are told we will go through an exit that goes through the center of the matterhorn.  We are also told not to take pictures or video as we go down several flights of stairs inside the ride.  OK. 

The attendants were both very pleasant and professional about the whole thing and off we went, stepping over the tracks and going thru the exit door.  I don't know what I expected to see inside that mountain, but whatever it was, it was a little disappointing.  It was just a dusty, mountain-shaped room with a lot of  foam on the walls, scaffolding, and wiring.   We went down several flights of metal stairs and out a side gate back into the park.  Oh!  And for our troubles we were given a fast pass for all of us to ride any ride.  So that's our memorable Matterhorn story. 

Other Disney highlights....

Jason and Sarah both loved seeing the mama duck and her babies and insisted that I take several pictures each time we saw them. (just goes to show that the simplest pleasures are often the best!)

The teacups!

The goats were also a big hit with the littles.
(Goats at Disneyland?  Yep.)

Lightning McQueen (Jason's favorite)

Sarah chatting with Ariel...

and Jasmine.

The whole gang with Jessie and Woody.

and at Bug's Life.

We had a great time!  Got home this afternoon, we're all resting up and tackling the mountain of laundry.   :)