Month: July 2013

The kids woke up before 7 am, and Meg and the girls were out the door pretty quickly.  It was Abby’s birthday, and she was being surprised with a trip to the park!  She thought she was going to school, but they changed course.  We were about 30-45 minutes behind when all said and done, since we had to get showered and dressed, but took a different and faster route to the park.  We met up in the morning, and again in the afternoon at the new Mickey show.  It was such a great show that we saw it twice, and encouraged the Shih’s to come watch with us the second show.  We ate a quick dinner before going our separate ways.  We headed to our favorite shaved snow place close to home, and Peyton was out cold.  I even bonked her head on the door, trying to get her sweatshirt out, and she didn’t flinch.  She slept through her chance for dessert, while Brandon got to share our green tea ice.  He later claimed that the green tea ice kept him awake!

The next day, we were keeping it low-key in the morning.  We headed out for some errands, to get food for later on, and then met up with Dave’s parents for “lower salt, lower oil” Chinese food.  Somewhat of an oxymoron, but it was listed on the receipt as such.  We went back to the house to take naps, but Peyton fought it until she finally succumbed.  I did sleep as well, and then Dave woke me up to get ready first.  Of course, when I leave, Peyton knows and was heard whimpering.  She got ready, too, and we headed out.  Dave’s parents were taking the shuttle from their home town, while I was more finicky, and wanted to drive because it was a long distance without car seats.  I didn’t want to go that far without car seats, especially on LA freeways!!  We were headed to the Hollywood Bowl, to see the “Fourth” of July (though it was the 3rd) show.  We met up with the family quickly, due to both kids’ eagle eyes!  Brandon told us he spotted Uncle Jeff right as soon as we were walking up the ramp.  I didn’t believe him until Jeff was standing right in front of me.  Later, we split up to meet at the seats, as Dave had to check his camera.  Peyton and I waited for him, while Jeff took Brandon to the seats.  We took two different paths to get to the seats, and Peyton said, “I see Uncle Jeff!”  She didn’t see her brother first, but she did see Jeff!  We picnicked on yummy food at the seats, and even celebrated Dave’s dad’s birthday with a cake that we’d brought.  Luckily, it mostly held up, for the Chinese-style desserts.  The kids were a bit restless moving around in their seats, especially through the instrumental, classical music.  Actually, I think Peyton was more into it than Brandon, who was just interested in the eating part of things, naturally.  At “half-time”, the kids wanted more snacks.  Then, Josh Groban came on for the second half.  The kids know who he is, so that was fun for them (and us) to watch.  He did share some funny stories, like when he was a young boy, attending the Hollywood Bowl, falling asleep during the main act, but waking for the fireworks.  The kids laughed a bit.  Both did manage to stay awake, and both were energized again with the fireworks.  Peyton watched while covering her ears, as she is not a fan of fireworks.  After the show, we walked back down to the car.  It was really crowded, but each kid walked on their own power.  Driving home was not that bad (for Dave), and we beat his parents back by at least 30-45 minutes.  We were all asleep before they returned.

But if they occur, medical viagra usa mastercard attention is imperative. Be aware of the reasons, which make the semen viscosity viagra 100 mg increased. Many drug for impotence is available in the open market as well as the market of deeprootsmag.org low price viagra website. People can be seriously injured, maimed for life or even lose their lives resulting in expensive tadalafil order liability. The next day was the 4th.  We had another relaxed morning, this time, we headed to West to visit Uncle Mike.  We ate in Culver City at a place he suggested for chicken and hotcakes.  I had a salad, but the fried chicken on the top offset the healthfulness of it.  The kids ate a few pieces of chicken, some salad, and coleslaw and some fries.  We all split the blueberry hotcake after lunch, and it was yummy!  We tried to get the kids gelato, but we didn’t get service after 10 minutes or so being at the restaurant, so we all left.  We met up at Blockheads, another shaved snow place in WLA.  Dave and Mike got coffee, while the kids split some plain cantaloupe, while I got a black sesame, with almond jelly and red bean.  We headed to the Shih’s house for some cousin time with swimming!  When we got there, Penelope and Jeff’s parents were all asleep.  The kids slowly made their way to know the other kids there – Jake (7), Ethan (8), Katie (10?), and Andie (3).  They all had one thing in common – the iPad and the game, Minecraft.  The kids all had fun together both in and out of the pool.  Dave and I were the only full set of parents in the pool, as ours were the only two that were both un-water safe.  Dave’s parents showed up while we were in the pool. Dave and Abby had a swim-off, and Dave was struggling, but did beat Abby, swimming the breast, while she swam freestyle.  Abby would still totally beat Dave on planking, but she didn’t appreciate the comment at the time.  We had yummy grilled meats and veggies, and since we had shaved snow earlier, both kids knew that they had to decline the dessert being offered (popsicles).  The other kids ate, while ours tried to keep busy and ignore the eating.  Luckily, it didn’t take long, and they were all done.  The kids even set up after dinner entertainment, leading the adults in by blindfold into the living room, where they set up Pin the Tail on the donkey, and Freeze dance.  They played songs and then freezed, and whoever was still moving, was “out”.  After the entertainment, we moved back into the family room, and at one point, all three boys each had an ipad sitting on the couch.  The girls were dancing around playing Freeze dance.  The girls were actually more hyper than the boys!  Peyton even got into the dancing, which means she felt totally comfortable with everyone, since we were all watching.  The two other families left, and then it was just the cousins and grandparents again.  Then, peach pie was served.  I could deny them popsicles, but not PIE!  So, I split the slice in two for them, and they were both happy to have it.  We left about 30 minutes after Dave’s parents, and saw a light show of fireworks, mostly illegal, I’m sure.  Luckily, Peyton was sleeping, as some seemed really close to the freeway, right over head.  The rumbling of fireworks continued as we got home.  It sounded like a war zone.

The next day, we got up and lounged around in the morning before heading out for some sports clothes shopping for Brandon and Dave.  We took Dave’s mom, while Dave’s dad went to the golf course.  Then, we met up again for lunch, and we headed back home.  Dave’s mom had taught Abby how to knit, and then both kids showed some interest, too.  So they sat with Dave’s mom while she was teaching them.  Brandon ended up making a little swatch/purse-looking thing.  It’s not manly at all, but he did take care of it the rest of the day.  We set out for the airport, and it took us almost 1.5 hours!  The first hour was spent going maybe 5 miles.  It was nuts.  Three of us in the backseat were sleeping, while Dave and his dad were trying to navigate around the clogged freeway.  We made it to the gate with about 30 minutes to spare, which for us, is cutting it close.  We got on the plane, and I figured 53 minutes was nothing for the kids.  And it wasn’t!  Each of them had an electronic device, which they were only able to play with it for 30 minutes or so when it was all said and done.  Peyton gave hers up as requested by the pilot, and chose to do her Spanish workbook that I’d brought.  We landed with no problems, took the cab back to work, and headed home.  Since we didn’t have food, we stopped for some Japanese food/fish, at the same market where we had food from the concert. As the kids saw our street, both said, “YAY, we’re HOME!”  After 11 days, they totally missed their home.  I missed my bed.   After feeding them dinner, the kids went to sleep, and neither complained.  We didn’t hear from them until 730 am!

We got up around the same time, and Brandon did reasonably well, considering he stayed up late the night before. We weren’t sure how Peyton’s tummy was doing, but she never felt badly. She said she was just fine. We gave her a BAT diet (no plain rice that we found easily), and threw a little protein in for good measure. We walked into Epcot to get fast passes, then explored the Seas and fish tank, Imagination with Figment, and the Energy pavilion. The kids had fun exploring the exhibits we hadn’t gotten a chance to see, and finally meeting who Figment was, since I had been on a quest to find pins with his likeness to trade. After doing test track, we were heading back to the countries. We were going to stop at Norway, but the line was too long. Suddenly, the weather started to look like it was going to turn ugly. The clouds were getting dark, and we noticed the shopkeepers were bringing their clothing in (in Morocco). Some families were putting on their ponchos. We decided to hurry up and walk back to the hotel to play around in the community center before it was time for the bus to pick us up. We didn’t get far enough! We got under some umbrellas under France. Luckily, they were heartier umbrellas than the day before. We took shelter from the rain for about 15 minutes, and THIS was the hardest it’d rained. People were drenched within 5 minutes of being uncovered. The penis gets erect and remains so for a longer time and levitra in india price the stamina and strength stays for the satisfactory time. Without the appropriate answer to men’s health problems, you, your wife, and perhaps even your children may slide into what might already online sildenafil be an even deeper depression. Why men need to take cialis generika 20mg ? Men above the age of 40 generally require some stimulation to achieve full erection in their penis during lovemaking. If you also think the same, you are one among men looking for this kind of medicine, though, the levitra 20 mg oral pills are cheap among all the behavioural hyperthyroidism in cats symptoms, this one happens every time; only the intensity may be different. 2. We weren’t going anywhere until it stopped or let up a little. We watched as the Parisian artists folded up their canvases and parasols quickly before everything either blew away or became soaked. Luckily, all of us had sandals on, since we didn’t want wet shoes before having to be on a plane for the rest of the day. We didn’t want the clothes to get wet, since we didn’t want to carry those back, too. Finally, it got lighter, and then we headed back to the hotel. We got there, and it started raining again. We went through most of the hotel, but the last bit we had to make a break for it in the rain. The kids got to play foos ball, video games, and air hockey before we went out for our shuttle. When we got onboard, the kids quickly buckled up, and Peyton didn’t take long to fall asleep. I had to keep my hand in between her seatbelt and neck, since she was awkwardly slumped over. Brandon fell asleep, too, behind us with Dave. We made it to the airport, got through security, and then found our way to the gate. We fed the kids lunch, and then got onboard. I sat with the two kids, while Dave was across the aisle. His job was to take the potty runs, while I entertained the two as much as possible. Peyton declared she was going to sleep and shut both window shades.  The lady behind us told her daughter to open it, then Peyton popped up and declared she was done sleeping.  I was a bit annoyed, but I figured whatever crankiness Peyton brought to the table, was that lady’s problem.  So neither kid slept, and I was flanked by either one on the whole flight back.  We got into LAX around 9 pm, and Dave’s dad came over to get us.  Dave drove us back, and both kids fell asleep.  Peyton was asleep through the whole transfer.  I did fight her a bit to get her teeth brushed.  Brandon woke up and started re-capping his trip to Auntie Meg, while Dave helped get our bedding settled.  We let Brandon stay up for a little bit, then he went off to bed.  He fell asleep after 2 minutes, despite the fact that he said he wasn’t tired.  It’s always the case!  Now that it’s almost a week since the events occurred, details will not be as forthcoming and more “highlights” will follow!

Yesterday, we wanted to get in to the Beast’s castle for lunch. We heard some people wait for an hour or so, so we wanted to get an “early” start since it was our last full day. Reservations for dinner are a 6 month waiting list, and we clearly didn’t plan well for that. The lunch time was from 11 am -230 pm, so we got into the park around 930 am. Dave and Brandon went over to the lunch area to wait in line, while Peyton and I took our time getting our trading cards. We were casually looking at them, then I got a phone call from Dave, “Hurry up, they open up at 10 am!” There is NO hurrying Peyton, especially as we didn’t have the stroller. Saturday night, we realized we lost the soldering of one of the hinges in the back, and kicked Brandon out so that Peyton could ride in the front. But because it was unstable, Dave didn’t want to bring anywhere where we had to fold it up. So that left out parks that we had to travel by bus. I dragged Peyton to the back to meet Dave. I picked her up at some points, but it was hot, and the New Fantasyland was toward the back of the park. I played somewhat of a red light/green light with her, and she more or less kept up. We got to the back around 945-950 am, and waited in line with Dave. Soon enough, all the servers came outside, and there was a fanfare to open the restaurant, all in the theme of the dishes of “Be Our Guest”. We were then escorted in to get our rose and order our food. We got to check out each room, the Rose Room, Ballroom and West Wing. We selected the West Wing, but it was the darkest and the scariest of the rooms. Dave even told me, “We are NOT supposed to come to the West Wing.” The kids had fun, but they were not as impressed as we were. The food came quickly, probably because they were searching for us as we moved from room to room to take a tour and select a seat. We hadn’t been eating lunch this early, but since we got in, we wanted to try a bunch of things. We got the French Onion soup, a coq au vin dish, a roast beef sandwich, a croque monsieur, and a tuna nicoise. (Spell check is having a field day, and I’m not certain that I’m correct, but I’m in a hurry as I’m in the dark now as the kids are sleeping). The kids weren’t all that hungry, but we made due. We went to take more pictures after we were done eating, and it seemed the early opening time caught people off guard as it wasn’t as crowded as we would have thought. We then went to take Peyton to the Laugh Floor for Monsters Inc and the People Mover, which she’d missed our first day there. After we went on those, we left the park, knowing most everything else is at Disneyland. Dave wanted to check out Typhoon Lagoon, so we went back to the room to change. It was about 2 pm or so, but Brandon had earned some sentences, so I napped, while he wrote, and Dave and Peyton took off ahead of us. He woke me up when he was done, and we headed off, too. Since we didn’t have our phones on us, Dave hung around the front entrance to the park. Peyton was just finishing up some dippin’ dots and Brandon did take notice. Suddenly, the storm came in, and we had to hunker down in a spot under an umbrella. It was coming down so hard, harder than any other day in our trip, that several other people came over to us as well. The umbrella was so saturated it was dripping through. It was a heavy duty canvas umbrella, but no match for the storm. It did drive away many of the park-goers. One guy was people watching marveling at how those in bathing suits were covering their heads so they didn’t get wet. We didn’t bring towels or anything really, since the last time, we over-packed. The last time we dried off, and didn’t really need to bring towels. So, we just had to keep ourselves dry. They had closed down the attractions, since there was thunder and lightning within 6 miles away. And since most people had gotten there at park -opening, they were done. After 20 minutes or so, the weather cleared as did many of the people. We headed to the ride that we wanted to do as a family, and waited in line while the park re-grouped. The all-clear siren sounded and we were free to go. The ride wasn’t as fun as the Blizzard Beach family tube, and we had to carry our own tubes, which Dave wasn’t thrilled about! Then, we headed to the body slides, as they didn’t have height restrictions. Both kids had a great time, and were well-seasoned after our last Hawaii trip. Then, Brandon and Dave went on a more thrilling ride, while Peyton and I waited at the bottom for them. We then took the kids over to the shark reef. Dave and I had done this when we came in 1998, and hadn’t been back since. I didn’t want to take kids across; I just wanted to go alone, so Dave took Brandon across for the first wave. I waited with Peyton who kept telling me she wanted to go across. I hung out with her in the colder water to get her adjusted, while Dave came back around. Brandon was left at the entrance and told to stay put. So, Dave swam with Peyton, while I made my way behind them. The disease usually affects the female gender – women are affected two times as frequently as men, average age being 40-60 years (onset of generic sale viagra disease may become finally a cancer within a space of long period. Men who quit smoking can have full or partial restoration cialis canadian pharmacy of erection. Many men enjoy making love with their partners after the age of 50 years. professional viagra You need to consume one Shilajit ES capsule daily two times with water or milk for at least cheapest brand viagra 3 to 4 months to enhance the sperm count. I didn’t snorkel, but I just used the mask to look around. There were sharks down below, and lots of fish. We re-united with Brandon, and then headed over to the “roller coaster-type” water slides. Dave was intrigued as it was the newest attraction there. Peyton was too short, so we hung out by the pool adjacent to the slides. It was like they did it on purpose, having an area to wait with the shorter kids. Peyton took off her life vest and was practicing swimming. The water was nice and warm, so I didn’t mind staying in there with her. After Brandon and Dave came down, he told me to try it with Brandon. So, I grabbed a double tube and made the hike with Brandon up there. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it was a motorized launch with water jets to propel you through the tube. It was a blast! I liked it so much, that I asked Brandon to go again. Of course he agreed, and I signaled to Dave we’d do one more round. There were three different slides, so Brandon got to go on all three. We were going to call it a day, when we saw the wave pool. We thought we’d try it out, and couldn’t figure out the timing of when the waves would occur. So, we just played until the horn sounded and then the wave appeared. A giant wave! Luckily, Peyton had her vest on again. We were in about 4 feet of water, but the wave easily overtook us, and we were pushed backward, tsunami style. The pool wasn’t overly crowded, but there was still a mass of people hurtling toward us. Brandon held his own, but I grabbed on to Peyton for dear life, and watched as the wave went right over our heads. We were all drowned for a second, and then I pulled her up to see she’d survived and was smiling. There had been water everywhere, so it was lucky she’d been in water before. From then on, I went a little shallower, since I knew what to expect. Though even in shallower water, I was knocked off my feet, and the wave dragged me back pretty far. At one wave, I let go of Peyton, and she was drifting away and got scared. She was screaming, “Help!” though floating, and a lady caught her and held on to her. I caught up to her and thanked her for the save. Peyton kept wanting to go back into the fray with Dave and Brandon, but I didn’t want to push my luck. Finally, Dave went in alone, wanting to ride a wave, so I had both kids way at the back of the pool. Finally, we rinsed off, and the next storm was coming. It started raining a bit, and Dave went to go get his shirt, while I went to go rent towels (yes, you have to RENT towels!). We more or less dried off, and then went back to the bus. We showered up, then headed BACK to the Magic Kingdom. Hours were later for resort guests, until 1 am, so we thought we’d do a marathon day. We’d never gone back to a park twice in one day, so this was a first. We got there just in time to eat dinner while the parade was going past. It was the Main St Electrical Parade, which Peyton would enjoy, but our vantage point wasn’t great from the restaurant. After dinner, Peyton was having some tummy trouble, which started right after we got out of the pool! Dave thinks she may have swallowed too much water, but she was the only one with problems. She hadn’t eaten anything differently; she felt well, but just in case, Dave wanted to take her back home and call it a day. I hung out with Brandon, going on Haunted Mansion, which is a bit creepier than DL, then Dave told me he was going, too. Then, I took Brandon on Big Thunder per his request, since DL’s is down for refurbishment (I think they may be making it like the one in FL, which is very interactive!) Dave and Peyton watched the castle lighting, as it was quite a spectacle! Brandon and I went through tomorrow land, going to the Monsters Inc laugh floor for some more comedy, (he said he loved going because it is “Sooo funny!”), Stitch one more time (he’s still scared), and I told him if Space was 20 minutes or less, then we could ride. It was 35 minutes, so we headed home. On our way out, we paused for a photo in front of the castle that was all lit up. I was trying to do my own picture, when a nice lady asked if she could take it of Brandon and me. The picture turned out great, and I love it! I had a great time wiht Brandon, who behaves so well when he is by himself 😉 and without distraction. Poor guy was falling asleep on the bus, and I doubt he would have made it another 35 minutes.
Dave was still up when we got in, since he was doing laundry. We’d brought soap, etc, and then found out it was complimentary! I asked Dave if he left Peyton in the room while he went back and forth, and he told me he had asked her if it was okay. Her response, “Sure!” Later she told me, “I got to watch TV while Daddy did laundry.” Dave thought it was funny that she answered, “Sure!” Brandon probably wouldn’t have let Dave leave him there alone. She was sound asleep when I’d gotten back with Brandon. Brandon fell asleep quickly as well. More on our Monday later, as it’s late, and we have another day of celebrations, as Abby’s birthday is tomorrow.