Disneyland- Day 1

Tyler's family planned a huge family reunion to go to Disneyland for a week!!! YES!! We are quickly becoming fans of Disneyland. So here is our first day there, where we wore our family reunion shirts (little tip....they help out a lot and totally help you get your group all together in lines and gets you picked for things!). My mother-in-law planned the whole week and all the fun things we got for the trip, like our shirts, and water bottles with our character names on them, autograph books, cute Disney shirts for each grandkid and a stuffed animal for each grandkid. I think she took care of everything and it made the week so much more magical! Thank you so much Jeanne!!! 

So about this characters thing, before we left everyone in the family picked a Disney character they wanted to be represented by, so then on our shirts and water bottles our names weren't everywhere. It made the whole adventure more fun too! For our names, Tyler picked Perry the platypus (Phineas and Ferb), I was Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Spencer was Phineas (Phineas and Ferb), and we picked Jack Jack for Preston (The Incredibles). And let me tell you those water bottles came in handy and were large enough to hold a lot of water, I love them!!!!

Okay to start our trip we got to Disneyland all excited and then they picked our family to open the park!!!!!! WHAT?!?! We were able to go in the first gate and get our family picture done without lots of other people in the picture. This isn't even the whole family, two siblings and their families were not able to make it, we were sad they didn't get to come too.  

Preston ready to see the park with his 1st Visit button.

Spencer and his Aunt A. She is so great with her nieces and nephews, we are sure glad she's so cool. 

Tyler and I ready to have fun. 

Our family!

So we get into the first gates and all the kids went around with little duck tails to say hello to people outside and to get them excited about being at Disneyland.

Todd and Jeanne, the mom and dad and grandparents and awesome ones who planned our trip.

Once everyone got done welcoming people, we got to countdown and say "Let the Magic Begin!!!" It was very fun.  

As soon as we went further into the park we got to see characters! Goofy was the first. Spencer and Goofy looking cool. 

Spencer surprisingly didn't care if he got autographs this year, which I was surprised by, but okay with...some of those lines can get long!

So we went off to get on the rides! Oh yeah! If anyone is a Disney fan you know you go straight to Dumbo first, because it can become the longest line quickly. So off to Fantasyland we went. Tyler doesn't like going around and around so he sat out with Preston and his mom. Cute picture of the two of them. 

Spencer got to ride with Grandpa. 

I was able to ride with my sister-in-law A! 

Again another ride Tyler doesn't like, but Spencer and I love...the teacups!!! Preston enjoyed this too, but Spencer said the next time we go back it's just going to be him and I because I help him turn the middle part to go faster...couldn't do it this time because I was holding Preston. 

On a new boat ride they have. 

Our nephew T LOVES Star Wars, so we were all SOOOO excited for him to get picked to do the Jedi Training, and that he got to fight Darth Vader. He loved it, and now believes that he really is a Jedi. 

 That night we all went out to eat for a character dinner. Preston all day was not sure about these characters who kept getting close to him. It was funny to see how he would react. Preston and Pluto seemed to get along though. 

Dale and Spencer. 

Minnie liked Spencer, and even gave him a little kiss on the cheek, which he was kinda embarrassed about, but it was SO cute. He did get a picture with her, but told me to stop teasing him about the kiss on the cheek. He's growing up too fast. 

Preston on the other hand did not like Minnie one bit, so she kept trying to sneak up behind him all night to get a good picture, but to also see if he would like her. By the end of the night he was okay with her. 

Chip and Spencer. 

One person Preston LOVED was Alice! Very cute how he interacted with her. I love this picture. 

Then we all went home and crashed! Everyone was so tired, it was great! 

Hair today...gone tomorrow?

Here's the thing, Spencer's hair grows fast...like really fast (he gets it from Tyler). Anyway, so I have to often give him a haircut, but since we've been here the boys have been going to a barber, and Spencer has had a little more style during the winter months. But since it's summer, then he gets a buzz, and I can do that! Well, come to find out, Preston's hair also grows fast. Oh goodie! Three boys who all have hair that grows fast and needs cutting at least once a month!!!!! Now grant it we usually let it get longer so then it's not so often mom has to cut it, and when I do cut it, it is usually cut a bit shorter. 

Here's the craziness that was Preston's hair at around 9 months. 

I decided doing a side sweep of his hair was best. Made him look like a little gentleman, although we STILL get comments about people saying we have such a cute daughter. Yes, even with this monster shirt on. 

 Okay, so yes he does have quite a pretty face, but really? Can't he just be a heartbreaker boy? 

Spencer's semi-longer hair. 

Aw, I can't resist these pictures of the cute brothers together. 

We got ready for the hair cutting, and I decided to cut Preston's hair myself for his first haircut!!! I know, probably not the smartest thing, but it didn't turn out too bad, right?

His cute red hair. 

The boys with shorter hair for summer. Dang, I love these pictures. 

Sculptures

There is no shortage of art around NYC, but here are just a few I've seen. 

 This one is over in Jersey.

Iconic.

Random Around Town

When we first moved here I started taking pictures of everything, and some things just do not need a full blog post....so here's some of the random things we've seen! 

Madame Tussauds sign. This was the view from our hotel when we first moved here near Times Square, but know that from the ground, you really do not see this hand holding up the sign. It's kinda weird, but cool at the same time. 

While on a bus tour of the city we saw the Fashion District! I thought this information booth with the button and needle was pretty neat. 

If you ever come to the city, do me one favor, look up! You will start to notice something on top of every building in the city.....water towers!!! We found out that if a building in this city is taller than 5 stories, you will have one of these lovely things on top of the building. The water pressure can only go up 5 floors, so the rest has to use gravity. Now do not ask me how the water gets up to the water tower...I do not know. 

While on our little bus tour, I noticed this AWESOMENESS in a window!! (anyone know the movie reference?)

Had to take a picture of a NYU building, which I really couldn't tell which buildings belong to NYU and which ones that do not, besides with the flags. College here would be really different.

 So you want to find a parking space in the city? Good luck! Parking is not fun here and VERY expensive, hence the reason we did not get a car while living here. BUT if you have to drive here, here is one option of parking, stacking! We've seen some lots get 4 or 5 cars stacked on top of each other!

Some more of the Fashion District. 

And where I imagine Tim Gunn is at all times. 

Near our Home

Where we live in NYC is pretty incredible! I love it! We have lots of families around, Spencer's school is right below/next to/attached to our building. It doesn't get too crowded, but since we are right by a highway we still have lots of taxis around. 

We also have lots of sights to see. I've shown before how World Trade Tower One/Freedom Tower is just two blocks away, and we've watched the construction of it the whole time we've been here. Sadly it won't be done until we leave, but we'll come back to see it finished. 

We are by the Hudson River too, so when we go down there, this is the sight we see. Lady Liberty. I sometimes have to pinch myself to realize I'm LIVING in New York City. 

The view from our family room window is pretty incredible too! Not too many buildings cover it up, so at night we are able to enjoy the beautiful sunsets.

Battery Park is below us, but this is a piece of a sculpture that survived, somewhat, from the Twin Towers falling. It's displayed there in the Park. 

We also get lots of protestors near our place!! Wait, no exclamation marks, because sometimes when they have their bullhorns it's annoying. This is actually a few blocks away for the Occupy Wall Street a year or so ago. 

Not too far in the Downtown area we have the NY Stock Exchange, and also this great statue in the middle of all of the buildings. It's George Washington!!! Sometimes when walking down the street you totally miss that there is a statue of him there. 

And of course, because it's the Financial District, I had to get a picture of the Bull! Whenever I have gone near him there have been barricades up around him, so we couldn't touch. But I have a good picture at least. 

Being Cute and Helping Out With Laundry

It's hard for me to limit the pictures I take of Preston down to just a few, so bear with me. 

This is his new Peekaboo place. 

Yes we have moved this since so he couldn't bite on it anymore, but he looks so determined in this picture to get a good bite in!

Cute baby feet, and his toes are always curled!

Whenever I do laundry, Preston loves to play with the baskets, and take the clean clothes out before I can fold them. He's such a good helper!

Oh, and sometimes he does like to eat the clean clothes. 

Playing with the boys

Daddy was reading a story to Preston, he has started to get VERY interested in books, which we couldn't be happier about, since we all love to read in this family.

Brothers are the best! These boys love each other so much already it's crazy! 

Spencer has now started to carry Preston around a little bit more, and "help" him do tricks. Preston lets him know though if he doesn't like it, but most of the time he is smiling when big brother twirls with him or has him rolling over stuff.

My cute boys! They are so different though in this picture!! Hair color, skin tone, eye color...I love it!

Caught a moment. Spencer just loves this kid.

Helping Preston out, either by pushing him over or having him fall over...big brothers are so good to us.