Look how they grow, part two

March 2006, Disneyland

January 2009, Disneyland

Disneyland Day Two - Happy Birthday Gabby!

Gabby's Birthday Dinner at Ariel's Grotto.

Snow White was Sam's favorite princess. He acted very shy with all of them. I think she was the only one he interacted with.

The family at the Birthday Celebration.

Gabby meeting Tinkerbell.

Sam enjoying his first ride at Disneyland - Alice in Wonderland. (It's one of Gabby's favorites and only at Disneyland, not Disney World.)

Day Two at Disneyland was big fun. It was Gabby's 6th birthday so she got to lead the way that day. We rode her favorites first: Alice, Teacups, Dumbo. Then we went to Pixie Hollow where we met Fawn and Tinkerbell. Sam fell asleep while they were waiting on us to finish Pixie Hollow (the longest line we waited in) so we ate lunch and then switched off riding Space Mountain with Gabby while he slept on the booth seat in Pizza Port. Space Mountain at DL is SO MUCH BETTER than at WDW! In case anyone was wondering. We rode a couple more things and walked through the castle to see the Sleeping Beauty display (also only at DL - it was an original attraction that was closed down for years. They reopened it in Dec.) Then it was time for the Birthday Celebration at the Plaza Inn. It was very warm and sunny but also very windy so we were sitting outside but they wouldn't let us open the umbrellas for shade due to the wind. So everyone got a little hot and cranky. It doesn't help that it takes place at 2:30 in the afternoon. But they perked up a little when they brought us cakes to decorate and when Minnie and Mickey showed up. It was a fun way to celebrate, even if we were hot and tired.

We had time for a few more rides and then had to hit our dinner reservations at Ariel's Grotto. Being off-season, California Adventure closed early so we had to eat dinner early if we were going to eat there. We saw Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora. Gabby loved the attention and got a little birthday cake in a treasure box. We were so stuffed from the good supper and awesome desserts they serve there to eat it but she had fun with it anyway. We walked on to a couple of rides right before CA closed and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for Fantasmic!, which is one of my favorite shows. They say it is better than the one at Hollywood Studios, which I have never seen. It is on the Rivers of America at DL and they use the riverboat and pirate ship and river rafts for the show. It's very neat. After that, it was time to head out and rest up for another day. Sam fell asleep in his stroller on the walk back to the hotel.

Look how they grow...

We came out here to visit in May of 2005 when we lived in Montana. Here's Gabby then and Gabby now:

Seattle Aquarium

Robert's folks have been here visiting this weekend. On Friday we went up to Seattle. We looked around Pike Place market for a few minutes and then headed over to lunch at The Crab Pot (Thanks, Betsy!) They steam a bunch of seafood and then dump it on your table for everyone to eat. Gabby loved using the hammer to break the crab legs, although she wouldn't eat them.

Then we went to the Aquarium. Gabby and Sam both loved the touch tank. Gabby would have spent all day touching the anemones and nearly did. It was fun to see her finally come up with questions to ask the workers and be curious about how the animals worked. She is getting in to science (partly owed to Sid the Science Kid, a show I find a little strange but she loves). Sam had fun running around and seeing all the fish and seeing how many of us were chasing him. We watched them feed the fish in the big tank.

Jaywalking Tickets Alive and Well in Denver

This is for the folks who went to Arapahoe HS or lived in Denver and remembers the rabid jaywalking tickets. Apparently they are still at it!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_fe_st/odd_good_samaritan_ticketed

I forgot one thing in Sam's Update

I forgot one thing yesterday in my update about Sam. On Sat we uncovered the potty chair in a box and brought it in. He saw it and wanted to sit on it. He had asked to sit on the potty upstairs a week or so ago. So I stripped him down and plopped him down. He sat there for a while (while I asked Robert for pointers on training a boy since he won't be around) and then played in the bathroom for a while. We all walked away and went back into the den. A few minutes later he came and got Robert and led him back in the bathroom. And there was peepee in the potty! I'm sure we just got lucky and he hasn't been interested in doing it again but at least he knows what to do in there. That's half the battle!

Sam Update

I just took Sam to get his final baby immunization. We got kind of messed up when he had that bad virus back at 12 months. So when I took him for 18 months, he was not yet ready to get the last Hep A vaccine. But of course he needs it to go to the CDC. We were able to get it today. He's 26.7 pounds and 35 inches with an 19 inch head. He's 21 months. Everything was good and now I can get him registered for the CDC so I can use hourly care. Hooray!