We're Going To Disneyland!!!

Well folks, I have an announcement to make: The cat is OUT of the bag!  The kids have been told about our upcoming trip, and now we have just six "short" days till take off:-)
So, as some of you know, I have been planning a fun way to suprise them since we booked the trip over a month ago...I have watched you tube videos of other parents suprising their kids, and tried to figure out the very best way to go about it.  Some might think this would be a daunting task, but to me, it just added to my excitement and anticipation for the trip.  I debated between letting them know the day before, or several days before, and finally concluded that, true to my own feelings, the anticipation is a BIG part of the trip itself, and I didn't want to deprive the kids of that, so today became the day. This gives them just enough time to anticipate the trip without driving Mike and I nuts!

To let them know, I chose a treasure hunt in which they would find, unbeknownst to them at the time, "treasures" that are clues to the trip.. gum, activity books, and chain of six (to count the days), and the final clue: a bunch of balloons with a card taped to the bottom.  I included pics. of each clue and the final clue, since you really can't see them in the video:-)
How did it go?  See for yourself!:

How do I think it went?  I think they were so preoccupied with the balloons and treasures they had just found and SO not expecting any of this that they took awhile to digest the information.  It was great though! GREAT! And, since we have let them know, they have not stopped talking about it.  We went online and checked out the hotel we will be staying at, and the Disneyland themepark site to see some of the rides, and they are completely excited! They are ready to go RIGHT NOW!  Oh boy...this just might be the longest six days ever;-))

Matthew reading the card attached to the balloons-"We're Going to Disneyland!"

Alyssa looses her first tooth!

This tooth had been noticably loose for a couple weeks.  Earlier in the day she showed me and I saw the whole back part was free, and it was basically just hanging from the front.  I knew it wouldn't be long! That night after dinner the kids were eating bananas-dipping them in chocolate, and it happened:-) Her banana was gone and she was cleaning out the rest of the chocolate from her bowl (eating it, of course!), and she said to me, "Mom, I think I lost part of my tooth!".  Of course it was the whole tooth, but she was expecting it to be bigger than it was, so she figured she must have only lost part of it. 
She wasn't ready to say goodbye to her tooth that night, so she held onto it until lastnight.  She placed it in a bag labeled "Alyssa's tooth" and August put a note inside that read "Alyssa wants candy?" When Alyssa woke this morning she found $5 and a note that read "Here is money to buy some, 'heart' Tooth Fairy. 
SO, we will be headed to the store shorty to select some candy:-) 

I can't believe my first girl just lost her first tooth!! She thinks that for losing such a small tooth, it sure made a big hole in her mouth:-)

Some Park Fun

On Saturday while Mike and Matthew were at baseball (at a field with no play structure!), and Ryan was at an airsoft war, I decided to get out for a while and take the remaining kids to the park!  The weather was threatening rain, and it sprinkled a bit, but that didn't stop us-we are Washingtonians, after all:-) I brought the camcorder with us and took this footage of August.  What's funny is that he had been waiting so patiently for me to film him, as I had been busy following Reagan around, and the second I stop following her to give him a minute of my time, she almost eats it!  You can see this in the background, and I didn't even notice!! I even tell her to "wait a minute" while she is dangling for her life-lol!  She isn't really in trouble, but I tell you, she is my one to watch....at least that's how I feel!  Check it out for yourself:-)

I think I'm figuring this out!

Image taken with new Bloggie touch.

Image taken of myself yesterday at the park with the camcorder held vertically.  Apparantly, if you shoot your videos this way they will just be a strip, but when you hold it horizontally, the recordings turn out like the one below, which is how you want them to look!

This was recorded in 720 HD, or I have the option to record in 1080.  When you play this, it will be in the lowest setting (I think) of like 360 or something like that, but in the lower right corner you can adjust the setting up to 720 hd for the clearest video image. You can then enlarge this if you like and it doesn't look half bad.  Tell me what you think! ONE other note, I just loaded it via Ryan's youtube account, so after the video ends it will display a string of airsoft type/various videos-those aren't mine, and I plan on setting up my own account.  Oh, and Alyssa's room looks so crazy b/c I'm washing her sheets:-))
UPDATE: Ryan, the booger, I think messed with my video upload on his account b/c he didn't want his friends to see that video of the girls (below), so I made my own account and reloaded it there, so now you should be able to watch it.  Thanks for letting me know, Kathie!

Ignore this post-I am just testing stuff....

I am running a test! I recorded the girls at the park today on a mini camcorder and am seeing how long/well it loads up to our blog, and on our computer. I'm also trying to determine how much I like this new mini camcorder of ours, as we have up to 90 days to return it if it doesn't suit us.  I promise there will be more entertaining videos to come, but for now, you get to watch the kids doing everyday things:-)

....hmm, when you enlarge to full size on screen the image is blurred, even though it isn't actually blurred.  Does that happen when you enlarge as well? Oh, and I can't stand how I say "o.k." a million times!

another video-uploaded to youtube

Ryan in Video Production

Ryan shared a couple of youtube videos with us-ones he made at school, and I thought they were entertaining!  See for yourself:

Chase scene Video

Finger Guns Video

He enjoys making the videos, as shown mostly by how enthusiastic he was to share them with us.  He said the chase scene lacked the enthusiasm of the second one, but he is gaining experience and discovering what he likes and doesn't like, which is a very important part of highschool.

Reagan likes Mickey, Alyssa likes Minnie Ears:-)

"Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!!!"

 For those of you who don't know, that is how Mickey Mouse Clubhouse starts out, and Reagan is in love with that show.   She loves Mickey Mouse and any and everything and character associated with him.  Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pluto....she can list them all! So, with that in mind, August sat down one day and suprised Reagan with a picture of Mickey, which now affecionately hangs on our fridge:-)) Reagan loves her pic. from brother!

Also, I thought that for my etsy site (cough, cough, but I am going to sell them:-)), I should design something Minnie Mouse inspired for those people who take trips to Disneyland.  Many people like to wear Mickey and Minnie ears while in the park, and I thought these might be a hit for people who want an alternative to the hat with elastic strap all day long! I love them!!! I think I am going to make a pair for myself and wear them around somewhere....hmmm, I wonder where I could wear these around? Oh well, I will figure it out.  Alyssa was watching me make these and then got upset when I told her they weren't for her.....I told her that if we ever went to Disneyland, I promise I will make a pair for her.  Then, I bribed her with candy to be my "Minnie Mouse ear" model for the ears for my etsy site.  Worked like a charm:-)  She is the most  beautiful model, don't you think?!!

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....we made it back just in time....

You can see the progression of the storm.  This is one of the first pics. on a very stormy day.  Once the storm passed, the sun came out, albeit a cold sun, but none-the-less was more condusive to playing in on those days (pics. further down on the page).

I was kind of bored and stuck inside with sick kids (some of them), so I was taking lots of pics.  This is what was left of my beautiful V-day flowers....I like to make them last as long as I can, so I weeded out the dead ones!

I like the snow and the sun together-it really brightens our home!

Reagan was still sick and didn't last too long outside, but I wanted her to get out for as long as she wanted (about 20 minutes).

.....we just made it home from Depoe Bay, and when I say "just", I mean that it started dumping snow and didn't stop for days!  We ended up getting about 18 inches or so from the combined storms.  The kids loved it! I, like always, didn't love it as much as they did, but we managed.  Here are some pics!