House of Estrogen

SoCal Day 9: Surf's Up Breakfast and Heading Home

For our last morning in Anaheim, we got checked out of our condo and headed over to the Surf's Up with Mickey and Friends character breakfast at the PCH Grill at the Paradise Pier Hotel.

Most of us had fun meeting the characters.

Nina would have been happier at a non-character meal, but she was a good sport when they came over to her.

The breakfast buffet was good - all the usual suspects - bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles, fruit, made-to-order omelets, muffins, and... uh... rice. I'm completely baffled at why Addie came away from the Danish/waffle/muffin/syrup/fruit filled table with a plate of rice.

We got final autographs in autograph books.

It was a nice way to say farewell to Southern California on our last morning.

After breakfast was over, we headed to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. That's a great little airport if Disneyland is your destination. It is really close to Anaheim, an easy drive, and the rental car parking is super convenient to the terminal. It is definitely better than the madness that is LAX.

We had such a great trip! Good-bye Southern California! Thanks for the memories!

SoCal Day 8: California Adventure and Mickey's Halloween Party

Our next morning at California Adventure was a bit more relaxed. We were mostly trying to knock out a few rides we had missed the day before. We rode Soarin' which is always a favorite. It was probably our last time to ride it as "Soarin' Over California" too as Soarin' is getting ready to undergo major renovations both at Disneyland and Epcot to become "Soarin' Over the World".

 We got warm hugs from Olaf,

and Nina and I went on Tower of Terror.

We were dying to try out the snacks at the Cozy Cone Motel, so we headed over to Carsland.

The Cozy Cone is just too cute. Each cone sells a different snack... Popcone, Cone Queso, Ice Cream Cones, Cone-Coctions, Cones, cones, cones! We tried just about everything.

Elise and J.C. got bread cones filled with chili or barbeque. Addison and Nina got ice cream cones. I got a cone full of mini churros with Mexican chocolate dipping sauce. Delish!

Carsland is all about the details... love it.

Despite all of J.C.'s protests about not wanting to get wet, we convinced him to go on Grizzly River Run which was a blast. Then we had lunch at Smokejumpers Grill and went back to the condo for our usual afternoon siestas.

(Disney Photopass stock photo)

For the evening, we had purchased tickets to Mickey's Halloween Party at Disneyland. The Halloween Party is a separate ticketed event. The park closes at 6:00 to anyone who doesn't have a Halloween party wristband. I had always wondered how they actually enforce that, but they do it quite well. They are checking for wristbands everywhere you go... before you get on a ride, before you get in a trick-or-treat line, entering or exiting different areas of the park. They definitely manage to lock it down to just party guests and escort anyone out who doesn't leave on their own.

I was pretty sure I couldn't convince the family to go entirely in costume, but they were all completely onboard when I suggested that we wear super hero t-shirts to go along with Addie's Wonder Woman costume. I think we turned out rather festive looking even if a t-shirt is a bit of a costume cheat. We were certainly a lot cooler and more comfortable than some of the people we saw walking around in full-on furry or leather costumes in 90 degree heat.  People watching is half the fun of the Halloween Party. Guests go all out with their costumes.

Our first stop was the Little Red Wagon for their famous corn dogs. Holy awesome hand-dipped corn dog, Batman! Excellent dinner! We enjoyed people watching while waiting for the sun to go down, so it would start cooling off.

There is an overlap from 3:00-6:00 when party goers are allowed in the park and non-party-goers haven't left yet. It is very crowded during that time, but as soon as you start approaching 6:00, ride lines drop dramatically. We rode Star Tours and Astro Orbiter.

The Halloween Party was a bit of a mixed experience for us. The kids loved the trick-or-treating. It was fun seeing both party-goers and characters in costumes. The decorations were great, and the short lines for rides were a real treat. On the downside, the party specific things like trick-or-treating, meeting the villains (who are rarely seen in the parks), and meeting the characters in costume all had very long lines.  It was a strange mix of crowded and not crowded. If you wanted to meet Malicifent or Cruella de Vil, your wait was well over an hour, yet if you wanted to ride Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, your wait might be just 10 minutes. The Halloween Party is definitely a great way to ride lots of the popular rides that usually have long waits. The main goal for us though was the more Halloween-specific activities, and those were all more crowded than I had anticipated.

The castle looked appropriately creepy and Halloweeny. The lights and sounds on Main Street were fun, and the Halloween fireworks show is neat.

Rivers of America was spooky as well with fog and special lighting.

(Disney Photopass stock photo)

It was all good. Everyone had a good time. Nina and I rode Haunted Mansion Holiday (Haunted Mansion at Disneyland gets redone this time of year with a Holiday overlay.). I think Addie rode the Winnie the Pooh ride 3 times in a row with no wait, and how cute is Pooh in his bee Hallloween costume?

Am I glad we went to the Halloween Party? Definitely.  Would I go again?  Not sure.  I think you have to go with the right expectations. You are not going to meet every villain. You may not meet any villains unless you are willing to spend a lot of your evening in line. You are not going to see every character in costume. You are going to have to battle bigger crowds at times than you feel like you should given the price you paid for the ticket.

We ended the night with this lovely photo of me on Splash Mountain (which was walk-on... no line at all). Nice.  This was another one that Addie had begged to go on but then came off declaring she would never ride it again.

It was a fun night. It definitely didn't quite live up to expectations, but it was fun regardless.

Day 8 Favorites:

Addison: Grizzly River Run and Trick or Treating

Nina: Grizzly River Run and Star Tours

Elise: Star Tours, Trick or Treating, and Splash Mountain

Ann: Grizzly River Run

J.C.: Star Tours

SoCal Day 6: Disneyland

When it comes to Disney vacationing, I'm a planner. I like to plan strategically to maximize fun and minimize waiting in lines. Although we had never been to Disneyland before, I had done my research, created my itinerary on Ridemax, and we had a plan.

 

We arrived at the park prior to rope drop, excited to see all the Halloween decorations.

We rushed straight to Peter Pan's Flight, knowing that our only shot at riding it with a short wait was first thing in the morning. So much for my fastidious planning... we got there to find a 35 minute wait. We weren't hardcore enough Peter Pan fans to waste precious morning low-wait time waiting for that one ride, so we gave up on Peter Pan. We'll have to save that for another trip. Fortunately, every other ride in Fantasyland had no wait at all, so we were able to cram in a bunch in that 35 minutes when we would have just been standing in the queue waiting for Peter Pan.  JC ran off to get fastpasses for Indiana Jones Adventure while the girls went on the Teacups. They practically had the ride to themselves!

Next we went on the Storybook Land Canal Boats which I absolutely loved. It definitely ranks up there as one of my favorite Disney rides of all the Disney parks.

It is so beautiful.

(stock photo from Disney Photopass)

(stock photo from Disney Photopass)

We were trying to focus on rides that are exclusive to Disneyland that we can't ride at Disney World, so next we were off to Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Matterhorn.

(Disney Photopass stock photo)

We had just enough time to sneak in a ride on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage before it would be time to race to our Indiana Jones fastpass return time. I was a little worried I would get claustrophobic in the submarine, but I did just fine. I think it helped that I was one of the last ones in and first ones out.

It is a cute ride. Now that I've done it once though, I don't feel the need to climb down into one of those submarines ever again.

Indiana Jones was next. Most of the family loved it. One didn't. Poor girl... I think we scarred her for life. It wouldn't be the only time on this trip either.

To offset the trauma of the Indiana Jones ride, I took her on the carousel while everyone else went off in search of churros.

We had a mediocre lunch at Village Haus restaurant, took a few more pictures, and then headed back to the condo for naps. It was H.O.T.!

After wonderful naps, we came back refreshed in the early evening as it was finally beginning to cool off.

You may be looking at these pictures wondering if we lost Nina somewhere along the way. Posing with characters is like her own personal version of torture. You won't find her in any character pictures by choice (we did force her to get in a couple photos though later in the trip).

Dinner that night was our best meal of the entire trip. We all still start drooling a little if you mention it. Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. I would recommend it to you, but they are closing it in January to make room for Star Wars Land, so you'd have to plan a trip quick. It would be so worth it though. Seriously. Yum. Heavenly. Mmmmm.

I mean what's not to love about BUCKETS of BBQ?  J.C. thought he had died and gone to BBQ heaven.

Star Wars, Schmar Wars... it is criminal that they are closing this place.

I think we had planned to go on Big Thunder Railroad right after dinner, but that sounded like a big pukefest waiting to happen after our huge meal.

 

We opted for Jungle Cruise instead. Addie was very excited that it was now dark enough to turn on her ears.

(Disney Photopass stock photo)

J.C. and Nina don't have quite the Disney stamina that the rest of us do, so they headed back to the condo. Elise, Addie, and I planned on taking the Disneyland railroad to another part of the park to ride a couple more rides before the parade. The train was out of order though, and our feet were out of order as well. We just plopped down on the curb and hung out resting, waiting for the parade to start.

Addie got to see Goofy again. He signed her autograph book...

and then tucked her pen in her braid.

 

The Paint the Night Parade was fantastic. I'm normally not a big Disney parade fan. We usually skip most of the parades at the Disney World parks. It is Disney blasphemy to even admit that, but I'm just not much of a parade person. Paint the Night is a new parade this year for Disneyland's 60th Anniversary though. I had heard it was spectacular, and I'm so glad we staked out spots to watch it.

 

The fireworks were great too, but my pictures are awful, so I'm not even going to bother sharing them. The parade was really the big highlight for us though. After the fireworks, we headed back to the condo to get some sleep before our big California Adventure day.

SoCal Day6 Disneyland Favorites:

Addison: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and Mad Tea Party

Nina: Alice in Wonderland ride

Elise: Paint the Night Parade

Ann: Storybook Land Canal Boats, Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, and Paint the Night Parade

J.C.: Indiana Jones Adventure, and Big Thunder Ranch BBQ

 

SoCal Day 5: Coronado -> L.A. -> Anaheim

Day 5 was really just designed to be a travel day. The plan was to leave San Diego in the morning as soon as morning traffic had died down, get to L.A. around lunch time, have lunch, see the Chinese Theater, the Dolby Theater, the Hollywood sign, and then get out of town heading to Anaheim before traffic got bad.   Best laid plans...

The older two girls decided they wanted one more beach visit since they had missed the afternoon at the beach that Addie and I did. That was going to throw us completely off schedule, but who can resist one more beach trip? We went back to Coronado Beach this time. It is such a gorgeous, wide beach with the finest white sand.

It was early enough that we basically had the whole beach to ourselves. We could sit out there pretending we were classy enough and rich enough to be staying at the beautiful, iconic Hotel Del Coronado.

We spent the morning playing in the waves and the sand, enjoying our last day in the San Diego area.

This picture on the restroom on the beach made me giggle. Frank L. Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, spent many winters at the Del during the years that he was writing the Oz books. Some say that the Emerald City was inspired by the Del. I wonder how Baum would feel about his characters adorning the bathroom doors!

After showering and checking out of the condo, a So Cal bucket list item could be checked off - lunch at In-n-Out Burger.

Our impression was... well... meh. We were underwhelmed. That's OK though. We can now say we've had an In-n-Out Burger.  The milkshakes were tasty. After lunch, we were Hollywood bound! This L.A. detour was Nina's idea.  She was dying to get a picture with the Hollywood sign in the background. Although neither J.C. nor I had any desire to brave L.A. traffic, it seemed cruel to come within 30 miles of Hollywood and not let Nina get her picture. Without further ado... happy girl.

 

Another So Cal bucket list item checked off!  After pictures, we did the world's fastest tour of the Hollywood and Highland area, bought a couple souvenirs and hopped back on the road to join L.A. rush hour traffic. It took us a full two hours to drive the 30 miles to Anaheim. We can all now say we have seen the Hollywood sign though.

We arrived at our condo in Anaheim and walked over to Downtown Disney for dinner. Our dinner at Napolini was a mixed bag. My salad was excellent, but J.C.'s pizza was inedible. He threw most of it away. Poor guy... it was not a great way to end a pretty exhausting day.  We all collapsed in bed right after dinner to get a good sleep before our first Disney day the next day.

SoCal Days 1 and 2: San Diego

Our Southern California trip got off to a bit of a rough start with a lost and a found. The house was in complete disarray with all the downstairs belongings moved either upstairs or to the garage for the hardwoods to get refinished while we were out of town. In the chaos of misplaced items, I couldn't find the charger for my good dSLR camera. The battery was completely dead, so we had to give up and leave for a beautiful destination with just an iPhone and crappy point and shoot camera for preserving our memories. Sigh. That disappointment was quickly forgotten though when I discovered the "found"... lice... or more precisely, louse. Is there any worse way to start a vacation? It was literally about 15 minutes before we were to leave for the airport. A child's head was itchy. I investigated, and found one lone louse. I suspect he had friends, but I wasn't able to find any other bugs or any nits. I may have caught them early, but it was still a lousy (or louse-y?) way to start a vacation. This is the second time I've had to spend vacation evenings doing lice treatments and picking nits. There are few things in life that repulse me more than lice. Anyway... despite lice and lost camera chargers, we were off.

 

I wasn't going to let our lost and found adventures spoil our fun. We arrived in San Diego Friday night, grabbed our rental car, navigated through San Diego traffic, found our condo, ate a quick dinner, and got to bed. Surely day two would be better.

Saturday morning, we headed to the Embarcardero for our Seal tour.

 

It ended up being the perfect start to our trip, and I highly recommend a Seal tour if you ever go to San Diego. We boarded the big open air bus and were treated to a nice guided tour through town.

After about a 30 minute land tour, the bus drove straight into the harbor for the 60 minute sea portion of the tour.

We learned all about San Diego history, the military presence in San Diego, seals, sea lions other marine life, and about all the landmarks and attractions around the harbor. Did you know that the U.S. Navy trains dolphins to search for sea mines? You learn all kinds of cool tidbits during a Seal tour.

The highlight of the Seal tour is seeing all the sea lions, cormorants, and pelicans up close.

(All those pictures would have looked so much better taken with my big dSLR camera... but I digress). After the Seal tour, we were all hot and hungry. What we should have done was eaten lunch right there at the Embarcardero. Instead, I steered our little family over to Old Town San Diego where both traffic and parking were much worse than I anticipated. That becomes a pattern for our whole trip. By the time we finally found a parking spot and the closest Mexican restaurant, we were all famished. San Diego with its famous "72 degrees all year round" weather was about 90 degrees that day. This poor little one was ready to collapse.

After re-energizing with some authentic Mexican tamales, we were able to have some fun exploring Old Town.

We saw the old one room school, studied every rock and mineral in the rock and mineral shop, learned about spinning wool, and came to the conclusion that living in San Diego back in the 1850's was HOT. VERY VERY HOT.  What happened to the freaking 72 degrees we were promised? We had sweat pouring down our backs. We explored Old Town as long as we could tolerate the heat and then headed back to the condo.

After a little rest time, we had our next adventure in the joy that is San Diego traffic. We decided to head across the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island to show the kids where their grandmother was born, get some dinner, and spend a little time on the beach. It all sounded so simple.... Bridge, dinner, beach.

Instead, it was "Why is everyone in the universe going to Coronado Island RIGHT NOW???"  A quick google search, and we found out it was fleet week for the U.S. Navy. As part of the fleet week entertainment, there were all sorts of car races on Coronado. To add insult to the traffic insanity, we got lost trying to find the restaurant. After driving nearly to Mexico and turning around, we finally got to dinner with starving kids once again. We were 0 for 2 for feeding them in a timely manner that day. We finally got to the beach well after dark.

The kids ran around on the water's edge for a while, and JC and I and remembered it was our anniversary... seventeen years! I think that makes us old.

Whew... long day... lots of fun, but exhausting. We all conked out and got a good night's sleep ready for more adventures the next day.

Letter to Addison, Age 7

Dear Addison,

You turned seven last month. We celebrated with a gingerbread decorating party at home. I tried desperately to convince you to do a party outside the house - Ice skating! Bounce house place! Taekwondo! Manicures! Build-a-Bear!  You would have none of it. You were determined to have a party at home, so I relented. It was fun... chaotic and crazy, but fun.

Your insistence and never-back-down attitude about the home birthday party is pretty typical of your temperament these days. You are strong-willed and not shy about it. That will serve you well in a board room some day. Right now, it can be a bit draining for your parents. You and Nina are the stubborn soul sisters.

As you entered first grade, we crossed our fingers that the transition would be smoother than your transition to kindergarten which had been pretty traumatic. Things certainly went better, but it was still really tough on you. I think you are just someone who is very sensitive to change. Change is hard for you, and it takes you time to adjust to new classes, new camps, new situations. It isn't a bad thing, it is just part of what makes you you. I am starting to think that a traditional calendar school might be a better fit for you. Tracking in and out of school (9 weeks on, 3 weeks off) brings on a rough transition period every time. It is hard to get your behavior back in line after we track in or out of school. Overall though, school is going well. You like your teacher, and you are cruising along fine academically.

You enjoy reading. A couple of your favorite books lately have been Mercy Watson Fights Crime by Kate DiCamillo and The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale. You have some good friends both in and out of school and still participate in Daisy Girl Scouts and book club. You love to ride your bike and scooter.

The biggest change in your life in the past year has been your participation in Taekwondo.

When you first approached us about doing Taekwondo after a track-out camp field trip, I assumed this activity would go the way of others you have tried (T-ball, cheer, dance, and soccer). Your typical M.O. is to enjoy the activity for the first few weeks, tolerate it for the rest of the season or session, and then quit.

 

I never imagined that Taekwondo would have the impact on you that it has. It has made you a better Addison. I think you needed and craved the structure and discipline of martial arts. It just works for you. All of the tenets of Taekwondo are incorporated into the classes - honor, courtesy, integrity, self-control, perseverence. You are picking up all of that. Your first grade teacher told us that she noticed a difference in your respect and courtesy toward her after you started doing Taekwondo. We notice it at home too.

You are dedicated, determined, focused, and happy working toward your goals at Taekwondo. It is not an activity I ever would have chosen for you, so I'm so glad you found it and pursued it on your own. It is a good fit for your soul. I hope you will continue in Taekwondo for a long time. It has been such a great influence on your life.

I hope seven will be a good year. You continue to challenge us as parents, but you continue to bring us smiles and joy every day too. You talk all the time, giving us all your seven year old observations on life. I love your thought processes.

I love you,

Mama

Weekend Odds, Ends, and Observations

1. Yesterday, I was behind a car with not one, but two Piggly Wiggly bumper stickers on the bumper. Who puts a grocery store sticker on their car? Why does a grocery store even have bumper stickers? Why would a grocery store have more than one design for bumper stickers? Who would buy one? Who would buy two? Does Harris-Teeter, Albertson's, Lowe's, or Publix have bumper stickers? These are the questions that now haunt me.
   
2. This evening, we had dinner at a cafeteria. Addison was telling us how great her zucchini muffin was. She said, "I pointed to the muffin, and then the lady told me it was zucchini. I thought "ick", but I had already pointed to it, so I thought, 'well, I'll just roll with it.'"  Love that... just rolling with the zucchini.
3. I am not a fan of sleep-overs. I relearn this at least once a month.
4. I ordered our Christmas cards, and I was sent a proof. My pictures looked fine. My text looked fine. The card itself has stripes though, and it was randomly missing one stripe in the middle of the card. How does this happen? Aren't the stripes part of the card template? I contacted customer service, and they agreed the stripe was mysteriously missing from the proof. They are now sending me a new proof. I'm so puzzled though. How does a background stripe go missing?
5. Elise tried out for and made "team show" for jump rope. This is exciting news for her, but we now have jump rope a minimum of four days per week instead of three. I wonder if I just leave her at the jump rope gym with a sleeping bag and some food if her school bus could start picking her up and dropping her off there instead.
6. We ran into some neighbors at the mall this afternoon. They said, "We saw all kinds of craziness at your house this morning! One of your children was outside in her underwear, two of them in their pajamas. The car alarm was going off, and they were all running around, slamming the car doors. It was quite comical."  Nice. This is how we impress the neighbors. J.C. walked up a minute later, and I said, "Did you know our child was running around outside in her underwear this morning?"  He said, "Yeah, I got in my car to leave for a bike ride, and I saw her in underwear and a bikini top in 40 degree weather. I thought, 'well... nothing I can do about that,' so I just drove off."  Clearly, we have completely given up on sane parenting.

Midweek Brain Dump

I feel like there are all these odds and ends going on that I should blog about, but my brain can't catch up. Lots of things are happening. A lot is on my mind, but between chasing sleep deprivation, my decaffeination continuing, and J.C. out of town, I don't think a coherent blog post is going to happen any time soon. Thus, the midweek brain dump.

• Nina had oral surgery on Tuesday. I don't think I slept at all Sunday or Monday night in anticipation. She had two baby teeth extracted and two permanent teeth extracted. That was the easy part of the surgery. The awful part that haunted me at night was the tooth exposure she needed. I'll spare you a graphic photo of her mouth and show you this model of the procedure instead.

She now has that freaky little gold chain coming out from her gums to pull her tooth down in the right direction. It sounded barbaric and painful, but she weathered the surgery much better than anticipated. She can't eat much yet, but otherwise, she is fine. I'm still recovering.

• Did you know that tea bags are good for stopping bleeding? Now you know.
  

• Elise had her first experience with playing in pep band at a middle school football game... a fun first.
• My friend Allison Tate wrote an excellent essay in the Washington Post this week. She is such a great writer and always nails her topics. Way to go Allison!  Go read it. Parenting as a Gen Xer: We're the first generation of parents in the age of iEverything
• Ebola - holy crap. 
• I moved to a new office building this week. It is cool, posh, and modern, but moving is never much fun. Also, my new building doesn't have a Starbuck's like my old one did. That's a problem.
  
• I upgraded to iOS8... turns out it isn't recommended for the iPhone 4S. My phone now rivals a paperweight in its usefulness. Good times.
• We went out to Noodles & Company this week. We looked at the menu, and Addison said, "I want barf." As her sisters laughed, she got angry and indignant and said, "That's what I order here. I order the barf."  More giggling ensued. Finally Nina recognized Addie's error and saved the day when she said, "Addie - you like the BROTH! Not BARF!"  I'll never be able to look at broth the same way again.
• This is closing weekend for downhill biking at Snowshoe. Can I get an Amen?

A Letter to Caffeine

Dear Caffeine,

I miss you. We've been apart for over three weeks now. My heart, my soul, my head, and my taste buds miss you terribly. The rest of my body; however, is celebrating our break. I know it must hurt your feelings when I walk into Starbuck's and order a decaf. It is hard on me too. I always appreciated and valued our relationship. In the past three weeks though, my familial tremor in my right hand has essentially gone away, and my restless leg syndrome is significantly better. I can usually watch TV in the evenings now without doing leg lifts or pacing. I can even go to sleep most nights without a hot bath to calm my legs. As much as I miss you, being able to sleep feels like a luxury. When you and I were together, going to bed was a frustrating, sometimes painful experience, and it was anything but restful. The separation is tough, but hopefully you can understand my need to stay away. We'll both adjust, right?

My biggest struggle right now is dealing with meals that just beg for a caffeinated beverage. How do people enjoy pizza, or a burger, or Mexican food without you? A margarita is certainly an acceptable option with Mexican food at dinner time, but what about a taco lunch during the work day? Water won't do. Sprite tastes awful. Enchiladas deserve a Pepsi. A burger needs a Dr. Pepper. Pizza just isn't the same without a Coke. Don't even get me started on baseball without Cheerwine.  If I give up you, do I have to give up burgers, pizza, Mexican food, and baseball too? I'm not ready for that. One break-up is hard enough.  I may have to resort to carrying around Crystal Light packets everywhere I go. It isn't you, and will never live up to the high standards you've set, but it might suffice for something sweet.

You've been such a faithful companion to me over the years... in a steaming mug of coffee in the mornings, in a soda to perk me up in the afternoon, and always nearby at movies, sporting events, and picnics.  I miss you. Change is hard, but I have to weigh the good with the bad and find a way to move forward. You will too.

Take care,

Ann

 

Things That Make Me Smile

1. J.C. and I had a conversation tonight about how much pizza to order while both of us were online simultaneously placing orders without realizing the other one was also ordering. How does that happen? How did each of us think we were in charge of the pizza and not figure that out over the course of the conversation? He was on a computer. I was on the iPhone app, and we placed our similar but not quite identical orders at the exact same time. The Domino's folks had to be wondering what the heck we were doing. The delivery guy showed up with both orders, and that's when we realized what we had done.  I suppose this was better than both of us thinking the other was ordering and no pizza ever arriving; however, we now have enough pizza to feed the whole neighborhood all weekend. Come on over!

2. J.C. has introduced the girls to The Greatest American Hero. Thank you, Netflix!  Our children now have a new found appreciation for 70's TV. Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free eee eee. Flying away on a wing and a prayer. Who could it be? Believe it or not it's just me.

3. My tough girl.