Abby is 9

I have a 9 year old! Abby has grown up so much in this last year, she is such a good babysitter with all the kids. I know I can trust her above anyone else (besides an adult) with Brylee. Brylee loves her and will dive out of my arms to her. She is so willing to help and loves to be with the adults and part of the conversation. She is a lot like me that way. She is definitely the oldest and tries to handle everything even with mom and dad right in the room. She is going into fourth grade and has gotten her first male teacher. She is pretty excited!! ( I also had my first male teacher in fourth grade...his name was Mr. Rock. I loved that class and have so many great memories. I hope she will too.) We had a nice quiet birthday, last year we did birthdays with friends so this year was a little more low key.

She got a new case for for DS, that can hold all her games. (I love that everything is in one place!)

With Jakelle, such cute girls!!

Everyone is getting in on the action, I thought it was pretty cute.

Grandma and Grandpa Rowley brought her this awesome earring holder...I LOVE IT!!!!

For her birthday this year, Rich had a friend call Abby's name into the radio station. She won!! She won a birthday cake from Shaffers bakery, Ice Cream from Caspers, A stuffed animal from Coppins Hallmark, and Lunch from Papa Kelsey and Henry's. Her dad woke her up so that she could hear the contest on the radio and hear her name being called. (we knew she was going to win.) She was so ecstatic about it all day long. It was so much fun for her.

For dessert all she wanted was to go to Angie's and clean the kitchen sink. We invited Jakelle to come with us and Megan was staying the night so they got to join in on the fun! Johnny and Mysha and her sister met us there, so we got 2 sinks. The kids had a blast, it was a great time had by all!!

Happy Birthday ABBY!!!!!

Disney Pictures (The End, I Promise!)

I know...more pictures. These are all from the Photo Pass card from Disneyland. I Loved that we could add borders and all kinds of fun things to them.

I loved this picture, One of my favorites.







LOVE THIS! Nate just was mesmerized by this guy, he sat and talked with him forever, it was awesome.
Chip and Dale wanted everyone to have a mustache!!

Captain Jack was awesome, Brylee was just watching him. She would sit and stare and Jack would stare back. It was a lot of fun to watch him!
Absolutely awesome, if you look closely at our hands you will see a special someone. I just love Nate's facial expression in this. They told us to look surprised. I love it!!

The final Chapter

We had a surprise for the kids, we scheduled a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen! The kids absolutely loved it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The food was so good, and we got to see and interact with a lot of characters that we wouldn't have been able to anywhere else.

This is Dale, the kids asked him a question, and so he is writing down his answer on the table. The tables are all covered in paper so that the characters can communicate with you. The kids loved it. If you notice, Brylee is trying to grab Abby's food while she isn't paying attention!!
Leah was loving all the princesses, Every fifteen minutes or so they would turn up the music and whatever character was by your table would grab all the kids and take them and dance. Snow White was next to us for a song, so she and Leah were holding hands and twirling. It was the cutest thing.


Brylee was fascinated with all these giant animals around her! She didn't know quite what to think!!
Leah wasn't sure about Gepetto, so she didn't want to be in his picture. That was a highlight for my kids they just loved every minute of it. They didn't want to leave!!
Riding Dumbo, on the last day in the park we were able to get in an hour early. We went on a ton of rides that didn't have any lines and took a bunch of pictures without being in a large crowd. It was so nice.
Rich and Abby is Tarzan's Treehouse. (Once known as The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.)
Rich had gotten a fast pass for the Indiana Jones ride, it opened up the last day that we were there. So he took the girls and went first, and then I had a stroller pass and Nate and I went after they got off. As you can tell from his face, he was terrified!!! It was really dark and had creepy music playing.
It didn't get much better for him on the ride. He was a good sport though and stuck it out with me! I just love that ride!!!
Here we are waiting for Rapunzel, it was the very last day and we couldn't leave the park without seeing Rapunzel!
Here is Flynn Ryder juggling for us.
Disney Vacation, Complete!!!

To Be a Jedi Knight

We had some friends that went to Disneyland in March, so they helped and gave us a bunch of good hints that helped a lot with our trip. One of those things was the Jedi show. Their kids weren't able to participate in it, but Nate was just dying to be a Jedi Knight. On the day that Rich had taken the younger two back for a nap, we were walking around and just happened to pass the stage where the show was. It was only 15 minutes to the next show and we got a spot front and center. It was amazing!!! Nathan got chosen and got to fight Darth Vader, you could not beat the smile that boy had for the rest of the day, this absolutely made the trip for him.

One of the Jedi Knights fighting Darth Maul.
The Jedi Master comes out and picks his trainees, they are given training Light Sabers because the real ones are just too dangerous to start out with!!
I know there are a lot of videos, but it was such a great show, they aren't more than a couple minutes each. As Nate walks onto the stage Darth Vader says..."I've been waiting for you." I loved it and I can't help but smile each time I watch them. When they were finished they were each given a certificate to show they were now a real Jedi, we are framing his and putting it on his wall.

Part 3

On one afternoon, Rich took Leah and Brylee back to the hotel for a nap. So Abby, Nate and I got to go and do things just the 3 of us.
We ran into Captain Jack just after coming off of the Pirates ride. He was amazing, such a good job.
At California Adventure.
If you look closely, you can see Nate's arm!



Stuck in the box, if only!!
The Queen of Hearts, she was chasing Donald Duck around for awhile while we were there, if was pretty cute!

For you Aunt Kristi! We didn't actually get to sit and talk with her, she was always so busy!

Leah and I got to go on the Star Wars ride together. Its 3D, AMAZING! Rich and the kids stood in line with Brad and Jolene for the hour and a half wait. Leah and I used the stroller pass and walked right on. It was worth the wait.
Headed to Goofy's Kitchen, this is right in front of the Disneyland Hotel.