Catch Up: {Summer Fun List: Cedar Point}

At the end of the summer we made a last minute trip to Cedar Point so we could mark that off of our Summer Fun List. Most kids were back in school so the park wasn't too crowded.
While Daddy took the older two on one of the big roller coasters I took the little ones to a show. Cuddlebug absolutely loved it and I'm pretty sure we could of just stayed here all day and she would have been totally content.
There were hardly any kids there so Cuddlebug got all the characters pretty much to herself for the "Dance Party". She thought this was just the best thing ever. She absolutely loves characters and when at Disney your time is always so limited with them.

We finally joined back up and it was time for the Jr. Gemini. Always the first Cedar Point coaster that each kid rides to break them in.
Curly Bear is in the very front while Cuddlebug and Daddy are a little farther back. Everyone loved it.
There are the older two. I feel like most of the pictures are of the little ones since I was with them with the camera most of the day while Daddy had the older ones on the bigger rides.
Here is B.W. walking back after riding the big swings. He probably didn't need to take his tennis shoes off......but you can never be too careful I suppose.
Lovebird finally gets to get in on the ride action. This is seriously one of the only rides she was allowed to ride. She loved it!
B.W. was a great big brother and rode with Cuddlebug so Daddy could take pictures.
And then Curly Bear took up the rear in the caboose. It was a fun and relaxing day. By the end the big kids had rode the Gemini, the Iron Dragon, the Coal Mine ride, and the Blue Streak. They also rode the Woodstock Express along with Mommy and Cuddlebug. By next summer I bet some even bigger coasters will be added to the list.

Catch Up: {Disneyland}

We are a Disney vacationing family. We love going to Disney World. We love the parks. We love the restaurants. We love the shows. We love the hotels. We absolutely love Disney World. So because we were so close to Disneyland we thought we would see how it compared. We did remind ourselves that this was going to be different than our usual Disney experience.
Prince Charming took our traditional picture of coming out on to Main Street. Ummm.....it was a little anti climatic. The castle here definitely couldn't compete with the one that has its residence in the sunshine state.
This was Lovebird's first Disney experience on the outside. Our last trip I was pregnant with her.
Waiting in line for the Pooh ride.
"Dad, this isn't going to scare me is it?"
We forgot Lovebird's hat so we picked her up a new Minnie baseball hat. She loved it. Or I should say she loved chucking it out of her stroller and watching us go and retrieve it.
We didn't wait in any lines to see characters except for the chief mouse himself. Lovebird had to meet Mickey!!! She was smitten just like Cuddlebug was and still is.
Whenever I saw Tangled things I would think of how much the other two girls would love it. As you can see, Lovebird was exhausted from all the Disney fun.
Rapunzel's tower. The two other girls want to go to Disneyland just so they can see this in person.
"Mickey, We're moving to Florida!" Just kidding! While Disneyland was different it also had an old school charm about it. We did have a good time!!!

Catch Up: {California}

For our 12th anniversary we took a short trip to the golden state.
Lovebird was our little third wheel. She did a fantastic job for the long flight and overall was pretty good for the trip. She went into her first church nursery at Calvary Chapel. That part she didn't enjoy as much but was happy to see us when we came to pick her up.
Lovebird with her new friend E out on the boat.
Our view.
We spent a whole lot of time shopping and having a mall right across the way from our hotel made it that much easier. It was a great time!

Catch Up: {Ludington}

Nothing says summer like going to Ludington!

Going to the beach was of course on the daily "To Do" list.


Lovebird loves the sand. She also loves to try to eat the sand.
Grandpa chose to stay in the shade.
While Uncle B chose to take a nap in the sun. Can you guess who was hurting later that night?
All ready to go out on the boat.
Go cart races were fierce.
B.W. was so excited that he was tall enough to drive his own this year!
And as always we ate our weight in ice cream.

30th Birthday: Day 4- Superdawg

So on our way back home it was pouring down rain and only 2 degrees above freezing which made for some stressful travels. But we weren't too stressed to detour to try Superdawg. So because we do not see the need to have cable we end up watching PBS when we aren't watching Netflix at night. One of our favorite shows is the Hot Dog Special where they document all these great hot dog places all over the country. After the kids watch they always want a hot dog which is kind of funny since we don't really eat any pork. Hebrew National hot dogs, now that's another story! Superdawg is one of the places that we thought would be fun to try someday and so we looked it up and realized it was on the way.
The kids loved trying to "dig" their hot dogs out of the never ending fries.
Ahhh a real beef hot dog! So I'm not one who would order a hot dog but I must say that these were pretty good.
We then headed back to the interstate to make the trek home. Because of our shopping purchases and the humongous stroller in the back we had to put a van seat down so B.W. and Curly Bear had to sit right next to each other. Thankfully they did fairly well and when I looked back this is how they had fallen asleep. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Mayberry's house to pick up Mosheh and then headed home to relax for the rest of the day.

30th Birthday: Day 3- IKEA and Rainforest Cafe

So Lovebird fell in love with the comfy hotel beds.
This day was set aside for some major shopping and all major shopping needs to involve IKEA. We found these great wardrobes for when we redo our master bathroom. After IKEA and our 50 cent fat-free frozen yogurt cones we headed to Woodfield to do a little more shopping. B.W. bought a Lego set that he has been looking at for some time. I think that helped make up for his time spent at American Girl. We then headed to one of our favorite places to eat.
Rainforest Cafe! So Prince Charming and I have become addicted to a few dishes here not to mention the awesome desserts. The actual "rain forest" atmosphere can be quite loud and distracting at times but our addictions always let us overlook that. The meal was ended with the traditional volcano. Lovebird slept through our entire meal so it proves my point of her needing NOISE to nap good.



After our shopping we let the kids swim for a little bit and then it was back to the room for baths and then a movie. Cuddlebug got to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iPad since the movie didn't interest her. It was a fun and exhausting day.

30th Birthday: Day 2- American Girl

So for Curly Bears birthday she bought a Lanie doll with her birthday money and then we told her we would take her to the American Girl store. Well..... pregnancy, summer craziness, our Florida trip, and then the "Vacation Flu" of 2010 kept us from ever going. So we decided to stop by on our way to the hotel while we were in the city for my birthday.
So do I really need to tell you that she was excited. This picture says it all.
She finally made it.
I was so glad they had a display of her Lanie doll. And yes, her and Lanie are matching for this trip.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. B.W. was such a great sport and a great big brother. He tried to share in Curly Bears excitement and walked around with her and pointed out some of the cool things that were there. I know he would have much rather been at the Lego store.
She made her decision for her purchase and was so excited. We will be going back at some point, maybe her next birthday, for a "Just Girls" trip. To be quite honest, I can't wait to go back and have more time to look around and eat at their cafe. That store is pretty amazing! Someday if we ever go to New York with daddy for business we'll check that one out too. Curly Bears favorite thing to tell people about her daddy's job is that the office is right around the corner from the American Girl store.