the.amanda.sewell

Day 3 - We woke up to a rainy morning.  I knew it would rain today because the it was expected to, and I actually was looking forward to it keeping some people away from the parks *fingers crossed right* We went to Fantasyland first thing in the morning to finish up the rides we had not done yet, and when we got there, we discovered Alice and Teacups were both shut down because they had to be mopped up after the rain before we could ride them.  We ran into Mr. Rabbit and the Mad Hatter.  The Mad Hatter tied M and E's harnesses together so if they got lost, at least they would be together and then commented to Mr. Rabbit that they should do that with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!  Haha!  After getting a picture with them, we headed over and went on Dumbo and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and when we finished those, Alice was open and by the time we finished Alice, Teacups were open!  Perfect! Meeting Mad Hatter and Mr. Rabbit E and J in line at Mr. To...

Day two started off with the kids being awake at 6 a.m.  YAY!  I got everyone dressed and they opted for McDonalds for breakfast (blah).  We drove back to the hotel after and then walked over to the park as it was not very far at all.  We got there at open, so it was SUPER crowded!  We went on Monsters Inc. because the kids really wanted to go on it.  There was no wait at all, so we went a second time.  Then we ventured to see "The Art of Frankenweenie" which was really cool.  After we met up with Karen for a special Meet & Greet compliments of her CHASE card.  I found the hat I wanted to buy last time I was at the park, so I got it!  I also found an adorable two faced mayor for my Christmas tree at home (to go with my awesome Jack and Sally).  It was a good day! Victor and Sparky Shelley Stitch teaching the kids to do the hula Meeting Stitch Instant Concert - Just Add Water (We had never seen this -...

So, rather than stay home for Fall Break for the kids, and endure them fighting like crazy, and trying to come up with ideas to entertain them daily, I opted to take all four to Disneyland, by myself since Michael had to work.  I knew it was a little crazy and that it would be hard, but I went for it and we had FUN!  The ride there was mostly uneventful because I left at two a.m. so that I could get there close to park open. I say Trip 1 because we have plans to go Disneyland at the end of the month on my mom's birthday and with  M's parents as well.  I love fall at Disney though so I hardly mind. Halloween tends to be a bit more crowded at the parks, but it is worth it!  I met up with my friend Karen (from Maricopa) and her awesome girls for two of the days which was great!  They were fun to wait in lines with and her girls were super helpful with the babies!  Meeting Jack Skellington M can't take her eyes off him (he was making fun...

So I'm just gonna admit it . . . I become obsessive pretty easily.  Take crochet, for instance, I totally had not done it in forever and now I am working on all these projects because I realized how much I like doing it again.  It relaxes me.   This project I started well over a year ago.  I did the side you can see (the butterfly granny square side) and it was folded and put in my crochet stuff bin.  Fast forward to a couple days ago, I decided to finish it.  I had purchased the silk when I began the pillow and even the pillow form for inside, so I just pulled out my machine and stitched the silk cover and then got to finishing the back side of the pillow (which is just straight rows of double crochet (DC), easy peasy!  I like how it turned out and I REALLY like that I actually finished it.  This is the pattern I used to create this: http://www.yarncrazy.com/butterfly-garden    Below is the link to the silk pillow idea and ...

So we had wanted to go check out this ostrich ranch after driving by a couple of times on other adventures, but our plan to go last weekend fell through because their monster truck tours were not running.  We totally wanted to do that when we were going, so we waited.  I am so glad we did!  It was so much fun!!! Posing with the monster truck Hey, I want a picture of me with it too! Everyone pauses, a little nervous about feeding these huge freaky birds I brave it . . . I get lucky, the bird I chose was mostly gentle (some are mean) J was brave and fed them by hand too Mic throwing feed into their dishes . . . they are kind of aggressive Mic's new girlfriend goat (*mwah*) Take # 458 -- haha, had to get a good picture (or something . . . lol that he did this) Mic, the kids and all his girlfriends  E feeding the deer Em feeding the deer On the monster truck, ready to go! A hen with her eggs . . . really...