Day 4... continued

 

 

 

 

After Fantasyland we walked over to the California Adventures Park and saw the show Aladdin. We loved it! At first Caitlin and Jared complained that they would enjoy the rides more, they wanted to stay with the Bells (who were doing other things), etc... I didn't know what to expect since I hadn't heard anything about it. I was just happy for a chance to sit and rest my throbbing feet. But, once the show started we were all so happy to be there! I love theater productions, musicals, and plays. Especially those that are well funded! :-)

The plan that afternoon was to go to the Peter Pan themed pool at Disneyland Hotel. So, before we set off to change into swim suits the men and kids took a few rides on the Grizzly Run which is a VERY FUN and WET ride. I'm so glad the pictures above captured some of the excitement. The Grizzly Run takes you down at least 2 steep waterfall drops, through some white water and then finally along this little stretch where the water is much less choppy but geysers squirt up, some of them very big! So these pictures capture the "Oh no! Bring it on!" spirit of our group as they neared the very largest geyser that threatened to not turn off (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't). The pictures also cature their expressions as the geyser did turn off just in the nick of time, which meant that they weren't going to look as if somebody had dumped buckets of water over their heads. GOOD TIME! Definately a fun ride!

Day 4... continues...

 

 

 

 

We had early entry to Fantasyland. This was the area of Disneyland I remember most from my own childhood visit there and also from our trip in 2000.

It was crowded, as usual. We rode Snow White, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Dumbo. We skipped the Tea Cups.

Day 4 at Disneyland

 

 

 

 

Certainly a skill practiced this week-long trip to Disneyland was PATIENCE. Some of the lines moved quickly, others seemed to drag on and on. I think overall the kids did great, they learned that at the end of waiting was the reward of an exciting ride. Sometimes the wait was done not so patiently, but it was a time to slow down and to "hang out".

Photos: 1. Zachary being a good sport for the camera 2. & 3. Jared and Joshua in line 3. Waiting for the Dumbo Ride

Day 3 at Disneyland...

 

 

 

 

I'm sorta forgetting what happened when... I'm letting too much time pass, I guess.

Day three. A picture is suppose to be worth a thousand words, I won't go into that much detail but, here's a bit of our day.

1. Zachary, Joshua and Jared waiting in line for Roger Rabbit's Wild Ride in Toon Town.

2. Jared and Joshua looking around during the Roger Rabbit's Wild Ride. We also went to It's a Small World After All and I watched these boys look in awe and silence at the thousands of things to see. I think you could go through that ride dozens of times and notice hundreds of new things during each new ride. Amazing. I think we waited in line at Small World for about 10-15 minutes. I remember waiting in line for that ride for at least an hour years and years ago.

3. We went and saw Woody's Round Up a little skit that included the characters Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye. The kids liked this. The Woody and Jessie characters were so playful with the kids and fun. They loved Caitlin's pigtails.

4. The decorations were so amazing. I really enjoyed being there with all of the fall decor. I was amazed at the creative use of pumpkins, candycorn, etc... Here's our little family towards the end of Day 3. Being tired and hungry is my memory of this photo.

The end of Day Two at Disneyland

 

 

 

 

We went and saw the interactive show "It's Tough to be a Bug" - it is a bit unnerving. There was one point during the show that I looked over at the boys (all seated between myself and Crystal) and they were all practically on top of her lap. LOL! Most of the kids liked it. Jared's only comment was that Aunt Meme would NOT like that show. He's right, Aunt Meme should never go to that show.

We also walked over to the Pier and the men and big girls went on the Roller Coasters, etc... Zachary had a nap and Joshua and Jared rode the Carousel. We all rode the ferris wheel (The big sun in the back of the last photo above). It was the WORST ride I went on all week long. The little cages sway back and forth until you are ready to beg they let you out. Scotty, Jared and I sat in a cage with 3 complete strangers. All of us (strangers included) couldn't wait to get off that ride.

Fun day. I like California Adventure Park. I like that it isn't nearly as crowded. They have a lot of great rides and some of the more recent Disney characters.

Day 2... before lunch

 

 

 

 

On our way over to the "Tower of Terror" we ran into the Incredibles (Mr. and Mrs.). Caitlin loved the Tower of Terror. I hated it and I think Jared did too although he wouldn't admit it. They had a High School Musical 2 parade and performance that the older girls liked. Those tunes are so catchy! We then had lunch at a little stand selling overpriced chicken fingers and cheese sticks.

Day 2: after breakfast.....

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we went to the California Adventure Park. We had never been there before and we really enjoyed it! The first ride we went on was the Grizzly Run. It was early and we stood in line for less than 5 minutes. We all got wet but, that ride was the best. So fun!! We then went to a ride that I had heard rave reviews about "Soaring Over California". Here's a picture of all 6 kids standing in line, another picture of Amelia Earhart who is a distant cousin of Papa Perkins (Caitlin was excited to see her photo there). This ride was so amazing. You really feel as if you are flying over California, you smell the pine trees and oranges, feel the breeze. It was beautiful! We then went to the Monsters Inc. ride. Jared was pouting at this point, having just been disciplined for wandering away from us. Monsters Inc. was a cute ride, sorta like many of the rides (Peter Pan and Snow White) in Fantasy Land.

Disneyland- Day 2 - October 9th

 

 

 

 

We had a character breakfast scheduled early in the morning. It was with Chip & Dale (and a few friends). These were the first characters our kids had seen and they were having a great time with their autograph books. The food was an amazing buffet and cute little Mickey Mouse waffles. My favorite was the perfect omelet made to order!

Photos: 1. Buffet food, YUM 2. Caitlin with Dale 3. Kaitlyn, Rebecca, Joshua, Jared, Caitlin and Zachary 4. Sitting down for breakfast

Disneyland- October 8th

 

 

 

 

Our first day on our Disneyland vacation was my birthday (37th). Usually we go out to dinner on birthday celebrations but, we decided to do breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. We then checked into the Disneyland Hotel around 11am and hit the park. The first picture is of me and the kids just inside the gates at Disneyland. Look closely, you will see that Mickey is made out of orange and white pumpkins and a few flowers. We bought the kids "ears"- they got to pick from a large assortment of ears ranging from plain to princess. The kids each chose the pirate versions. The park was decorated in fall/Halloween themes. I loved all of the decorations and the creativity using pumpkins. Here the kids are in front of the big Mickey Head at Main Street inside Disneyland.

We spent the day riding rides and trying to reach the Bells on the phone. Our first ride was Star Tours, Jared was beyond excited to see anything to do with Star Wars. We also saw the Jedi Training Show, it was amazing. We all loved it! Jared wanted so badly to be one picked for the Jedi training. We had pizza and salads for an early supper and just happened to run into the Bell family in Tomorrowland. Crystal's phone wasn't working and unfortunately we didn't have Jeff's cell phone number and they only had our number programed in Crystal's phone. It was good to see them! The kids were so happy, Caitlin had been so worried that we would not be able to find them all week long. Of course we had hotel rooms right down the hall from one another but, she was still concerned.

It was a great day, a good birthday. Scotty and the kids gave me the wireless headphones for my i-pod that I've been wanting. (I hate cords, but that's a conversation for another day...)

Super Saturday

Super Saturday is over and it was a success! I'm so exhausted. My feet just started to feel rested from Disneyland and now they are throbbing again. I paid Jared a $1.00 for a foot massage, it was totally worth it! He does a great job, he massages the individual toes. He suggested it was actually worth $5.00, I think he's probably right but, I told him $1.00 was plenty!

So, I'm going to post some pictures of my projects. One is a wooden board that says Christ is the center of our home. Christ is in big ivory letters and the other words are black and smaller and written through the center. The second project is an 8 x 8" glass block with a black vinyl picture of the shepherds on it. Wire rimmed ribbon is wrapped around the block and forms a bow on top. It's very pretty, especially at night with a string of lights behind it.


The other great news is that I tried out a new soup recipe to take to the luncheon. It is hands-down the best corn chowder I've ever had! So, I thought I'd share it so, you can enjoy it too!

Deluxe Corn Chowder
I adapted this recipe from one I found online at allrecipes.com- “Grandma’s Corn Chowder”. The original recipe used water instead of the vegetable broth.

½ c. diced bacon
4 medium potatoes, peeled & chopped
1 medium onion, chopped small
1 c. water
1 c. Swanson vegetarian vegetable broth
3 c. cream style corn (2 cans)
2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 c. half-and-half

Place the bacon in a large pot over medium-high heat, and cook until crisp. Drain and crumble, reserving abut 2 tablespoons of the drippings in the pot.

Mix potatoes and onion into the pot with the bacon drippings (for vegetarian version add to the pot with 2 tablespoons olive oil). Cook and stir 5 minutes. Pour in the water, broth and corn; stir. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover pot. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until potatoes are tender.

Warm the half-and-half in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Remove from heat before it boils, and mix into the chowder just before serving.

We are back...

... we took our anticipated trip to Disneyland! We were gone a week! I'll be downloading the pictures and posting in a few days about our vacation. We had a great time and it was fun to meet the Bell family there and spend some time with them.

I have a new church calling. I am Enrichment Leader. We have Super Saturday tomorrow and so far things are running smoothly. I am teaching two classes, both of which have to do with vinyl lettering. Should be fun!

Well, I need to scoot out the door. I'm meeting Scotty for lunch. Watch for our vacation pictures to soon post!

About fall...

Fall. My favorite season. I love the colors, the cooler temperature and the changing tree leaves. The trips to the pumpkin patch are always so much fun. We buy a pumpkin and take photographs of the kids with amazing scenery in earthy colors! Almost all pumpkin patches have those bounce houses now, but we found an amazing pumpkin patch about 20 minutes away that has a cornstalk maze, a train ride, tractor ride, and a charming country store selling adorable fall crafts.

My kids can hardly wait until I pull out the decorations. Their eyes light up as they recognize things that represent tradition and family to them. Caitlin loves these little bobble head figures. I have to agree that they are beyond cuteness. I'm not crazy about morbid/death halloween things. No blood and horror movies here. But we love cute, fat pumpkins and our sink ledge of "potions" and chocolate eyeballs.

My kids love to countdown to Halloween day. They love dressing up and trick or treating. Who doesn't love candy? I've been trying to think of all the past costumes the kids have worn.

Perkins Family Costume History

1998 - Caitlin was Piglet
1999 - Caitlin was a white bunny rabbit
2000 - Caitlin was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz
2001- Caitlin was Snow White & Jared was a crawling Triceratops
2002- Caitlin was Sleeping Beauty & Jared was Winnie the Pooh
2003 - Caitlin was Cinderella & Jared was Buzz Lightyear
2004 - Caitlin was a cheerleader (sorta Kim Possible) & Jared was a Fireman
2005 - Caitlin was a black cat & Jared was a Pirate
2006 - Caitlin was a butterfly princess & Jared was Harry Potter