Disneyland Pre-Trip Preparations

So as you know, we're heading out to Disneyland in just a few days, so I thought I'd do a quick blog update about or Disneyland preparations.

Obviously, one of the biggies that I do is plan our itinerary for what rides we're going on when.  But instead of showing it to you know, I'll wait until after the trip and do a side-by-side comparison to see how closely we followed the agenda.

But I will show you our typical "things to bring" list for our Disneyland trip [click to enlarge]:

As you can see, it's pretty much like heading into battle.  Is there anything we forgot?  The kitchen sink, perhaps?

Speaking of the kitchen sink, there's a dessert called that at the Paradise Pier Hotel next to the parks.  

 Here's a picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettydaisies/2616259927/ 

Yeah, we're gonna get one for all of us to share on the day we arrive in Anaheim.

Lest you think we're gluttonous, notice that our food list doesn't contain a lot of candy and sugary treats.  We're trying to eat healthier on our trip--plenty of fresh fruit, wheat crackers, string cheese, etc.  One treat we are having on the drive, however, is homemade trail mix:

Last night, we set out bowls of various trail mix items, and let the kids bag their own custom mixes:

Elliott got a little too excited and spent most of the time eating it:

We've also been watching our many Disneyland trip home videos, and we even found Maddy's old Mickey Mouse hat, which Elliott has been wearing all the time:

Next update: Disneyland Trip 2012!!

2011 Wrap-Up Party-o-rama

"Uh, Andreas, you've neglected to update your blog for over two and a half months. I would advise you to post a new entry; preferably one which recounts the events in a brief but entertaining way."

Ok, Elliott the Nerd, whatever you say. Here it goes: Since we had to move to a new house Dec. 3, the old house looked like this for most of November:

But we still had Thanksgiving dinner, much the same way as the pilgrims and Native Americans:

(Obviously, shirtless Joel is playing the part of a Native).

The move went pretty smoothly, and if nothing else, it made it really easy to find the Christmas decorations. We put up the decorations before we even finished unpacking:

Of course we took a trip to see the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, disrupting the spirit of peace and reverence there:

Along the same lines, Abe decided to put on his own Nativity scene--here he is as a swarthy wise man:

Judy and Libby and Ethan came to visit for Christmas. Amanda knitted Libethan a smitten:

The kids opened books for Christmas Eve (also note the fireplace video on TV--thanks Netflix Instant!)

Elliott is obsessed with the vacuum

So we got him his own toy vacuum; alas, he still prefers the real one (though he does use the toy one pretty often, too).

At work, we WERE going to have a White Elephant exchange, so I found 2 potential gifts at Goodwill:

This hand-crafted Harry Potter statue was both amazing and frightening. Someone clearly went to a lot of work sewing, painting, possibly even welding (since it's metal on the inside); yet THIS was the best they did.

I also found this picture/stitched image, which I find fascinating:

A sad clown painting happy clowns on clouds with faces, while another clown watches. And some of it is STITCHED. I want to know what was happening in the mind/life of this person. I gave it to Libby for Christmas, but she just couldn't appreciate it like I do, so she let me keep it. It's currently hanging by the computer desk, much to my wife's chagrin.

Elliott also had a birthday the beginning of this month. Look at the pure, unadulterated joy on his face as he sees his new present (cars toys):

He also got some new Cars pajamas recently--thy make him look very sophisticated, though the buttons tend to pop open, making him look very macho:

So, that pretty much catches things up, except this picture of our countdown chain:

Yep, we're headed to Disneyland in a few weeks--we had planned on going in May, but decided to move it up to February, for numerous reasons I won't list here.

Happy 2012 everyone!!