Disneyland

Last week I took the kids to Disneyland. By myself.

Within 5 minutes of arriving at the airport, I had three people say, "Wow. You're brave! Are you alone?". I know they were really thinking, 'She's nuts!'. With each of our carry-ons (we didn't check any luggage), backpacks, a double stroller, a carseat, and a booster, it was A LOT of crap. It took us at least 15 minutes to make it through security. Thank goodness we were the last people in our line. Security probably could see how long it was going to take, and just closed down the lane :).

Anyway, it was a lot of fun! John was in LA the whole week working, so we saw him at night after work. And my brother Nate was there one day, and my sister Emily was there too! Emily's kids are a lot older than mine, so unfortunately we didn't see them too much...but when we did, it was a lot of fun.

I promised myself to be good at taking pictures, and so I even started with one on the airplane. And then my camera battery died. I was so ticked! Thank goodness Ellie had her Mickey Mouse camera we gave her for birthday - it's a great little camera for a little kid camera...as you'll see by the pictures.

Ellie was just getting over being sick when we got there, and Jack was in the middle of a cold, so that was kind of a bummer. But we had beautiful weather, and a wonderful time. And yes, I renewed my annual pass :).

On the airplane - Jack's 1st time in his very own seat.

Jack was so funny about the characters! He'd see them, call out to them, run up to them, and then get really mad and run away. He was TICKED I made him be so close to Minnie.

He did however, LOVE Lightning McQueen. He thought he was AWESOME standing next to him in ELLIE'S sunglasses. Isn't he cool?! He sure thought so!
Ellie took this picture...

Unfortunately, I started getting a REALLY bad sore throat while we were there. I felt pretty worn down, but was still able to enjoy it. We flew home on Saturday, and by Sunday I was as sick as I have ever been. Ever. I couldn't even get out of bed. It was TERRIBLE! I'm pretty sure it was the swine flu...chills, aches, worst sore throat I've ever had, cough, congestion, runny nose...the works.

What's funny is that I NEVER get sick. John and I were just talking the last week (before I got sick) about how we're hoping our kids will get a good balance of our immune systems. My immune system is awesome and I can go years without a cold. Even when my whole family gets sick, I'll somehow not get sick - kissing and all :)! So, because I never get sick, I never get a flu shot. BUT, we decided Ellie and Jack should get the H1N1 vaccine and since it's a mist, Ellie wanted me to show her that it didn't hurt. So, the sucker that I am, I took the bate. And wouldn't you know, I started feeling worn down right after, and then ended up sicker than I've ever been. I think I'm done with flu vaccines!

I'm feeling 10 times better than I was on Sunday and Monday. Now I just feel like I have a NASTY cold. But at least I can function.

Thank GOODNESS John had his swine flu vaccination way back in October, so he's been just fine. I can only imagine what would happen if he ended up with this.

Okay, enough whining.

I'm embarrassed to say that the reason I took Ellie & Jack to Disneyland is because I made a deal with Ellie about her binky. I'm such a sucker! She's over FOUR and still had a binky. So finally, I told her if she gave it up on January 19th (we chose the date together and put it on her calendar), I'd take her to Disneyland. I waited WAY too long to take it away, I know. And it hasn't been a big deal at all. The only thing I felt bad about (and almost caved in!) was that she got sick the very day she gave it up, so she cried for it that night. And that was it.

While looking at Ellie's camera...I came across some super cute pictures of her.

Ellie's 4th Birthday party!!