Kya's Birthday at Disneyland

This year, Disneyland is having a special deal where you can get in free on your birthday and I still have complimentary passes from when I worked there over 15 years ago; so we decided to pull Kya from school for the day and go to Disneyland! We started out the morning by giving Kya her birthday present from us, a Tinkerbell t-shirt that she had asked for.
The shirt describes Kya perfectly "Sassy but Sweet" and had a picture of Tinkerbell crossing her arms with a pouty look on her face. I also got on for Elsie so that they could be "twins".

The entire park was decorated like it would be for a birthday party, with balloons and streamers. Even the flower garden had Mickey Mouse in a birthday party hat. Here is Kya in front of the "birthday" invitation. In case you can't read it, it says "You're Invited, Celebrate Today!"

The kids posing in front of the train station in their cute Disney themed shirts. Kya was also given a pin that said Happy Birthday Kya, so that everyone could wish her a Happy Birthday. Only, she didn't like all the attention she was getting and took it off.

Everyone riding the train around the park. This turned out to be Seth and Kya's favorite ride. I am guessing because of the dinosaurs.

Next we went on Jungle Cruise, which thanks to the boat driver making it sound like we were going to get attacked, freaked Kya out. We learned today that Kya is a bit fearful of things she cannot control, such as the dark rides and roller coasters.

It's A Small World was a favorite for everyone as well. Seth taking it all in and checking out Peter Pan flying above.

Kya also noticed something she like up above. It was so nice to see my kids enjoying themselves in this fun environment.

Coming out of It's A Small World. It was pretty bright after being inside the dimly lit ride, so Kya had to pull out her cool Snow White sunglasses.

Playing on the trolley in Toontown.

Seth LOVED the Go Go Coaster roller coaster. In fact, he went on it twice, once with Mommy and then with Daddy. I kept wishing that the Matterhorn ride was open, because it was the only other roller coaster that Seth was tall enough to ride on and I know he would have loved it too. Kya was not a fan and kept yelling for the ride to stop. I felt so bad for her.

Kya was a bit freaked out on the Tea Cups too, until we told her to control the wheel that made them spin. That made her feel in control and she ended up loving the ride. This she went on twice....Mommy on the other hand was feeling a bit queasy and opted for standing on the side lines with Elsie while they rode the second time.

Check out her big smile!

Elsie had to check everything out around her and therefore would not pose for a picture with Mommy.

Loving every minute of their "horsey" ride. Both kids patted their horses and Kya even gave hers a kiss.

I didn't get any pictures of us on the actual Dumbo ride, but these are the next best thing.

Even though we are all exhausted and I am a bit sore, this morning the kids asked to go back to Disneyland today. It was so nice to be able to spend this time together as a family and I can't wait to go back again. Next time we will have to do California Adventure though.

Kya's 4th Birthday Party

On Saturday, we celebrated Kya's 4th birthday. Her actual birthday is on Tuesday and we will be taking her to Disneyland, so check back later for pictures of that. As usual, we kept the party to just immediate family and a couple of friends. Even with that, we had 22 people in the house including 7 kids under four.

Kya decided that she wanted to have a Disney Princess themed party. I was going to make her a castle cake, but later opted for cupcakes. Easier for mom and still fun for the kids.

Princess Kya on her "throne".

Princess Grace, Princess Kya and Princess Abigail all decked out.


This year Kya really got into opening her presents. In fact, she may have gotten into them a little too much. Normally I hand her a present, she opens the card which I read out loud to everyone and then she opens her gift while I put the wrapping paper into a trash bag. Very organized and easy. Not so this year! She literally TORE into each present tossing all clothing items to the side and anxiously looking for the next toy. Although we will definitely have to work on her being a bit more grateful and less rude, it was kind of amusing and entertaining to watch her.

The huge mess of paper, boxes and more. Of course, all the other kids had to "help" Kya open the presents too.

Grace, Elsie, Seth, Mason and Abigail enjoying their cupcake and ice cream.

Kya blowing out her candles. If you look closely, you will see that I only put 3 candles on the cupcake. I think I am having a hard time accepting the fact that my baby girl is 4, because I also put 3 on her invitation. Funny thing, I didn't even realize it until someone else pointed it out to me!
Kya, I hope that you had lots of fun at your birthday party. I look forward to celebrating many more with you.

Going to the dentist

Friday, February 13th we took the kids to the dentist for their bi-annual check up. Both Kya and Seth did really well at having their teeth x-rayed. Unfortunately, we found out that Kya has 6 cavities! OMG, I was shocked and very upset. I know that Kya has the type of mouth that is prone to getting bad breath and tartar, so I am always extra careful at making sure I brush her teeth well. I wasn't keeping up though on flossing and all 6 cavities are in between her molars. So we are flossing twice a day and got rid of all fruit snacks. Now we have to save up money to get her cavities filled. Due to her age and fear of having the dentist even look in her mouth, we will be having her put to sleep. Not a fun thing for us parents, but something we feel is necessary and we know it will be much easier on her.

Seth had perfect teeth and was a champ at having his teeth cleaned. Of course, as he gets older and his molars come in, we will have to work on flossing with him too.
Elsie did really well for her 1st visit. Of course, she did not like being held down for the dentist to exam and clean her teeth, but what 16 month old does.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Love, Kya...

Seth....

and Elsie.

The best picture I could get of all 3 together.

Happy Birthday Dad!