How to Make a Seven Year Old Boy Cry

We just finished watching Harry and the Hendersons.

Remember that movie from 1987? It starred a much younger John Lithgow as the dad who took his family camping in the Cascades just outside Seattle. On their drive home Bigfoot jumps out in front of and is struck by the wood paneled station wagon. The tale that follows is about how the Hendersons take home what is believed to be a dead sasquatch, who then comes alive and torments the family in the middle of the night. In the days that follow the family falls in love with the vegetarian creature. Bigfoot then escapes into the city of Seattle and manages to elude all the authorities and one Saquatch hunter out for the kill, all the while making himself known to unsuspecting non-believers throughout the city. Of course he is found by Mr. Henderson, who manages to bring him back to his home and works out a plan with a not so cruel Sasquatch hunter to get the big, smelly creature back to the forest, while still eluding the mean hunter who has never experienced the endearing qualities of the hairy guy now dubbed Harry.

I'll stop there, so as to not ruin the ending. However, I will mention that there was about 6 swear words scattered throughout this PG rated movie that caught me off guard, including one by the young son.

Throughout the entire movie Ben kept asking me if that was a man in a costume, or really Bigfoot. This is coming from my boy that has believes that he transforms into a superhero merely by tying a cape to his back, but has always been skeptical of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth fairy. What's a mom to say?

Towards the end of the movie, I hear a few sniffles on the couch next to me. I look over and Ben has his glasses off and is wiping his eyes. I said, "why are you crying buddy?" He says "if we find Bigfoot, can we keep him mom?"

He did it!!

My husband has graduated from college! It has been a long hard road for him and our family, but it is over! I am very proud of him. College is not easy when your young and fresh out of high school. Imagine doing it 20 years out of high school, with a wife, two kids and a full-time job! We are so thankful to have that season in our lives over and look forward to the next adventure that God has in store for our family.

Gingerbread Houses

One day after school this week we had Ben's friend Lauren over after school to decorate gingerbread houses. They had alot of fun and created quite the masterpieces. When Lauren's mom came to pick her up we decided to go grab some dinner together. Dave and Cooper were out together having dinner with another friend, so it was just Ben and I along with Lauren and her mom Vicki. We decided on Applebees, since it was close. As we were getting ready to leave, Ben asked if I could give him $20 and just drop him and Lauren off at Applebees. When I asked him what Vicki and I would eat, he said "you two could go to McDonalds".

She's gone crazy!!!

Shannon over at EightCrazy is doing a very fun giveaway. She is giving away a handmade, one of a kind bracelet made by GemsByGeorge, who happens to be her mother-in-law. So, go check out Shannon's blog, it is full of very creative ideas! Then go check out GemsByGeorge to see the beautiful work that she does and read about how she came to create these amazing pieces.

Our Disneyland Trip

The boys and I arrived home from Disneyland nearly two weeks ago. We had a great time. The trip included my mom, my nephew Caleb, Ivana (a Slovakian exchange student staying the year with my parents), my two boys, and myself. The drive (yes we drove!) was uneventful. We left Vancouver at 3:30am on Sunday morning, and drove all the way to Solvang, California that day. We stayed the night there and the next day we leisurely made our way to Anaheim, stopping along the way at Santa Claus Beach outside Santa Barbara so that Ivana could see the Pacific Ocean for the very first time!

It was very fun to experience that with her. While the kids were playing in the surf we saw a small pod of dolphins swimming about 50 feet away! After that stop we detoured through Beverly Hills and Hollywood to see some of the sites, including the famous Hollywood sign before driving to our hotel in Anaheim. Tuesday morning we enjoyed breakfast with some characters at Goofy's Kitchen. The food was very good (although definitely not low fat!) and the characters visited us right at our table. There was a chance to bang a few pots and pans with Goofy, and a little magic performed by Peter Pan. It was lots of fun and worth the expense in my opinion. With our bellies full, we headed over to Disneyland, and spent the whole day there in the park. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was the favorite ride of Grandma, Caleb and Ben. I did get Cooper on it once, but only by bribing him with the prospect of picking out a souvenir after the ride. He agreed, we got in line, he tried to change his mind, but in the end he rode it. He was a bit scared, but when it was over he agreed that it was a little fun, but refused to go again!
Wednesday was spent mostly in California Adventure and the favorite ride of the day was Grizzly River Rapids. Fortunately it was sunny and about 80 degrees, because we got wet! Thursday we drove to San Diego to go to Sea World. It was a very chilly 50 degrees that day, which allowed us to have our pick of "splash zone" seats at the Shamu show. What a great show! It really amazed me how smart those killer whales are.

Sea World was neat, but it was a little difficult to enjoy after we got wet. The highlight of that day for me was feeding the dolphins. I plunked down the ten bucks for eight tiny fish just for the once in a lifetime oppurtunity to put them into the mouth of a porpoise. It was very cool. The dolphins come right up to the wall, you pat them on their nose then toss a fish right into their mouth. It is necessary to get it right into their mouth, otherwise the scavneger birds snatch them right away.
Friday we spent the day in between Disneyland and California Adventure. That afternoon Cooper and I escaped away for a bit in search of his favorite characters. He patiently waited in line for 20 minutes for the chance to snuggle Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. What a treat that was for me to see the joy in his face upon meeting his 100 Acre Woods friends. Later that afternoon, while my mom took Cooper and Caleb back to the hotel for dinner and a rest, Ben and I headed over to tackle the ominous Hollywood Tower of Terror. We had been over a few times to ride, but the line had been over 45 minutes each time with no FastPasses available. This time there was a 10 minute wait. So we psyched ourselves up and headed in (actually I psyched myself up and had to bribe Ben with the promise of hot cocoa after the ride). IT WAS SOOO SCARY! There is nothing that compares to the "out of your control" feeling that you experience while free falling with only a seatbelt holding you down. The ride ended and it took serious effort on my part to get my jello legs to work. We then proceeded to ride it two more times before heading off for overpriced Hot Cocoa.
Saturday it was time to pack it up and start the long journey home. We had a great week and were very blessed to have had the oppurtunity to go. Grandma (my mom) has made the trip so many times with her grandchildren (that was her 7th trip!) that she has become quite the expert. She buys each of the kids a fanny pack to carry a lunch into the park with them, and puts dinner in her crockpot each morning so that it is ready when we get back to the hotel in the evenings. It was so great to be able to save money by not having to buy the park food, and it made it possible to have little treats like the carmel apple that Coop and I shared while waiting in line to see Pooh, or the Hot Cocoa that was way overpriced. My boys and my nephew were so well behaved and I really enjoyed having the oppurtunity to steal a little time away with each of the boys seperately. Thanks for the great week mom!

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Home from Disneyland

We had a great time! I am so exhausted and have not had a chance to download my over 200 pictures. Don't worry I won't post them all!
I really need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
Busy week, preparing for graduation in THREE days! This has been a long road for my hubby, so we are celebrating!
I'll get disney pics up soon.