My Grandma Wade

On the last day of our wonderful trip to Disneyland, May 31st, I received a call from my mom letting me know that my Dad's mother had passed away. I was briefly sad, but also so happy for her that she could move on with her "life"! My grandfather passed away on June 8, 1994 and since then my grandmother has been very lonely. She was a wonderful grandmother and we shared many wonderful moments together.
So upon returning from Disneyland, our neighbors generously gave us three buddy passes on Alaska Airlines so that we could travel to Arizona to be with my family. The girls and I left on Wednesday, June 4th, and Troy came up to meet us Thursday evening. It was sad mourning the loss of our grandmother, but at the same time we had such a great time. My sister and two of my brothers live in Arizona, but my oldest brother lives in Northern California, so we all get together very rarely. Also, on my Dad's side, I have two cousins, Marissa and Sarah. We don't get to see each other very often either. It was fun to spend time together laughing and remembering the times we had. We sat around just calling out memories: water-skiing, dinner at LJ's pizza (just imagine eating cardboard), the sleepovers, playing in the irrigation (gross!), bags and bags of grapefruits and pudding pops!
Grandma Wade will be missed, but the memories will live on!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

We surprised Ryan on Monday with a family trip to Disneyland! What a week it was. It started Sunday night when I started packing. We hadn't said anything to Ryan about what we were planning so I just told her we were going to California. She was then so excited to be going to California to go swimming. She came up with that all on her own. We had a nice flight and quickly got our luggage. We then had to wait for our shuttle to Anaheim. I made reservations on the Disneyland Resort Express. Their buses are PLASTERED in pictures of Disneyland. While we were waiting for the right shuttle, other people kept trying to get our business. One shuttle driver pulled right up in front of us and yelled out the window, "Are you going to Disneyland?" He kept repeating it and Ryan just looked at me all confused. I gave the driver a dirty look and he just said, "Oh, you're NOT going to Disneyland?" and drove off. Eventually the right shuttle arrived and Ryan just kinda looked at it and then moved around Troy to get a better view and was amazed at the big pictures. Then, when we got on the bus, the driver started talking about Disneyland. Ryan just kinda looked at me and I asked her if she'd like to go and she enthusiastically answered yes!! Needless to say, Peyton wasn't thrilled. After the flight and shuttle ride, she just wanted to crawl.We arrived at the hotel and got settled in and then went swimming. This was so much fun except it was a little chilly. Good thing there was a hot tub. We got up Tuesday morning and headed out for Disneyland. All but Peyton seemed to be having fun. She just scowled at everyone. We had a great morning. As soon as we entered the park, we immediately saw Donald Duck, Goofy and Mickey Mouse. We hurried and got Ryan an autograph book and she got all the signatures and pictures taken. Troy bought Peyton a baby Minnie Mouse and that was the only thing that made her smile in two days! We finally made it down Main Street and to the castle. We then headed into Fantasyland and hit the rides.Tuesday afternoon we met up with our friends Sarah and Jake and their girls, Kennedy and Pieper. The girls got their hair done at Libby Lu and Kennedy dressed as Sleeping Beauty and Ryan was Snow White. We then headed over to California Adventure for dinner with the princesses. We saw Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. The girls were THRILLED by this. Dinner wasn't bad either, except for Jake's salad! We then met up with Sarah's sister, brother-in-law and their 3 girls. We were then a party of 13! We wandered back over to Disneyland where the girls got to see Minnie Mouse and enjoy some more rides.

(Cruella De Vil bagged on Ryan's shoes!)

Wednesday was another day filled with rides and wandering as a group of 13. Ryan loves "friends" so she couldn't have been happier. Thursday was down to just us four and Sarah's family of four. We had more time on the rides and seeing more characters. The girls were so tired and completely overwhelmed. Sarah and Jake came to stay at our hotel on Thursday and Friday night so we spent Friday morning swimming and then we put all the girls down for naps before hitting the parks again. This was probably the happiest day for Peyton because she got to take naps! Troy and Jake went off in "search" of In-N-Out Burger and two hours later, they finally found the place, 5 minutes from our hotel. I know, I know, it's a guy thing. Anyways we started off at California Adventure so I could go on the "big" roller coaster with Troy. That's the only thing he asked for all week. I don't do big roller coasters, especially when they go upside down, and neither does Sarah. I told Sarah if I had to go, she had to go. Troy and I watched the girls while they went first and then they watched the girls while we went. I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I expected. I could totally do that again. The night was finished out back at Disneyland. We hit the kiddie rides again and then we enjoyed the fireworks over the castle.

It was such a great trip and completely exhausting! Everyone had such a great time, I'm not sure who liked the rides more, Peyton or Ryan. Thanks again Sarah and Jake, it wouldn't have been as much fun without you!!!!

I thought she was Snow White, not Sleeping Beauty!!

Bootcamp

Today was the last day of bootcamp. It has been a miserable, extremely difficult, painful experience that I LOVED every minute of. I highly recommend it to anyone. I was the only person who didn't miss a single day out of the twenty mornings we met. I can happily say that I improved my mile run time by 1:14. I have never been able (EVER) to run a lap around the track. Today I did a lap and a half before I had to walk for a couple of minutes. I also improved my pushups from 34 to 39. Yea for me!!! The scale hasn't moved much, but my clothes are fitting better and I'm able to wear things I haven't been able to since before I was pregnant with Peyton. I am going tomorrow morning to be re-weighed and measured. I'm sure I'll see an improvement in inches, but I wish I could see more of an improvement on the scale. I know, muscle weighs more than fat, but still. I also know if I wouldn't eat the junk I'd be better off. I'm back to writing everything down that I eat in hopes of eating less, at least it worked yesterday! Last night I went to coldstone with some friends and I had the lemon sorbet with raspberries. I really wanted the cheesecake with raspberries and brownies, but I guess I have to sacrifice somewhere! Anyways, I'll repost tomorrow when I know the measurements. The next camp starts on June 9th for anyone who wants to join me. I'll happily pick you up!!!

It's All Fun and Games...

Until Ryan bashes her head on the driveway.
Ryan and Grayson from next door were running and playing on Sunday afternoon. She stopped herself running down the driveway and then proceeded to fall over herself. Oh well, she only cried for about 2 minutes and then she went back to running and playing again. She is sure to point it out to everyone she sees (like they could miss it)!

Projects

I know that all of my family and friends love coming to visit me because I always make them do projects while they're here. So I'm sending a big thank you to Jac and Josh for all their work during their week vacation. My dining room has never looked better and my flowers have made me smile for four days now!!!
We did have some fun, I'm not a complete slave driver. We learned all about the beautiful history of Seattle (I highly suggest the underworld tour for those who are curious!), we went up the Space Needle and we even found the Troll under the bridge. What more could anyone ask for in a vacation?!!!

Sally!

This is Sally! Sally is Ryan's new best friend. My best friend Jacalyn came to visit on Saturday for the week and she brought Ryan a birthday present. We had many talks about this and agreed that Sally could come to live at our house, but it would have to be outside because Troy is allergic to cats (I think Peyton may be too). Ryan is having tons of fun with her and she spends her life begging to go home and see Sally. She even tried to take Sally on a walk yesterday (Sally wasn't too thrilled). Thanks Jac!!!

The Big 4!

Ryan celebrated her 4th birthday last Tuesday (5/6). She has been looking forward to her birthday since the day after Christmas. She was so lucky that Grandma Kathryn was able to come visit. We had so much fun going to the market to buy fish and eat our way through downtown. We didn't do much else because Ryan ended up getting sick the day before her birthday. The girls had so much fun with grandma sitting on the floor and playing with them. I guess I need to do that more! We went to birthday breakfast at a great little bakery in downtown Kent. Then we spent the afternoon making cupcakes. We made pizza on the grill for dinner (even though Ryan HATES pizza) and then we had cake from Coldstone (she didn't like that either)! Wednesday Ryan had a little party at the Federal Way Community Center Leisure Pool. We had so much fun playing in the water and then had (more) pizza and cupcakes. She loved all her presents and definitely wasn't shy about asking for them. She would open a present and then say, "I've always wanted this". After a couple of times, I started asking if she wanted "this" more than "that" and her reply was "I've always wanted EVERYTHING!" That's for sure! Grandma had to go home to Arizona on Thursday but we sure had a wonderful time while she was here and look forward to her visiting again soon! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!