A Day at the Beach

On Monday, the last full day of our vacation, the kids decided they'd rather spend the day at the beach instead of Disneyland. Luckily it was 73 degrees with no wind so we were happy to go! We didn't end up finding the beach we wanted but instead found a nice public beach in Newport Beach. The kids played in the water (especially Gabrielle), played football and we all (except Chad) played a beach soccer game with a couple of guys who saw our soccer ball and asked if we wanted to play a game with them. The afternoon was fun and relaxing. Willem said it was his favorite part of the trip and asked if for our next vacation we could go to the beach the whole time :) That is sooo Willem picking sand and water over Disneyland!

It was such a pretty day

 

Gabrielle was so brave in the water. The water was cold and she was in there a long long time!

 

The kids insisted I put this picture in. Willem was taking shots, Elle was playing goalie and I captured this shot of the ball coming at her.

During this vacation I read 'Nikon D5000 For Dummies' and was having fun trying out different settings on my camera trying to get action shots and the right lighting. I learned a lot and hopefully can put it into use with my pictures.

 

Love Willem's smile!

 

Always have to make a sand-something when you go to the beach! 

 

Will has the best expressions!

 

Push him, Will!

Chasing the bird or a ball?

I love that all three were getting into playing football together and then soccer. And I love that my girl can hang with her athletic brothers and even beat them sometimes. Go Girl!

I thought this was just a cool picture of my girl :)

Disneyland Fun

Early Saturday morning we headed back to Disneyland. The crowds were thin in the morning so we rode a bunch of rides. Cade's favorites were Indiana Jones, the Grizzly Raft Ride and California Screaming though he said he wanted even more wild rides. He said he wants a ride where he feels like he's going to die (ya, I little scary though not surprising knowing Cade! I think we'll be going to Six Flags Magic Mountain on our next trip!). Gabrielle loved the Grizzly Raft Ride and California Screaming which was scary enough for her! Willem loved all the wild rides with his favorites being Grizzly Raft Ride and Splash Mountain. We also spent part of Sunday and a little of Monday in Disneyland and California Adventure. We had a lot of fun together and managed to avoid long lines most of the time. It was strange not having  little kids who wanted to see all the princesses or ride kiddie rides but, that also made it more relaxing as they all just wanted to go on the wilder rides. We all missed Genevieve (who was being spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa's house) and talked about how much fun it will be to take her in a couple years and do all the littler kid stuff again.

Hollywood Tower of Terror!

Note Willem's look of joy! The kids discovered that you can go to the front of the line in some of the rides if you go as a 'Single Rider' so after we went on rides as a family, we let the kids ride a few more times as 'Single Riders' which was quick and fun!

Willem was proud of himself after riding the Grizzly Ride on his own!

 

Gabrielle having a blast and getting soaked!

Gabrielle with Goofy!

Willem was occupied for hours with his lollipop!

Donald loved the 'I Love My Ducks' shirts!

The obligatory family shot in front of the castle. We all look tired because this was taken at 7:00 am Sunday morning when we got in the park very early using a 'Magic Morning' pass. It was great to get in so early and have no lines for 2-3 hours. By 2:00 pm we were done for the day, enjoyed a long lunch/dinner at ESPN Zone along with some football watching and then a swim and movie at the hotel. It was so nice and relaxing.

No one on Main Street (at 7:00 am Sunday morning)

Cade outside the Lego store!

 

We loved the ESPN Zone (except for the prices!). We watched Oregon basketball on Saturday pull out a great win vs. 16th ranked Washington. And, we saw the whole Alabama football team who were in town for the National Championship game.

Everything as so pretty and lit up at night for the holiday season

Cade in Toon Town. He loved this clock which moved very fast and said he wished time went that fast when he was at school.

 

Cade & I went back to Disneyland the last night with just the two of us and had such a nice time together. He insisted he take a picture of me for once :)

Going Rose Bowling!

Before this year we had (or shared) season tickets to the Oregon Duck football games. But because Cade and/or Gabrielle's soccer teams played out of town every weekend this Fall we gave them up. Though we so enjoy watching our kids' play soccer it didn't quite seem like Fall without at least one Saturday afternoon at Autzen.  So, to make it all better :), we decided we had to make it to the Rose Bowl to watch our Ducks! 

We got to the stadium early leaving us five hours to check it all out and take in the fantastic atmosphere.

 

We all had fun at the ESPN tailgate party. The kids played a bunch of games and won a few prizes...

Cade running the course

Gabrielle's turn!

Go Willem!

Cade and Willem are such brothers...they are best buddies and then so competitive (and rough) with each other. They had a blast playing football in the grass outside the stadium.

 

This picture is kind of fun because Willem looks bigger than Cade. During our trip someone actually asked if they were twins which Willem, of-course, loved and Cade did not :) I do have to add that they were sitting down when the person asked!

 

It was also fun running into so many friends and fellow fans from Eugene. I forgot to get pictures but we had fun hanging out.

Finally, it was time to take our seats and watch some football! Gabrielle, Willem and I sat together in some great 35 yard line seats (thanks to Sheri, Keith and Bob!). Cade and Chad had good seats as well with other Oregon fans (thanks to Chris and Kev!).

 My view from the 35 yard line

 The fighter jets flying over the stadium after the anthem was very cool!

 

 Lots of Oregon Fans (though we were surprised how many Ohio State fans there were as well)

The sky was so pretty...though the game took a turn for the worse :(

It was a bummer the Ducks lost the game 26-17 (which led to some tears from Willem) but it was still such a great experience and one that we definitely hope to repeat.

We still Love Our Ducks!!! Thanks, Ducks, for a great season!!

New Year's Eve in Disneyland!

This New Year's Eve was different from years' past! We started the day by flying to LA...

And ended it by celebrating in Disneyland!!

Just after we arrived at the park at around 4:30 pm

The park was pretty crazy and busy but we managed to go on about six rides and to take in all the activity in the Magic Kingdom. The lines weren't too bad (about 30 minutes or less) except a breakdown on Space Mountain (while we were in line) resulted in a two hour wait which just about caused a couple youngsters to 'lose it' :)

After we survived Space Mountain, it was fun to see all the activity and the TONS of people who were there to countdown to 2010. There were DJ's, dancing and lots of fireworks.

Willem was so excited to ride Splash Mountain especially because he wanted 

to see his mom get wet!

 

A classic Splash Mountain shot!

Cade, Willem and Gabrielle with a full moon behind them. It was fun being there with all the Ducks fans...every few steps, we would hear "GO DUCKS!" from a fellow Duck fan upon seeing our Duck gear!

As the night went on it got very very busy as everyone piled into the center of Magic Kingdom to party with Mickey, Minnie and the DJ

We got to walk right by the stage but were quickly ushered past! People camped out most of the day to get near the stage!

Chad and I got into the spirit with the party hats!

After getting up before 6:00 am and with all the excitement of the day, I think I was the only one who needed convincing to call it a night at around 11:00 pm. Cade, Chad and I did stay up to listen to the fireworks from our hotel beds and wish each other 'Happy New Year'. We were then quickly off to sleep in anticipation of an early wake-up call and the big Duck game the next day!