I love hiking and exploring new places. It's something I've always enjoyed but have rarely done. Tony and I both would like to be more active with our kids. This last weekend we decided to take them on a little hike. It wasn't a major hike and was actually right in the middle of downtown Eugene at Skinners Butte, a little hill with an easy hike to the top, approximately 1 mile and 262 feet up.
I think it was perfect for our first hiking adventure as a family. The kids did amazing! Rylee asked us to hold her a few times, but she actually asks us to do that all the time at home too. We just told her what a good little hiker she was and she kept going, without us packing her. Ayden was running going up the trail at one point, and he tripped and fell. He had a good cry about that. It was pretty cold, so I'm sure it stung his hands. That and he doesn't like when his hands are dirty, which is funny since he likes to eat applesauce with his fingers instead of a spoon. Go figure! Once he got over that, he was off and running again. They had so much fun, that once we got back down the hill, they immediately wanted to walk back up again! We didn't do it again, but told them we for sure would another day.
Family selfie at the summit.
Checking out the view from the top.
They were such amazing little hikers!
One of the main reasons we chose this spot for our first hike is because there is a really nice playground there as well. The kids had a blast playing at the park after our hike.
It was such a great day!
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Last Thursday was Rylee and Ayden's first overnight with the grandparents. MIL picked the kids up around 4:00 and then I had the other set of twins that I do daycare for until 5:00. Then we had the whole night to ourselves! It was weird, but glorious at the same time. We did nothing. Haha!
Friday began a weekend of pampering for myself. I got my hair trimmed and colored for the first time in over 3 months! I was REALLY turning grey, so it was nice to finally get that covered up.
On Saturday, I finally used my spa gift certificate that Tony gave me TWO Christmases ago! My feet have never been the same since pregnancy. I swear that gaining that extra 26 lbs in fluid during my last week of pregnancy ruined my feet forever! My heels get so dry that they actually tear holes in my socks regularly. No foot care that I do seems to really help. It was sooooo nice to finally get in and have a big time pedicure done and get my feet scrubbed! I wish I had the money to do that more often. It was the best Christmas gift ever, even though it took me so long to actually use it!
Sunday, Tony took the kids to visit his grandpa (who is not doing well) and to go see my sister and her family. I was able to stay home by myself and work on getting stuff together for the upcoming consignment sale in March. It was so nice to be able to work uninterrupted!
It was so nice to be able to do things for myself over the weekend. It was perfect.
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I just finished reading Julia's weekly pregnancy post at My Life in Transition about her upcoming ultrasound and hopefully finding out the sex of their surprise baby #4. I smiled all while reading her post because, 1) I love her family, 2) it made me think of how my own pregnancy was, and 3) the post just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. When I read her words about how excited she is to find out the sex (in just 2 days!), I was completely taken back to the moment we found out the sex of our twins.
"I love finding out at the ultrasound so, so much." Julia Goolia
I had ultrasounds with MFM (maternal fetal medicine) every four weeks. At our 16 week ultrasound, the technician was pretty sure that Baby B was a boy, and *guessed* Baby A was a girl but couldn't say for sure at that point. We went into the appointment not knowing if we would be able to find out at that point, knowing it still might be too early. We didn't let ourselves settle into the idea of knowing what we were having either way. We didn't even tell anybody we had a pretty good guess. We just weren't going to go there, because really, at that point we still barely believed we were even having babies! I didn't even say anything when I wrote the blog post about our 16 week anatomy scan! We wanted to know for SURE first.
I can remember very clearly what it was like laying on the table for the ultrasound. At 20 weeks pregnant, I was huge and it was uncomfortable. The appointments lasted forever, because it took almost a full hour for each baby. The technician was super nice and knew we were excited to find out the sex, so she looked for that right after checking the chambers of the heart first. Baby A wasn't very cooperative in showing her profile or getting in the right position for measurements, but she at least cooperated enough to see that she was a GIRL! I remember Tony crying when he heard those words. It was such a sweet moment. Baby B was confirmed to still be a boy.
I asked the tech if she was SURE, and she answered that the only way to know with 100% certainty is to give birth (lol), but she was pretty sure she was right.
Tony didn't stay for the entire appointment since he had to get to work. I remember falling asleep several times throughout the rest of the appointment. Remember, I said they took forever? It was always so warm in the room, and I was so sleep deprived throughout my whole pregnancy. I always seemed to fall asleep easily during the day, but could never sleep at night.
Life's been crazy and pretty stressful lately, but it was so nice to take this trip down memory lane. I can now go to bed feeling all the warm and fuzzies.
If you're friends with me on Facebook, you've seen most of these pictures already. Sorry for the repeat, but there's just too much cuteness not to share here too!
Last Tuesday, Ayden and Rylee got to experience their first airplane ride on the way to Disneyland.
Very excited to board that plane!
He really wanted to help with the luggage.
The first night we were there, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and window shopping. Their mind was blown and they were in toddler heaven with all the stuffed animals!
He was soooo excited and couldn't decide which was his favorite! (He was looking at more stuffed animals)
Day 1: California Adventure
Getting ready to start the day with their cousins!
Doc McStuffins was the very first character we got to see!
One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was going to the Disney Junior Live show. It was so much fun watching how excited Ayden and Rylee (and all the other little kids) got. Seeing them clapping and jumping up and down dancing actually brought tears to my eyes. It was amazing to experience the joy that this brought them!
Waiting for the show to start.
Mickey Mouse!
Our first family picture of the trip.
Day 2: Disneyland
This trip was made possible for us because Tony's parents are amazing. They took us, along with Tony's brother and family, to Disneyland with them to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
Grandma Faffy and Grandpa C with their grandkids.
Ayden was able to go on a lot of the big kid rides because he (just barely) made the 40" height requirement. Poor Rylee fell a couple inches short of that. Fortunately, she's still young enough that she didn't know what she was missing out on. While most everyone in our group went on one ride, someone always stayed back and took Rylee on something else. She definitely still had fun, just missed out going on a few of the bigger rides. No matter what ride we went on, big or small, both Ayden and Rylee ALWAYS asked to do it again!
Waiting to go on the Star Wars ride.
Tony and Ayden on Splash Mountain. Tony was terrified of Ayden falling out because they weren't buckled in on that ride!
Getting to meet Minnie Mouse in person was a MUST for Rylee, otherwise she may very well have disowned us and moved out of the house. She was sooooo excited to see Minnie Mouse!
Day 3: California Adventure
We lucked out right at the beginning of the day, being in the right place at the right time to meet Donald, Daisy, and Pluto. Rylee repeatedly said she wanted to "pet Pluto" the day before, so she was super excited that she got her chance! She even got to pull on his whiskers, and Ayden and Rylee both got to honk his nose. lol
While we all had a super fabulous time, it did not come without meltdowns. Is it even possible to take a toddler to Disneyland without a meltdown? Ha! Actually, Rylee did pretty good for the most part, but Ayden had a hard time when it came time to get off a ride. He wanted to go again, not get off! He didn't understand that we had to take turns with other people. If he was on a ride or meeting a character, he was perfectly fine and having fun. But any other time, he was usually whining or crying about something or other. Combine being on the go and lack of sleep with all the excitement of Disneyland, and it made for a cranky toddler.
He had been completely bent over with his arms dangling down, but I missed getting that perfect shot of this meltdown. It was actually pretty funny.
My absolute favorite part of the entire trip was meeting Anna and Elsa! We almost didn't do it, but I'm so glad we did because Ayden and Rylee's reactions made it so worth waiting in line for! Rylee was so nervous and excited that she could hardly contain herself. She was completely star-struck and didn't want me to put her down. Tony caught the very start of our visit with Anna and Elsa on video, which I'm sharing below. Ayden was beyond adorable, encouraging Rylee to go forward and meet the princesses. And then he was a little shy and bashful himself! I can hardly handle how cute they were!
Anna told Rylee they were twins, wearing the same dress!
Rylee asked Elsa where her gloves were. Esla said she didn't need them anymore!
We had such a great time. Tony and I feel beyond lucky that we got to experience taking our own kids to Disneyland. To witness the magic of it all through them is pretty much the best thing ever. I'm so incredibly grateful to my in-laws for making this trip possible, because there's no way we could have afforded it otherwise. At least not right now.
When we got home and I was unpacking, I found a little surprise in Tony's suitcase. Apparently one of the kids (I suspect Ayden) loaded the front pockets with dinosaurs and trucks! We had no idea these had made the trip with us! Hahaha!
We spent a fabulous 3.5 days at Disneyland last week! My in-laws took us and Tony's brother and family there to celebrate their 40th anniversary. We had so much fun! Ayden and Rylee got to experience their first bus ride, airplane ride, roller coaster, and met lots of their favorite Disney characters.
We got to take my oldest niece to Disneyland with us five years ago (thanks to Tony's parents then, too) and it was pretty dang amazing, but nothing can compare to being able to experience it with our own kids. It's something we never thought would be a reality for us. Dreams really do come true...
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