On the Farm

Today we visited the farm with Ben's little pre-k class to pick our pumpkins.  It finally felt like Fall to me and got me in the spirit of things a little more, although this dang sunny California weather just wont let up.  It started off cool when we arrived but we were stripping off the layers before our time on the farm was done.  I am so ready for cozy cool weather.  I'm not sure if I went to Smith Family Farms growing up (although I'm sure I did), but I don't have any memory of it and boy was it fantastic.  So much fun stuff to do and so much charm.  

I love how my eyes are drawn directly to my boys.  Not only because Jackson is looking straight at the me behind the camera but also because their little blonde heads are all aglow from the gorgeous light flooding in the window.  

This very cute music show was entertaining but got a little long for Jackson who was dragging me out the barn doors to go and explore.  

We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to find our favorites.  Here Ben is with his favorite buddy in his class.  

I love this one of Jackson.  My laid back boy.  

We found our favorite ones and now they sit on the porch until Daddy's birthday on the 29th when we will carve them as per tradition.

Disneyland Part 4: Goofy's Kitchen & Downtown Disney

My boy's GG. she's the best, made us reservations at Goofy's Kitchen on our last day in LA for Ben to get some more autographs in his little book.  It's nice they have this at the Disneyland Hotel since we were too busy to do it on the other days while at the parks.  The food was delicious (our first real breakfast our whole trip since we were busy, busy.)  There weren't a ton of characters and a lot of old school ones, which I found to be pretty funny because my kids had no idea who some of them were.  Jackson had a run in with Chip that left him crying, but he was so eager to get his little book signed that he stuck around for most the characters, albeit at a distance.  Luckily Pocahontas and Aladdin weren't scary at all and he started to warm up to the whole thing.  

We rounded off our wonderful trip with some strolling and shopping in Downtown Disney.  First up the amazing Lego store.  Ben just kept asking, "how long do you think that took them to make?"  It's pretty amazing.  Funny to think about what a dream job it must be to some guy who was a crazed lego builder as a kid.  

And we couldn't leave without a trip to Build a Bear complete with a pirate bear sporting a Goofy football tee, jean shorts, tan dock shoes, and a Pluto baseball hat.  Jackson got a Mickey outfit for his bear at home.  Ben has been playing non stop with Skully since, so it was a good purchase (by GG of course).  I tried to cut her off after that, but the two of them snuck in one last trip to the Disney store for a remote control Lightening McQueen and a Donald for Jackson.  Because as Ben told me, "GG makes the rules, so just listen to her okay."  

One last penny for his collection.  

A shot of the shoppers.  

And one last stroller nap for Jackson before we hit the road.  

Last Disney post I promise.  I just had to record every fun (well, I omitted some to spare you) detail.  Until next time Disneyland.  Thanks for the memories! 

Disneyland Part 3: The Happiest Place on Earth

Day two of our trip was spent at Disneyland.  It was a bit more crowded than CA Adventure, but nothing compared to the peak times.  It was such a fun time of the year to go with the park all decked out for Fall/Halloween and the weather was gorgeous, warm and breezy.  We still got to go on and see all the kiddie stuff, and Ben didn't know what he was missing anyway for the stuff we didn't have time for.  Plus, despite going on a big roller coaster the day before, he was still nervous about ones like Space Mt., Indiana Jones, etc.  He knows all about them because his GG downloaded the Disneyland app onto her phone and he'd been studying the park leading up to the trip, and they looked like a little much. : ) 

Ben collected the pressed pennies all over the two parks and I think came home with seven or eight.  

Our first order of business was to make their Mickey hats.  I told Ben I prefer the classic ears, to which he disagreed, but then grabbed them anyway when he was looking on his own.  Guess he didn't know what I meant by the classic ears.  : ) 

The boys were good in the lines, just crazy because we couldn't contain Jackson (so wish you could push your stroller through the lines).  They both wanted to climb the entire time on whatever they could get their hands on and I was just stressed because I was worried our trip would be cut short due to a trip to the emergency room.  Thankfully no such injuries occurred.  

I just love Jackson's face in the photo below.  This about sums up his reaction to the rides.  During it's a small world he stood the entire time and pointed at everything.  Ben on the other hand thought that this ride was "a little annoying." 

Toon Town was a hit and finally provided a safe place to run and climb.  After a little climbing, Jackson took this opportunity to take a nice stroller nap with Mickey.  

Had to squeeze in the classics: the Tea Cups and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.  Two hits for the boys.  

Parade #2.  Jackson was the cutest and had to wave and say hi to everyone.  He even yelled out "Donald" just as clear as day, so of course his GG had to get him a Donald Duck before we left.  

Ben was such a trooper both days walking around the parks, and even the five or so blocks from the hotel.  But by the time we were leaving for our interlude at the hotel his feet needed a little break.  

After a quick hotel break we were back for more action and the amazing fireworks show.  We had a great view of the castle but when I looked over at Ben behind me during a most spectacular part he was just about fallen asleep.  It was time to say goodbye.  We had fast passes for Indiana Jones, but between his sleepiness and worries that it would be too scary, it was a no go.  Next year for sure.  

Yeah Ben's face pretty much sums it up.  We were all spent.  Two days were plenty and we will catch everything we missed next time.  It was truly a magical time spent with my boys and mother-in-law.  Both boys were so good the whole time and I couldn't have been prouder, especially of Ben.  The memories we made were priceless and I look forward to our next trip!