Preschool Grad

It seems like yesterday that I was getting teary-eyed dropping Blake off for his first day of Preschool, and now we've already come to graduation.

And instead of me crying this time, Blake literally had tears streaming down his cheeks throughout the evening about all of the following:

He wanted to sit with us and not with his class.

He didn't want to say goodbye to his teacher.

He didn't ever want to meet his new teacher.

He didn't want to get older and become a grown up.

He didn't want to die.

It's a good thing his cuteness disguised the wreck of an emotional state he was in.

His homework assignment for the graduation program was to decorate a picture of himself.

All of his classmates' interpretations of themselves were displayed.

Oh how I love preschoolers.

Blake had a very special role as Jack-jumping-over-the-candlestick. He cleared the candle with flying colors.

He cried about the separation from his best buddy Brycen as well.

Blake asked me when we came home that night, "Is Miss Julie at home crying because she misses me?" We are so grateful for his teacher who has helped him grow leaps and bounds this year. 

A Reunited Miracle

Shortly after I posted about Nash's loss, we received this package in the mail:

I didn't have to open it to know what it was. I let Nash open it instead:

We still can't believe it. It's truly a Disneyland miracle that Nash's nie-night was found amongst hundreds of thousands of people, two weeks later.

It came to us covered in dirt and I'm surprised that someone would actually turn that thing in.

I'm so grateful to that someone.

I'm impressed with Disney that they would go ahead and ship it right to us. And I'm impressed with Blake for not losing faith. He continued to pray to find Nash's nie-night every day even though we told him it was long gone.

Nash is obviously thrilled.

The nie-night even came to us as an honorary pilot after his flight home.

Words can't describe how happy we all are.

My Girls

Blake has been begging for a new baby in our family for several months. He loves to cuddle up newborns just as much as I do.

Luckily, one of my best friends, Kristen, went ahead and had a brand new baby for us all to enjoy. 

I had planned on visiting Kristen's one day old baby alone, but I couldn't resist taking Blake with me after he threw himself on the ground with tears streaming down his face when I informed him of my plans.

A few weeks later, one of my very best Michigander friends, who happens to be this sweet new baby's aunt, came into town for the week. Steph really came to visit her sister and niece, but I took advantage of seeing them both on several occasions.

One of those occasions was Bentlee's baby blessing. Her blessing dress was made out of Kristen's wedding dress which was amazingly gorgeous.

This is the only proof I have of Steph's visit. We didn't think about capturing our late night conversations or girls' nights out throughout the week. We were too busy snuggling that beautiful newborn.

I'm so happy that Kristen had a baby girl so I could adore her and so it would give Steph an excuse to visit.

If I wasn't dying for a little girl before, I certainly am now. 

Huntington Beach and Cali Wrap-Up

I am getting so far behind on keeping up with recording what's going on around here. Life is just flying by before my eyes and the days of summer are coming quick.

This finally wraps up our week in Southern California.

We've found that it is nice to have some off days in between full Disneyland days to recuperate and squeeze in some quality naps for the little ones. We spent our off days in the pool at the hotel.

We walked around Downtown Disney one evening to pick up our park guides and anticipate the week ahead.

The boys thought the fountain was a pot of gold.

We visited Huntington Beach on one of our off days as well. It was completely overcast but the rain held off for us the few hours we were there. We really didn't mind having the beach to ourselves.

And that's a wrap.

R.I.P.

On our last day at Disneyland, the unthinkable happened.

Nash lost his beloved nie-night.

Some of his very last moments with his love of all loves were the happiest moments of his life so far.

We were so careful to keep track of his lovey throughout the three days we were at Disneyland. We usually always leave it at home, but since we weren't coming home for naptime, we brought it hoping that it would help Nash fall asleep in the stroller (and he actually did a couple of times). 

Even when we went on rides and parked our stroller outside, I made sure to grab the nie-night and put it with the valuable items I was bringing in with me. 

I told Troy at one point, "The worst thing that could possibly get stolen is the nie-night."

So, I watched it like a hawk.

But somehow, on the very last day when we were park-hopping back and forth, Nash must have grabbed it out of the stroller and dropped it while we weren't looking.

We backtracked all of our steps in hopes of finding it.

We asked workers if they had seen it on the rides we went on that day.

We filed a claim with lost and found.

Blake said many heartfelt prayers.

But alas, it was long gone. In a park that holds about 140,000 people each day. I'm sure it got thrown away with the amount of dirt that was caked on the already raggedy, torn-up little chick.

I called lost and found several times still holding out hope that someone would turn it in, but we couldn't delay the inevitable. We had to head back home.

Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I literally cried as we left the state of California without Nash's nie-night. It felt like we were leaving a part of his childhood behind.

Nash isn't doing so hot without his lovey either. He hasn't spent one night without it since he was born, and the replacement Pluto we got him just isn't cutting it.

I am not a sentimental person when it comes to stuff. I throw away anything and everything I no longer see use for. But the nie-nights are the one thing I saw myself always holding onto. I keep Blake's torn up nie-night on a high shelf in my closet.

I think I may be just as heartbroken as Nash.

R.I.P. beloved nie-night.

Jam-Packed Disney - Part Two

The adventures continued at Disneyland for a second and third day.

One of the best parts of our trip was spending it with our good friends Nathan and Alisa from Denver. We were expecting this vacation to be chock-full of late night games after putting the kids to bed, but we were all too exhausted from kid-full Disneyland to do anything but crash. Keeping up with four children ages 4, 3, 2, and 3 months wiped us all out.

Blake had a blast with Carly and asks me every day when we get to see her again. They got into plenty of mischief together.

We were especially smitten with Nathan and Alisa's new baby because they named him Tanner; only the coolest name ever. And, Tanner was born on Nash's birthday, which makes him twice as awesome. He was seriously the best baby being carted around Disneyland day after day.

The boys were at the perfect ages to be equally as excited about the characters as they were about the rides.

We checked out Mickey and Minnie's houses in Toontown.

Blake steered Goofy's ship.

And then Goofy taught him how to make sharp turns.

Nash would have moved into Goofy's backyard if we let him.

Troy was once again the master entertainer/distracter.

We hit about every child-friendly ride that existed (except the new Little Mermaid ride that was closed for refurbishment - still bummed about that). Some of the longest lines were for the classics, but we never had to wait more than 20 minutes. It was a good time of year to go - after spring break but before the end of the school year.

Blake was tall enough this time to go on some of the bigger rides. We finally talked him into the roller coaster in Toontown after several failed attempts. He loved it of course. His favorite ride was Soarin' Over California, a simulated hang-glider flight over California. He took the entire ride so literally. He thought we were really outside flying over mountains and oceans. When the screen got dark he asked me if it was night time. And, at the end when we "flew" over Disneyland, he squinted his eyes in search for his dad (who was waiting outside with Nash). So cute.

One of the biggest highlights was watching Mickey's Soundsational Parade. We staked out the best seats in the house early, and while we were waiting for the parade to begin, Nash absorbed high amounts of sugar.

That made him extra exuberant about the floats and dancing characters.

Probably our favorite moment of Disneyland was during the parade, when Troy asked Nash if he liked Mickey Mouse. He clenched his fists and entire body and screamed in the most ear-piercing pitch, "I LOOOOOOVE MICKEY MOUSE!" I tried to get it on video after the fact, but it didn't do justice to the first time he professed his love.

We cut our trip a day short to get back home in time for Troy's cousin's wedding. We were surprised to find a package waiting for us at our front door after driving all day.

We have wonderful, thoughtful friends. I mean relatives of Mickey Mouse.

Blake spent every spare moment scouring over the park guides. I think he has memorized just about every detail by now because he hasn't let the maps out of his sight since our return home.

Well, folks, in three days we had about as much fun as we could take. Till next time...