Happy Valentine's Day

Thanks Grandma for the new outfits!

Disneyland

We got back last night around 6:30 from the girls' first trip to Disneyland. We drove down to Ventura on Saturday and stayed with our friend Alissa at her new house. Alissa's boyfriend is a firefighter and was nice enough to give us a private tour of his station. I'll try to post pics from the tour later this week. Thanks Nick!

Headed down to Disneyland first thing Sunday morning. We pulled up to McDonald's for a quick breakfast and Matea asked if we were at Disneyland. Yeah, no concept at all of how big and amazing the real deal would actually be. We got to the park late morning and had a little bit of rain but nothing heavy. Our first rides were the tea cups, Dumbo, and the carousel. We ate at the rain forest cafe that night and the girls picked out Disney Princess tshirts from the Disney store and baby character dolls. We headed back to Disneyland from about 6:30-9:30 and were able to walk on most of the rides. We didn't even have to wait for the big attractions like Autopia and the Finding Nemo Submarine!

Monday brought rain. Lots and lots of rain. We came prepared though and proudly sported our plastic ponchos. Matea slept through the worst of it and Bella didn't complain at all since we bought her some hot chocolate. We went to the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire where we got to meet Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella up close. Totally worth the short wait in line to have private time with each princess. We were able to go on lots of rides and then headed back to the hotel room to order pizza and dry our socks and shoes. That night we had dinner with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto. Absolutely worth the money. Bella was unbelievably sweet with Belle, her favorite princess and mama even started to get a little teary eyed because the moment was so special. We did rides around California Adventure and then headed back to Disneyland for a few hours to do some of the rides that had been more crowded during the day.

On Tuesday we got into Fantasyland an hour early so we were able to walk right onto most of the rides again. Then we went over to meet Tinkerbelle and see Pixie Hollow. Since it was our last day, Bella decided to try out some of the big kid rides. She went on Splash Mountain, The Matterhorn, and Space Mountain! I couldn't believe it! The girl who was freaked out by Pirates of the Carribbean wanted to go on the scariest rides.

We had a really great trip. The longest we ever waited in line was 15 minutes. And you know how Disneyland is filled with kids melting down and freaking out everywhere? Totally didn't happen to us. Both girls were angels the entire time and never really complained about anything and more importantly, didn't fight. I'm going to ask Bella to get a part time job so we can start saving to go again some day.

There are too many pictures to post here but you can check them out at
http://gonzalezdisneyland.shutterfly.com/

For Sale

One of a kind, original artwork by a talented 2 year old. Also included is the leather couch that the artist used as her canvas. And yes, showing great attention to detail, the artist made her mark on all three seat cushions. Seller is entertaining all offers. Seller may include the artist herself if offer is above $25.

Lucky

Just another weekend at the beach enjoying the beautiful weather, making sand angels, playing "snake in the sand", and taking silly pictures of ourselves.

Passed Out...Again, Naked...Again

Party Time

Bella's birthday party was at Round Table again this year and included just grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone had a great time playing games - Bella's favorites were air hockey and skee ball. We had good pizza, a cheap Costco cake, lots of presents, and a good time.

Happy Birthday Bella!

Today, our feisty, spirited, and energetic baby turned 5. In some ways, we can't believe it's been five years already and in other ways, it feels like she's been here forever. She requested "muffins that aren't blueberry" for breakfast this morning and also needed a candle in it. She opened gifts from Matea and us and was nice enough to pose for a few pictures of the special outfit I made for her.

Party Animal

Matea, passed out in the middle of the livingroom naked at 6:00pm on New Year's Eve. And she hadn't even had a cocktail!

Actually, this is what happens when you start giving up your nap:( And since you asked, yes, she's almost always naked these days.

Christmas Fun

The whole fam has had a great Christmas. My mom, Devin and Ronnie came over on Christmas Eve and we had delicious carne con chile that Steve made. The girls got enough gifts from my mom for every child in the county and the noticeable theme was Barbie and Princess. We got the best gift ever...a wii, wii fit and guitar hero and have been having a lot of fun playing all of the different games and exercises. We're already planning to head over to Hollywood Video tomorrow to rent some new games.

One of our traditions is that on Christmas Eve, an elf rings the doorbell at night and leaves a package from Santa with new pj's for the girls. This year, the girls heard jingle bells and Bella was convinced it was the bell on the elf's hat, bouncing as he ran away. I was really cute to see how excited she was to be that close to seeing an elf.

Our gift to the girls was a complete bedroom makeover on Christmas Eve. They slept in our room that night and within three hours we painted, rearranged furniture, brought in new furniture, put out new bedding and decor and new shelves. They love their new room and have been spending lots of time in there.

Dance Recital

The girls had their first dance recital a week ago and the theme was Disney Princesses. Matea had been talking about the recital all week and was really excited about it but then she refused to nap that day so she was extra moody come recital time. Bella had been battling a fever off an on for two days so she wasn't in the best mood either.

Matea did really well for the first two songs but then she slipped and fell and was too embarrassed to continue. Bella went back and forth between doing a great job and furiously scratching her tights and making her best pissed off face.

Thanks to grandma and great grandma for coming all the way over here for the recital and to Auntie Devin and Uncle "Wonnie" for coming too! I have some video that I'll try to upload later this weekend.

First visit with Santa

Today was both of the girls' first real visit with Santa. I think Bella may have seen Santa once or twice as a baby but it was more just throwing her on his lap, taking a quick pic and running off. We went to Santa's House near the mission in SLO and unfortunately for us, we showed up right as church was getting out so we had to wait for freakin ever. Add to that the fact that I misjudged the weather so both girls were freezing and it wasn't a fun wait.

Once we got to Santa, both the girls walked right up and were completely comfortable. Santa asked Bella what she wanted for Christmas and Tate said, "Um, I tink she wants pwesents." Stupid man.

A dream come true

Yesterday, Bella lived out one of her life long dreams...to ride a school bus. Her whole school rode the bus to a Christmas tree farm and Matea and I were able to meet them there. The girls both had a lot of fun at the farm but for Bella, it was all about the bus.

The real reason I had children

So I could have free household servants. Actually, they were fascinated with the new stick vac and asked to use it. Then, they enjoyed it so much, they asked to vacuum their room too. So really, I was doing them a favor.

You can't make this stuff up

This morning, Matea and I had the following conversation:

Me: What did you dream about last night?
Matea: Ummmmm, Grandma Cindy and Grandpa.
Me: Oh? What about them?
Matea: Ummmm, they were finding presents.
Me: Oooooo. What kind of presents?
Matea: Ummmmm, ballerina stuff.
Me: Grandpa was a ballerina?
Matea: No, he was the queen!

All dressed up with no place to go

I went into Matea's room during nap time yesterday to check on her and this is what I found...

Village Parade

The girls were part of the Arroyo Grande Parks and Rec parade group tonight. I can't say that I found it to be an enjoyable experience. We got there on time and spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where to line up, only to find that someone was parked in our spot. Then we were told that we were number 45 out of 50. So, we waited from about 4:30-6:00 before finally entering the parade. The kids were tired and restless but made it fine through the three blocks long parade. Matea had fun and a lot of the parade goers seemed to find her adorable, just like I do. Bella told me afterward that next year, she'd rather just watch the parade instead of being in it. Fine by me.

Thanksgiving in the Valley