Met the Ong family @ Disneyland over Thanksgiving break!
Cousins united.
Got the character dining experience @ Goofy’s Kitchen.
There was a dance party every few minutes.
Minnie just does not age. :)
Oh, the dessert spread!
We celebrated Xander’s 6th birthday!
And our anniversary, kinda. :)
Which one are you: C or D?
Yup, the dab is becoming a common occurrence, egged on by Daddy.
First morning walk through Downtown Disney on the way to the park.
He was super stoked for this ride.
We maxed out our time during the Magic Morning hour and we pretty beat by like 9am? A leisurely ride on the monorail sounded pretty inviting…
Also, we may have scarred him a bit by going on Space Mountain so early in the AM. Mommy felt she was getting a bit too old for these kinds of rides, too, while Daddy was having the time of his life. :D
The decorations for “It’s a Small World” were so intricate and lovely.
YES!
Hey, Walt.
The twins, Alfie and Lexie, had to take naps in the afternoon so Xander hung out with Elias.
All the shows were SO good.
And the parade just really gets you in the holiday spirit…
It was convenient staying @ one of the park resorts and walking right in. The rooms had a lot of neat little Disney touches, too.
His own store. ;)
California Adventure Park — the kiddos may have actually enjoyed it more cuz of the recognizable Pixar characters.
Doing this ride first @ DCA may have been a mistake, hehe.
How in the world did Gong Gong film the whole ride without dropping his phone (@ 80+ yrs old!)??? And we label this photo “The Scarring #2”. :D
Woody, you’ve grown?!
Took Gong-Gong to Radiator Springs. :))
Yo Lightning McQueen.
And Mater!
Girls vs. Boys on Radiator Springs Racers. Ladies were victorious!
When some (ahem, majority) of the parents don’t want to do the going around in circles rides, who steps in? Grandpa!
Toy Story Mania was a fave for all of us. Too bad we didn’t to go on it a 2nd time — 90+ minute wait times rest of the day, ugh!
Took a break for lunch and checked out the Boudin Bakery.
Princess Elena, um, we’ve never heard of you? Haha.
Doc McStuffins and friends dance party.
Spidey!
Ralph, what huge hands you have.
Street show.
Frozen is a must see.
Nice little reminder/mantra.
A welcomed little distraction while we waited forever for Soarin’ Around the World (WITH a MaxPass!).
It was totally worth it, though, and we rounded the night waiting to ride it a second time with everyone together.
A walkway, too?
And sign? Lol.
In our lobby. E ended up not wanting to ride this (the real one) after the Space Mountain scare, hehe. Xander did, though.
Cousin love.
Grandparent spoilage on the last day. “Early Christmas presents”.
All (somewhat tired) smiles before heading to SD…
‘Til next time, Happiest Place on Earth!
… more and more in love w/ our fine city! (“America’s Finest”, they say? We believe!)
Though the weather doesn’t fluctuate a whole lot, we are enjoying a bit more crisper temps with it technically being autumn. First time @ Pumpkin Station in Del Mar.
“Won” some swords. They generously gave 2.
Kylo Ren goes trick or treating @ the International Cottages in Balboa Park. Each one was so unique to their own countries.
Kylo @ costume day @ school.
The boyz gang.
Mao Laoshi’s class.
It was like a block party on Halloween in our neighborhood. Everyone was out. What a blast! “Woody” is his best friend on our street.
The haul, sorted. Believe it or not, he ate like 5 pieces max? The Daddy tax, on the other hand, was quite high… ;-P
Fantastic Beasts event at a new to us library.
With some wildlife outside… The owls were quite interesting to meet up close.
He touched that sssssslitherin’ reptile behind before this photo. Ewwww! :D
Scootered by the boardwalk to get to the Carlsbad Fair. Parking was atrocious! Think it’s the largest street fair in the nation so gotta visit at least once, right?
Worked up a hunger just getting there.
Daddy wanted to try a supercharger on the way back so we refueled at a healthy cafe inside an Equinox, which was right next door.
Finally got to visit the Mission Trails visitor center near our place.
Legoland on a day off from school. Decided to get the season pass as E is a zealous, budding master builder. :)
The Star Wars displays weren’t there the last time we came (still as tourists!).
So really, we can come as many times as we want until 2020? He fo sho will be back!
Stumbled across a new snow place, after running into some neighbors over lunch. Full circle story — we met them while house hunting back in April. They were looking at the same community as us. We ended up buying and moving in before them as they just closed not long ago and then the day we ran into them, found out they lived in Singapore for the past several years.
The chalk mural was very well done.
When school’s out and the kid wants to play but you want to stare at the waves and appreciate a sunset… :)) And the weather is still perfect.
A fireball of creation, indeed. ;))
And kinder, semester I photos. (Cheeeeeeeezzzzee!)
“…Every painted sky
A canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You so will I…
If the stars were made to worship so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high so will I…”
Seeing and feeling and experiencing nature stirs our affections for Him and beholding these things on the regular now still awes us. Don’t think it’s gonna ever get old.
Air show @ Miramar (yes, from Top Gun … apparently, Cruise was spotted recently in SD while filming the sequel).
Nothing like being on a tank on the grounds of a real marine air station, eh?
A “soldier man”!
Another {ex} soldier man (aka Daddy).
Ventured up north to the town of Poway for their rendezvous back in time to the Old West.
Witnessed some living history encampments of life during CA’s civil war eras.
Watched a gun-fighting demonstration! Can you spot the cowboy?
A steam locomotive train runs through Old Poway Park.
The small museum in the square was open.
This translated to something a tad larger. ;-P Like son, like father. But it’s worthwhile when gas is like 4 bucks a gallon and our house’s solar can run the car charger. :)
First official build @ the Lego store.
Nursery on a farm in the middle of the city? Interesting! Went to get ideas for our landscaping… All the houses in our whole development came with zilch landscaping so we’ve got like a couple of months to submit a plan.
This one was more interested in the animals than the plants.
Huge tortoise alert!
Don’t think they consume twigs, son. ;-P
Flying Ford Anglia buiid @ a local toy shop called Geppetto’s and a new acai place grand opening.
This pink ice cream parlour with chandeliers was just calling out to these boys, hehe.
Lakes close to our place. You can actually see our house in the distance.
Went to check out a fall festival at Point Loma Nazarene University. The parking lot had an awesome view!
Found another kombucha place we hadn’t tried out — they don’t make their own yet but carry many of the local brands.
Writer’s night @ school. Packed!
Farm 2 School Collective picnic — great initiative. Don’t think anything like that existed in TX.
Finally using our new Star Wars beach towel he had picked out in the summer.
