Garden Ramblings: September 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Nick's birthday at Disneyland...

Nick loves cars and has many car toys. So when Don, his father found out that the "car attraction" just recently opened at Disney's California Land, he arranged at trip to Disneyland for Nick's birthday. "Papa" (Grandpa Lee) was invited to go as well and it turned out to be a guy celebration with three generations represented. So the guys spent the next 3 days at the Disney parks.

We met at the John Wayne Airport on Sunday September 9. Big brother Nathan was there to greet us and provide transportation as he lives close by at Long Beach where he is stationed with the Coast Guard.

The first stop was Costco to pick up "goodies" to have at the motel and Disneyland. You can imagine what was bought with guys doing the buying of favorite things. One was a huge pumpkin pie which we had for breakfast quite a few mornings as well. But there were some nutritional things as well if you can believe that.

Then it was off to the motel to get checked in. Don did a great job on finding the motel which was nice and very convenient being within walking distance to the park. We even had a separate bedroom which was really nice for Nick. Plus it was great that Nathan was able to stay with us at the motel.

Then it was off to dinner as everyone was hungry after a long day of travel. We decided on going to the Rain Forrest Cafe in downtown Disney which we knew Nick would like. At the end of dinner, the restaurant staff brought Nick an ice cream sundae with a candle and sang Happy Birthday for him. Nick was very surprised and blew out the candle right away before they could sing and turned very shy when they started singing to him.

After dinner we spent some time in Downtown Disney visiting the huge Lego store there where Nick found some Star War characters. Nathan arranged for a Star Wars picture to be taken of all of us which was a lot of fun in the making.

We spent the next 3 days at the parks and had a great time. Nick really enjoyed the cars attraction, being picked for the "Jedi Academy" to be trained as a warrior, bug's world, and "toon town", along with all the other attractions we found along the way. On the evening of the last day we went to see the "World of Color" show which was an amazing finish to our Disney adventure.

Thank you Don, Nathan, and Nick for inviting me to be a part of the celebration. It was great spending time with you. And thank you Don for organizing and hosting the celebration. I had a great time!

Nick loved all of the palm trees along the walkway to Disneyland

Dinner at the Rain Forrest Cafe

Nick loves his "big" brother, Nathan

Our "Star Wars" picture. Look out galaxies, here we come!

Nick loved his sucker. He received "Disney Dollars" from Grandma and Papa to spend on his adventure. He had a great time spending them at the many shops along the way.

Nick was quite taken with "Lightning McQueen"

The cars attraction which Nick loved. The wait was long but Nick loved the ride and went for three rides

Mator and the Mator ride

The "boom box" car with dancing in the street. At first Nick was shy just watching but then joined in with the dancing

Nick meets "Froto"

Waiting for the "Jedi Academy" show to start

The Jedi instructor picking out his trainees

Nick was lucky to be picked for training

Do you think he was happy?

The only one receiving personal instruction

Meeting the instructor's approval

Fighting the bad guy - "Darth Vader"

Graduation and they received certificates as well

Big kids Nathan and Don

Nick setting off the TNT

Dad got it to explode! Many times it was just a dud

Nick loved the candied popcorn. One of his many Disney purchases.

Of course he found more cars in "Toon Town"

The rockets at Space land were a big hit

And of course Halloween is coming up with Disney getting into the spirt

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Plants are amazing!

This rose in our back garden next to the deck decided to bloom through the bench we got for a wedding gift. I guess you could consider it an anniversary gift although it was just a bit early. A wonderful reminder of our beautiful wedding.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Valarie, Lindsay, Hailey, Madi, and Kendra's visit with us

Valarie and her daughters, Lindsay and Hailey and granddaughters, Madi and Kendra came for a visit! Valarie was attending her 30th high school reunion (yes, we feel old!) and brought everyone with her on the road trip. It was so great to see them here! Val hadn't been here for nearly 10 years! And it had been a long time since Lindsay had visited, and it was a first visit for Madi and Kendra.

We had lots of things planned - most of which involved going where the sun was shining! The weather in Moss Beach is traditionally miserable in the summer, but we can find the sun easily without getting too far from home!

We spent time in Santa Cruz where we relaxed on the beach and the kids enjoyed the rides and the beach. We went to the Monterey Aquarium, which is one of the best aquariums in the country. We went to the zoo and saw lots of animals. We also spent time at the park and the beach, where Madi got to enjoy the tide pools and even found sea glass!

Val had a great time at her reunion and catching up with classmates she hadn't seen in years. They all enjoyed wandering around Half Moon Bay which has changed dramatically since Val went to high school here.

Patience and Jordyn had sent home a bucket of Disney princess toys, which both Madi and Kendra enjoyed - thank you so much, Patience and Jordyn!

Jon and Sue came over for a visit too, to see everyone, and it was great to have everyone catch up.

And then it was over, and they loaded up and headed home! We so enjoyed their visit and hope that they come back again, soon!! Thanks to all of you for making that long, long trip to get here! We love you all!