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So I guess that I was the last mom in Lincoln to have taken her kids to Disneyland.  That's what it sounded like to me weeks before we left on our trip.  I honestly didn't understand all of the hype and excitement.  What was the big deal.  Isn't it just another amusement park?



Now I get it.  And now I am already saving money up for my next trip.  I want to visit every Disney location.  Euro Disney, Tokyo Disney, Disneyworld.  Any place else?



My girl went right up to Mickey, and Pooh Bear, and Eyeore, and Tigger.  I was so surprised.  Her shyness was gone for the moment when she saw those character's that she is so familiar with.  And quickly went to each of them for a hello and a hug.



Grandfather made this trip possible for us.  He is 88 and swears this is his last trip away from home.  He had just come to Anaheim from the Grand Canyon.  He has really been all over the world and I'm sure that if he can get on the train, he will be out the door again soon!



Once my kids got their ears, I told them that they had to wear them to get on all of the rides.  They didn't pick up on the fact that I wasn't wearing any myself.  And the night we went out to IHOP, I told them that they would get a free glass of water for wearing their ears too.  I know, I'm bad.  But aren't they so cute!

Thanks to all of my friends and family for all of the Disney help.  Especially Gram who watched my Q when I was gone. And thank you to Beth and Grandfather for making the trip with us that much more fun to share it with you!

summer

We just got back from our little annual summer vacation at Lake Tahoe. It was so beautiful and the kids look forward to it each year. This year Molly even cried when we had to leave and go home, she was so sad.



We rode bikes around Squaw Valley. Took a cable car ride (not the San Francisco kind) to High Camp, SV, hiked and played in a little bit of snow. The boys went fishing. Jeff barbqued dinner almost every night. And we all went swimming at the Tahoe City, Commons Beach.



They also have a nice Thursday Farmer's Market at Tahoe City too. I saw a few of the Lincoln Farmer's Market vendors there as well. One of my favorites is a man named Raj, who sells Indian food. Really yummy mimosas (or is it simosas?). But, by the time I got there he was sold out. So I bought some naan and some garlic, artichoke spread to dip it in. All organic.



Also in Tahoe City is a shop called Morning Glory. They sell some of my katie jean items there. I stopped in to see the owner Marcy, and her shop is hoppin'! Stop by to say hello. 620 North Lake Blvd. She has a ton of great things, some new, some vintage, some shabby, and some chic. All cute! She even has a back porch with some gardening things and furniture.



Remember when I was at Morning Glory before with Q and he picked out a boat he just had to have? It was the start of his collection of Ohio Art. Now there are two. How is your summer going?

off to a good start

The school year ended on Friday. My kids will be home for the summer. I don't have a lot of big plans for us. Just a list in my head of some things I would like to do with them.



And so far so good. After visiting with my sister-in-law, Kathryn, and visiting her worm bin, I thought it would be something great to share with the kids. Learning about reducing the waste that goes into our trash, and helping out our garden with worm castings (aka poop). And I thought they would be fascinated with having worms as pets. Well, I mentioned this to Mr. Toy and he thought of a trade. Good for us, and good for the school. So, thanks to Mr. Toy the science teacher, we will be having Speedy the Hamster with us for the month of August. In exchange for a worm bin. Yes worms.



On Friday after we got the worms safely home, we set out for an end of the school year celebratory ice cream. There is a new place by us called "Lourdes Ice Cream". I haven't heard of them before, but I love supporting local businesses. They have a purple ice cream called UBE. It is made out of sweet potatoes. And it was really good! I think I have a new favorite flavor. They also had avocado ice cream. The kids actually said it was a "classic" place.



And get this...Q has been bugging me about wanting to go to garage sales! So he has been doing some extra house work to earn more spending money. He is 9. I am so lucky to have a kid who wants to do something with me that I really love to do. So today we went to a local swap meet called Denio's. He spent his $11 on a r/c helicopter. I bought two other inexpensive toys for child #2 and #3. We looked at everything for about 3 hours. And he want's to go back there again! I think he is interested in buying some car speakers.