Bowl-r-ama

This weekend, we decided to go with the family to the local bowling lanes. Thanks to Arizona's smoke-free laws, we had a very nice time and felt ok to bring the kids! Jon and I started off with a bet: I said there would be "no way" they make baby bowling shoes to fit Josh. Jon said, "you're on." When we arrived, we found out the smallest size they made was size 7 toddler bowling shoes -- Josh wears a 6. So, we were both sort of right and sort of wrong.

Since our pride was already on the line, we all decided to show our stuff on the lanes. Everyone had a pretty good game, including Jacob (our first-time-bowler) who really got into it by the end! He started off "granny style," rolling the ball between his legs. After he saw how all the adults were doing it, he tried a modification to his bowling style which was pretty funny:

Disneyland's Cute Little Half-Cousin

We PROMISE to post the rest of the Disneyland photos soon. But, before part 2, it was very apropos that we went to a very small version of a Disney-esque park over the MLK holiday this past weekend!

For those of you Oregonians that rememeber Enchanted Forrest, this was about 1/2 the size. There's this place in central Phoenix called Enchanted Island which is on the Encanto Park property. The rides are geared specifically for 2-7 year olds, so they were very safe. Couple the rides with an 80-degree day, and we had quite a blast! Here's a photo sampling:

We knew they'd be driving, but it seems so soon:

Here's our boys on what they called the "Mini Enterprise" -- our little babies! A certain mommy was a bit scared they'd fall out all on their own, even though they were strapped down. Good thing it was only 1 foot off the ground:

The warm weather was perfect for a little bit of bumper boats. Joshie was too small, but Jacob did very well steering his vessel:

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

Yes!! We took our first family trip to DISNEYLAND over the Thanksgiving holiday! It's been way too long of a delay to get this blog post up to speed. We've had an amazing Christmas and New Years with lots of family and friend time! But, there's so much to share and so many pictures to post, so here is part one of our long-overdue story.

We started our drive over to California with a little trepidation. Joshua had just had surgery (tubes for the ears), Jacob was on the downside of a cough, and the weather report was calling for rain. However, everyone survived the car ride! Thanks to some snacks, four potty breaks, toys and a portable DVD player, we made the trek in about 6.5 hours.

Thanksgiving day brought a downpour of rain. We feasted on turkey and pumpkin pie with our extended family and enjoyed the festivities indoors. The rain ended up being a blessing because we think it scared away some of the locals from Disneyland the next day. On that morning after Thanksgiving, we hauled our family over to the park to be there when the doors opened at 8 am! The kids had no idea what they were in for.

We hit up the first ride -- the Peter Pan ride. The locals told us this one fills up fast everyday, so best to do it first. Jacob wasn't too keen on flying through the dark on a mechanical ship. So, we were a bit worried about the other rides. BUT, after a fun stint on the Dumbo ride, Jacob was ready to take on Disneyland! Josh, of course, just admired the views and was pretty happy throughout the day.

The kids were AMAZING. Josh took a morning nap in the double stroller with Daddy (a totally awesome invention, by the way) while Jacob and Mommy hit up the Buzz Lightyear ride. We kept everyone happy with snacks, treats and rides -- intermingled were a few visits with some of the Disney characters!! The highlight was meeting Mickey Mouse in the flesh. There was one moment, however, where Jacob was hugging the bear outside the "Hungry Bear Cafe" and sort of got enveloped in the hug:

Part 2 coming soon!