More California pics are soon to come! It's taking me a little while to go through each day of the trip and decide which ones to post!

Arriving in California on Valentines Day

Here we are waiting to board our ridiculously short flight to Chicago. I think we taxied longer than we were in the air. Rebekah was so confused, she kept asking; "Are we flying?"
Look Out! Here comes the luggage. The Ohare Airport has a really nice play area designed by the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. We had a three hour layover here, so it was great for the girls to be able to use up some of their extra energy before the flight to California.
Alyssa worked so hard to get these sheets hung up as dividers that created little "rooms." The younger kids kept dismantling all her hard work.
Taking down Alyssa's work.
Peeking out of the play plane.
Emma refueling the pretend jet.
Rebekah kept running up and down these stairs which led to a traffic control tower saying she needed to check her email.
Welcome to Chicago, Little Valentines!!
Rebekah slept for 2/3 of the 4 hour and 23 minute flight from Chicago to Orange County.
She did wake up in time to enjoy a few stories though. Our seats were separated from the rest of the family so I was not able to take pictures of the older girls. We sat next to a nice lady who seemed impressed that Kamele was content to sit and eat snacks and look at books. She travelled very nicely for us!

Excited to see Disneyland

On each trip we take to Disneyland, we always stop to get a photo of the girls by "their letter" of the word California. So, here's Alyssa by her A
Poor little Em, there's no E in California, so she had to make her own!
Littlest One by her R
Emma wanted a picture in front of the whole word since her letter is missing :) I cut it off a little bit...ooops.

Disneyland, February 15th

A family photo at the entrance to Disneyland.
Here is Emma admiring the final page in Sleeping Beauty's Storybook. We are near the exit of Sleeping Beauty's castle here, and it was super special for Emma to be able to walk through the castle for the first time since Aurora is her favorite princess.
While we were visiting Disneyland, one of my best friends and roomates from Iowa, Michelle was also vacationing there with her family. Here are two of her three children, Cristian and Ava with our girls in one of Alice's Tea Cups. It was so nice to see all the kids playing together and having fun on all the rides!!

Cristian and Emma enjoying Pinocchio's Daring Journey. Rebekah is hiding in my lap in the background, we might have made a bad choice in taking her on Snow White's Scary Adventure for her first Disneyland ride. It's a little dark and scary in there, and she continued to be frightened on other rides that didn't have scary storylines afterwards.
Cristian and Emma who are only three weeks apart became instant buddies, and asked to go on most of the rides together. It was very cute, here they are enjoying a front row seat on the roller coaster in Toon Town.
Meeting Pluto was very exciting!
Duckie ready to go down the slide head first.
Peeking out of a pumpkin.
Alyssa, Michelle's daughter, Ava, and Cristian sitting in a gazebo near where we ate lunch. One of the older children started a game where the kids were running laps around the gazebo shouting out: "Oh no! A BEE!" and it was so funny to watch Rebekah copy Ava's every move. She's not used to having a playmate so close in age and size to her, and I know she really enjoyed playing with Ava.
The three girls as Toon Town Firefighters.
Captain Bekah drives the Fire Track :)
For Grandma: Emma with the mailbox in Toon Town.
The ten of us at Princess Aurora's castle.
Before leaving to meet Dave's family, Michelle and I posed for a picture in front of the castle. It was so great to spend the day with you and your family in Disneyland, Michelle! I'm glad the kids had so much fun together. It's too bad we don't live closer and can't arrange get togethers like this more often!!
Beautiful Tulips in Disneyland!!

Happy Valentines Day and California Eve

On "California Eve" we made Mickey Mouse Pancakes in anticipation of the trip.
Rebekah was so proud of this elephant that she colored for a Valentines Coloring Contest at our grocery store. I was so disapppointed that I forgot to take pictures of the older girls with their work before turning them in.
Earlier in the week we made "Pixie Hollow French Toast." (Inspired by the Tinker Bell movie) We cut the pieces of toast in triangles to look like pixie fairy wings, and decorated the toast with fruit and powdered sugar. It was yummy :)

Have a HAPYY VALENTINES DAY!

The Urban Ecology Center

This is the observation tower at the UEC, it was a little windy but in the 40's which made for a beautiful day at the Urban Ecology Center. Although the girls look chilly here, I think it is the height of the tower that caused them to feel all wind blown. One of the activities scheduled for the afternoon was sledding which had to be cancelled because most of our snow is now a dirty, slushy mess due to our recent "tropical" temps.
Rebekah loved the little froggies swimming in this tank.
We arrived at the ecology center right at feeding time for the snakes and turtles. Right after seeing a mouse being fed to a snake, Alyssa opted for the telescope and stayed away from the rest of the feedings.
Emma got to feed an ornate box turtle named Peanut. I don't think she liked the feeling of the turtle's food, he reached out to grab it from her fingers, and she just dropped it on the floor in front of him.
All the kids were offered crickets to feed to a tree frog, and since Rebekah was in Dave's arms, the worker gave it to him. Dave tried to get Rebekah to drop it to the frog and she wanted nothing to do with the cricket, she just covered her eyes and refused to hold it.
Rebekah went down this slide at least 25 times, it would have kept her busy all afternoon if there wasn't so much other fun stuff to do.

I loved this picture of Rebekah coming off the slide.
The girls made a all purpose household cleaner using just vinegar, lemon juice, and water. When we got home, Alyssa used it to clean the kitchen table. It did an awesome job removing some crayon marks that Rebekah left behind, but it smelled very strongly of vinegar. I can appreciate the value of "going green" with some of the household products we use, I'm just not sure I'm willing to have the entire house smell like vinegar in order to accomplish that.
Emma was asked to hold this spring while one of the UEC volunteers explained to the kids how the color of a light ray is determined by how quickly the ray of light is moving.
Watching a puppet show about hibernation.
Alyssa scaling the huge rock wall on the UEC observation tower.
Her technique was a little unusual, but it worked.
Having fun on the way down. The rock wall looked like so much fun.
Emma loved the rock climbing too!
A little more than half way there.
Happy to have her feet on the ground again.
Storytime in the tee pee.
Daddy helping Emma finish her homemade birdfeeder.
Alyssa showing me her birdfeeder.
Helping Rebekah string "tube beads" on yarn. She was sure she could incorporate the popsicle stick into her necklace.
Emma made a bunch of animal puppets on popscile sticks, then made them a nice little nest home in the paper bag.
Alyssa concentrating very hard to get her drawing her drawing just right.