Vacation?????

Joel, Nathan and I snuck out to CA. during fall break for a little Disneyland and great-grandparents visits!

We started out with a late start and that got us into Hacienda Heights later than planned because of all the traffic due to construction on the I-10. And Nathan wasn't the greatest of travelers. It was a stressful day all around. But a great reunion with Nathan and his great gram!

The next day was Disneyland day one. It was rainy and cold but we decided to power through. And it was worth it! We got there around noon and stayed for about 3 hours! Nathan loved Small World! He smiled and laughed his way through it! We also took him on Dumbo and the Carousal. He was not a fan of either. He kept reaching for Joel to get him off the horse but we were moving and he was buckled so we had to keep him seated on it.

The one time he held on!

I swear each pumpkin had a different carving.

After a few hours we went to the next Grandma. Nathan's Ama. Totally forgot to get pictures of it all. But he was great and loved up on his Ama! Following her around the house and smiling at her whenever she was around! Good Times!

Day two of D-land was extra rainy and extra uneventful! We got there in the morning before Nathan's nap. The first ride we did was Peter Pan, because let's be honest, that ride rocks! After that Nathan was ready for his nap. So we did what we always do at nap time at Disneyland, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean! Nathan falls asleep every time on that ride. So we got on and within a minute he was out on me! We laid him in his stroller and went to lunch! He slept right through lunch, so Joel and I thought that we would go and hang out in the Animation building at California Adventure! Its dark and plays clips of all the disney movies with their theme songs. Oh and they have the most comfy seats. So we sat there while Nathan took the longest nap ever! But about ten minutes into the rest time there Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, Pluto, and Dopey (who made out right away) showed up and started making a fuss. So children swarmed them left and right. And of course this all took place right by Nathan's sleeping body. My fear of characters is back in full force after what happened to us! We were sitting there quietly, working at making sure Nathan's stroller did not get pushed and well... you will just have to look at the following pictures to understand my fear!

He kept bothering Nathan and looking in on Nathan and trying to push the stroller and drink from Joel's water bottle. All very disturbing to me when a bunch of kids are waiting for your autograph!

And these are the view I got while he tried to serenade me!

Not the greatest view!

Pluto dancing right by Nathan's stroller! Oh the Choas!

Then at one point Pluto jumped on the seat right next to me and started kicking his legs at me and Mr. Incredible tried to give Pluto CPR! I am totally afraid of Disney characters now!

Then we came home late Thursday night to a note on our door! Our neighbor Jesse, told us that our front yard was flooded and he turned out water off and would be willing to help us with this easy fix! Well, after calling a plumber and scheduling a late morning meeting, out other neighbor Alan came over with a pot of water for us and also told us he would help with this easy fix and also that we needed to get rid of the bees in the wall of our garage! So after stuffing a paper towel in the hole hundreds of bees swarmed there and stayed there. 3 bee stings later and whole bunch of other stuff, they are dead. But that story is to come!

Well, the easy fix was not so easy, after an estimate from 3 different plumbers that told us it was about a $2000 fix, Jesse, said we could do it ourselves and all the men from the neighborhood would help for the cost of cookies! Because that is what neighbors are for! We had to replace the whole pipe line to make sure that we got everything! so 10 hours later, lots of soda and pizza too, the pipes are in and the trench needs to be filled in and we have water! All for the low, low cost of $100, two pizzas, sodas, bread, and a lot of cookies and casseroles coming their way!

open trenches all in our front yard!

Then our neighbors said they have the right stuff to make the bees go away and save us from another $200 bill! So the men sprayed and killed the bees on contact! And now we have one more step that will cost us $5! To fog the hole and kill the bees in the wall!

All the dead bees!

Now we get to redo our front yard and our backyard at the same time! That is the silver lining to the saga that was our vacation!